The best place to live in London?
The best place to live in London?
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Discussion

plasticpusher

Original Poster:

132 posts

215 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Well my son has decided he wants to move up to London.

He came back home from uni in Manchester last year and does not have a big ring of friends living in London.

He has his heart set on finding a flatshares in the E1 area but I would prefer him to move more towards outer SW.

Where do you think would be a good place for him to look? He works in the City so an easy commute would be ideal.



singlecoil

35,760 posts

269 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Somewhere near to wherever he is going to work would be the obvious choice

H_Kan

4,942 posts

222 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Outer SW isn't brilliant if he is going to EC everyday.


thehawk

9,335 posts

230 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
The best place to live in London is an easy question to answer - St Johns Wood/Regents Park/Primrose Hill.

sday12

5,066 posts

234 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Shoreditch/Hoxton

Young, Cool (But Expensive)

Walk to Work


Outer SW? When he retires maybe!

He's got the right idea
Stay down "the sharp end"
Clubs,bars,girls.

Edited by sday12 on Sunday 1st March 12:44

odyssey2200

18,650 posts

232 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Best place to live in London is !0 Downing Street.

You can do what the fk you like, be as incompetent as you like, start wars etc and still get away with it, while taking a comfortable salary and benefits package!

plasticpusher

Original Poster:

132 posts

215 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Budget = £800 per month

He talks about Hoxton, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch. Not sure if I can do much to change his mind really.

I always viewed these places as st wholes. Does anybody live around there? Any areas of E1/2 he should avoid?

sday12

5,066 posts

234 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
plasticpusher said:
Budget = £800 per month

He talks about Hoxton, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch. Not sure if I can do much to change his mind really.

I always viewed these places as st wholes. Does anybody live around there? Any areas of E1/2 he should avoid?
Used to be, Hoxton and Shoreditch have really come on in the last 10 years.

Avoid Hackney, Dalston, Clapton.


You see Sloanes turning up in Black Cabs on the weekend in the summer!

sleep envy

62,260 posts

272 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
plasticpusher said:
I always viewed these places as st wholes
where ever you buy/rent in London I can show you a 'st whole' within a couple of miles

you may want your son to live in SW but you won't be the one doing the +1 hr commutes to and from E1 every day

there's nothing wrong with Shorditch/Hoxton/Bethnal Green - sure it's a bit cosmopolitan - but that's half the attraction of the place

personally I'd head towards Highbury Fields way - close enough to the city but also nearer north London and the West End and there's great value to be had in rentals ATM

if you're worried about crime, stabbings etc just remember that robbers don't go around the less affluent parts of town if they are after money...

thehawk

9,335 posts

230 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
plasticpusher said:
Budget = £800 per month

He talks about Hoxton, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch. Not sure if I can do much to change his mind really.

I always viewed these places as st wholes. Does anybody live around there? Any areas of E1/2 he should avoid?
The problem with living in those areas is that you need £800 per day just to keep up with everyone else and have a coke habit.

okgo

41,481 posts

221 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
I can get to bank from here in 30 mins and I am not even in the SW postcode (almost) maybe somewhere like Clapham would be good?
Where in the SW do you think is good btw?

Edited by okgo on Sunday 1st March 13:03

sleep envy

62,260 posts

272 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
okgo said:
I can get to bank from here in 30 mins
surrey to bank in 30 mins?

croyde

25,482 posts

253 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
St Tropez!

HUW JONES

2,005 posts

226 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
I think the best place to live would be in one of those multimillion pound penthouses overlooking the Thames with porters and space to park your Lambo securely accompanied by loads of those foxy ladies like you see on the telly drinking champagne and snorting lines.

BalhamLotus

281 posts

242 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Those areas are fine these days, and definitely the "cool" places to live.

Having moved here 11 years ago, I would tell him to live where his friends live. It's a lonely old place and if his work isn't organising regular socials it can make you feel like an outsider looking in for a while. I was lucky in that a room came up in a flatshare the very weekend I was moving up and I was part of a 20 strong start group at work so the problem was more affording the social life than finding it.

Have always lived in SW London, and I would say that Clapham Common is horrible these days. Not in social deprivation stakes as it was maybe 20 years ago, but it's become a "destination" on a Saturday night and it's full of chavs up from Croydon and the like, so you're pretty much guaranteed to see a fight and pavements covered in vomit every saturday night (Not sure if comments like that age me!)

I would have thought £800 a month is a flat share and he should also think about how much travel etc., will cost when arriving at a budget. Not sure which zone those places are in (he may even be able to walk to work) but buying weekly travel cards from Balham costs me around £120 a month.

funkyol

1,816 posts

242 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
Pimlico

BMWBen

4,906 posts

224 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
thehawk said:
The best place to live in London is an easy question to answer - St Johns Wood/Regents Park/Primrose Hill.
This man speaks the truth. I grew up there and have lived in many areas. It wins, by more than a country mile.

BMWBen

4,906 posts

224 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
sday12 said:
plasticpusher said:
Budget = £800 per month

He talks about Hoxton, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch. Not sure if I can do much to change his mind really.

I always viewed these places as st wholes. Does anybody live around there? Any areas of E1/2 he should avoid?
Used to be, Hoxton and Shoreditch have really come on in the last 10 years.

Avoid Hackney, Dalston, Clapton.


You see Sloanes turning up in Black Cabs on the weekend in the summer!
Well, my sister lived down there up until a few months ago. It's still f**kin scary regardless of how much it's "come up" :P

all IMHO obviously wink

okgo

41,481 posts

221 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
sleep envy said:
okgo said:
I can get to bank from here in 30 mins
surrey to bank in 30 mins?
32 mins yes, I live pretty close to the station, good times!

But its not the London lifestyle, not that I need it as I work outside of town. But its there if you want it smile

Baby Huey

4,881 posts

222 months

Sunday 1st March 2009
quotequote all
It's not like he's buying anywhere is it, so I'd let him get on with it. If he thinks he's made a mistake then he can move elsewhere.

Shoreditch and it's environs are certainly one of the cooler parts of London right now, and an ideal base for a chap about town. I wouldn't expect him to be getting mugged every 5 minutes.

SW London seems to attract a certain type of person, who mainly wear rugby shirts with turned up collars. I'd rather be in Hoxton too.