Bicester - is it Chav central?

[Dino D]

Looking to relocate next month to Oxfordshire and found Bicester to offer good value for 3-4 bedroom house in nice neighbourhoods (renting).

Then I came across this site: http://www.chavtowns.co.uk/2008/10/bicester-2/
Looking at the other towns I know well enough it seems to exaggerate allot but even if it is half true it a bit grim..
The thing that worries me is that houses in Bicester are apparently rented to the council. I can avoid the usual chav hangouts in a town centre but what if tehy move in next door!

I am thinking now the best thing to do is look for small villages close to major centres as houses here do not tend to get rented to the council nor do small villages have council estates but also mean upping the budget but I really cant live with Chavs next door and Aus/US/Canada is not an option right now...

[AndyHSPL]

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Edited by AndyHSPL on Wednesday 10th August 19:56

[Jasandjules]

It's not a fantastically wealthy area IME......

[Dino D]

Jasandjules said:

It's not a fantastically wealthy area IME......

Kingston upon Thames is wealthy and has a huge estate so not sure if that makes a difference.

[bigdods]

Brackley. Job done.

ETA when I was moving to the area I looked at Bicester, towcester, buckingham and Brackley. Moved to brackley in '96 , never regretted it.

Edited by bigdods on Wednesday 10th August 20:07

[Nick3point2]

bigdods said:

Brackley. Job done.

Agreed.

[DickSkruttock]

Brackley and Bicester are both simiilar, too many houses and not enough infrastructure.

If it was a choice of the two then I'd pick Brackley.

[Dalto123]

I'd say Croydon is chav central!

[Tea Bag]

I used to live in Grendon Underwood, between Bicester and Aylesbury. Bicester is not that bad to be honest (I used to work in the penny black, the local Wetherspoons!). It does have its share of chavs but could be a lot worse.

Bicester is one of those towns that is a bit 'nothingy' apart from the local curry house Arzoo, which is really very good.

Why not try a bit further out like Grendon Underwood type places, a little remote but have a nice village feel to them!

[Nickyboy]

I have to work in Bicester, there is a lot of chavs but no worse than any other town to be fair. If you're looking at larger houses then i'm guessing you're looking at Bure Park or Langford Village? Both of them are ok, most of the lower wage live on the old part of town

[central]

Chav.

[essayer]

In September the trains to London will get a reasonable speed improvement, down from 56mins to 44mins once Chiltern finish their line improvements.

[Dino D]

Is Abingdon any better?

[Mattyvole]

(First post in the lounge )

Abingdon is alright, it has its chavvy scum areas but it also has some nice ones.

Witney and Wantage are nice little towns, but AFAIK quite expensive.

[qube_TA]

My Brother in Law lives in Bicester, it's a bit plain but I get the impression it's quite quiet, never heard of any issues or chavdom there.

[TheArchitect]

I live in Bicester and agree with the comments above, not enough to do in the area that seems to just keep building housing and nothing else. Brackley ime is cheaper to live in but has worse transport links if thats important. Areas to avoid are Kings End, Southwold, the town centre, and near the secondary schools (all in my humble opinion of course). I avoid using the town centre for anything now as the shops usually have little in them I need. Tesco next to the shopping village is big enough for the essential stuff and Oxford/Milton Keynes/London is close enough for any important shopping. All that said I'm trying to leave!