Anyone live in the Basildon / Chelmsford area?
Discussion
My son has accepted a job in Basildon and this is going to mean him moving to the area, by himself. We're not familiar with that area at all, and have no family or connections there so it's a big step into the unknown.
He's going to be looking for someplace to rent in a sensible commute distance, 45 mins or so (once he's bought a car!), but where to start other than throwing darts at a map?
How long is a piece of string, but - any suggestions on locations to look at or avoid in a commuting radius of Basildon?
He's going to be looking for someplace to rent in a sensible commute distance, 45 mins or so (once he's bought a car!), but where to start other than throwing darts at a map?
How long is a piece of string, but - any suggestions on locations to look at or avoid in a commuting radius of Basildon?
ean21 said:
My son has accepted a job in Basildon and this is going to mean him moving to the area, by himself. We're not familiar with that area at all, and have no family or connections there so it's a big step into the unknown.
He's going to be looking for someplace to rent in a sensible commute distance, 45 mins or so (once he's bought a car!), but where to start other than throwing darts at a map?
How long is a piece of string, but - any suggestions on locations to look at or avoid in a commuting radius of Basildon?
based on my (not so) extensive experience of staying in / around basildon for work: towns are all sHe's going to be looking for someplace to rent in a sensible commute distance, 45 mins or so (once he's bought a car!), but where to start other than throwing darts at a map?
How long is a piece of string, but - any suggestions on locations to look at or avoid in a commuting radius of Basildon?
t, but the countryside in between them is very nice.Well Chelmsford wouldn't be my choice if working in Bas. Too far to travel
There are some really nice places and some rubbish, stay away from Pitsea and Vange, nicer areas around billericay, some nice and some not so nice round Wickford.
Leigh on Sea has some very nice areas (I may be biased) but you're then having to compete with the other commuters and the A127 can be a nightmare.
Depends what sort of property he wants and whether he wants lively or countryside.
There are some really nice places and some rubbish, stay away from Pitsea and Vange, nicer areas around billericay, some nice and some not so nice round Wickford.
Leigh on Sea has some very nice areas (I may be biased) but you're then having to compete with the other commuters and the A127 can be a nightmare.
Depends what sort of property he wants and whether he wants lively or countryside.
keirik said:
Well Chelmsford wouldn't be my choice if working in Bas. Too far to travel
There are some really nice places and some rubbish, stay away from Pitsea and Vange, nicer areas around billericay, some nice and some not so nice round Wickford.
Leigh on Sea has some very nice areas (I may be biased) but you're then having to compete with the other commuters and the A127 can be a nightmare.
Depends what sort of property he wants and whether he wants lively or countryside.
I used to do Chelmsford (Beehive Lane in Great Baddow) to Basildon (Paycock Road area) in 25 minutes. There are some really nice places and some rubbish, stay away from Pitsea and Vange, nicer areas around billericay, some nice and some not so nice round Wickford.
Leigh on Sea has some very nice areas (I may be biased) but you're then having to compete with the other commuters and the A127 can be a nightmare.
Depends what sort of property he wants and whether he wants lively or countryside.
I think Billericay is in general a nicer place to live than Chelmsford (and the commute will be much shorter), but Chelmsford has a lot more going on in terms of nightlife, shopping, etc
Edited by budgie smuggler on Monday 3rd June 13:53
I live in Chelmsford (well, the southern bit - Danbury/Bicknacre) and work in Basildon (Cranes Farm).
Chelmsford is a nice city with lots of development, trendy apartments and the like - but these will be pricey as they cater for the London commuters. Actually, that applies to most of Essex.
Loads of options towards Southend - as mentioned, Leigh is lovely and very 'trendy'. But there's only two main roads into and out of the place and these can get very congested. It only takes a little knock between two cars and the roads grid-lock.
I wouldn't put Basildon on the list of places to live, if I'm honest. It's not too bad and there are some nice bits but as a whole, I'd look a little further afield.
Rayleigh might be worth a look - quite a lively high street.
South Woodham Ferrers (especially if divorced/bored housewives are his thing :-)
If he likes a bit of 'rural', then the Dengie offers some nice and very cheap (relatively) rentals - Burnham on Crouch, Maldon (lots of new builds going on there)....but are a bit 'quiet'.
As a very general rule of thumb, I would avoid anything south of the A13 although places like Fobbing and Corringham are OK (ish). Many people rave about Canvey but can't see the appeal myself.
Chelmsford is a nice city with lots of development, trendy apartments and the like - but these will be pricey as they cater for the London commuters. Actually, that applies to most of Essex.
Loads of options towards Southend - as mentioned, Leigh is lovely and very 'trendy'. But there's only two main roads into and out of the place and these can get very congested. It only takes a little knock between two cars and the roads grid-lock.
I wouldn't put Basildon on the list of places to live, if I'm honest. It's not too bad and there are some nice bits but as a whole, I'd look a little further afield.
Rayleigh might be worth a look - quite a lively high street.
South Woodham Ferrers (especially if divorced/bored housewives are his thing :-)
If he likes a bit of 'rural', then the Dengie offers some nice and very cheap (relatively) rentals - Burnham on Crouch, Maldon (lots of new builds going on there)....but are a bit 'quiet'.
As a very general rule of thumb, I would avoid anything south of the A13 although places like Fobbing and Corringham are OK (ish). Many people rave about Canvey but can't see the appeal myself.
Edited by StevieBee on Monday 3rd June 14:07
I live just outside Colchester so this may not be entirely relevant, but I would try to avoid anywhere which means you have to spend any time on the A12 at peak commuter times. It often gets horribly busy and stacked up between Colchester and Chelmsford (and indeed before) - based on my experience of watching the traffic jams from my train into London!
I was brought up in Benfleet, easy to get to Basildon from there and quite a nice area. Pretty expensive though as it's on one of the main railway lines into London.
I'm sure there are some bits of Basildon that are okay but we generally avoided most of it in our younger days preferring Southend for a night out. The Leisure Park (Bas Vegas) is supposed to be pretty good though. Avoid Northlands / Felmore unless tooled up
I'm sure there are some bits of Basildon that are okay but we generally avoided most of it in our younger days preferring Southend for a night out. The Leisure Park (Bas Vegas) is supposed to be pretty good though. Avoid Northlands / Felmore unless tooled up
I used to work in Basildon, industrial estate at Festival Leisure Park, aka Bas Vegas.
Echo what others have said, don't live in Basildon. I lived in Westcliff on Sea to begin with, nice place and close to the beach (mud) but a fair commute on the A127 and like others said, traffic can be stuffed on the A127 by the smallest things.
Moved to Leigh on Sea after that and really loved it there although same commuting trouble as Westcliff on Sea but the bars and shops etc are great if that's your thing. It's also very expensive there now...
Finally bought a house in Rayleigh. Compromise from the previous 2, closer to work, not a total dive and still close enough to the beach (mud) to enjoy the summers evenings!
Happy to help with any questions about the areas above, know them quite well!
ETA: Bas Vegas is great in the evenings, especially if he's a keen bare knuckle fighter!
Echo what others have said, don't live in Basildon. I lived in Westcliff on Sea to begin with, nice place and close to the beach (mud) but a fair commute on the A127 and like others said, traffic can be stuffed on the A127 by the smallest things.
Moved to Leigh on Sea after that and really loved it there although same commuting trouble as Westcliff on Sea but the bars and shops etc are great if that's your thing. It's also very expensive there now...
Finally bought a house in Rayleigh. Compromise from the previous 2, closer to work, not a total dive and still close enough to the beach (mud) to enjoy the summers evenings!
Happy to help with any questions about the areas above, know them quite well!
ETA: Bas Vegas is great in the evenings, especially if he's a keen bare knuckle fighter!
Edited by miniwill58 on Monday 3rd June 15:25
Just another idea....look west.
Cranham is the eastern most point of Greater London and the cheaper end of Upminster. Nice place and I know some of the smaller rentals there aren't too bad. He'd be commuting against the flow of traffic. 15 to 20 mins to Basildon. Plus, he'd be in Zone 6 for London Transport so cheap and easy access to London. The C2C line also goes to Basildon if he needed to train it in.
Cranham is the eastern most point of Greater London and the cheaper end of Upminster. Nice place and I know some of the smaller rentals there aren't too bad. He'd be commuting against the flow of traffic. 15 to 20 mins to Basildon. Plus, he'd be in Zone 6 for London Transport so cheap and easy access to London. The C2C line also goes to Basildon if he needed to train it in.
I lived in several parts of SE Essex including Harold Wood, Brentwood, Basildon (Felmores but lived to tell the tale) and Wickford before eventually settling in Billericay in the mid 90s - it's a nice little town and a super-easy commute avoiding any of the overcrowded trunk roads (I used to work for Ford at Dunton). Again if you have any Essex questions feel free to PM me.
generationx said:
(I used to work for Ford at Dunton)
Looks like the test track is now a housing estate! Mate worked there years ago as part of his Ford apprenticeship. We snuck in and took a Ford powered kit car for a spin round the track! I doubt such shenanigans would be permitted these days!As others have said Chelms - Bas (and the return journey) can be a pain as the traffic's heavy at usual commuter times; although there's several alternative more interesting routes that he could use rather than up & down the A130, which gets busy coming off at the respective A12/A127 junctions.
Bas is easy to get about in the car - the industrial/business parks are well separated from the residential bits/town centre - new town design, where to live depends a little on where he's going to be working in the town.
For the shortest commute as mentioned below parts of Laindon (parts)/Langdon Hills; Billericay's fine & has a High Street with pubs, restaurants, shops etc. plus it's a very short journey to Bas. Maybe start there & if he's staying in the area have a look about.
No nightlife in Bas town centre (and only a couple of pubs); Bas Vegas for the action.
Essex travel is dominated though by five roads - depending on where you are in the county a problem on any of them can cause a right mess.
Bas is easy to get about in the car - the industrial/business parks are well separated from the residential bits/town centre - new town design, where to live depends a little on where he's going to be working in the town.
For the shortest commute as mentioned below parts of Laindon (parts)/Langdon Hills; Billericay's fine & has a High Street with pubs, restaurants, shops etc. plus it's a very short journey to Bas. Maybe start there & if he's staying in the area have a look about.
No nightlife in Bas town centre (and only a couple of pubs); Bas Vegas for the action.
Essex travel is dominated though by five roads - depending on where you are in the county a problem on any of them can cause a right mess.
ean21 said:
Thanks All for your responses. We'll plot them on a map and make sense of them. It's all going to be happening in the next few weeks - giant steps!
Cheers!
I live in Chafford Hundred. 20 minutes against the flow of traffic and did the commute to Basildon for a few years.Cheers!
Any questions please drop me a message, happy to help.
StevieBee said:
Just another idea....look west.
Cranham is the eastern most point of Greater London and the cheaper end of Upminster. Nice place and I know some of the smaller rentals there aren't too bad. He'd be commuting against the flow of traffic. 15 to 20 mins to Basildon. Plus, he'd be in Zone 6 for London Transport so cheap and easy access to London. The C2C line also goes to Basildon if he needed to train it in.
This is good advice. I used to live in Basildon, now live in Upminster and the two main points to consider is how you're going to get to work and how much you want to spend on housing.Cranham is the eastern most point of Greater London and the cheaper end of Upminster. Nice place and I know some of the smaller rentals there aren't too bad. He'd be commuting against the flow of traffic. 15 to 20 mins to Basildon. Plus, he'd be in Zone 6 for London Transport so cheap and easy access to London. The C2C line also goes to Basildon if he needed to train it in.
Basildon itself is ok, the areas around the town centre (by the station) are a bit ropey but Basildon Council have spent fortunes on gentrifying the town and it is now surrounded by new housing estates and green spaces. Up to 1 mile out of town and you'll find some nice enough areas, so depending on where work is this might come into play. If working at Dunton (the only Ford office in Essex from September this year) then Laindon or Langdon Hills are more convenient.
Otherwise, as Steve said go west - West Horndon, Ockendon, Cranham, Upminster all afford a short commute (down some lovely country lanes if you wanted to avoid the A127) but you will pay more for housing as they're nicer areas. Upminster in particular is one of the most expensive parts of Essex as it's Zone 6 for TfL, but all of them have station access to Basildon in 10 minutes if needed.
Ultimately it depends on travel plans (car or train) and where he is based in Basildon.
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