Neighborhood Characteristics

Could somebody compare and contrast the following neighborhoods for me:

1.  St. Johns Wood
2.  Maida Vale
3.  Marylebone

Those factors which are of most importance to me (in order of importance) are:  proximity to the American School in London; proximity to central London (theater, museums, restaurants, etc.); proximity to parks and other child-friendly attractions; access to the main highway for commuting to Uxbridge; crime? or lack thereof; location of quality restaurants/bars/pubs; anything else you can think of...

As I mentioned in another post, I am relocating to London this summer and enrolling my 3 kids in the American School.  I'm looking for a balance between being close to Central London and all that it has to offer, being walking distance or one Tube ride away from school and maintaining a comfortable quality of life.  Now, that's not too much to ask for, is it?   

Try these sites ... they have loads of helpful infos...

http://www.upmystreet.com/
http://www.ukvillages.co.uk/

Thank you for the websites.  They look great; however, I prefer personal testimonials rather than data.  Notwithstanding, they do serve as a great starting point.

Well they are all pretty close together and therefore fairly similar in many ways.  Marylebone is practically in the West End - lots of lovely boutiques, delis and cafes.  St Johns Wood & Maida Vale are slightly further out of contral London but still very close. Very residential.  I have lived on the border of  Maida Vale/Kilburn Park and it is a good area. Very residential but a little soulless as there's not a lot there besides rows of mansion flats and Edwardian villas.  I found it a good place to live though, easy for getting to and from central London,  and good transport links to other parts of London too. As you get nearer to the Kilburn end it gets a bit run down though. There is  the canal there - Little Venice - a very pretty area.  St Johns Wood also mainly residential,  close to big green spaces (Regents Park,  Primrose Hill) lots of tree lined avenues.   I lived there for a short while nearly years ago, close to Primrose Hill,  it was really peaceful, almost not like being in London at all.

Thanks Britwife for your explanation.  Would you say that all 3 neighborhoods are family-friendly, or kid-friendly? 

I'm not necessarily looking for a boring suburban U.S.-type community, but at the same time I don't need to be in a swinging singles scene area either.  I'm sure there is no substitute for visiting these areas myself and simply walking around.  However, my wife and I will be taking another trip to London shortly and I want to rule out as many neighborhoods as possible so we can begin to narrow our decision and visit as many flats as possible.  For example, while Kennsington and Chelsea appear to be wonderful, centrally located neighborhoods, they are too far or two stops removed from the American School and present a difficult commute for my wife and kids in the morning.

Gables, is there any way your employer will pay for a relocation consultant for your family?  When we moved countries, our consultant helped us 1. find residence (saw 20 properties in two days so they really worked with our tight schedule), 2. find schools,  3. match our desires for neighborhood, 4. help us get settled in, find groceries, drive us to buy appliances before we had transport, help us with BT hookups, find out if our home office could relocate into the new residence, etc, etc!

The relocation consultant talked or emailed with us daily all along the way, including managing much of the shipment of our things.  There is so much to do in a relocation, as you are learning, I found our consultant extremely valuable.  Well worth the cost.

Muse:  Yes, we will be assigned a relocation expert from Prudential Realty - a U.S. based real estate brokerage firm with a UK presence.  However, I am trying to do much of the leg work upfront.  I too would love to view 20+ flats in a couple of days; however, I want to make sure we are looking in all of the "right" areas. 

Did you use a local relocation expert or a national company?

All three areas are very kid/family friendly.  I only really know well St Johns Wood so I'll comment on it.

I live in St Johns Wood & would say that it's a family location (which is why I'm moving this summer as a single young woman).  Very nice houses and flats - quite a mix of different types.  The High Street (shopping street) is small but there are a few good places to eat & a Gap Kids (no regular Gap which may tell you about the area).  There are two small grocery stores (one which carries a LOT of American products).  There is a post office across the street from the grocery store as well as a small (very kid friendly) library.  You are right next to a tube (Jubilee line) that is two stops from Bond Street Tube.  I live just 100 yards from a small garden called the St Johns Wood Church garden which has a playground in it (quite pretty place).  I live just a few blocks from both Primrose Hill & from Regents Park (both great for kiddos).  And I live 5 minutes (walking) from the school.  You can take a tube only two or three stops away from London center to get to West Hampstead which has some great shopping, a HUGE Sainsburys & Waitrose (for all your major grocery shopping needs...they have everything), a bigger & nicer Boots (pharmacy), several stores for every other need (all on Finchley Road) and even more important, some very nice restaurants in a very village like feel (on West End Lane).  I'm not sure where Ux bridge is located, but you can go up one of the main streets through St Johns Wood, past West Hampstead, turn left & you'll end up near the North Circular as well as a few other main highways...  Overall, I think it's a very easy place to live if you have a family...and you're wife will find that there are many other moms in the area to hang out with when the kids are at school...

i live in Marylebone and will comment on that area specifically as it's where i spend my days.

I love it as a member of a young couple.  There are a lot of families that live in the area, however Marylebone is mostly flats.  You don't see a lot of 'houses' until you start heading toward St John's Wood.  Marylebone High street is a delight, with a ton of shops and restraurnts and boutoques.  It is close to many tube stations (Baker St., Bond St., OXford Circus depending on where you live).  We attend All Soul's Church and love it there, in Langham Place.  Regents Park is a stones throw away (with the london zoo) which is very lively with the boats and things.  Hyde Park is the other side of Oxford St.  (busy shopping area) but a walk to Kensington Gardens or across Hyde Park is about half an hour.

It's a very safe neighborhood.  When my husband travels, I have no qualms walking around at night by myself.  Westminster (where Marylebone is) has one of the lowest council tax costs, which is nice (and amazing all at once).  We also have a car and pay about £100 for the annual parking permit.  Since we don't move the car during the week (only on ocassion) we don't pay a congestion charge.

I feel like I haven't spent enough time in the other areas to comment-only driven through them.  I think I was expecting more of some of them.......but as i said, i haven't hung out there to comment!!

Also the Marylebone police are lovely and fast, we thought we had some people on our roof one night.  They sent 2 cops over, they came in.....and seeing how our street is laid out (and the fact that we have a lot of construction going on around us) they sent out the Metro Helicopter!  In pretty heavy winds!!!!  They patrolled our street and areas, looking for any signs of bad things, but they either scared them off, or there was nothing there.  Either way they were prompt and nice and we were very happy.  There is a big sense of Community in Marylebone-people get together for the organic farmers market on sunday (behind the high street), i've met many people on the street, talking about not closing our fire station etc. 

anyway, hope that helps

Gables,I''m not really aware of what those areas offer families as I didn't have any children when I lived in Maida Vale or SJW so wasn't thinking along those lines. However, if I was to choose between those areas now, I would probably go for St Johns Wood.  It's probably the safest of the 3 areas and probably has the most family orientated faclilities.  Marylebone and most of Maida Vale are in Westminster Council area - which as Aimiloo says does have very low council tax but the downside of that is that they don't provide much in the way of amenities.  Most of SJW would be in Camden Council I think, which although C. Tax is a bit higher does provide a lot more in the way of facilities and subsidised/free activities for kids (I know this because my son was born in the Camden borough and so I got given a load of information about child/parent stuff there).  But like you say, there is really no substitute for seeing the areas for youself if you can.

 

Actually St Johns Wood is also in Westminster council...it's worked out fine for me!

Thank you all for your detailed responses and opinions.  Today, one of my new colleagues, an expat from The Netherlands, recommended that I take a strong look at Hampstead.  He is currently living in Kennsington, but plans on moving this summer to Hampstead.  Can any of you tell me what Hampstead is like?

Well funny I was thinking of suggesting that to you. It's great.  Gorgeous. Expensive.  I think everyone must know by now it's my favourite part of London !! It's a very historical part of London, especially when it comes to art and literature. Keats lived there. Dick Turpin rode across there.  Lots of A list celebs live in the area.  Hampstead Heath is a beautiful open space, very un-London like. Lots of families in the area.  If it was on Ebay I would say highly recommended A++++++++++ !!

Check this out for more info:

http://www.myhampstead.co.uk/

The hardest part for you in terms of Hampstead will be getting the kids to the school.  There is only one bus, the 46, which is known for being unreliable.  You would be on the Northern Line which is good for getting into the city (but not so much for getting to St Johns Wood) and the Heath is awesome.  It is VERY village like and quaint...cute shops, cute houses and flats.  The school does have a busing service (that you'd pay for) so you could get on that - they are supervised as they arrive to the school, especially in the beginning.  But I must say that your future workmate is right - it's a great place to live.