Hiya!
Slough is THE centre of the universe! those who doubt are simply jealous!
I'm just kidding!
Slough isn't as bad as the telly show, nor is it as bad as it sometimes made out! it's an industrial town, built previously on manufacturing and now all blue chip & corporate. Of course, some of the long term industry is still here and add in the close proximity to London, Heathrow, the M4 corridor is very well placed.
Like any town or city, there are not so good areas, it's quite simple, you just stay away from them - Slough does have a 'crime rate' but aside from stats - I walk my doggy every late night 930-1030pm - in the town centre and have never felt threatened - it may be due to my Japanese Akita but seeing the amount of lone females around the Train station area walking home, I've not heard/seen about attacks or muggings etc - overall I'd say it's just as safe as any other comparable area.
Trade and indsustry features heavily in the local job force, although I suspect many are commuters from out of town, a diverse ethnic mix of people, high employment prospects, pricey(ish) housing to buy, and ALOT of property to rent at very reasonable pricing compared to buying in and around nearby areas - possibly the reason of a heavy influx of foreign workers..
Of course, I know exactly where the crap areas are, the middle of the ground, and the high end - my own rental apartment is on long term rent and so are my family members places, however there's such a lot of construction going on for apartments you are spoilt for choice - as you say you want a house, they are in reasonable supply as well and certainly to me, alot better priced than say some surrounding areas. I'd say you should 'relatively' find a place quite easily - I do know a few agents etc as well. Council tax is reasonable compared to other areas suggested and mentioned, so could play a factor in your decision.
Other areas - plenty to choose from, the South East of the UK is absolutley chock full of places to choose from, around the West London area and the home counties, you will have ALOT to choose from. As I've said in many posts prior - only you know how deep your pockets are! there's 2/3 bed houses ranging from around £900p/m+ in the Slough area to houses over £20,000 p/m just a few miles away in and around the Wentworth area! .. and everything in between.
Windsor, Maidenhead (very similar to Slough but maybe 7/10 kinda area compared to Slough being a 6/10 area), Egham, Ascot, Bracknell, uxbridge, Denham, Gerrards Cross (get your wallet out !) Beaconsfield are all areas within easy commuting distance to Slough and thats on the this side of the M25, you have quite a number of areas just inside the M25 which would suit as well - too many to list and again all dependant on the depth of your purse/wallet !
Public transport is well served in terms of Trains - fast train into Paddington is 22 minutes, buses are frequent and from what I see plentiful, the further out you go into the expensive and much more greener areas the scarecity of public transport becomes an issue and you'll need a car - plenty of motorways around, easy access to all areas of the UK.
You'll probably not socialise in Slough, town centre is mainly for shopping during the day and there's only a few pubs open into the evening and they aren't all that. Better places are in the outskirts of town, family type pubs etc and with London just a hop away, everyone goes there. that said, Windsor is fantastic and just 2 miles away, a little further afield and it's places like Richmond on Thames, Ealing etc for nearer nightlife hotspots without going all the way into London.
Rightmove.co.uk is a good resource, try fish4homes, upmystreet.co.uk - thats all i can think of of the top of my head - take a look at local government sites to see public amenities etc - look on Google/Yahoo maps for the area and parks etc etc.
Hope the above helps! - let me know of anything specific and I'll do me best to answer !
Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!
