Rate the 'hood

I don't really know your situation but any reason why you aren't considering Marlow itself?

I don't really know your situation but any reason why you aren't considering Marlow itself?

See here for the OP's previous thread discussing whether to live in Marlow/surrounding areas or London : http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=52418.msg747845#msg747845x 

Thanks.  I should have been more pro-active.  Definitely agree with the London location given the OP's background.  And I amend my list to put Clapham at the top.

As usual you guys rock

Looking at google maps, I can live in proximity to the M4 or M40 (via the A40) from West London.

If you're looking at a pizza slice and West London is the tip of the pizza, then the M40 and M4 are running out from the center on each side, so my office in Marlow would be in the middle of the crust on the other end.

I would either head up the A404 from Maidenhead if coming on the M4, or head down the A404 from High Wycombe if coming from the M40.

A good aspect of this is that I would be traveling at slightly off peak times, since the Marlow office tries to sync with the Houston/Philadelphia offices, they say we don't have to come in until 10am. So I am hoping that with my reverse commute, if I leave for work at 9am I will miss some of the traffic? And coming home at 7pm will also allow me to miss the brunt of the return commute?

As as someone said I'll have to talk to someone who makes a similar commute and see which one would be best. Although it seems as if A40/M40 would be best since the M4 goes by Heathrow and airport freeways are always congested.

So it seems as though that this how the 'hoods rate:

(1) Clapham
(2) Chiswick
(3)Shepherd's Bush
(4) Kensington/Maida Vale if I can afford it, Hammersmith/Oval/Ealing (back on the list) if I can find a place not in the dodgy bits, which I guess I'll need a little help figuring what constitutes dodgy.

So I found out my salary, and it is a liiiiitle less than I was hoping for, not enough to scare me off going through with the move, but enough to make me consider doing a flatshare/houseshare in order to ensure that I live somewhere that I like.

My top end for a place by myself is 900GBP including all bills/council tax, which I figure leaves me at something like 700-800pcm in rent.

Of course a share would drop that drastically, I have seen some nice looking places on gumtree where the high end "looking" places were 500pcm plus 50-60GBP for bills. So my top end for a share would be 600GBP including all bills/council tax.

It looks like I will be able to find some places like that in these areas

Here's a link to a local Clapham website:

http://www.totallyclapham.co.uk/

I don't drive but another aspect of choosing where to live is the parking situation -- something to look into wherever you choose to live.

Hi Chadwyck

I know all the area that you've 'Pizza sliced' very well ! if you're able to do a 10am - 6/7 pm day then you will pretty much miss the brunt of the rush hour traffic. I'd then say it's a personal preference if you do indeed get a Diesel for great MPG figures or go for a Petrol engined car for smoothness at the expense of lower MPG figures for this daily commute.

I have some friends who house share - and I think you'd pay alot less than £900 max per month in those areas. For instance a girl in our circle of friends is up in Finsbury park area and for a single room in a house share I think with bills etc she pays around £550 per month (I think) so you should be able to find something around this side of London, although I tend not to really look at house shares/single room pricings much.

Around here, Slough, Maidenhead, West Drayton, watford etc etc you can easily rent a 1 bedroom flat that'll be in a better area of the town for around £650-700 inclusive of all bills etc - if you're willing to look in a 5or 6 outta 10 kind of area of a town, you'd probably get a 2 bedroom flat for around that £900 per month inclusive of bills figure you mention.

Best part would be not having to share with anyone!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

DtM, the 900pcm max was for a flat rental by myself not a share, I wouldn't want to pay more than 600pcm for a flatshare. The main reason I am even considering a flatshare is the savings, and the bonus reason is an instant connection to someone in London. And as you can see I started my "buy a car" thread, I may end up going disel just for the economics of the matter. Thanks for the info on the commute possibilities, that makes me feel a lot better.

I just can't see myself living "all the way out" in Slough or Maidenhead. It would certainly make my work commute easier, but I fear it would be too slow paced and entail too much of a late night commute if I wanted to party like a rockstar in London.

Question though, on a a map, Acton, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Notting Hill Kensington, Chiswick, Ealing, they are like right on top of each other. All within like a 6 mile radius, now I guess I will see what you guys are talking about when I get there, but is it really that dense, that I could be in "posh" Kensington and go for a 3 mile run and end up in "dodgy" Hammersmith?

Hiya

Absolutley ! things are very very crammed here and not just by miles, sometimes 'Yards' can change from very nice to very crap! as an example, Acton, which is quite middle of the road and has some crappy areas, you can drive literally a few hundred yards and be at the edge of Ealing common which is surrounded by some fantastic properties and is a very nice area! Sometimes you can turn into a fantastic upmarket road go to the end of it and be in a busy shopping high street kind of area etc etc.

Partying like a rockstar is of course easy in London, and of course makes sense to live somewhere which isn't too far away and can at least be reached via taxi for a reasonable price at 430 in the morning after a club!

What you must remember is of course, that not 'all' of certain areas are 'dodgy' - I have a friend who's a girl and lives on her own and says Hackney is fantastic etc and indeed her basement flat is quite nice, but it's just a few hundred yards away from 'murder mile' so to me is a little too close for comfort- however she loves it. Area's really can and do change in feel in just a few short stretches of roads in any area.

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Question though, on a a map, Acton, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Notting Hill Kensington, Chiswick, Ealing, they are like right on top of each other. All within like a 6 mile radius, now I guess I will see what you guys are talking about when I get there, but is it really that dense, that I could be in "posh" Kensington and go for a 3 mile run and end up in "dodgy" Hammersmith?

Well, the Kensington that I think you are referring to is West Kensington, which is not nearly as posh as South Kensington/Chelsea. However, yes, this is one of the main differences that I find between London and many US cities: you find really nice and really not nice areas in very close proximity. I think you'll find this pretty much everywhere in the city. Near my old flat, it literally seemed that it varried from street to street.

ETA: cross-posted (and in agreement with) Dennis

Hello,

I live and work in Marlow. I would love to live in Chiswik, but I leave work late and would not want the commute. We do go there regularly. On a normal day it's 45-60 minutes. On a Sunday morning, it's 20 minutes drive.

By train, from Paddington to Marlow is 1 hour plus -- that is fast train to Maidenhead (25-35 minutes), then small train to Marlow (20 minutes), plus 15 minute walk to town.

Also, I work with someone who commutes every day from Ealing to Marlow -- most days her commute is 45 minutes. Worst is 2 hours (like this week, sink hole on motorway).

Most of the 20-somethings I work with live close by. It's not uncommon for a pub lunch on Fridays, or pub after work. So it's more practical to live closer to work. I have a walking commute and rarely have to drive. Which is one of the things that I would want from living in London or a city.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your search and move!

Thanks for the post treefrog!

I know logistically it would be easier to just suck it up and live closer to Marlow or in Marlow, shoot I found several affordable flats that were walking distance from my job. But I may only be in England for 18 months, and I would kick myself repeatedly if I didn't try to experience "London-life" as much as possible in what is that time. Besides it sounds so much cooler to say "I am transferring to London", haha.

Hi!
I understand the appeal of the areas you mentioned but I really wouldn't rule out Ealing. My boyfriend lives there and absolutely loves it...he's lived in quite a few areas around London too. Maybe it's not nearly as posh, but housing is reasonable, you're close to all the major roads if you're driving so it's easy to get in and out of town, you're really close to Heathrow if you like to travel a lot. It's just a much calmer location to live...plus there are quite a few really nice parks and green space. Certain areas are a bit sketch--like any place--but you can find some really nice flats for good prices. It's a bit further out from the city center than the others you mentioned but, if you need to go there it's maybe 25-30 min. on the tube. Just something to think about