Where to live?

Where to live? So we were in a crunch and had to find a place fast when we moved here in March. We're now in Poplar. Love our flat for the most part but really don't care for the area. We love living in the city. We don't have a car and have no plans to acquire one while here. Love being able to walk to the market and DLR station. We don't love that it's not a very diverse area. It seems to be very heavily Muslim. We want to send our 3 kids to school (as opposed to home-schooling) but all schools in walking distance (except for Catholic school) are 99% Bengali Muslim. I want the kids to attend a school with some diversity. And I also miss not being in a "neighborhood". I want my kids to be able to go outside and play, have some friends nearby. The big challenges are accessibility and my husband's work. We have to rent at this point. We need a single story home b/c one of my children has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cannot manuever stairs. My husband works in the city (near Liverpool station). We need his commute to be relatively quick and easy. Our rent limit is £375/wk if we stay in zone 2. The further out we go, the less we can spend on rent. Another consideration is our weekly trips to France for the clinical trial my son is participating in. We have to be at St. Pancras no later than 5:30 every Thursday morning. As it is now, we catch 2 buses to get there starting at 4:25. Can anyone help? We need a minimum of 3 bedrooms.

Hi

I think you'd be best to speak to as many local estate agents and rental specialists in the areas you feel you can afford and take into consideration the specific requirements that you have. I doubt anyone can go into the level of requirements you have here on the forum.

Cheers, DtM!

While Cricklewood is in Zone 3, you would have access to the Thameslink which would quickly get you to St Pancras.  There are several houses that are one story or have a bedroom on the ground floor.  I live here and love it as there is quite a bit of diversity and some decent schooling nearby.

wapping would be a nice fit for you- easy commute to liverpool st by bus (15 minutes), with a family oriented community and decent CofE school.  i think you would struggle with that budget, but might be worth a look.

While Cricklewood is in Zone 3, you would have access to the Thameslink which would quickly get you to St Pancras.  There are several houses that are one story or have a bedroom on the ground floor.  I live here and love it as there is quite a bit of diversity and some decent schooling nearby.

Good thought, but Cricklewood station isn't handicap accessible and isn't staffed early enough for someone to help out in arranging a ramp to even get onto the train. Not to mention the Thameslink is horrible at the best of times - I wouldn't want to be relying on it to get the Eurostar at 5am!

I'd recommend using the St Pancras bus map to determine where to live as being on a direct bus route to St Pancras sounds like it could make your life a lot easier. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/st.pancrasinternational-2225.pdf. I can't really give any knowledgable recommendation on places to live as I'm not too familiar with North London, but Swiss Cottage might be an okay option for you.

And as Dennis said, you'll be best off getting in contact with some estate agents in the areas who can help you find a property that will suit all of your requirements. Good luck!