Is Uxbridge as bad as someone posted on this site? re: finding housing there

THanks Jim! So there is a London city obviously but also a London county? is county used over there? or from what I read it is called London central? Sorry, just really confusing.  I'm sure once I'm there it'll be more clear, I hope LOL! 

The county is Greater London, which encompasses the City of London (a tiny area in the centre of London with a population less than 2,000) and the 32 boroughs of London surrounding it (total population 7.5 million). Because most people refer to all 32 boroughs plus London City as simply 'London', the county and the city are basically covering the same area.

Thank you Dennis the Menace for the info.  One thing I am confused about is-what are these places called? You gave me a great list of places to look into.  What I have no idea is what are these places called?  Is uxbridge a town or a city?  The other places you mentioned, are they cities too?  Is Middlesex a borough?  As you can see, I have no idea what is what.  I don't know what a borough is? 

The general rule of thumb is that a city has a cathedral, whereas a town does not. So if Uxbridge has a cathedral then it's a city, if it doesn't, it's a town (Uxbridge doesn't appear to have one, so it's a town).

From what I've gathered via an internet search, Middlesex is one of the smaller historic English counties, but in recent years it has been incorporated into the county of Greater London, so although it's still called Middlesex informally, it's not technically a county anymore.

A borough is an administrative division within a country or region - it's basically a town that has it's own local government.

I hope this helps a little .

I really would like to meet locals although I've heard that is a tough nut to crack.  So finding the right place: near work, near school, near locals, near a good market/shopping, and near good transportation might just be impossible.  BUT, I really appreciate all the pointers and remarks. 

Honestly I think you'd do really well in South Buckinghamshire given your interests. Very, very good transport links and easy shopping. We're looking to move soon but that's largely because we want to be further out in the country and we don't have kids so the area doesn't suit us quite as well.

Feel free to pm me with specific questions. 

I find the maps on findaproperty.co.uk helpful in locating the general area of things.

http://www.findaproperty.com/listregions.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&regionid=502

This should lead you to the Uxbridge area of greater west london.  If you scroll your mouse over the map, it will show you the names of the areas/towns located there.  You should be able to then dig a little further in your search.

I don't have much experience with the area, only driving through it on my way from North London to Heathrow.  But Pinner is a very cute town as someone mentioned above.

Good luck!

Uxbridge is a town within the London Borough of Hillingdon, which is a borough of (Greater) London.  It is also within the county of Middlesex, but this is now a geographical term only.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=506729&y=183789&z=0&sv=UB10+0BE&st=2&pc=UB10+0BE&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf  Is a link to the school location.  You can zoom out and around from this to see local areas - Ruislip, Denham, Iver, Slough, etc. 

If you look at www.tfl.gov.uk you can see transport links to the school.  So, it is a 30 minute walk from Uxbridge station, and is also on bus route U2 and 427. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/?borough=HIL is a link to every bus route in Hillingdon, and http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Tube-DLR-Trams-and-Train-Travelcard-zones-Map.pdf will show you all the train and tube links to Uxbridge and other local areas.  http://www.livedepartureboards.co.uk/ldb/train.aspx?C=IVR&T=IVER++++&J=164484&Y=D&R=0&A=0 shows all the trains connected to Hayes, which is also near to the school. Though I wouldn't live in Hayes either.

Vicky

Oh, my husband is from Seer Green and my in laws still live there, one of my best friends is from Gerrards Cross. Its a lovely area! Very posh, and green. Lovely.

Small world - my husband was born and raised in Gerrards Cross and that's where we live now. One of his sisters lives in Seer Green!

To all but particularly Vicky, Karin, and ksand24, but really everyone again, thank you so much.  All this is quite overwhelming but I don't know what I would do if there weren't people as helpful as you guys are. 
And if anyone can answer for me this one question then another huge thanks:
do apts. over there have occupancy limits like they do here?
We want to go as minimal as possible. so although we have 4 kids (7,6,3,3) we'd like to rent a 2 bedroom.  Is that possible?  Will the landlord say that is too many people in a two bedroom apt? 

Hiya

good responses so far!

The places I've mentioned are NOT cities - they're way too small for that!

There is i'm sure a definitive answer but generally..

Uxbridge I'd say is a small/medium sized town, Iver is a village, Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield small towns/villages, Denham a small town/village...

The fact they're all on the outskirts of London and very close to the 'borders' many people refer to them as 'on the outskirts' of London and or a 'small town/place just outside of london'

Definition wise - Ksand is correct, a place with a Cathedral is classed as a 'city'. Without and they're towns.

The 'County' in the UK is 'equivalent' (geographically) as a 'State' in the USA - for instance, I live in the County of Berkshire. Within that, are cities and towns (I'm sure Reading is a City?) - The word 'District' is also used although it's not definitive as such nowadays - I think it may related to local church districts as well as the more often heard Parish - someone with more knowledge may correct me there.

So generally, it goes 'UK, 4 countries, County, City/town, district/parish.

The 'Boroughs' are 'generally' used to identify areas in London and Greater London - Don't get confused with more far flung places such as Peterborough etc although I know 'borough' is used in many other towns/cities throughout the UK.

Hope all that is as clear as mud !

As for the apartment - 6 of you in a 2bedroom flat and I think you'll be really pushing it - you must remember, many 2bedroom flats/apartments here 'generally' have less square footage as many 1 bedroom apartments in the USA! I'd say with 6 of you - 4 who are growing and probably lively and active - a 3 bedroom house would be ideal and I guess at a push, a 2 bedroom house 'may' work out. Depending on the depth of your wallet, you will find places to suit and what I just said is no hard n fast rule!

I rent a 2bed apartment and I personally wouldn't rent it to a family with 6 occupants - even if the kiddies are small, you'd all quickly trip over each other and you'd have no where to put you're belongings -
unless of course you do find a large apartment! they do exist!  a relative of mine has a 2bedroom apartment that he bought right away upon seeing the size of it !

You will need to really hunt these type of places down though! they're very rare!

Hope this helps !

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

There is overcrowding legislation, and your place wouldn't be technically overcrowded, but I agree with Dennis that you would find it a very tight squeeze there.  I think having the 4 kids sharing a room would be a bit too much, and would look for a three bedroom at least.

Vicky

Generally speaking houses are quite a bit smaller here than in the States and I would think that with 4 children you would really find a 2 bed apt much too small.   You also have to be careful with what they call a 'good sized double bedroom', you may not agree with that description.

As others have said the school should be able to give you good info on areas to live and advise you of transport link from those areas to the school.  You may even find the school runs a bus to certain areas.

Dennis is right about the size of flats here. You are going to be very cramped with 6 of you in a 2 bedroom place. Even if you used bunk beds for the kids, in the average size 2 bedroom place you are not going to have any space left over to put their toys or other belongings. Also bear in mind a lot of places here don't have big built in storage space like most US apartments, you are likely to need space for free standing wardrobes and cupboards. I'd say you'd want at least 3 bedrooms. 

Sorry I just realised I am the 4th person to say basically the same thing!! 

Thank you again everyone!  I really appreciate any and all input.  So yes, we will go for a 3 bedroom now.  Although the company is giving us a good per diem, I'm thinking of paying no more than 2,000pounds for the apartment or house.  And we've narrowed down the areas that we will look into to.  We are looking at Ickenham, Ruislip, Pinner and maybe Rickmansworth.
I'm so glad that we other options besides Uxbridge.  But I'm sure nothing beats being there and seeing it for ourselves.  Well, just about 4 or 5 more weeks and there we will be. 
THanks ya'll!!

are looking at Ickenham, Ruislip, Pinner and maybe Rickmansworth.
THanks ya'll!!

I remember Rickmansworth as being country club type area. We visited an American there who was a lawyer for Gulf Oil Company and he lived there.
I lived in Pinner which is another nice area. Ruislip use to be the USAF headquarters.

I remember Rickmansworth as being country club type area.

My husband grew up in Watford which is pretty close to Rickmansworth. Before he met me he had never been to America -- or even ever met an American-- but he imagined America to be like Rickmansworth.

Thank you again everyone!  I really appreciate any and all input.  So yes, we will go for a 3 bedroom now.  Although the company is giving us a good per diem, I'm thinking of paying no more than 2,000pounds for the apartment or house.  And we've narrowed down the areas that we will look into to.  We are looking at Ickenham, Ruislip, Pinner and maybe Rickmansworth.
I'm so glad that we other options besides Uxbridge.  But I'm sure nothing beats being there and seeing it for ourselves.  Well, just about 4 or 5 more weeks and there we will be. 
THanks ya'll!!

You'll be FINE on that kind of money. We live in a supidly expensive area and we pay about half that for a 2 bedroom....

I love Rickmansworth, but there are some less than nice areas right around it. But if you could find something actually IN the village it would be great.