Where is the best location to live and what is the best way to commute? By tunnel or car?
2006-09-19 09:32:33 · 7 answers · asked by Arnell A 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Commuting
I want to live in Surrey or Kent.
2006-09-19 09:34:00 · update #1
It really depends on your budget - the further away from london you go the cheaper property becomes (and in my opinion, the better the quality of life!)
If you can afford to be close to london - a budget of £500,000+, consider Bromley and Chiselhurst. Especially the later, its probably the nicest area within spitting distance of london. From here you're looking at no more than 20 minutes on a train into london.
If you want a bit better quality of life but still have a large budget (£400,000+) consider Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells...Sevenoaks being the nicest in my opinion. From Sevenoaks you can be in the centre of London in 45 minutes by train.
Further out things get cheaper and you get more for your money, Paddock Wood is popular with commuters as is Headcorn - the later being my favourite (I lived there for 2 years). The commute is about an hour and you can get a 3 bedroom semi for about £200,000 in both of these areas. Quite some difference in price considering its only an extra quarter of an hour on the train. Headcorn (and especially neighbouring "Smarden") are easily in the top 10 nicest places to live in Kent, if not the South.
Additionally you should consider property in Canterbury or Ashford (but don't consider Ashford unless your budget won't stretch to Canterbury as its a bit of a dive). Its currently 2 hours from Canterbury to london and an hour and a half from Ashford...BUT...the new bullet line from Ashford opens next year which will put you into the centre of london in 25 minutes. Now is the time to buy property in these areas...especially the cutesy villages.
I personally opted for Canterbury because its lovely and has a great atmosphere - its worth the commute at the moment knowing that things are going to improve so dramatically next year (and my property should increase majorly in value too).
Good luck with the move!
PS. don't consider driving its really not worth the hassle!
2006-09-19 09:45:08 · answer #1 · answered by gromitski 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends really - there are loads of suburbs out in the Metropolitan/Essex area, or you can plump for south east London - both sets of surburbs are kind of similar. Check out upmystreet.com for more info.
Commuting - stick to Essex and you can either drive it or catch the District line into Whitechapel. South of the river - you're going to have to use the Blackwall tunnel, which is a terrible commute, or you could get a train to New Cross and hop up the east London line.
2006-09-19 16:38:19 · answer #2 · answered by gerbiltamer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would make sense to go Essex as it would reduce your commute time. You can get a Commuter train to Stratford, cross the platform on to the Central Line, go one stop to Mile End, cross the platform on to the District 2 stops to Whitechapel
It would be insane to go South of the Thames as the East London line will be closing next year for a rebuild taking 18 months (being converted to National Rail standards as part of the major extention under construction).
2006-09-20 02:32:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Based on personal experience of trying to get around London - I only just got through the Rotherhithe tunnel when the tubes were on strike back in the 80's and east London 'gridlocked' If you are going to work in east London, stay that side of the river because it is all the crossing points were the bottlenecks happen
2006-09-20 04:02:18 · answer #4 · answered by william john l 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Considering commuting into London by car is a f*cking stupid idea for a start!
2006-09-19 16:35:50 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
best location would be in essex but commuting anwhere in london is a headachea.
2006-09-21 12:21:00 · answer #6 · answered by siddy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
croydon
2006-09-19 16:51:09 · answer #7 · answered by LOL 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋