It's worth a shot to ask for some input on BS. I am preparing to move to London in August to teach for a year. I have bought some books on London and I am overwhelmed in choosing an area to live in. London itself is overwhelming! I would love some input on where I would feel most comfortable and at ease. I am a 25 year old single girl. Right now I live in an area that has a younger vibe and a great nitelife. I would love to find a place a lot like this in London. A younger, more cosmopolitan area that is affordable (from what I have been reading, these places are hard to come by in London!) I haven't gotten a job assignment yet, so that will be a huge part of my decision where to live. Any input would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank You!
I can't really offer much, but if the Tube rush hour traffic is any indication you should probably start with the suburbs and go out from there. Looks like there's a lot of residential near Heathrow. North London is probably ok, I don't think that's the nicest neighborhood (Islington, Highbury) but it looks like that might be affordable (meaning theres a lot of houses but not a lot of nice cars)
Actually Islington is quite an affluent area to live in. But if you want trendy and lively, I'd go for Shepards Bush, Acton, Hammersmith, Fulham. They are pretty close to the centre, yet have good nightliife scene's in their own right. If you want any info re property I'm more than happy to help, Im a partner in a Real Estate Agency in North London, so I kinda know the area's from that perspective. Drop me a PM.
Thanks guys, I appreciate it! I will PM you Rick. I will be out of the country until the middle of April so expect to hear from me then! Keep the suggestions coming guys! Pete, I'm probably gonna be a Fulham girl! (Fire loyalty)
FULHAM!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!! Arsenal is the way forward me dear!!!!! I'll even get you a ticket to a game......
LOL, make sure you get in touch with me when you arrive. I'm th Ticket Liason for Arsenal America with the club, so I'll get you a ticket to a match or two. The atmousphere will be far better than Fulham!! Plus we have 2 Americans who play for us!!
So does Fulham, and those two are actually in the first team. But Rick is right, Arsenal is the way to go. My first Arsenal game sparked my love for pro soccer, which has become a passion in my life. And you have to see Highbury (stadium tour and everything) before it gets turned into flats. And Arsenal fans are some of coolest people I've ever met.
When I was there i lived in Colindale, which isn't the best neighborhood but is affordable... went to school in golders green though, which is very nice.. hampstead is cool also. belsize park might be a little pricey.. i really enjoyed the area around Camden Town, don't know what it would be price-wise though.
having just got back to london from a holiday which included a visit to san diego my recommendation is to stay in san diego which is far nicer than london, or most other cities i've been to for that matter. failing that: the website www.moveflat.org is useful - it's an advertising board of vacant rooms in shared houses, even if you don't use it to find somewhere to live it will give you an idea of what is available in which areas and at what price. your budget will define which areas you can choose from as the prices within each area don't tend to deviate much (and from the months on end i have spent flathunting i can tell you that if you find something cheap within a decent area it will most likely be a dive and if not the competition for it will be huge). there is a similar service on www.loot.com but it's not as good in my view (although it is much higher volume). i'm 25 and have lived in london since i was 18 - areas i've been in are elephant and castle, oval, clapham, leyton, wandsworth common, bloomsbury, camden and currently sidcup. i would definately recommend avoiding leyton as it is a dump and bloomsbury as prices are through the roof. clapham usually gets cited as a place with good nightlife, but in reality it is choc full of rugby playing idiots called tarquin, and very expensive. also all the bars are so full that you cant actually move, or communicate. the favourite place i have lived was wandsworth common by a mile, decent nightlife, good housing, good transport links, a lump of open green space on your doorstep and pretty upmarket. however, if you're teaching in a school this might be out of your price range as you're unlikely to get anything there for less than £500 a month (for a room not a flat) not including bills. london's a pretty impersonal place - don't expect to be able to turn up in a youngish neighbourhood and spontaneously develop a decent social life within a couple of weeks like you can in other places. for instance your neighbours will not talk to you unless you make them. for this reason unless you already know a few people in london whose social circle you can gatecrash, your best bet is to move into a shared house with 3 or 4 other people the same age as you already living in it (this is help you with cost too - you're unlikely to be able to afford your own house unless you have means beyond your salary - not trying to be patronising just iterating the sad fact that london rental prices are extreme). expect any area you do live in to be a cobbled together mix of affluent royalty living in seven storey town houses not working and driving porshe cayennes and other completely unwarranted 4x4 vehicles, houses divided up into flats crammed full of well off young professionals with crap haircuts and tatty council housing interspersed with kebab shops, with a few obnoxious students thrown in for good measure. it's pretty difficult to pin down any area that is exclusively nice, even most of the richest areas have comparatively deprived estates a few streets away, and by contrast property developers have moved into almost all of the traditionally scummy parts of london and thrown up new build housing so it's a real mixed bag.
oh and if you can try to get something sorted out as early in august as possible. september is extremely busy for the rental market because of the huge numbers of students who live in london - and they'll all be looking for houses for the start of the new academic year from august onwards. demand tends to outstrip supply.
Completly agree. In London, nobody will give you the time of day unless you make the effort. It's not a nice place to start on your own......