OT: wheres good to live in London?

[sunil panchal]

X-No-Archive: Yes

hi everyone,

have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon. It
seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london here... so the
questions are:

a.) are there any areas that you like or that you'd recommend moving to at
the mo? and why?

b.) where do you live... do you like it there? pros and cons?

c.) my new job is in southwark, should i live as close as possible or is
living nearby not really critical due to transport links? is there a maximum
distance away on the tube that i should live in order not to make it too
time consuming to get to work in the mornings?

d.) what level of rent is typical in London? ideally i'm trying to minimize
what i pay. of course my experience of paying rent at uni in Durham is going
to be no use at all to me now... 250 a month all bills included i was
paying in my 3rd year, ah happy days!

e.) is housesharing with random folk (e.g. after answering an advert
offering a room for rent) recommended or would you only ever houseshare with
your mates? or is it better to fork a little more to have your own place?

thanks in advance for your musings on these questions...

from sunil

[cowboy carl]

Post by sunil panchal
X-No-Archive: Yes
hi everyone,

hi and welcome back!

Post by sunil panchal
have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon. It
seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london here... so the
a.) are there any areas that you like or that you'd recommend moving to at
the mo? and why?
b.) where do you live... do you like it there? pros and cons?

i'm living in hammersmith, lots of imperial students tend to live around
here (i.e. a lot of my friends are relatively close by). it's good because
it's like a town with a high street (called king street) with all the major
shops on, and then there are other roads with lots of takeaway/delivery
places.

bad sides ... ermm ... expensive ... i'm paying about £85 a week and that's
to a friend who's parents bought the place [hence cheap], so i'm in a really
nice house (on the inside anyway) and sharing with just 2 other people.

Post by sunil panchal
c.) my new job is in southwark, should i live as close as possible or is
living nearby not really critical due to transport links? is there a maximum
distance away on the tube that i should live in order not to make it too
time consuming to get to work in the mornings?

it's not too crucial to live close, transport can be expensive (~£75-80 a
month for a zones 1-2 travel card) but commuting can be kinda fun. living
anywhere outside of zone 2 is cheaper for rent, but more expensive for
travel and will take considerably longer to get to work.

i guess it's a balance between how long a commute you want, and how
cheap/nice an area you want to live in.

Post by sunil panchal
d.) what level of rent is typical in London? ideally i'm trying to minimize
what i pay. of course my experience of paying rent at uni in Durham is going
to be no use at all to me now... 250 a month all bills included i was
paying in my 3rd year, ah happy days!

as i said earlier, i'm paying £85ish a week for a fairly big room in a house
shared with 2 others, and that is *excellent* value. normally i guess a
room like i'm in would go for around £120.

of course, it's possible to get lucky, or unlucky. find a bargain, or get
ripped off.

IC students often live 6-8 in a house, each paying £80-90 for smallish rooms
and crappy desks.

i'm not sure what "professionals" pay and where they live, but i guess if i
had a job in london, i'd be looking to pay around £150 a week and sharing
with as few people as possible, in order to maintain my current level of
comfort. so hopefully i'm gonna get a decent job!

Post by sunil panchal
e.) is housesharing with random folk (e.g. after answering an advert
offering a room for rent) recommended or would you only ever houseshare with
your mates? or is it better to fork a little more to have your own place?

i personally would only share with people i know. in my second year, i was
sharing with people i didn't know very well, but it turned out really good,
but i think i was lucky. i have heard lots of horror stories about house
mates, and london people can be espescially strange.


hope what i said was in some way helpful...


cc

[sunil panchal]

Post by cowboy carl

Post by sunil panchal
X-No-Archive: Yes
hi everyone,

hi and welcome back!

ta very much...

Post by cowboy carl

Post by sunil panchal
c.) my new job is in southwark, should i live as close as possible or is
living nearby not really critical due to transport links? is there a maximum
distance away on the tube that i should live in order not to make it too
time consuming to get to work in the mornings?

it's not too crucial to live close, transport can be expensive (~£75-80 a
month for a zones 1-2 travel card) but commuting can be kinda fun. living
anywhere outside of zone 2 is cheaper for rent, but more expensive for
travel and will take considerably longer to get to work.
i guess it's a balance between how long a commute you want, and how
cheap/nice an area you want to live in.

from my initial research, it does appear that there a few options for
suitable areas in terms of costs within zone 2. i would say the last thing i
want is a long commute... a short one on the tube or normal rail is fine and
i guess in london there's just no avoiding the cost of having to get from A
to B frequently. maybe a monthly travelcard becomes worth it as it
encompasses more than the daily commute e.g. getting around in the evening
and weekends too?

well i suppose at the moment living somewhere that isn't downright seedy or
dangerous for crime etc etc while at the same time affordable comes higher
up the list than being 'nice'.

Post by cowboy carl

Post by sunil panchal
d.) what level of rent is typical in London? ideally i'm trying to minimize
what i pay. of course my experience of paying rent at uni in Durham is going
to be no use at all to me now... 250 a month all bills included i was
paying in my 3rd year, ah happy days!

as i said earlier, i'm paying £85ish a week for a fairly big room in a house
shared with 2 others, and that is *excellent* value. normally i guess a
room like i'm in would go for around £120.
of course, it's possible to get lucky, or unlucky. find a bargain, or get
ripped off.
IC students often live 6-8 in a house, each paying £80-90 for smallish rooms
and crappy desks.
i'm not sure what "professionals" pay and where they live, but i guess if i
had a job in london, i'd be looking to pay around £150 a week and sharing
with as few people as possible, in order to maintain my current level of
comfort. so hopefully i'm gonna get a decent job!

Post by sunil panchal
e.) is housesharing with random folk (e.g. after answering an advert
offering a room for rent) recommended or would you only ever houseshare with
your mates? or is it better to fork a little more to have your own place?

i personally would only share with people i know. in my second year, i was
sharing with people i didn't know very well, but it turned out really good,
but i think i was lucky. i have heard lots of horror stories about house
mates, and london people can be espescially strange.
hope what i said was in some way helpful...
cc

[sunil panchal]

y'know, i had planned to write more than i did... but in that 'guess what
the app does without reading the help files' type scenario i hit 'send
later' (outlook express) rather than a save draft type thing. then the app
went and sent it before i had a chance to finish off my post.

i shall

when

[sunil panchal]

Post by sunil panchal
y'know, i had planned to write more than i did... but in that 'guess what
the app does without reading the help files' type scenario i hit 'send
later' (outlook express) rather than a save draft type thing. then the app
went and sent it before i had a chance to finish off my post.
i shall
when

a lesson to us all.... don't use computers when drunk.

from sunil

p.s. phew, a post completed in whole. my integrity remains intact :-)

[Alex Warren]

Post by sunil panchal
have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon. It
seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london here... so the
a.) are there any areas that you like or that you'd recommend moving to at
the mo? and why?

It depends where you work. In every area of London there are parts that are
nice, and parts that are nasty, only a couple of hundred yards away from each
other. Some parts are more nice than nasty, but you probably can't afford to
live there. Some parts are more nasty than nice, e.g. personally I would never
consider moving to Peckham. You've just got to go and look around some places
really to get a feel for these things.

Post by sunil panchal
b.) where do you live... do you like it there? pros and cons?

I live in Acton, and I like it. I live in quite a nice part, but if I go up the
road it's not so nice.

Post by sunil panchal
c.) my new job is in southwark, should i live as close as possible or is
living nearby not really critical due to transport links? is there a maximum
distance away on the tube that i should live in order not to make it too
time consuming to get to work in the mornings?

If you're working in Southwark I'd definitely consider looking around Clapham.
There are some rough council estates but there are quite a few nice places. The
thing is there is really no price difference between them either.

You can get an idea of journey times on the TfL Journey Planner at
www.tfl.gov.uk. You don't really want to live more than an hour away from where
you work, I reckon, because it will just tire you out.

Post by sunil panchal
d.) what level of rent is typical in London? ideally i'm trying to minimize
what i pay. of course my experience of paying rent at uni in Durham is going
to be no use at all to me now... 250 a month all bills included i was
paying in my 3rd year, ah happy days!

Depends on the area and what you're renting. You can probably find a room in a
cheap flatshare for about £390 a month or so. I'm paying £475 a month, sharing a
small terraced house with one other person. Of course there's no upper limit to
rent - since you know what your job is (and hence presumably your pay), I'd sit
down and work out how much you can afford a month, and then take a look on
www.findaproperty.com and see what you can get.

Post by sunil panchal
e.) is housesharing with random folk (e.g. after answering an advert
offering a room for rent) recommended or would you only ever houseshare with
your mates? or is it better to fork a little more to have your own place?

I only have experience of sharing with people that I know, and sometimes that's
been good and sometimes bad. I haven't heard many tales of woe from people
sharing with ex-strangers - yet. Plenty of people seem to get by, and it's a way
to meet new people. So I wouldn't be too scared of it, and it will be cheaper
than renting your own place.


Alex

[sunil panchal]

Post by Alex Warren

Post by sunil panchal
c.) my new job is in southwark, should i live as close as possible or is
living nearby not really critical due to transport links? is there a maximum
distance away on the tube that i should live in order not to make it too
time consuming to get to work in the mornings?

If you're working in Southwark I'd definitely consider looking around Clapham.
There are some rough council estates but there are quite a few nice places. The
thing is there is really no price difference between them either.

it seems a good few of my mates from durham compsci have settled around
balham. i'm definitely viewing that area as a strong possiblity, as the
rents my mates there are paying seem to be in line with what i think i could
cope with (£110 to 140ish a week, the higher end of that scale for a one
person bedsit).

Post by Alex Warren
You can get an idea of journey times on the TfL Journey Planner at
www.tfl.gov.uk. You don't really want to live more than an hour away from where
you work, I reckon, because it will just tire you out.

yep, i can appreciate that. also i wouldn't want to be having to get up and
out of the door in the morning ridiculously early either.

Post by Alex Warren

Post by sunil panchal
d.) what level of rent is typical in London?

Depends on the area and what you're renting. You can probably find a room in a
cheap flatshare for about £390 a month or so. I'm paying £475 a month, sharing a
small terraced house with one other person. Of course there's no upper limit to
rent - since you know what your job is (and hence presumably your pay), I'd sit
down and work out how much you can afford a month, and then take a look on
www.findaproperty.com and see what you can get.

ta for the link. will have a look once i've sent this!

Post by Alex Warren

Post by sunil panchal
e.) is housesharing with random folk (e.g. after answering an advert
offering a room for rent) recommended or would you only ever houseshare with
your mates? or is it better to fork a little more to have your own place?

I only have experience of sharing with people that I know, and sometimes that's
been good and sometimes bad. I haven't heard many tales of woe from people
sharing with ex-strangers - yet. Plenty of people seem to get by, and it's a way
to meet new people. So I wouldn't be too scared of it, and it will be cheaper
than renting your own place.

yep. having not shared with random people before i'd say i would class it
as potentially a tad 'scary' to dive into! however a friend of mine back
home in cambridge houseshares and i've met his housemates and they seemed
like normal folks i'd have no problem getting on with so as you say, nothing
to be too scared of.

i suppose at a bare minimum all you 'need' to do is 'get by' with your
housemates? theres no unwritten law that says your housemates need to become
your best mates just cos you share a place with them. but if you happen to
enjoy the same stuff, can have fun and become friends, all the better...

from sunil

[Matthew Huntbach]

Post by sunil panchal
hi everyone,
have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon. It
seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london here... so the
a.) are there any areas that you like or that you'd recommend moving to at
the mo? and why?

When you move to London, the first thing you need to ask is not "where is
nice to live?" but "where can I afford to live?". The chances are that
you would not be able to afford to live in the really nice places, so
will have to choose between boring outer suburbs or rather grimy but
slightly more central areas.

Post by sunil panchal
b.) where do you live... do you like it there? pros and cons?

I live in Grove Park in south-east London. It's a boring suburb, about
midway between up-market but more remote Bromley, and down-market but
more central Lewisham.

Post by sunil panchal
c.) my new job is in southwark, should i live as close as possible or is
living nearby not really critical due to transport links? is there a maximum
distance away on the tube that i should live in order not to make it too
time consuming to get to work in the mornings?

There you go, making one of the most common mistakes - thinking of London in
terms of the tube map. The tube system is biased towards northern and
western London which tend to be more expensive than southern and eastern
London. There are large parts of London, including almost all of the
south-east quarter, which are not covered by the tube system, instead
travel to central London is by overground rail.

Since your job actually is in south London, albeit the most central part
of south London, it probably doesn't make sense to live in north London
unless you particularly fancy it. Somewhere in south London would be both
cheaper and easier for travel. You probably could find somewhere close to
where you work to live, but it might not be very nice. But Southwark would
be reachable on a commuter journey from almost anywhere in south-east London.
Most people who live in the outer suburbs just accept they may have
a journey time of half an hour to an hour to get to work. The overground
rail services in south-east London can be quick, but they aren't as
frequent as the tube lines. It takes me 15 minutes to get by rail from
Grove Park to London Bridge station, but off-peak there are only two trains
an hour, peak times there are more but they are crowded. I then walk
across London Bridge and take the tube east to Stepney Green where I
work, which altogether takes another half hour. Traveling to Southwark,
however would be much easier..

Post by sunil panchal
d.) what level of rent is typical in London? ideally i'm trying to minimize
what i pay. of course my experience of paying rent at uni in Durham is going
to be no use at all to me now... 250 a month all bills included i was
paying in my 3rd year, ah happy days!

It depends what you are considering renting. If you're looking for something
self-contained, you won't fin d much for under 150 pounds a week, but a
room in a shared house would be cheaper.

Post by sunil panchal
e.) is housesharing with random folk (e.g. after answering an advert
offering a room for rent) recommended or would you only ever houseshare with
your mates? or is it better to fork a little more to have your own place?

Depends on what sort of person you are. If you're the sort of person that
mixes well, a room in a shared house may well be an excellent way to get
to meet people and build up a social life. However, if you value your own
privacy and don't mind solitude, you might prefer to pay extra for a place
of your own.

Matthew Huntbach

[Eatmorepies]

It takes me 15 minutes to get by rail from

Post by Matthew Huntbach
Grove Park to London Bridge station, but off-peak there are only two trains
an hour, peak times there are more but they are crowded. I then walk
across London Bridge and take the tube east to Stepney Green where I
work, which altogether takes another half hour. Traveling to Southwark,
however would be much easier..

Such stats do make me wonder why people live in London.

Two hours to get to work and back? 14 minutes a day for me, and I am 6 miles
from work.

Rent at 150ukp a week for one room? A friend has a 3 bedroom house by a
babbling brook that he lets for 660ukp a month to include poll tax, phone,
oil, electricity and gas; parking for 5 cars, a big shed and a 0.3 acre
lawn.

I confess that London has some attractions. As the rail fare from my village
is 27 ukp return per person, Janet and I visit London in February and poke
around the exhibitions and such - 5 days does me.

John

[Eatmorepies]

It takes me 15 minutes to get by rail from

Post by Matthew Huntbach
Grove Park to London Bridge station, but off-peak there are only two trains
an hour, peak times there are more but they are crowded. I then walk
across London Bridge and take the tube east to Stepney Green where I
work, which altogether takes another half hour. Traveling to Southwark,
however would be much easier..

Such stats do make me wonder why people live in London.

Two hours to get to work and back? 14 minutes a day for me, and I am 6 miles
from work.

Rent at 150ukp a week for one room? A friend has a 3 bedroom house by a
babbling brook that he lets for 660ukp a month to include poll tax, phone,
oil, electricity and gas; parking for 5 cars, a big shed and a 0.3 acre
lawn.

I confess that London has some attractions. As the rail fare from my village
is 27 ukp return per person, Janet and I visit London in February and poke
around the exhibitions and such - 5 days does me.

John

[Eatmorepies]

It takes me 15 minutes to get by rail from

Post by Matthew Huntbach
Grove Park to London Bridge station, but off-peak there are only two trains
an hour, peak times there are more but they are crowded. I then walk
across London Bridge and take the tube east to Stepney Green where I
work, which altogether takes another half hour. Traveling to Southwark,
however would be much easier..

Such stats do make me wonder why people live in London.

Two hours to get to work and back? 14 minutes a day for me, and I am 6 miles
from work.

Rent at 150ukp a week for one room? A friend has a 3 bedroom house by a
babbling brook that he lets for 660ukp a month to include poll tax, phone,
oil, electricity and gas; parking for 5 cars, a big shed and a 0.3 acre
lawn.

I confess that London has some attractions. As the rail fare from my village
is 27 ukp return per person, Janet and I visit London in February and poke
around the exhibitions and such - 5 days does me.

John

[jess]

Post by Eatmorepies
Two hours to get to work and back? 14 minutes a day for me,

it takes less than 5 mins for me to walk to work.

beat that.

[Matthew Huntbach]

Post by Eatmorepies

Post by Matthew Huntbach
It takes me 15 minutes to get by rail from
Grove Park to London Bridge station, but off-peak there are only two
trains an hour, peak times there are more but they are crowded. I then walk
across London Bridge and take the tube east to Stepney Green where I
work, which altogether takes another half hour. Traveling to Southwark,
however would be much easier..

Such stats do make me wonder why people live in London.
Two hours to get to work and back? 14 minutes a day for me, and I am 6 miles
from work.

More like one and a half hours for me. Plus I live in south-east
London partly for family reasons. If I lived in east London I culd
have a much shorter travelling time.

The main reason for living in London is there's a huge job choice. As
an academic, if I lived anywhere else the only place I could work
would be my local university, I wouldn't have the choice of the large
number of university institutions that exist in London.

Plus you may be lucky to live a short convenient drive from work, not
everyone who works outside London has it so easy. In fact my 3/4 hour
journey time is similar to what I experienced in the two times I
worked/studied outside London.

Matthew Huntbach

[cowboy carl]

Post by Matthew Huntbach

Post by Eatmorepies

Post by Matthew Huntbach
It takes me 15 minutes to get by rail from
Grove Park to London Bridge station, but off-peak there are only two
trains an hour, peak times there are more but they are crowded. I then walk
across London Bridge and take the tube east to Stepney Green where I
work, which altogether takes another half hour. Traveling to Southwark,
however would be much easier..

Such stats do make me wonder why people live in London.
Two hours to get to work and back? 14 minutes a day for me, and I am 6 miles
from work.

More like one and a half hours for me. Plus I live in south-east
London partly for family reasons. If I lived in east London I culd
have a much shorter travelling time.
The main reason for living in London is there's a huge job choice. As
an academic, if I lived anywhere else the only place I could work
would be my local university, I wouldn't have the choice of the large
number of university institutions that exist in London.
Plus you may be lucky to live a short convenient drive from work, not
everyone who works outside London has it so easy. In fact my 3/4 hour
journey time is similar to what I experienced in the two times I
worked/studied outside London.

my dad has a 5 second commute to work, since he works from home ;)

but before that, living outside london, he still had a 45 minute drive to
work and the same again back every day.

the difference is, he would travel maybe 40 miles in that time, whereas in
london, it takes the same amount of time to cover 5 miles.

cc

[Dr A. N. Walker]

[...]. As
an academic, if I lived anywhere else the only place I could work
would be my local university, I wouldn't have the choice of the large
number of university institutions that exist in London.
Plus you may be lucky to live a short convenient drive from work, not
everyone who works outside London has it so easy. In fact my 3/4 hour
journey time is similar to what I experienced in the two times I
worked/studied outside London.

Hmm. In the rest of the UK, you would have to stick a pin
in the map fairly carefully to *avoid* being within a 45 min drive
of a university, the very remotest parts of Scotland, Cornwall [etc]
excepted.

From my office, I am within a 45 min drive of three other
univs [and several other HE institutions]. There is no doubt some
spot near Loughborough that is well within that distance of Nott'm,
Leic'r and most of B'ham, giving access to Nott'm, Trent, L'bro,
Leic'r, deM't, Derby, Warwick, Coventry, B'ham, Aston and perhaps
others I've forgotten. And even that is ignoring [again] the HE
colleges and the "outstations" [eg, Nott'm has campuses in Derby
and near L'bro]. Is that not at least comparable in quantity and
quality with what you could achieve in 45 mins in London?

From my home, a 10-min walk would [easily] get me to anywhere
in the city centre, inc Trent and parts of this univ, plus several
other major educational establishments, plus the main railway and
bus stations, all major shops, theatres, cinemas, restaurants, blah.
A 15-min drive gets me anywhere in the built-up area [exc at rush
hour]. Much the same will be true of city-centre living in scores
of UK cities; you might have to go to a 30-min drive in a few of
the largest.

Or you could live in the country; there are scores of
pretty villages [and some not so pretty] within [say] 10 miles
of this university. Again, the same will apply to most univs
in [or outside] most cities. Of course, from the city centre,
I don't need to drive anywhere to get *some* of the benefits;
from my bedroom window, I look out on trees, castles, hills,
fields, woods, and universities.

I like visiting London. It has sights, museums, shows
and bright lights generally. But I can't even begin to imagine
wanting to *live* there; noisy, expensive, smelly, mile upon
mile of boring suburbs. The womenfolk used to say how much
better London was for shopping; but that ceased to be true
some years ago, given that all shopping malls and high streets
are essentially identical.

[jess]

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
The womenfolk used to say how much
better London was for shopping; but that ceased to be true
some years ago, given that all shopping malls and high streets
are essentially identical.

good shopping isn't about malls and high streets though ;o)

[cowboy carl]

Post by jess

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
The womenfolk used to say how much
better London was for shopping; but that ceased to be true
some years ago, given that all shopping malls and high streets
are essentially identical.

good shopping isn't about malls and high streets though ;o)

agreed, london has some awesome wikkid shops.

like this button shop i went to once.

loads of buttons, everywhere.

and the ralph lauren shop on new bond street is simply divine.

cc

[jess]

Post by cowboy carl

Post by jess

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
The womenfolk used to say how much
better London was for shopping; but that ceased to be true
some years ago, given that all shopping malls and high streets
are essentially identical.

good shopping isn't about malls and high streets though ;o)

agreed, london has some awesome wikkid shops.
like this button shop i went to once.
loads of buttons, everywhere.
and the ralph lauren shop on new bond street is simply divine.

libertys chocolate shop is cool aswell.

and fortnum and masons is lovely, me and my sister are gonna go there for
afternoon tea.

[Toby]

Post by jess

Post by cowboy carl

Post by jess

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
The womenfolk used to say how much
better London was for shopping; but that ceased to be true
some years ago, given that all shopping malls and high streets
are essentially identical.

good shopping isn't about malls and high streets though ;o)

agreed, london has some awesome wikkid shops.
like this button shop i went to once.
loads of buttons, everywhere.
and the ralph lauren shop on new bond street is simply divine.

libertys chocolate shop is cool aswell.
and fortnum and masons is lovely, me and my sister are gonna go there for
afternoon tea.

Not the Ritz Tearooms? :P

[Dr A. N. Walker]

Post by jess

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
The womenfolk used to say how much
better London was for shopping; but that ceased to be true
some years ago, given that all shopping malls and high streets
are essentially identical.

good shopping isn't about malls and high streets though ;o)

OK, but time was when people from Nottingham used to go
to Oxford Street to gawp. Last time I went, the only difference
from Nottingham was the number of tourists. Or we used to go to
Harrods/Selfridges/etc, "knowing" that these "superior" shops
were better than anything in the provinces; no longer true. Or
for the restaurants; but the restaurants within a five-minute
walk from my home are just as good as any anywhere apart from
the *really* gourmet Michelin-rated places [which tend to be in
quite random parts of the UK, not particularly in London]. Or
for the fashion shops [well, not *me*]; but [I'm assured] the
designer shops around here are either the same fashion chains
as in London or are small individual shops of the same quality.
Or for the quirky; but again you get these everywhere, just
with different quirks -- you would have to be pretty dedicated
to visit London *just because* you knew of a button shop, and
there's just as likely to be a shop in some random part of the
UK that specialises in Christmas-tree decorations or sticks of
rock or funky paper-clips, and they all have web sites anyway.

[Ian/Cath Ford]

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
Or
for the restaurants; but the restaurants within a five-minute
walk from my home are just as good as any anywhere apart from
the *really* gourmet Michelin-rated places [which tend to be in
quite random parts of the UK, not particularly in London].

True, but the concentration of stars in London is prety high iirc, and
the element of choice is so much greater. In fact, quite probably too
great. Of course, the prices are stupid.

Ian

[Matthew Huntbach]

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
OK, but time was when people from Nottingham used to go
to Oxford Street to gawp. Last time I went, the only difference
from Nottingham was the number of tourists. Or we used to go to
Harrods/Selfridges/etc, "knowing" that these "superior" shops
were better than anything in the provinces; no longer true.

Most people in London wouldn't go to Oxford Street to shop anyway.
We'd go to whatever is the nearest shopping centre where we live in
London, which is likely to have a similar range of shops to a
standard provincial high street. In my case, I'd go to Lewisham
shopping centre for standard weekly shopping, Bromley shopping
centre for larger or more stylish purchases. There's little point
in struggling to central London which is becoming increasingly
run down and unpleasant, and of course you have to go by public
transport.

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
Or for the restaurants; but the restaurants within a five-minute
walk from my home are just as good as any anywhere apart from
the *really* gourmet Michelin-rated places [which tend to be in
quite random parts of the UK, not particularly in London]. Or
for the fashion shops [well, not *me*]; but [I'm assured] the
designer shops around here are either the same fashion chains
as in London or are small individual shops of the same quality.

I am sure our original enquirer, who is struggling to afford the
cheapest self-contained accomodation, is not going to be spending
much time in Michelin-rated restaurants.

Post by Dr A. N. Walker
Or for the quirky; but again you get these everywhere, just
with different quirks -- you would have to be pretty dedicated
to visit London *just because* you knew of a button shop, and
there's just as likely to be a shop in some random part of the
UK that specialises in Christmas-tree decorations or sticks of
rock or funky paper-clips, and they all have web sites anyway.

A lot of these small quirky shops in central London have been forced
out of business by rising rents. They're likely to be located in the
suburbs these days.

In general. my experience is that the longer you live in London, the
less involvement you have with tourist/daytripper London.

Matthew Huntbach

[Eatmorepies]

"Matthew Huntbach" <***@dcs.qmul.ac.uk> wrote in message news:***@frank.dcs.qmul.ac.uk...
Sorry about the multiple messages - XP/IE went wonky for a bit - needed a
hard break to get itself together.

John

[jess]

Post by sunil panchal
X-No-Archive: Yes
hi everyone,
have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon.
It seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london
a.) are there any areas that you like or that you'd recommend moving
to at the mo? and why?

my sister lives in the outskirts of westminster, by pimlico. it's really
lovely round there.

my mate has a flat in islington, it's nice there too, but less central.

[Matthew Huntbach]

Post by jess

Post by sunil panchal
have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon.
It seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london
a.) are there any areas that you like or that you'd recommend moving
to at the mo? and why?

my sister lives in the outskirts of westminster, by pimlico. it's really
lovely round there.

Yes, but it would be out of the question due to the high expense of
living in an area both central and upmarket for anyone who was not
super-rich, or at least prepared to live in much smaller accommodation
than could otherwise be afforded,

Post by jess
my mate has a flat in islington, it's nice there too, but less central.

It's still very central compared to most of London. It's the classic
case of a poor area that has gone up-market - once was a place where
cheap but reasonably central accommodation could be found, now you'd
have to pay quite a lot extra to live there compared to what you'd
have to pay to live somewhere less central and less fashionable.

Matthew Huntbach

[Niall Saville]

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 23:22:13 +0100, "sunil panchal"

Post by sunil panchal
X-No-Archive: Yes
hi everyone,
have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon. It
seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london here... so the

Hello.

Post by sunil panchal
a.) are there any areas that you like or that you'd recommend moving to at
the mo? and why?

Look for good transport links, depending how you want to commute. I
think zone 2 (or 1 if you can afford it!) is good for starting out in
London.

Post by sunil panchal
b.) where do you live... do you like it there? pros and cons?

Between Lewisham and Greenwich. There's not much here, but both New
Cross and Greenwich are ok to go out in, and Blackheath is nice
occasionally too. Transport links rock, and it's very cheap.

Post by sunil panchal
c.) my new job is in southwark, should i live as close as possible or is
living nearby not really critical due to transport links? is there a maximum
distance away on the tube that i should live in order not to make it too
time consuming to get to work in the mornings?

Ha, you don't work for us, do you?

I cycle to work these days, it takes about 25 mins door to door. On
DLR/Train it takes around 30 when everything's working properly.

Post by sunil panchal
d.) what level of rent is typical in London? ideally i'm trying to minimize
what i pay. of course my experience of paying rent at uni in Durham is going
to be no use at all to me now... 250 a month all bills included i was
paying in my 3rd year, ah happy days!

I pay 360 + CT + bills, but that's particularly cheap.

Post by sunil panchal
e.) is housesharing with random folk (e.g. after answering an advert
offering a room for rent) recommended or would you only ever houseshare with
your mates? or is it better to fork a little more to have your own place?

With good mates is good. Be careful if you don't know them well.. in
that case, random folk can sometimes be better.

N

[sunil panchal]

Post by Niall Saville
Ha, you don't work for us, do you?

who do you work for?

from sunil

[sunil panchal]

thanks for all your helpful posts folks, am gratefully soaking in your
experiences and advice.

i have settled on moving to somewhere within a short walk to either tooting
bec, balham or clapham south tube stations, which will put me within walking
distance of my friends in the area. as suggested by some, there is precious
little in the way of self contained places under £150 a week. saw a place
today for a lower than average price but it was awful value, not even a
proper bed or a proper cooker. although i do appreciate that 'you get what
you pay for'...

am trying hard to put together a forecast budget for a weeks spend (e.g.
food shopping, travel, budget for a night or so out per week, etc) to try to
figure out what rent i can afford. usually i end up thinking i could just
about afford £150 a week but then have a big feeling i haven't thought of
all the costs seeing as i haven't the experience of living and working in
london. another part of this uneasy feeling for me i think comes from the
fact that i always prefer to build some decent slack into the plans i make
but i don't feel theres any here... feels a bit too risky!

having mulled over it a lot over the last few days, i am moving away from
thoughts of sharing a house. i just remember the little annoyances that were
there when sharing at uni (irrespective of who it was i was sharing with)...
not being able to put a wash on when i wanted cos the machine was in use,
lots of people packed into the kitchen at dinner time getting in each others
way, and stuff like that. plus stuff that was 'nice' but hassle, e.g. we
used to each cook for the whole house on a sunday once a term each, taking
it in turns. i could do without stuff like that. i'd rather my flat was me
and just me. if i want to see my mates i'll text 'em and see them down the
pub in 20 mins :-)

from sunil

[Andy Tucker]

Post by sunil panchal
X-No-Archive: Yes
hi everyone,
have just got a job in London, so am planning now to move there soon. It
seems theres a handful of post-uni people who work in london here... so the

<de-lurk>

Hi Sunil,

Go on then - spill the beans - who are you working for now?

I've been relatively fortunate in that I've found an absolutely class job
outside London (clue: I now have an @jaguar.com email address in my
possession :-D ). Living in Walsall at the moment and paying £475/month rent
for a nice big modern house - 3 bedrooms, garage, garden etc and close to
the M6. Work's about 25 miles away but it only seems to take 1/2 a hour.

One thing I have noticed though is that living costs with a decent income
seem to be a metric shitload more than being a student for some reason -
things like council tax don't help!

Good luck in your job,

Andy