Where to move to in London thats affordable?

[russycarps]

I dont see the point of living in London unless you can afford to enjoy all the things london has to offer.

[TheGayTent]

People say this a lot and it's mental really. I live 10minutes away from london bridge, or 12 minutes from cannon street. There isnt a tube station anywhere near me. My trains are never late and are never packed like a tube.

Tying yourself to a tube line adds hundreds of pounds onto your rent.

[russycarps]

Yes and no.

I agree that the area of London you live in is well serviced by trains and they aren't as overcrowded as many trains on the underground network. I, for example, commute in and out of Cannon St and rarely fail to get a seat.

But it does all depend on where your regular destinations are going to be. Would it be worth living somewhere without an underground service (and therefore cheaper in rent than a comparable location that was) but then having to spend the difference on travelling on the train and underground network as opposed to just the underground network?

Swings and roundabouts for me - and ultimately will always be a compromise between your regular place of work, cost, journey time, type of accommodation and where you want to live.

Parts of South East London I like, other parts are still very much shitholes.

[Ed209]

People say this a lot and it's mental really. I live 10minutes away from london bridge, or 12 minutes from cannon street. There isnt a tube station anywhere near me. My trains are never late and are never packed like a tube.

Tying yourself to a tube line adds hundreds of pounds onto your rent.

South East London is the only affordable part of london these days, and there are some really nice areas. Hither Green for example.

[Ed209]

I agree, but the SE network goes to london bridge, cannon street, waterloo and charing cross. That covers all of the city and the west end without even needed to touch the tube.

I agree entirely with your assessment of SE London. But the same goes for every area of london really. You are never more than 10minutes away from a million pound mansion or a run down estate no matter where you are.

Trick is to know where the diamonds are amongst the shit.

Places like New Cross would be great for a 20something first timer to london, yet everyone seems to flock to places like Clapham, and pay twice as much. It's mental.

[TheGayTent]

Agreed. Clapham was great 15 years ago, but not now. Sadly, areas of SE London such as Bermondsey Street are going the same way.

Not that it matters much to me anymore - I used to love being in London but these days much prefer living further out. The practicalities of growing up I guess.

[russycarps]

Agree about the costs, but personally I like the added freedom the tube has over the overground. The fact that I can just rock up to my tube station without paying any attention to timetables and know I'm never going to wait much more than a couple of minutes. Having to pay attention to timetables would bug me a little (I'm now conditioned into the mentality of having to wait more than 5 minutes for a train as a drag - anal I know, but I'm like that). Plus living by a tube station means you're on the network straight away, it offers more flexibility in your travel, saving you a few minutes here and there.

So all in all, yes you're right, it is mostly mental, but I am a little mental so its the tube for me.

Saying that, I'm on the victoria line which I reckon is fairly easily the best line in london, and have now just moved to Walthamstow so always get a seat on the way into London. My traveling is fairly manageable compared to others.

[russycarps]

Agreed. Clapham was great 15 years ago, but not now. Sadly, areas of SE London such as Bermondsey Street are going the same way.

Not that it matters much to me anymore - I used to love being in London but these days much prefer living further out. The practicalities of growing up I guess.

[Ed209]

fair enough you live there and have your own reasons, even if they are a little quirky

but I guess it's the out of towners who are new to london that need to realise that you really dont need to live anywhere near a tube line to still be able to get anywhere and everywhere with ease.

I despise having to get on the tube now. I guess you just get used to what you're used to.

I walk everywhere when I'm in central london rather than get the tube. Nowhere is ever more than 30mins away from anywhere else. Wandering around london is one of lifes simple pleasures I reckon (off the beaten track I mean)

[russycarps]

Yeah, OCD's a bitch. Part and parcel of being a mathematician. Everything has to be optimised, from where I stand on the platform to maximise probability of making next connecting train, to where I sit on a tube to minimise the chance of me having to give my seat up for a pregnant woman or elderly person (which I should add am more than happy to do if the situation arises). It can be stressful being me sometimes

[Ed209]

Am with you there Ed. I live in Yorkshire, but if I'm down in the big smoke visiting friends (and that is at most 3 times a year), I still always know where to sit on a train to be nearer the connecting train or station exit at the other end if it's a journey I've made before. But then again I'm an analyst by trade.

Bet you spend ages at the checkouts in supermarkets working out the number of people waiting versus the number of items in trolleys versus assumed efficiency of checkout worker to try and get through the fastest - or is that just me?

[Ed209]

yup, bars is another area where I excel. People can laugh all they want, I'm the one who's got their beer 20 seconds before them. Me and a friend genuinely thought about doing a uni project on modelling bar dynamics. Its actually a complex problem with some very nice maths in there.

As for the missus, at first she found it amusing, then she found it frustrating, now after 9 years she knows to just leave me to it.

[kaosmark2]

Glad I'm not the only one. I just find it bizarre how people can be OK wasting their time instead of getting through queues and transport as efficiently as possible.

[Guest]

Glad I'm not the only one. I just find it bizarre how people can be OK wasting their time instead of getting through queues and transport as efficiently as possible.

[kaosmark2]

'wasting' time..

how do you 'waste' time?

[russycarps]

these tiny snippets of time you save are completely meaningless.

To say you have gained a year (or whatever) by getting off a train early is a nonsense. You cant save up time and add it all up at the end of the year and have a lie in.

[Guest]

Read the 5 posts preceding mine for all the examples. I'm not the only one to have used the phrase.

[Ed209]

these tiny snippets of time you save are completely meaningless.

To say you have gained a year (or whatever) by getting off a train early is a nonsense. You cant save up time and add it all up at the end of the year and have a lie in.

[Ed209]

I wasn't having a go at you, I was concidering the concept of 'wasting' time.

Trying to shave seconds from any given task in the hope that it might amount to a few hours here or there after a year or so of getting stressed, seems like more of a waste of brain power....

[Guest]

I was being silly about the time adding up part, but not at all about trying to optimise a task to minimise time spent on it. And I wouldn't call it a waste of brain power. Its all about problem solving. Making lots of calculations in your head from incoming data from your surrounding environment. Its a very good for the brain, practicing thinking in an analytic way.

[russycarps]

you are all oddballs

[philipsteak]

If it's raining, do you get wetter by walking or running?

[Ted Dansons Wig]

I was being silly about the time adding up part, but not at all about trying to optimise a task to minimise time spent on it. And I wouldn't call it a waste of brain power. Its all about problem solving. Making lots of calculations in your head from incoming data from your surrounding environment. Its a very good for the brain, practicing thinking in an analytic way.

[russycarps]

Enough with this. Tell me more about getting beer quicker, Nice maths?

[Ted Dansons Wig]

And where to stand. Side of the main crush or weedle into the centre? Getting Served - would make a good Adult Education course.