London

D

DanMcD

At the Start
Joined
May 20, 2003
Messages
41
Alrighty folks, just mulling over my options and seriously considering a move to London in the September of 2005,

What about it then?

What kind of place is it to live in? I'm sure the likes of Bar The Bull would know, being Irish and moving over there; I'm truly not sure which of the rest of our contributors live in the city
 
Expensive - £3 a pint :(

It has always had its attractions for me and i'd like to live there in the future sometime. Depends on which part of London you go to, it's not like most cities in that it's got a variety of centres rolled into a city if that makes sense?
There's no "town" as such just areas like Kingston, Liverpool Street etc.

Hope that's of slight use.

Good luck Dan
Martin
 
I’m your man for advice about moving to London. Here are a few words of advice:

London is a prohibitively expensive city. If you are moving over there, I urge you to try and sort a job out before you get there. Rent, transport, food and pints are all more expensive than even Dublin. If you spend say six weeks hunting for a job, you will probably spend the guts of a grand sterling if you are budgeting. And that’s before you put a rental deposit down for your gaff and pay your first month’s rent.

However, London is a great place to live if you have a regular pay-cheque. Money is generally good, and there is no shortage of places to spend it. I moved to London when I was quite young, but soon realised that the best places to go out are not in the West End, but in the inner suburbs. There are some great bars in the Old Street area, and a rake of decent boozers around Clapham and Balham. Islington/Angel is another top area, and I believe Shepherd’s Bush is great. Lots of other suburbs have good pubs; the kind of place where you can strike up great friendships with the bar staff and landlord, if you spend enough time in there (which I did).

As regards clubs, if you’re looking for your ride, go along to The Swan in Stockwell, if you are looking for dance clubs there are many (I used to go to Fabric in Clerkenwell), if you are looking for cheesy bars, they are ten-a-penny

I found the first year or so a bit lonely in London, but soon developed a decent bunch of mates. I’ll be back there from August, and there are lots of great racecourses nearby, so you won’t be bored most Saturdays at least. I probably go once a month or six weeks when in London.

As regards areas to live, I have lived in four different areas in my time in London:
Hackney – The downer is that it is not on a tube line. The trains are okay, but being on a tube is far preferable if you are in inner London. Hackney has some good bars and cheap restaurants, but many people find this place a bit too rough and ready.
Whitechapel – This is an up and coming area. I was able to walk into my job in the city in 15 mins. It is well serviced by tubes, but it can be eerily quiet at weekends and there are dodgy parts. On the plus side, you are close to Brick Lane (curries), Old Street (nightspots) and my snooker club on the Mile End Road
Clapham/Brixton – Clapham is a fairly expensive area, but it is well serviced by tubes (most parts) or trains (if you are near Clapham Junction). I got a bit pissed off with all the trendy bars and restaurants, but there are still a few decent spots. Brixton can be dangerous, but there are a few gems of bars if you know where to look.
Tooting – This is further south than Clapham. I preferred it to Clapham as it was quieter, less expensive and most importantly, the trains are full by the time they get to Clapham, but in Tooting you don’t have to push grannies out of the way to squeeze on.

Overall, I love London, which is why myself and the missus are going back for a couple of years.

Hope this helps. PM me if you want any more info, or have any questions.
 
Cheers Bar, that is very interesting and helpful,

No doubt I'll be in touch closer to the time if I decide to go through with it. I have work sorted out pretty much already although I'm probably only planning to pass through for a year to make the most of it although, if I did like it, I might end up there when I get back from Australia [which is also my plan!]
 
Spent my first 18 years living half an hour from London and then six months in 1998 doing pupillage - that taught me that London is no fun if you have no money -could not wait to get back north .

I was very tempted to stay for one reason alone - it is the place to be at the Bar but other factors outweighed it despite an offer of a tenancy at an excellent set - and I can still specialise up in Manchester and have done some very decent appeal cases over the last three years too .
 
I've never lived in London but I have plenty of friends who have lived there - prohibitively expensive doesn't even start to describe it! A couple of my friends were living there about 2-3 years ago & were paying around £1500 a month rent on a one bed flat in Covent Garden. They didn't stick around for long, went to Guildford for a bit then returned to Plymouth. Personally, I'd struggle to live in the UK at the moment as it's so expensive, coming from the Newbury-Reading area prices are very steep there too as it's part of the M4 corridor.
 
Thats interesting - its the same with journalism as well for me a bit Ardross, London is kinda the place to be,

Interesting to hear yer from the Newbury-Reading area Shadow. My sister is marrying a guy from Newbury in March and my brother lives in Pangbourne - nice enough area but can see why it would be pricy.
 
Pangbourne's a lovely little village....but very overpriced. Where I was brought up is about 15 minutes away from Pangbourne, a village called Beenham.
 
Dan, come and live in bohemian Brighton, along with lots of radio, tv, journo, thespian, and arts and crafts types! There's a terrific rail service to London every few minutes. Rents are not low, but much lower than for the equivalent in London, and you've got lots of racing nearby enough! Plumpton - about 45 minutes, Fontwell 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on time/traffic, Goodwood only 10 minutes further from Fontwell, Lingfield 50-60 minutes, and Brighton on the doorstep!

There are literally HUNDREDS of cafes, bars, night clubs, dance clubs, all kinds of music scenes, several theatrical venues, comedy bars, and the vibe is really very warm and welcoming to anyone and everyone. Why, we probably have at least three Irishmen here already!

Hundreds of Brightonians commute to the metropolis daily and the service is very clean and efficient. If you want me to, I can send you a few local papers and you can see what a very upbeat place it is, with very low rates of crime. You feel very safe at night walking about, and no-one in the town bothers with car or home alarms. Folks in the suburbs, with big houses and cars to match, will alarm their places, but then I guess they have to for insurance purposes.

I wouldn't bother with London as a living base - work there, but live here! :D
 
Do you work for the Brighton Tourist Board Kriz?! That's a very impressive sell!

Ah unfortunately in my work I'd be workin a lot of late nights, at games and that...so commuting doesn't appeal to me in that respect. Unfortunately, from growing up in a very quiet area, it's turned me into a complete city kind of person

I love Dublin, and I think I'd like to have a taste of London as well - living right in the heart of it. Food for thought tho
 
I have friends living in Notting Hill and Chiswick, Dan. If you'd like any info from them, I can give you their phone numbers and you can give them a call and get a first-hand handle on what you need to know. They could also e-mail or snail mail you useful stuff (i.e. letting agents' ads, names, etc.) if you like. They're very nice people and would be pleased to help.
 
Cheers Kriz, all very helpful,

What I've found about Dublin since I've started earning is that it is not particularly expensive roughly compared to the cost of living but at the same time I'm not looking for houses, mortgates yet etc. As a student, its an absolute nightmare but I think if you're a young worker with not too many commitments its still actually tolerable. I'd imagine that London will be the same.

Yet when you've been to Eastern Europe...
 
I lived in London from 1984-2002, from the ages of 21 to 39.

London is great when you're young providing, as Ardross - who by the sounds of it once encroached the inner boundary of the M25 by mistake before beating a hasty retreat to the former Steel City :lol: - points out, you are solvent.

Great variety of restaurants from the opulent (no doubt patronised by Lord Hartigan of Sarray) to the more avant garde and minimalist (and downright ''roughing it'' dives :lol:) patronised by the likes of scumbags like myself, and more cinemas, theatre and clubs of every musical persuasion than you could shake a copy of Time Out at.

However, IMO it is no place to bring up a child and, though, I miss some of my old eaterie haunts, I don't miss the old Metropolis itself.

Btw, it's probably also the best place in the UK to live if you aspire to one day being the victim of a terrorist attack by Al-Quaeda.

Enjoy. :lol:
 
I was brought up in the suburbs - somewhere in between Edgware, Burnt Oak and Queensbury. It was OK but not very exciting. When I eventually left home I bought a place in Beckton in dockland and that wasn't very exciting either, although I made a nice profit on the place.

I prefer North to South and West to East. Transport is better in the North/West and it's a bit more cultured. Places like Chiswick, Shepherds Bush & Richmond are nice and there's lots to do but they are probably quite expensive. Try and get somewhere near the tube and then you might not need a car.
 
I couldn't imagine myself ever living in a big city (permanently).

I've always lived in a semi-rural area. My house during childhood overlooked a cowfield. My first house when married backed on to one. I live on the outskirts of a market-town less than a minute from fields.

I lived in Barcelona for a year and enjoyed it but couldn't ever live permanently in such a big place. I've visisted my brother in London several times and can't fathom why he (or anybody) lives there.

Too big, too noisy, too unfriendly, too dirty.

And for the price of a semi you could get a five-bed villa in my area and the fresh air to enjoy it.
 
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