Bromley and South East of London

Soldato
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After recent going on's, I may have to move to South East of London, along the South Eastern line. I'm prinicipally looking near Shortands, Bromley South, Bickley and St. Mary Cray stations and would like to know of your opinions on the area.

Nightlife doesn't concern me, but would like the area to be leafy, safe, clean and have good ammenites.

(I'm currently in Crouch End so something similar would be nice)
 
Soldato
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I live in Bromley, it's a nice area to be honest. Shortlands/Hayes/West Wickham/Bromley Common are good and close. Beckenham is a bit further out but still good. I'd avoid the Cray like the plague though. Any specifics ask away and I'll do what I can

- Pea0n
 
Man of Honour
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Cray is like ***** central.

The nicer are parts are down towards Bromley Common, Hayes, West Wickham as Pea0n says. Southern end of Shortlands is prolly ok but North end is getting a bit too Chavvy for comfort.

I lived around the North end of Bromley burnt ash/grove park for a few of years.
 
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Beckenham is a bit further out but still good.
Beckenham is further in you wally :p

I live in Beckenham. It's just on the Kent side of the border and amazingly doesn't suffer any of London's suburb problems like nearby Penge and Sydenham. 16 minutes to Victoria on the fast train, trains to Blackfriars, Clapham Junction (in the morning) and London Bridge from Beckenham Junction, Charing Cross and Cannon Street from Clock House. Loads of bars, pubs, coffee places and restaurants on the high street, loads more better ones a bus ride to Crystal Palace. Bromley is a short train or bus ride away, cycling distance or a long walk if you're drunk. Tram goes to Croydon (god knows why you'd want to go there) or Wimbledon. Sainsburys, Waitrose and M&S are walking distance, big ass Tesco is a short drive. Screwfix nearby. Yeah it's a nice place.

Edit: oh yeah and the rent isn't too expensive for what you get.
 
Soldato
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Thanks for the replies :)

This thread follows on from a recent one where I mentioned I've asked to volunteer to work in our new and shiney data centre in Sittingbourne.

I don't really fancy living there (does anyone have any knowledge of the area??) but need to be somewhere that is commutable distance by train (South Eastern Railways seem to be the operator for Sittingbourne station) as I don't drive, and also not too far from getting in to London.

I'll take St. Mary Cray off my list - how about Swanley? Unfortunatley Hayes and West Wickham stations add too much time and too many connections to get to Sittingbourne so they are a no-go :)

And yes - the price difference with where I am is quite a bit.
 
Associate
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Commuting to Sittingbourne? I'd be looking at something a bit further out than Bromley, etc....Bromley South to Sittingbourne is around a 50 minute train journey, the only advantage is that you would be going in the opposite direction to the rest of us London commuters.
 
Soldato
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Commuting to Sittingbourne? I'd be looking at something a bit further out than Bromley, etc....Bromley South to Sittingbourne is around a 50 minute train journey, the only advantage is that you would be going in the opposite direction to the rest of us London commuters.

I know - I'm not looking forward to it, but it won't be a permanent thing. As you say from Bromley South station it's 50mins, which I don't mind doing, so I guess somwehere along there, with South Shortlands.

I don't want to move too far out into Kent as I can easily want easily pop in to central London.
 
Associate
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If you're looking to work in Sittingbourne and commute by train, then Bromley is probably not the best place to be looking. Whilst there are some direct trains from Bromley South to Sittingbourne they take about 50 mins, so must take a fairly leisurely amble through Kent. Chatham/Gillingham would be a much shorter commute and seem pretty nice (although I don't know the areas terribly well).

Not trying to put you off Bromley (as I live close to Bromley Common), but just thought you should be aware...

*edit* bah, beaten to it...
 
Associate
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I work in the crays, and there right, not a good place to be, i live in Biggin hill, real nice area and a direct bus route to most towns, and can be in london within 45 mins, so all quite close but still real rual
 
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Just to put it into perspective, Gravesend to London is 22mins (on the high speed) and about 30mins down to Sittingbourne. Better commute, but generally further out towards the Medway towns is not as nice as Bromley et al.
 
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I work in the crays, and there right, not a good place to be, i live in Biggin hill, real nice area and a direct bus route to most towns, and can be in london within 45 mins, so all quite close but still real rual

I too live in Biggin Hill. It's a lovely area, but kiss goodbye to any idea of a nightlife. The bus service packs up almost dead on midnight, and that's the only bus that connects Biggin Hill to the outside world.

Another sticking point about Biggin Hill is that it's a bit too pricey for what it is, especially considering the fact the connections to anywhere are ropey at best.

The snowfall earlier this year crippled the place.

I'd definately avoid the Crays, and probably Orpington too - just getting on the buses that go there is a lesson in bottom-feeders. Grove Park is not the best place to live either, it's got a bit of a reputation. Catford is a dump too, so avoid that. Bromley, Beckenham, Shortlands, West Wickham etc are all relatively nice places, and pretty cheap to live in considering the strong transport links to London. Most of them have a nightbus too from Trafalgar Sq/Charing Cross.
 
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Grove Park is not the best place to live either, it's got a bit of a reputation.

People used to call me crazy coz I'd go out at 4am to buy milk, etc. but I never had a problem. I was aware of firearms incidents ~5-6 times in the 2 years I was living in the area tho.
 
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Maybe Orpington would be a better bet? It's about 45 mins to Victoria but more direct trains going out into Kent. The bonus of being on the Victoria-Orpington line is the trains run throughout the night at the weekend, so if you're out in London you can always get home. Orpington isn't bad. It's a bit of a tatty highstreet (in my opinion) but there's plenty there in terms of pubs and fast food and the rest of Kent is easier to get to on direct trains, like Sevenoaks which is lovely.
 
Associate
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I been to Bromley once. Im in South London... think Wimbledon/Morden. Bromley is ok, not too far from Croydon if you need a big place to shop but cba to go to London.
 
Associate
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Further out from Bromley than Shortlands :p

For reference I live in Hayes, near Norman Park, so a 20 minute walk to work every morning! Very nice with so little commuting

- Pea0n

That is pretty much exactly where I live too. Do you know a place called The Warren?
 
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