London

[Andy008]

Further to my recent question, can anyone tell me what the following parts of London are like:

i. Putney

ii. Kingston-upon-Thames

Thankyou.

[shaneystar]

http://www.putneysw15.com/

http://www.locallife.co.uk/kingstonuponthames/index.asp.
Here you are Andy.
Kingston is great for shopping ,plenty of pubs and clubs,but has it's seedy bits like anywhere else.Putney ,nice restaurants,clubs.What do you want go to London for!! I was glad to get away from it! Mind you I miss the buzz. But I am old now and need peace and quiet.Good luck anyway.

[Andy008]

I want to go to London having spent the last 3 years living in Southampton - a stinking, rat-infested place full of crack addicts and illegal immigrants.

Despite the dubious claims of fame regarding Craig David and the Titanic, Southampton never has been, is not and never will be on the cultural map. And no, having a quayside property development and a few theme bars doesn't make it "cool". God, I hate this place.

[FP]

I come from that part of the world and they are both quite nice areas of London.  Mind you, like Shaney I now live in Norfolk.  I left some time ago so can't comment about clubs, etc. but Putney is the nicest of the two areas.  Being a S.W. London person I still think fondly of the area and still find it visually one of the nicest parts of London. 

[CarolG]

Hi Andy,

I'm a North London Girl and personally couldn't move South(!) but I have family in Kingston and its really lovely. The only thing is that its more Surrey than London so if you get a job in London, your travel could be more costly, its a gorgeous place though, esp in the summer. I don't know Putney at all so can't comment on it. Good luck with the move, you'll love London!

[GracieC]

Hi Andy - I don't live in either Putney or Kingston but have friends who do and so have been to both areas loads of times. Putney is the more expensive (generally) of the two least of all cos it's in zone 3 (i think - could be zone 2 - someone will correct me), whearas Kingston is zone 4 and so cheaper to live (i.e. buy/rent) but travel into the centre will be more expensive. The bonus of Kingston is that parts of it are very close to Richmond Park which is lovely. And of course the shopping is good.

Also, I would say that where you work in London can also have a bearing on where to live. If you will be working in the City for example then communting from SW can be more of a pain than say from other parts (e.g. SE). Benefit of SW is though you could return to Southampton fairly easily to visit friends/family.  Before we bought in London we went to loads of diff areas to try out the local restaurants/pubs both after work and at weekends to try and get a feel for a place before deciding where to settle. Bonus of course if you're renting is that you can give notice to leave and move on if area you choose is not to your liking. Sorry - I seem to have rambled a bit but good luck in your move up here x

[Sweet G]

Hi Andy, I grew up in SW London and still visit regularly. I also lived in Southampton between 1993-2000. You will definitely prefer SW London!!

I now live in Salisbury and love it.

Good luck with the move.

[RogK]

I live in Twickenham on the Richmond side and I love it here. I lived in Kingston for 6 years and loved that, too. You should try to be as near to Richmond Park or the Thames as possible. There is no better part of London to live than the South West, imo. One slight problem with Kingston is that, railway-wise, it's on a minor line from Waterloo and the train takes a while. But hey, who cares! A great new theatre, The Rose, will be opening there next year, Hampton Court's down the river and lovely Richmond is a stone's throw.