Mchoa696

Hi guys now to the site so hope I don't do anything wrong here.

I am going to be starting a new job in Reigate in the next couple of weeks. I am looking for some advise on where would be good place to live.

I am a 22 year old male and have a lot of friends based in London so easy access to the city would be nice. I would also like to be in a town with a gym/sport club and some decent nightlife rather than a quiet family location.

I have been thinking of Croydon but not sure of the access to work.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

MrMuffin

Hi,

I used to work in Redhill and Reigate. I lived in Caterham which is a quick drive and it's kind of in between Croydon and Reigate.

Explore the train links... you can get a train straight from Croydon to Reigate. You might have to make a change I can't remember.

Croydon is definitely a busier city area with more going on but I haven't been there for a long time so it might have changed for the better or worse. Dorking, Surrey is a really nice town too. No where near the city feel of Croydon and much prettier. There's tons of pubs and things to do down there. I guess it all depends what you're looking for exactly. Ask around your friends for opinions. It might be your best bet to live and work in Reigate then hop a train into London when you want to? Good luck.

Editha

I hesitated about giving advice because I'm not the same age group as you, and so probably don't have the same interests. But, I think Croyden is the pits. Nothing but a giant shopping centre. I'd look at other places.

In your situation, I'd try to live as close to work as possible, but with good transport links to central London, so you can enjoy London nightlife.

Sally Redux

My BIL lives in Croydon, although I haven't visited him there, he seems very happy with it and it's much cheaper than other parts of London.

DebzinUS

Small world, I grew up in Caterham!

Croydon is a dump, and from everything I hear from my family who still live locally, I would stay well clear. Other options...Banstead, Chipstead, Earlswood, Horley ,Kingswood, Merstham. Good luck!

Rusty Chainsaw

I live in Croydon. It's got its good points (excellent shopping, lots of pubs, restaurants, etc) but it has become a bit of a dump in recent years, with lots of crime, drugs, muggings, stabbings, gang violence, drunken fights, etc. We call it The Cronx.

Things are slowly improving - there's a huge new shopping centre that's going to be built over the next few years to replace the Whitgift Centre, but we're still waiting on the regeneration that was promised when the Overground came to West Croydon - the area's still a toilet. It'll probably get a little more gentrified over the next couple of years, as it's one of the few parts of Croydon where property is still affordable.

If you do come to Croydon, avoid West Croydon, Thornton Heath and New Addington, as they're all terrible, run-down s**tholes (proof positive that you can judge an area by the amount of bookies and pawnbrokers). The rest of the town is more or less OK - East Croydon, South Croydon and some parts of Addiscombe are the best areas - but you really have to look on a street-by-street basis.

My suggestion is why not just find somewhere to live out near Reigate? That's quite a nice bit of the world. Or go a little further out to Horsham, which is lovely, not to mention a bit more affordable.

Brigette

Hello, wasn't familiar with either area so went to Rightmove to look at prices etc ( I would be renting so flat prices) and as you stated Horsham is more affordable. How much further away is it say from Reigate, London? Just curious (when I return will prolly be living on my own and renting is the immediate option as of now).

Rusty Chainsaw

Horsham's maybe 20 miles away from Reigate down the A23. It's about an hour away from Victoria or London Bridge by train (compared to about 35 minutes from Reigate, or 15-20 minutes from East Croydon), but it's an easy commute. The downside is that, in Croydon, you're within the Travelcard zones so the price of a rail ticket is quite a bit less (£200 a month for a Travelcard instead of £350), so, I guess, when it comes down to it, what you save in rent you'll probably end up paying out in travel.

mayhemuk

If you need to cast a bit further have a look at
www.commutefrom.co.uk
Is quite handy to find places you might not have previously considered.
Obviously fairly london centric.

Bermudashorts

I wouldn't go to Croydon. The places very close to Reigate are likely to be suburbia and perhaps more suited to a family lifestyle. I would probably look along the train line between London (Waterloo?) and Reigate and pick somewhere along there. You would be going against the flow so it should. Be a reasonably pleasant journey.