Lateral to London (Bank tube station) - where to live?

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Also, the guy that is saying forget about South London, clearly has no idea what he's talking about. Clapham, Wandsworth, Kennington, Putney. Big banker hotspots and great to get to work, especially Kennington. Not expensive either. Don't know why you would want to live all the way out in Tottenham..

Reply 41

Hackett

Original post by crustz

I agree with this - Not forgetting places like Barnes, Castelnau etc. but maybe a little too far out, transport is not the hottest around these places.

Reply 42

steviewonders

Depends what you're after but near Angel, Finsbury Park, Highbury & Islington are all nice areas and not a too difficult commute

If you want nightlife then live in Shoreditch.

The problem with Bethnel Green etc is that it does feel a little bit unsafe at night

Reply 43

inkblot

Original post by peter12345

OP most people on here don't seem to have a clue.

'Most people don't have a clue' followed by a load of even more uninformed, and quite incorrect value statements. Hmm.

Original post by peter12345

Forget about South London, the transport links are dire. The mostly main line rail network there isn't as honed for mass urban transit as the tube is. Trains are far less frequent, they don't always stop at all stations, Station facilities are not as good and bar Thameslink there are no direct trains into Central London. That said, living on the Thameslink main line route wouldn't be that bad because it's the only main line that runs straight to the heart of the City and the service is fairly reliable and frequent compared to the rest of National Rail.

How wrong is this? Why on earth would station facilities matter to someone? All they need to know is that their train is going to arrive and take them where they need to go.
As anyone who has ever commuted on First Capital Connect will tell you, the Thameslink route is appalling and probably the LEAST reliable of all the routes into South London. It is handy for the city, yes but the trains in the morning peak are almost always delayed by several minutes. The service is also not that frequent at all - it only runs about once every 15 minutes.

Trains from south London most certainly do go to the centre of London. More to the point, the other mainlines in South London run to either Victoria (not that useful for the city - granted), Waterloo (directly connected to Bank on the tube), London Bridge (a short walk from Bank) and Cannon Street (almost across the road from Bank) so if anything it is better connected than a lot of places in London without having to do a painful interchange.

I mean, even East Croydon which is way out in Zone 5 is only about 15 minutes from London Bridge and has something like 13 direct trains an hour in the morning. South London is far from a poor relation just because it isn't as well covered on the tube map.

Reply 44

peter12345

Original post by inkblot

Mr South London Neanderthal, When you evolve enough to cross the river you will realize that more civilized North Londoners don't have to wait half an hour for a train to turn up. The tube runs every 2 -5 mins whereas with national rail it's pretty standard to have to wait at least 20 mins for your train. If you're in a hurry and just missed the previous train this can make all the difference. Furthermore the station facilities are a joke. Adequate shelters? Not likely. Station staff? Fugeddaboutit. This makes the National rail in S london much less safer because with no barriers or staff at a lot of the stations any guy can just walk in and mug you.

Original post by inkblot

As anyone who has ever commuted on First Capital Connect will tell you, the Thameslink route is appalling and probably the LEAST reliable of all the routes into South London. It is handy for the city, yes but the trains in the morning peak are almost always delayed by several minutes. The service is also not that frequent at all - it only runs about once every 15 minutes.

Ok so since First Capital ***** took over its gone downhill as with all lines they have taken over but back in the day when the Thameslink line was run by the actual Thameslink company it wasn't that bad. I only mentioned it anyway because it's the only national rail from South London that has a station inside the Circle Line area.

Original post by inkblot

Trains from south London most certainly do go to the centre of London.

No they don't, They mostly all stop around the edge. Granted because the City isn't very big it's not that noticeable there but for the West End it's very noticeable. Theres no National Rail station within reasonable walking distance of places like Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus to name but a few. In Bank there's 5 tube stations within walking distance (including Bank itself) but only one National Rail station within walking distance.

Original post by inkblot

More to the point, the other mainlines in South London run to either Victoria (not that useful for the city - granted), Waterloo (directly connected to Bank on the tube), London Bridge (a short walk from Bank) and Cannon Street (almost across the road from Bank) so if anything it is better connected than a lot of places in London without having to do a painful interchange.

Victoria is where most of the S london trans go and it is utterly useless for the City. The Waterloo and City Line is not working a lot of the time and that's still two changes anyway. London Bridge a short walk from Bank? Go look at the map again, you will see that it is nearly the same distance away as Shoreditch. So what if Cannon St is nearby? It's like the least used of all the main line termini, most trains fron S London don't go there.

Original post by inkblot

I mean, even East Croydon which is way out in Zone 5 is only about 15 minutes from London Bridge and has something like 13 direct trains an hour in the morning. South London is far from a poor relation just because it isn't as well covered on the tube map.

Again, So what? What has Croydon got to do with the rest of South London? It just serves one area in South London. The vast majority of the stations there are not Big important stations like East Croydon. Furthermore, East Croydon to London Bridge is the Thameslink route which you just slated as being dire.

You also have not given your solution to the problem of what if the line your local station is on fails? There is no tube to use as backup and even if you walk to another station chances are its on a completely different line going somewhere completely different. In the rest of London The Tube happens to run more or less parallel with the National Rail most of the time (Piccadilly is pretty parallel with the Great Northern/East Coast Main Line, Bakerloo is paralel with the Watford DC/West Coast Main Line, Northern is a tiny bit parallel with the Thameslink/Midland Main Line, District/Hammersmith & City is parallel with the London Tilbury & Shoeburyness Line, Central is a tiny bit parallel with the Great Eastern Main Line and the Great Western Main Line, Victoria is a tiny bit parallel with the Lea Valley Lines, Metropolitan is parallel with the Chiltern Main Line, I could go on.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 45

alex_hk90

Some of the stuff on this thread has been hilarious - for instance, nothing wrong with East London: I've been living here (between Canary Wharf and Mile End) for the last few months and it's been fine. :smile:

If you need to be near Bank but don't want to spend a lot then you could look at the Shadwell area (one stop away on the DLR, runs extremely frequently at peak times).

Reply 46

Teenage Pirate

these threads always get so heated

Reply 47

effofex

Original post by peter12345

OP most people on here don't seem to have a clue.

Queensway/Holland Park are one of the most expensive parts of London. And I'm not just talking rent I'm talking general living expenses too. Don't expect to find a Lidl there. Unless you're a senior banker of some sort then forget about it.

Mile End/Bethnal Green are absolute dumps. The kicker is that these areas are actually still fairly expensive anyway due to the influx of "trendy" students and young professionals looking for that "urban" experience and the fact that they have good tube links and are near to Central London.

You can get a single room in Queensway/Holland Park for just GBP 150/week if you look hard enough.

The premium over the average Mile End/Bethnal Green room for rent is only about 30%. Having lived in Mile End I don't think it was a dump at all - lots of places to eat, lots of bus services, good transport links to the City and Canary Wharf etc., which is critical if you need to be in the office before 6.30am.

Reply 48

effofex

Original post by crustz

Really?

Reply 49

effofex

Original post by steviewonders

I lived near Mile End between 2009 and 2011 and never had any problems walking through the Bethnal Green area between midnight and 3 am on Friday/Saturday evenings. I don't think it's particularly unsafe at all.

Reply 50

effofex

Original post by Hackett

Who the hell wants to live in those parts of London? They guy is working in the City, he/she should be able to find somewhere half decent in a smart area. Alot of people just end up flat sharing in South Ken/Fulham/Parsons Green etc. nothing worse than going back to a **** hole after a long day at work.

He might want to save money, you know.

And if he is working really long hours (17 hrs per day in the office) then does it really matter where he comes back to at night? Most likely he is just going to sleep there.

Reply 51

crustz

Original post by effofex

Really?

Yup.. lots of city/legal/professional services people living around there.

Reply 52

hihihihihi

Mayfair, Knightsbridge

Reply 53

ZÃ¼rich

Original post by inkblot

'Most people don't have a clue' followed by a load of even more uninformed, and quite incorrect value statements. Hmm.

How wrong is this? Why on earth would station facilities matter to someone? All they need to know is that their train is going to arrive and take them where they need to go.
As anyone who has ever commuted on First Capital Connect will tell you, the Thameslink route is appalling and probably the LEAST reliable of all the routes into South London. It is handy for the city, yes but the trains in the morning peak are almost always delayed by several minutes. The service is also not that frequent at all - it only runs about once every 15 minutes.

Trains from south London most certainly do go to the centre of London. More to the point, the other mainlines in South London run to either Victoria (not that useful for the city - granted), Waterloo (directly connected to Bank on the tube), London Bridge (a short walk from Bank) and Cannon Street (almost across the road from Bank) so if anything it is better connected than a lot of places in London without having to do a painful interchange.

I mean, even East Croydon which is way out in Zone 5 is only about 15 minutes from London Bridge and has something like 13 direct trains an hour in the morning. South London is far from a poor relation just because it isn't as well covered on the tube map.

Nobody wants to live in South London mate...

Reply 54

peter12345

Original post by crustz

You sound like you don't know what you're talking about. Putney is way further from Bank than Tottenham. Yeah Kennington has tube links but it's a bit of a rough area tbh more rime than Tottenham believe it or not beause Lambeth is the borough with the highest robbery rate. Sure Tottenham is always in the news for murders but it is robberies that are way more likely to affect the average joe. Wandsworth has really bad transport links, which is why they are planning to extend the Northern Line to there soon. I don't see why everyone is fighting back. 1) The places in East lonodn that i suggested are on the Central line which is hands down the fastest way into Bank without having to live in Mile end/Bethnal Green. 2) The places I suggested in North London are both decent and either on the Northern Line (again direct route to Bank without having to change or on the Victoria line which is hands down the fastest tube line. True story, with a quick cross platform run at Finsbury Park I was once able to get from Wood Green to Euston in 15 minutes. I'd like to see anyone try and come anywhere close to that going from anywhere in zone 3 in South London to anywhere in zone 1.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 55

steviewonders

Original post by effofex

I visited a friend there and hated walking from the tube to their house. Lots of hooded people out on the streets, gangs etc.

I would always look North than East when thinking of somewhere to live.

Reply 56

alex_hk90

Original post by steviewonders

I visited a friend there and hated walking from the tube to their house. Lots of hooded people out on the streets, gangs etc.

I would always look North than East when thinking of somewhere to live.

The vast majority are just people wearing hoodies; I've lived near Mile End for several months now and often walk to the station - yes you will see groups of people in hoodies, but as far as I can tell these are not 'gangs' but just, well, groups of people in hoodies.

Reply 57

steviewonders

Original post by alex_hk90

Call it a group of people in hoodies, I'll call it a gang. To me it doesn't feel safe, it's all good and well saying there's nothing wrong until they snatch you iPhone or your wallet.

There's too much deprivation.

Reply 58

alex_hk90

Original post by steviewonders

You might not feel safe but that doesn't mean you're not safe. I don't really see much deprivation around here - if anything I see more homeless people in central London.

Reply 59

steviewonders

Original post by alex_hk90

You might not feel safe but that doesn't mean you're not safe. I don't really see much deprivation around here - if anything I see more homeless people in central London.