Best/worst areas in London

Hi!

I'm Katja from the Netherlands, and i'll be moving to London next year (march/april). At the moment I'm trying to make a top-5 list of areas in London where to live or NOT to live, so I can narrow my search.
The area where I want to move to is not TOO expensive, and relatively safe (I'm now living in neighborhood in Holland with high criminal records, not enjoyable I can tell you). Access to public transportation (within a 10-15 minutes radius) is also a must.
I don't have a lot of other requirements, although I would like to have some privacy.
Do you have any tips for me?

Thank you in advance!

Katja

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Why not try somewhere like Beckenham - Its in Kent but is classed as greater London.

Its slightly out but is only a 20min overland train to Victoria and rent is much cheaper! The overland is much nicer than the tube and is pretty efficient.

I live here and go out all the time in town and Clapham areas etc.

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It depends where you want to get to and which tube lines you want. You don't want to transfer many times! It takes forever.

I live around baker street and marylebone which is really nice. Maida Vale is also good. Earls Court. Towerhill.

I just came to london and heard like tons of stories on crime but I have been safe :) I even blogged about the safety issue: http://tinyurl.com/londonsafety

best

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It really does depend on where you are going to be working or going to school. A good tip is to find the easiest tube or train station for your place of work and then use that to find decent areas to live, otherwise your commute can be a nightmare!

As for good areas I think Battersea is a great place to live, it is fairly central and there are good transport links. Again as it is South of the river there isn't easy access to a tube but the overground and busses are much better for getting around anyway!

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thanks for your replies. Living just outside London is certainly an option. It all depends on where I will find a job, but it's absolutely useful to know a few good areas to narrow the search so to speak.

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