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Location, Location, Location - Barbelith stylee

Hattie's Kitchen

13:51 / 08.03.05

I start a new job next week and it's based in Paddington, waaaay over in west London. I've lived in London for five years now and have NEVER been to west London before, preferring to hang around the less gentrified areas of Stoke Newington and Hornsey. I know diddly squat about west London.

At the moment I'm living in Tottenham, NE London, so getting to work will involve a hefty commute for the time being, so in a few months I shall be upping sticks and moving.

At the moment I'm considering Camden, possibly Ladbroke Grove area or anywhere near to Paddington that doesn't require multiple bus journeys. Paddington itself is a bit cack, from what I've seen.

All I require in my chosen locality is a decent pub, a supermarket, a good curry house and the hope of not being kerb-crawled on my way home at night.

I was wondering if you wise and all-knowing lot had any recommendations for which areas to move to...

17:07 / 08.03.05

I'm more of a north London sort too, but I have a friend who lives around Queensway which is apparently not so bad - it looks nice enough to me, with a decent array of shops and definitely one pub that and is pleasant enough, although not very thrilling. It's very close to extravagent London loveliness like Hyde Park and pretty close to Paddington - I'd be very surprised if there isn't a direct bus, and it may even be walkable.

The big advantage is that it does have some sensibly priced flats, unlike (from what I understand) a lot of other bits of west London.

I've only been there in the middle of the day though, so no idea what it's like for a lady by night. In fact, I've only ever been there once, so this is no iron-clad recommendation, more of a casual suggestion!

18:15 / 08.03.05

Probably anywhere outside of stokey will give you a relative easy commute - particularly if yo can get a place near a station on the bakerloo line...

Brigade du jour

20:52 / 08.03.05

Hey don't slag Paddington! I was born there! Although yeah, it is well rank.

Portobello Road is quite pretty, with or without the market. There are plenty of other nice posh bits, I'm sure. The overall impression I've always had from the area is that it's not nearly as exclusive as it might like to think it is. So bear that in mind and you ought to be all right!

Whisky Priestess

21:13 / 08.03.05

Marylebone, if you can afford it, is damn nice and damn near Paddington.

Tryphena Absent

10:04 / 09.03.05

People can afford Marylebone???!!!

unheimlich manoeuvre

10:05 / 09.03.05

I suggest avoiding the Bakerloo line as it needs air-conditioning, desperately. Also between Queens Park and North Wembley is NOT ideal residential living. Great places to score and party, mind.

I reckon you should think Hammersmith and City Line and check out Westbourne Park. As Brigade said Portobello Road is excellent. Although be prepared to stay awake through Notting Hill Carnival.

14:40 / 09.03.05

At the risk of sounding very suburban and unBarbelith, I loved living in Ealing. It's a good centre in and of itself, near enough to town, and also good for escaping to Richmond Park and out of town.

10:40 / 12.03.05

I just got a new job, Westbourne Park area, and I moved as well. I spent some time looking for flatshares in the area.

I currently live just west of Hammersmith, and I'm pretty happy with it. I get the H&C to work, which is relatively quick (although not as regular as I'd like). The area around Hammersmith tube is packed with shops, bars, restaurants, and you've got King Street going for miles west... when I got here I took a walk down it to see where the restaurants and shops stopped, and I had to turn back without finding out where that was because I realised it was going to take me far too long to get back home.

Shepherds Bush seems okay, as do other areas between Hammersmith and Paddington, but the prices really go up. Hammersmith is expensive enough as it is. A lot of this is going to depend on your budget.

Acton, as far as I could tell, is a dump. I suppose there might be nice areas somewhere but I was most unimpressed.

I'd be suspicious of anywhere that requires you to use the District to get to work, because the District Line is crap and constantly delayed or just not working at all.

Hattie's Kitchen

14:13 / 13.03.05

Cheers for all the tips, guys.

Hattie's Kitchen

17:53 / 14.03.05

Fridge, I just realised we're round the corner from each other - I'm on the corner of Bishops Bridge Road and Porchester Road.

It's a rather nice area to work in, I must say. I must check out that Austrian Tiroler bar. I hope it's like a bierkeller. Mmmm.