# Peoples impressions of Bow/Bromley-by-Bow



## 3xil3 (Aug 20, 2007)

Hi,

I'm moving down to the big city soon and am going to live in Bromley-by-Bow.  While of course I had a look round the area, I was wondering what more local peoples impressions of the area are.

Thanks


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## Larry O'Hara (Aug 20, 2007)

I used to live there--perhaps you'd be more specific about which part?


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## 3xil3 (Aug 20, 2007)

Hi Larry

Bruce Road to be more precise.


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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 20, 2007)

3xil3 said:
			
		

> Hi Laura


Ha, very good.


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## 3xil3 (Aug 20, 2007)

Ooops  

Its no excuse, but I am absoultely cream crackered.  Quickly edited my mistake.


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## Larry O'Hara (Aug 20, 2007)

No worries.  From what I remember, quite a nice little enclave actually, and has the place where Gandhi stayed when he visited England: an alternative cafe type-place.  Not been there for a couple of years mind.  What I would always suggest is having a peek at night, to see the current level of 'feral youth' activity.  But, as the area goes, not a bad part, I'd say.


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## London_Calling (Aug 21, 2007)

I stayed with a girlie friend there a few times. I wish I could be as optimistic as the previous poster but . . . holy crap!

It was the better part of a decade ago though, and I suppose things could have changed, but  . .  . .

Def support the idea of taking a cruise around the area after dark to get a sense of the vibe.

Edit: To add, I was specifically talking about Bromley-By-Bow.


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## DeadManWalking (Aug 21, 2007)

used to live there, and liked it a lot.  It may just look like motorways, flyovers and tower blocks but make sure you check out the Bow locks, it's where the 3 mill studios are, so a lot of filming going on but is peaceful down by the canal and the river Lee away from the urban sprawl.  Apart from that there's not much else round there which is why it has great transport links

3 mills studio:







Oh and by the way Dizzee Razcal is from Bow!


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## scruff (Aug 21, 2007)

I lived on Bruce Road by the 3 tower blocks about 6 years ago - worse place i've ever lived. The road just fills up with gangs, people and cars just hanging around after midnight till 4-5 in the morning. I was only there for a couple of months but there was burglaries, violence and dealing galore. I never went out after dark.


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## docus (Aug 22, 2007)

I live some of the time in Bromley-by-Bow, and find it tolerable.

It's a shabby, economically deprived area with a big Asian population.  There are seemingly few local businesses and the area feels like it's slowly decaying.  There's lots of graffiti and boarded up buildings, and street after street of fairly grim (or at least bland) high/mid-rise council housing (mixed up with a few gentrified streets).  It has the feel of a forgotten area, a million miles economically from the Docklands skyscrapers that it sits in the shadows of.

There are few noteworthy parks but Tower Hamlets cemetery is close and the River Lea is an interesting place to explore.

Practically speaking, it's quite handy: well served by tubes (zone 2) - Bromley by Bow, Devons Road DLR, Bow Road - and near the A12, which makes it very quick and easy to get around London by car (10 mins to Greenwich, 10 minutes to the North Circular).


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## Larry O'Hara (Aug 22, 2007)

scruff said:
			
		

> I lived on Bruce Road by the 3 tower blocks about 6 years ago - worse place i've ever lived. The road just fills up with gangs, people and cars just hanging around after midnight till 4-5 in the morning. I was only there for a couple of months but there was burglaries, violence and dealing galore. I never went out after dark.



I lived on Devons Rd (or off it actually) & rarely went to Bruce Road at night (no reason to), so you may well be right--which would underline the importance, as in my original comment, of doing a "feral youth check" before moving in--if it is as bad as you say, this will become evident, quickly.  Also, re the burglary level, a post-code check would be useful.  I have not visited the area much since I left because I have had little reason to, however I did not want to damn the whole area without recommending specific steps to take to check what that precise area is like, exactly.


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## DeadManWalking (Aug 22, 2007)

There are some very posh areas too, like the gated community on Fairfield road, Bow Quarter, the old Bryant and May match factory, where the matchgirls strike was http://www.thebowquarter.co.uk/

There's also the new development up towrds Roman Road I think, which has won a few awards. 

Both of which are well out of the price range of the average person.


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## scifisam (Aug 25, 2007)

DeadManWalking said:
			
		

> There are some very posh areas too, like the gated community on Fairfield road, Bow Quarter, the old Bryant and May match factory, where the matchgirls strike was http://www.thebowquarter.co.uk/
> 
> There's also the new development up towrds Roman Road I think, which has won a few awards.
> 
> Both of which are well out of the price range of the average person.



I have a friend who lives in the old Match factory; she even lived there while she on her PGCE. She lives with her BF, but his job couldn't have paid that much; no idea how they managed the rent. It was rather pleasant having a couple of 'study days' at her place where we did actually work in the morning, but spent the afternoon swimming in the pool and lounging around in the sauna. 

I'd say that a fair bit of Bow is pretty rough, but, like with the East End in general, it shouldn't affect you much unless you're a teenager and/or in a gang. There are a few OK pubs, but I only go out to music venues or gay bars these days, so I don't really know the more local pubs. Still, it's very easy to get into and out of town from there. 

The area is also undergoing extremely rapid gentrification - except for a few pockets where the poverty is made more extreme by the wealth next door. 

I can honestly think of many far worse places to live in the UK.


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## bluestreak (Aug 25, 2007)

Bow is a good zone.


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## 3xil3 (Aug 25, 2007)

Thanks for all your responses.  I'd actually got the place on a two month (with the option of extending it) basis when I posted here, so we'll have to see if I don't like the area i won't be staying there long anyway.


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