# What's Romford like to live in?



## skyscraper101 (Sep 14, 2015)

Karl Hyde of Underworld describes it as his New York. It also used to be home to the Strictly Underground and Suburban Base record labels -  I've never even been, but I quite fancy looking around that sort of area distance-wise from London for somewhere to rent as better value for money.

I'm working around WC1 area so thinking of a convenient commute from area. Romford came up as about 45-50 mins. I'm currently  clocking over an hour on the 14 bus crawling in traffic from Fulham to Tottenham Ct Rd so thats no problem. Plus I quite like the idea of it being a base to get out into the Essex countryside at some point while still being London-ish without feeling like I've moved to the hinterlands - it's Zone 6 but seems to get regular trains to Liverpool St. and will get crossrail too in the next couple of years which I'd quite like to travel in on. Plus I get to sing the lyrics in born slippy "mega mega mega going back to Romford" everytime I go home.

Er.. what else should I know? Are there nicer areas around there I should consider etc? I haven't really mentioned South London, probably unfairly but I'm open to looking all over really. Just trying to strike the living/travel cost balance right really. So, Romford or similar ish?


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## Sweet FA (Sep 14, 2015)

It's a shithole ime


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 15, 2015)

have been to Romford a couple of times for work purposes.

Like most of London and surrounding areas, it's a bit of a patchwork.

Still some traces of the old Essex market town, and still used as such by some of the surrounding rural patch - quite a big shopping centre.  Seems to have a fair amount of pubs / clubs.  Not sure what they are like.

Used to have a fair bit of industry, mostly now gone, as has most of Fords at Dagenham which was a big employer in the area.  

Big 1930s LCC council estate at Harold Hill (NE of Romford) and a fair amount of 1920s / 30s private suburbia sort of development.

Less ethnically diverse than London in general (82% white british at last census, according to wikipedia)

had a labour MP in 1997 - 2001 and went back tory.  UKIP second in 2015.  Havering council has one labour councillor.

Don't know what you're looking for.

If you're looking to buy, then crossrail will already have pushed prices up and will probably do so more.  If you're looking to rent, then crossrail will push rents up.

I still can't see it becoming the new hoxton / shoreditch / brixton / whatever.

All I can suggest is visit a time or two.  Have a meander - drive around or take a few bus journeys.


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## telbert (Sep 15, 2015)

This thread touches on it :Thinking of moving to Loughton


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## Belushi (Sep 15, 2015)

I think maomao is in Romford nowadays


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## weltweit (Sep 15, 2015)

I worked in Romford for a bit.
Drove there, worked there, drove away, daily


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## maomao (Sep 15, 2015)

I'm a big fan of Romford. We moved here to start a family after living in Hackney for a decade. With neither of us being massively sociable types, moving here made sense and suits us down to the ground. Mostly it's our particular location that's great, 5 supermarkets within walking distance, a market, proper shops, 8 minutes to the train station and a hospital so close to home that my wife walked there _and back home_ when she gave birth.

I would say that it's culturally very different to inner London though it's not as white as it might have been 20 or 30 years ago. It's more geared towards families. There are a lot of night clubs in the centre of town but it's a very young crowd from what I can tell.

Which part you might want to move todepends a lot on your budget and transport needs. Feel free to ask though.

Hope I wasn't the first wave of gentrification. One of the things I like about the area is the solid working class feel of the place (and no 'working class' doesn't mean white working class).


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## stuff_it (Sep 15, 2015)

Defines "it's grim down South".


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## maomao (Sep 15, 2015)

I will say that despite thinking we were moving 'to the country' (  )after 5 years living on the river Lea we feel a bit deprived of green space. There's a couple of very nice parks but a bit of a mission on foot given that we take a pram everywhere now. Looking forward to getting a car.


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## stuff_it (Sep 15, 2015)

Apparently the cheapest rent inside the M25 can be found just South of Croydon.


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## FullFathomFive (Sep 16, 2015)

I used to live in Dagenham and would go to Romford a lot for shopping, cinema, drinks... if i couldn't convince my friends to go into London. Its pretty much the same as most of Londons out of town suburbia with a TOWIE garnish. 

I moved back into London, then due to kids and house prices moved out to Hertfordshire. Which i like a lot more and is basically the same distance out. The routes out via Kings Cross are better than Liverpool St, i.e its 15-25 mins vs 30-45 mins.


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## Johnny Doe (Sep 16, 2015)

Gave the world Romford Pele, so alright by me!


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## skyscraper101 (Sep 16, 2015)

maomao said:


> I'm a big fan of Romford. We moved here to start a family after living in Hackney for a decade. With neither of us being massively sociable types, moving here made sense and suits us down to the ground. Mostly it's our particular location that's great, 5 supermarkets within walking distance, a market, proper shops, 8 minutes to the train station and a hospital so close to home that my wife walked there _and back home_ when she gave birth.
> 
> I would say that it's culturally very different to inner London though it's not as white as it might have been 20 or 30 years ago. It's more geared towards families. There are a lot of night clubs in the centre of town but it's a very young crowd from what I can tell.
> 
> ...



Oh I hoped I might find a Romford urbaner. Would you recommend any areas to look at?

I want to rent a place, 2-bedrooms ideally just for me and the wife. Could be a garden house or a flat. I would like it to be reasonable walking distance of the station so ideally not more than 10-12 min walk. I like 5 supermarkets  - I've seen places from between £1k-£1.2k a month which don't look bad.


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## maomao (Sep 16, 2015)

skyscraper101 said:


> Oh I hoped I might find a Romford urbaner. Would you recommend any areas to look at?
> 
> I want to rent a place, 2-bedrooms ideally just for me and the wife. Could be a garden house or a flat. I would like it to be reasonable walking distance of the station so ideally not more than 10-12 min walk. I like 5 supermarkets  - I've seen places from between £1k-£1.2k a month which don't look bad.



If you're that close to the station it's all pretty much the same. We just drew a walking distance sized circle round the station and ignored anything outside it. As far as I know you can actually rent a 2 bed semi with a garden for that price.


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## skyscraper101 (Sep 16, 2015)

maomao said:


> If you're that close to the station it's all pretty much the same. We just drew a walking distance sized circle round the station and ignored anything outside it. As far as I know you can actually rent a 2 bed semi with a garden for that price.



Good to know. I'm going to look around with interest. What's the commute/tfl trains like between Romford and Liverpool St? I'll also look around also for parks and sports centres as I want to start playing badminton again.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 16, 2015)

Mildly perturbed that fifteen posts into the thread and no one's said "gone to the dogs" or similar


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## maomao (Sep 16, 2015)

skyscraper101 said:


> Good to know. I'm going to look around with interest. What's the commute/tfl trains like between Romford and Liverpool St? I'll also look around also for parks and sports centres as I want to start playing badminton again.


Trains are packed at rush hours but pretty reliable and there's one every 3 or 4 minutes when it's busy. Off peak there are fast trains that get to Stratford in 8 minutes and Liverpool St in 15. I didn't like TFL at first because they changed the early train times so I had to get up 10 minutes earlier but I forgave them when I realised my commute had gone down nearly 3 quid a day. I travel at stupid o'clock in the morning so generally trains are on time and not crowded for me. Mrs maomao started work at a civilised hour when she was working and found that any delays lead to overcrowding but otherwise very good.

Go and have a look around anyway. There's no really trendy eateries or anything but loads of caffs for a FEB (cafe bueno next to the market is good), pie and mash shops and the pan Asian buffet at the Brewery shopping centre is great and very very Romford.

There's plenty of gyms about but I'm really the wrong person to ask about that.


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## maomao (Sep 16, 2015)

DaveCinzano said:


> Mildly perturbed that fifteen posts into the thread and no one's said "gone to the dogs" or similar


Never been to the dogs here (went to Walthamstow before it closed) but I can hear the commentary from my garden.


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