Moving to Streatham Post Reply

[Superunknown]

I currently live off the Northside of Clapham Common but need more space...husband, 3 month old and I are currently sharing a1 bed flat. We've been looking at Streatham as we can afford a nice house there. Is it a child-friendly place to be? One of the things I love about Clapham is all the activities...
Thank you!

[Spotty26]

Absolutely loads of activities in Furzedown (which is where I live and classed as Streatham postcodewise). I am off to a church playgroup tomorrow where there are singalongs and lots of toys set up - Playhouse at St Alban's Church.

There is the 1 O Clock Club at Faylands Avenue.

Furzedown Family Centre playgroup every day within the grounds of Graveney School.

The Well on Mitcham Lane.

Check out http://www.tootingbaby.co.uk/ which has fab listings. Loads of new cafes opening up all the time which are baby friendly too.

Less sure about Streatham proper, hopefully a Streatham dweller will pop on and help you!

[Batsneedfriends]

Loads of kids listings here - www.shoutstreatham.com.

And there's a v.g. 'Streatham Mums' page on Facebook (they're on Twitter @StreathamMums), or check this NVN thread http://www.nappyvalleynet.com/mums/view ... hp?t=24526

[Camille]

Streatham is definitely on the "up" as they say but I suggest you also check out Brixton which is right next to your area of Clapham (where we are is a 10 min walk max to Clapham High St/Common and 10 mins the other way to the vibrant centre of Brixton with the new Brixton Viullage, Ritzy Cinema, Academy etc, etc. It's arguably a little further down the gentrification road than Streatham and much more social life on your doorstep socially, entertainment wise. Might be a bit more expensive than Streatham depending on where you choose but having lived in Clapham North/Battersea previously we certainly wouldn't go back. Sorry to be so biased but as you can tell...we love Brixton.
Have a great move to where ever you end up

[papinian]

Unlike the previous two posters who spoke about Furzedown and Brixton, neither of which is Streatham, I am going to give you my impressions of what is actually Streatham.

Streatham is a big area - very very big for an area with a single name on it. The natural divide is between what's east of the main road and what's west of the main road. Each side of the main road can then be divided up further between what's north of Streatham Hill station, what's between Streatham Hill station and Streatham station and what's south of Streatham station. That gives you six different areas.

The nicest one of those six areas is that which lies west of the main road between Streatham Hill station and Streatham station, i.e. between the main road and Tooting Bec Common. There are some really lovely roads here - lots of mature trees and beautiful houses of a number of different types. I live in a terraced house in Tooting (accessibility of Northern Line and being able to buy a house we liked near a good state Catholic primary school) but if we were choosing just on the basis of house, house price and street we'd have chosen that part of Streatham. The shops/restaurants on the main street in Streatham are generally good and, a change from some other areas of SW London, very reasonably priced. Lots of independent shops, including fruit and veg shops and an Italian bakery which we stopped off at on Sunday and which was 1/3 the price of the equivalent on Northcote Road.

The Streatham Hub development is underway and is going to result in a Tesco supermarket (giving a bit of competition for the existing Morrisons but hopefully not killing off the independent shops), cinema and ice rink:
http://www.building.co.uk/streatham-hub ... 19.article

I don't know much about children's activities or schools in Streatham, apart from the Catholic school, St Andrew's, which is two form (60 pupil entry). St Andrew's is an excellent school. It only has a "good" Ofsted but if you read the actual report you will see that several aspects are outstanding and there is hardly anything to criticise. If you look at the KS2 results you will see that they are excellent. However, most of the other schools are middling, except for Telferscot, which is west of Streatham Hill - almost in Clapham Park - and Immanuel and St Andrew (Church of England) which is at the opposite end in Streatham Vale.

The biggest problem with Streatham is transport/traffic. The main road is effectively a through route between the M25 and central London. There is no underground. The main road has lots of bus routes, including ones going as far as Paddington and Liverpool Street, which is great late at night but not so good during the day when traffic is a nightmare. If you live some way from the main road you're unlikely to have a bus stop/route near your house and may have to walk for up to 15 minutes to get to one.

Streatham station has Thameslink trains to the City and also trains to London Bridge. Streatham Hill station has trains to Victoria and to London Bridge. I don't have any idea how busy these are at peak times. I guess it depends on where work is now / is likely to be.

As regards activities for children, I don't think it's anything like Between the Commons or Balham. However, I haven't checked it out for those sort of things. I would say that there are fewer businesses looking to guilt trip parents into wasting money. However, if you check out the internet you will see what activities there are.

Hope this is useful.

[helenmara]

Just bumped into this old thread whilst perusing the site. I hope that you've eventually settled somewhere in Streatham or nearby and are happy with your choice of area. However, to be honest moving within London can be very costly in the present climate, there is now nowhere in London that is affordable so lots of people are having to move to areas where they hitherto wouldn't have considered living, this applies particularly to places like Streatham and Brixton in particular and Peckham if one may add. These were never desirable areas for families - Brixton in particular was considered too urban and gritty and crime prone, although with solid Victorian and Edwardian terraces, Streatham with it's lovely properties simply suffered from being inaccessible and unfashionable. Brixton is changing gradually although it is still urban and gritty and has an extremely tense and hectic atmosphere, it is also now an expensive area that like everywhere else is beyond the pockets of Londoners. It attracts mainly young professionals and students who like the hectic night life in central Brixton and the revamped market but unfortunately i wouldn't rank Brixton as a particularly family-friendly neighbourhood with the likes of Balham, Clapham Common or Wandsworth, although many priced-out young families are moving there. Despite all the hype about Brixton market and area, If you have to live in Brixton fine but I would recommend Herne Hill or Tulse Hill as a more suitable compromise, you've got the lovely Brockwell Park at your doorsteps and Herne Hill station is only two stops from Victoria and there are better schools in nearby Dulwich. As for Streatham, this is an acquired taste, however there are wonderful properties to be had for a snippet of the prices in places like Clapham or Wandsworth (and Brixton too). There are more down-to-earth shops in Streatham and the area feels much more safer than Brixton or Peckham but transport is essentially a problem as it is such a large suburban area stretching across Zones 3 and 4.

[kgarner]

Streatham is super-childfriendly. Check out the daily listings on http://streathambaby.co.uk/. There are also several children's centres and 1'o'clock clubs. I realise Clapham has lots of young families but in terms of daily acitivities for children, I don't think it compares at all. We live near The Rookery at the top of Streatham Common, a really special ornamental garden without an equivalent elsewhere that I am aware of in South London. The downside: other posters have given the idea that Streatham is cheap; while this was the case a couple of years ago, prices have since risen astronomically, so even the previously less desirable areas such as Streatham Vale have become significantly less affordable. You are spoilt for choice for cafes and restaurants, especially between Streatham Hill and Streatham stations, many of which- unlike the ones on Northcote Road- make a feature of being family and buggy-friendly. Transport-wise, you have Streatham Hill, Streatham Common, Streatham and Norbury stations and there are so many bus routes to Brixton that in certain areas of Streatham you don't feel the lack of a tube at all eg setting off from where we used to live halfway down the High Road, I could easily make an appointment at Baker Street or Oxford Circus in 45/50 minutes.

[helenmara]

I agree with you and did not mean to say it isn't . I Only touched on old attitudes towards the area which used to be quite negative until very recently. Obviously it would be nice to have the underground or overground and also huge swathes of Streatham are not easily accessible eg of Leigham Court Road unless you drive. But it is a very nice but until recently largely underated area. But like everything else in expensive London, if you can't afford Brixton or Tulse Hill then Streatham is a cinch!

[helenmara]

I agree with you and did not mean to say it isn't . I Only touched on old attitudes towards the area which used to be quite negative until very recently. Obviously it would be nice to have the underground or overground and also huge swathes of Streatham are not easily accessible eg of Leigham Court Road unless you drive. But it is a very nice but until recently largely underated area. But like everything else in expensive London, if you can't afford Brixton or Tulse Hill then Streatham is a cinch!