Is there life after east dulwich?

[Lukedaisy]

sillywoman Wrote:

> Otta, you are right of course. You do get more for

> your money in Forest Hill and Sydenham, but I

> guess you're paying a premium to buy into the

> 'community' here which doesn't seem to be quite so

> cohesive in those places. Of course that might be

> an attraction in itself to some :)).

Repalce that word with pretentious and you wont be so silly woman.

[Otta]

People do talk about the community thing, but I have to say, it's not something that I've witnessed in any special way, that's different from anywhere else. The place where I've felt like I was partof a community, was Wavertree, Liverpool.

I think perhaps, you only really get to be part of te East Dulwich community, if your face fits.

[sillywoman]

Errr, then that sentence doesn't make any sense Lukedaisy?

Otta, that's a great shame for you :(. I have found the opposite. I've lived in 24 different places and several different countries through my life and have found more of a community here than anywhere else. I feel very rooted, and though we could do with more garden space & another bedroom I won't be moving because of the lovely community I have here in my road. This extends into the rest of ED at large - I love to walk down LL, cos I never know who I'll meet, from which area of my life, but I always see someone (you know who you are!)I know and will stop to catch up - that's what community is to me.

I think it helps that I have had children whilst living here. A large part of my more intimate community has been made through playgroups, nursery, neighbours & schools. I notice that those in my road who don't have children tend to leave for work in the morning, come home in the evening and maybe use the bars on LL on the weekend. A few can barely pass a civil 'good morning' to their neighbours. When they start having babies they always seem surprised at the depth of community life & support that there is here in ED.

I don't know if my face 'fits' - somedays I think it does, somedays it doesn't. I think it's more a case of 'you get out what you put in'. Maybe it takes being here day-to-day to really see it? Or maybe I've just been lucky? I don't know. I'm just Thankful that we came here and feel very lucky to have been able to raise my family here so far.

[zeban]

I love that post sillywoman. I think there's a community here in ED definitely. I've lived all over London and have never felt like part of a community until I moved here. Even if on a day to day basis it's more the online community of the forum that I take part in and feel a part of- that's still a massive thing though and shouldn't be underestimated. My Mum comments on the community here a lot- especially when I tell her the amount of things I been able to get from the sale part of the forum which means we'ld rather pass things on to our neighbours than throw them away.

I think some people are snobbish BUT no more than any other part of London- you'll always get snobs in England! and the majority are far more down to earth than say around where I work which is Clapham/Balham/Wandsworth where all of the yummy mummys are very cliquey and extremely snobbish.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Born and bred here and wouldn't live anywhere else .

[Otta]

Good for you HeidiHi :)-D

Sillywoman, one could argue that what you're describing is having friends. I bump in to lots of people I know in ED too, because I use the pub. (well, I used to use it a lot more)

Either way, I like ED a lot (it will always be "home" in a way), but sometimes I shake my head when I see people trying to talk it up like it's got some sort of dome around it, and only lovliness exists inside. Have you not thought that perhaps you could move not very far away, get your extra bedroom, and bigger garden, but still get what you want from ED? That is basically what I do, it's having your cake and eating it. (although I only rent, I don't think I'll ever be able to buy a place, in ED or anywhere else in London!)

[duchessofdulwich]

I was born in Dulwich, raised in Beckenham. Went to Brighton Univerity for four years. Then I moved back to East Dulwich for work purposes. Fell pregnant, Decided Dulwich wasnt a place we wanted to raise a family and have recently recolcated to Ashford in Kent....(phheww,...Yes I have moved about!) Do I regret leaving London again? no.

I think East Dulwich has improved greatly, however I did find SOME people in ED (not everyone!!) slightly pretentious?

I say different courses for different horses.

[sillywoman]

Yes, Otta some are friends, but most are acquaintances & work colleagues. I'm obviously not describing accurately what makes ED a strong community for me. It's knowing that, for a time, my life and that of many other people around me ran in parallel. They know things about me & I know things about them - some good, some not so good, but none the less we have knowledge of each other. And because of this knowledge - however small - there is a bond between us. And having that bond with people who share the same geographical space, shop in the same shops, read the same forum, or use the same local resources makes ED a community - more than that. For me (and possibly only me!?) it makes it MY community.

Yes, I could move a bit further away, but I'd lose, or weaken what's taken me years to accumulate - the sense of community, and so would my children. What I have here is too valuable to me to risk it's loss without very good reason. Bigger garden & another bedroom aren't quite reason enough for me - yet.

Different strokes for different folks, and ED isn't for everyone I know, but I felt I must challenge those who said it doesn't have much of a sense of a community because my experience is that this is far from being the case.

[new mother]

Fascinating discussion- Heidi, to pick up on your suggestion of Aldwick. Is it suitable for older people? Are there the sort of clubs that my parents would enjoy - golf, bridge, gardening, church etc? How are house prices( in general) cf ED for example? I will look it all up now, thank you.

[Threadhead]

I grew up in Yorkshire, went to uni in midlands and lived in E London for 5 yrs and SW London for 11 yrs. Moved to ED jan 2010 and find it the friendliest place I have ever lived. The neighbours on our street have welcomed us warmly and already feel like good friends. I do all the childcare for our daughters in the school holidays and other dads and mums are far more chatty than the SW London set who in general were v unfriendly to a dad looking after babies/toddlers. There are far more dads out and about with their kids around ED and everyone is v friendly - a lovely community spirit. We are loving it here.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Edited

[new mother]

That is so kind, thank you. I will do my house price research first and then pm you perhaps. Thank you again.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Prices on here http://www.henryadams.co.uk/offices/1005/Rose-Green/

[blainiac]

I started out in a flat in Camberwell 20 years ago, then a house Dog Kennel hill way, then rented Woodwarde Road. I looked and looked in East Dulwich for a suitable property to buy. Kept finding the gardens and room sizes too small for the price of property and thinking I could live with that - but in the end I thought it daft to spend so much on a house with such a titchy garden just so I could wander down a street of nice shops and get a coffee. At the time I was looking to buy a 4 bed was ?650K-?750K. Circumstances changed and I found my budget reduced considerably. I am in sydenham now with a four bed victorian property, 100ft garden, culdesac, opposite a park (there are loads and loads of parks sydenham way). Two minutes walk station, 15mins into Victoria. It is the best move I could have made. I have discovered a whole new world of M&S food, Waitrose, bike shops, Kelsey Park, Wells Park, Mayow Park, Crystal Palace Park, Bromley shops & glades swimming pool, 2 minutes drive gambardos, Beckenham Spa, Beckenham Odeon, the joys of LIDL - i could go on. We also have a Blue Mountain, and great Bookshop here too. I am a convert and thought at one point I could never leave Dulwich. I can still visit all my old haunts by car within 10 minutes. To be honest as the boys have grown and having a garden they can tumble into and one that will fit their trampoline there has been no looking back. There is community here. There is community everywhere in London if you look and definitely life outside LL. I thought that Crystal Palace, Sydenham and Beckenham were the a**e-end of nowhere when I first got to south london from north, but in fact they have proved to me that they are not. I could never leave london - country is a place you visit, and remember your kids will not thank you when they are teenagers and you become a 24hour taxi service because their best mate lives in the next village.

[cuppa tea]

"I could never leave london - country is a place you visit, and remember your kids will not thank you when they are teenagers and you become a 24hour taxi service because their best mate lives in the next village."

But they are very unlikely to get caught up in gang warfare or be mugged returning home from a party...the countryside has it's bonuses!

[Otta]

I don't know, a lot of the time when teenage girls go missing, and turn up go a ditch, it's outside of big towns or cities. Possibly because we dont really have ditches in London, but you get my point.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

The teenagers and kids here are really happy as there literally is loads for them to do that does not cost a fortune.

I know my son will be absolutely fine getting around as the bus service here is excellent , every 15 minutes.

I used my mum as a taxi service in London as I definitely did not feel safe travelling back from certain areas late at night on a bus. So quite a myth that the countryside is all dull , and with bodies in ditches.

[Otta]

Heh, for the record, I wasn't suggesting that the country is made up solely of ditches filled with the bodies of teenagers :-) I think a lot of it is to do with what you know. HeidiHI, you're a london girl, now enjoying something different. Friends and family of mine from more rural places, couldn wait to get to London. I'm sometimes tempted to move somewhere near the sea, but I love London, and I can't drive, which I think would make life difficult.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

I am by the sea and I don't drive and I am out and about all the time. I do my major grocery shop by ocado delivery so only need to pop into my local supermarket for bread etc.

Taxi services here are excellent also and same price as London roughly.

Local school is ten minutes walk, there is a shopping centre in town.

I definitely feel a stronger sense of community here than Dulwich. My sister who lives in Maidenbower and my mum all want to live here now!

I stayed in High Wycombe and Catford for a while and disliked both areas.

Different people have different needs and my area meets all my needs. I thought I would struggle as did other people but it has been effortless. I am supposed to come and stay in Dulwich once a month but I cannot tear myself away from here and instead everyone has been coming here for fresh air, the sea and countryside.

The unknown is always scary but how we perceive things is not always so.

[Anotherperson]

Did you get a council exchange?

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

A council exchange? No.

[Otta]

I'm interested why you ask that Anotherperson?

[Angel]

I'm reading this with interest as we moved out to Bromley last year after years in East Dulwich.

At the end of the day the really high property prices and the need for more space led us to look at other areas. Once we'd seen a few houses we were decided as you could just get so much more house and garden for your money. We were also looking at schools and the playing fields and less pressure on places attracted us. Things may change but at the moment we can see which schools the kids will go to at both primary and secondary level and know that they'll be able to walk to them (my partner grew up in London and had two hours commuting each day to get to his church school and we wanted to avoid that for any of us).

We also knew we would be state educating our kids all the way through and wanted to be as sure as we could that we wouldn't be wanting to move again in four years. That's not to say that the schools here are better than those in

ED there are pros and cons with each as there are with living in each place.

We balanced up the commute for both of us, the schools, facilities for the kids, house and size of mortgage (and spent a lot of weekends dragging around the suburbs of SE London).

I think having kids is the thing that really connects you into any community unless you are active in other ways through your work, volunteering or church. I was definitely in the using ED for sleeping and the odd bit of socialising camp before I had a child and started working part time. I miss loads of things about ED but it is only down the road and I find myself going back less and less and I've met lots of lovely people here (through kids!).

[Smiler]

Snowboarder, re houses for sale in some areas all seeming to be grannies' houses, tis because the old people are dying off / downsizing / needing cash to pay for care homes, and familes who'd prefer nearby areas but can't afford them, are moving in. We bought a granny house, complete with red axminster carpets (pink carpets everywhere else), floral wallpaper, avocado bathroom etc etc.

The local chemists are a bit different to ED: instead of lansinoh cream, organic creams, moltex nappies, nuk teats etc there are incontinence pads and talcum powder!

[Goodliz]

Just wandering if there is anyone on here who has moved North or West out of London. Our relatives live over in Somerset and up North. Lots of people seem to move to Kent, Sussex and Surrey.

I love East Dulwich, and I am sure there are plenty of other lovely areas out there too. I grew up in an area of Liverpool called Tuebrook and I find ED much more friendly. I am lucky enough to work in the area too so I also think that makes a difference.

From the age of about 6 I've only ever lived in the cities and don't know if I would like a smaller rural place. Sure I would love the running in the countryside though.