pouët.net

I'm considering moving to the UK to work for a company in Egham and I'm wondering if anyone has any good insights on living in that area.

Like...

* Where to live if you're used to cities with populations on the scale of 200 000 - 500 000 (smaller and bigger than that works too, but maybe not as small as 5000-10000, even though it might be ok). Staines? Reading? Richmond? Clapham area? What other places are there if you want to commute to Egham. I'm just thinking that cities along the railroad would be good for sake of transportation.

* Typical rents for studio/1 bed flats in this area.

* Other things that might cost a lot that I should be aware of?

* Good online resources for these kinda things, forums for people living in or moving to the area.

* Other good advice :)?

Thanks, everyone!

I think you should pick Leatherhead, since it has such a splendid name..
Or Windsor, for some royalty..

I seriously have no clue though, I've only been to Guildford, which I actually liked but might be a bit far away..

breakfast in Eggham

iam actully have a bit of the same plans, thinking about of moving to Dublin and work at HP there, somone has any good insights? etc

Staines and Reading are very much commuter towns. Richmond will more than likely cost a fortune to rent in as it's a very nice part of London. Depending on how much fuel is taxed where you live now you might find petrol costs a lot if you were to think about driving rather than using the trains.

Be sure to check whether any town you choose to live in has direct train links to where you want to commute to. Most Greater London areas have train links that go into London but not "around" London which means you sometimes have to go into central London and then back out again to go from one part of Greater London to another.

Try a site called upmystreet.com which has lots of local information about places in the UK, just search for the places you're interested in on there.

Hope that helps :)

Regards,

pmc/Retro (born and raised in London)

Thanks, pcm, that's good advice :). If anyone has more suggestions like that it's more than welcome :D.

No worries man, but, err, it's pmc rather than pcm ;D

Sorry ;). What can I say, I'm an audio coder... if that makes any sense ;D.

Useful thread, I'll hopefully try my luck there too (as a sys eng.).

Rail travel is hideously expensive in the U.K.

Travelling by car takes a long time.

I lived in Twickenham, worked in Richmond. It took 15 minutes to drive to work and almost 2 hours to drive home. I hope you enjoy traffic.

Cycling is the only real option if you don't have far to go...

Actually, Egham is quite a posh area, surrounding towns would be cheaper to commute from. Public transport is probably a bit more efficient/reliable out of London.

STAY THE FUCK! Who will I now visit parties with!??! :-((

Paris is nice to live in. Is it any near to the village of London, come to think of it?

FunGas: I do consider cycling depending on where I'll end up. So what will a monthly rail travel pass cost me? I'm used to paying like 80EUR/month right now for a pass that lets me go to and from work every morning. It couldn't be more expensive than buying a car, insurance and keeping it fueled up, right? Otherwise I guess I'll have to get a car if cycling won't do ;).

Egham is quite small though. I prefer to live in places that can at least be _called_ cities. Egham is more of a _village_. Nothing bad with it though. Just small.

Thec: Well, I will still visit parties, but we'll just have different routes :).

Plan your journey and tell us how much...
http://www.rail.co.uk/

Rail is as expensive as a car, only you don't have to worry about parking.

Yeah, I checked it out at http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/seasonticket/tickets. Monthly pass between Staines and Egham was like £50, which is reasonable. But to extend it to Clapham Junction would cost me like £200/month, which is fucking _ridiciulous_. The trip only takes like 30 minutes. How could such a short distance cost so much? (well, disregarding that Clapham is closer to London, but Egham-Reading costs a fortune as well :/). Might as well get a car. That way I have more freedom at least.

but you have to ride on the wrong side of the road

Like I don't do that already ;D... oops, did I say that out loud? Forget I said anything ;).

some of the questions answered here

- also, I entirely disagree on cycling being an option in England: It is outrageously dangerous with aggressive, packed traffic and no dedicated bike-lanes. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Cycling is dangerous in London, there's no doubt.
Been knocked off countless times, 5 bikes trashed completely, hospitalised a few times, but hey, what's the old saying?

Anyway, you should try cycling in Cyprus if you think London is bad...

Cycling is fine in some places - dedicated bike lanes (even some dedicated bike routes near me, with bridges over the roads :D ) and chilled out traffic. Depends on what the area is like. (And I'm nowhere near london, luckily :)

Cycling is fine, as long as you stay away from cars.

cycling is for losers that can't afford a car

Cycling is for losers that prefer a healthy lifestyle and would rather spend money on interesting things than on cars or hideously expensive rail passes :/.

Do not move to London, go to Paris

Have you considered buying a horse for commuting?