In the midst of trying to get a project off the ground with my pal Miss B, I am also trying to find a new pad for the Cherry's. The current one is way past its sell by date and I've simply had enough of these four walls. We are incredibly lucky to have a flat at a cheap price in an area of West London that is deemed "trendy". Having lived in this area for the last 14 years I've watched the media and mid-ladder fashion pack buy up all the properties and seen the demise of the smelly pubs replaced with bars that have serious acoustic problems - or is it that people really enjoy shouting loudly at each other?
Of course when the media pack arrived so did the coffee and the artisan bread (oh please?!). I was well chuffed when Starbucks appeared but when Starbucks moved in so did Costa. And let's not forget the Artisan Bread cum Expensively Priced Cake cum Coffee Shop and opposite that another overly priced coffee emporium. And this is all within 20sq ft!
But behind the artisanal facade is the reality that 20sq feet of expensive coffee shops and a ridiculously priced clothes shop doesn't keep the yob factor away. If anything it seems to encourage it. We are within spitting distance of an area that houses some of the poorest communities in London. The road we live in is the main thoroughfare between these two communities. Every evening it's a given that groups of guys and girls of all ages will walk along our street, shouting at each other (no-one seems able to just talk here!) and generally being a nuisance. And so after another summer of this endless chatter we are moving but there is a slight problem we don't know where.
In our dream world (the one were we win the Lottery and spread the joy) we'd buy a lovely town-house in Kensington or Holland Park....haha, £10million anyone?? Back in the real world, the thought of spending £350,000 upwards on a one and half bedroomed flat in a half decent area (this being one of them) makes me feel a little sick. So we are now looking at the commuter belt, where we could maybe get a house, a couple of bedrooms and a garden for our imaginary dog to run around. Oh how lovely that would be... 5,342 properties later... and we still haven't got very far. As much as we would love somewhere remote we still need to work, which means a daily commute.
So the search area has been shortened (a lot) and it's time to go and visit the commuter belt and figure out where we will finally lay our hat. First stop Buckinghamshire...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/sep/16/move-to-great-missenden-prestwood-bucks?INTCMP=SRCH
p.s. since this article was posted, we can't find any of these properties, good old Guardian.
p.p.s. as I was posting this blog last night, this happened less than 1/4 of mile away from the coffee shop zone.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/30/teenager-baby-shot-west-london
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