Crappy areas in Reading

drewfromrisca

Going on from my previous threads about certain areas and whether they are good or bad, it is now looking like I may have to move to Reading and in few days will be looking at a few houses/flats in the area.

Now what I want to know is - Are there any dodgy areas of Reading to stay out of???

Porgy

drewfromrisca wrote:

Are there any dodgy areas of Reading to stay out of???

Yeah - the bit that's west of London.

softlad

Coley, Whitley and parts of Southcote and Tilehurst can be a bit iffy. I grew up in Reading (in Southcote) and lived there for many years, so if I can help with further info, feel free to send me a PM or something....

Pross

There's good places in Reading? :shock: Then again you're from Risca so anywhere should be luxury

drewfromrisca

Pross - Couldn't have put it better mysefl!!!

markwalker

for druggy street walkers crack and drive by shooting check out the Oxford Road

The reset of Reading is ok if you like places with no soul or purpose.

REading Cycling club are quite big but have a reputation for being anal

great riding in the chilterns to the north and east
superb riding to the west and south but you have to go beyond newbury
Good time trial courses on the H courses
Streetly is a local hill which hosts a good hill climb for those mad and skinny enough
Palmer park has a velodrome

Its all good news really.
Pubs in town are almost all souless violent chains as are the restaurants and very expensive

Jez mon

Whitley isn't nice, there aren't that many nice parts if you have to live very near the centre. Caversham has some nice-ish bits and is literally just across the river but beware of traffic.

markwalker

Actually on reflection Reading is a nasty, racist violent place

Enjoy!

drewfromrisca

Errr it's sold...I'm not moving to Reading...Windsor anyone???

FatLarry

Head south of the M4.

We're a better class of person in North Hampshire, it's just a short cycle to Reading town centre and the cycle routes South East of Basingstoke are quite splendid.

FatLarry

.ps But stay away from Basingstoke itself.

Monty Dog

Plenty of nice places around Reading - it's the town itself that's a bit soulless. The likes of Windsor and Henley are nice, but expect will be expensive. Try somewhere like Twford - nearby, but still far away enough. You can go our riding with John Woodburn - he'll still tear your legs off at 73! Alternatively, to the west is the likes of Pangbourne and plenty of good riding towards Oxford.

drewfromrisca

Funnily enough Monty Dog Twyford is another place where a house is to view. Pangbourne is lovely as is Goring but it's not great transport with regards to train. It takes too long to get into London. Nothing can be as expensive as where I am now, 1500 quid for 2 bed flat :shock: so Henley and Windsor will be a bargain

softlad

Monty Dog wrote:

it's the town itself that's a bit soulless.

says the man from Fleet...

Twyford is nice - but as ever, the further away you go, the more it costs...

I always thought Reading CC was a pretty good club, although like any large club it has to have a structure...

Not sure about Reading being particularly nasty, racist or violent - it's probably no worse than any other large town and probably slightly better than Hammersmith in that respect....

eh

Reading isn't a bad place to live as a road cyclist, what with the velodrome and plenty of nice riding around Henley, Chilterns, Goring directions. Plenty of races within sensible distances as well.

Dunno about all this violence stuff, never saw any when I was there in the late 90s, so I moved to manchester to get a proper taste :?

Heck you can do a lot worse than Reading around that region, e.g. Didcot :twisted:

drewfromrisca

We've found a few places online for Maidenhead also. any opinions on this place?

markwalker

drewfromrisca wrote:

We've found a few places online for Maidenhead also. any opinions on this place?

its a bit posher but has become like an upmarket suburb of Slough. Slough is a muslim enclave seperated by the m4 and river thames from Windsor and Eton. At this point youre in very expensive london comuter belt. Maidenhead is very expensive for the same reasons but not quite as pretentious.

Theres a good cycling club ther Maidenhead and district and again great access to the chilterns, fast H courses and loads of road races. Theres o track but reading is within very easy access as is Hillingdon circuit.

There are a few independant restaurants worth visitng and Bray is a suburb with its michelin starred goodies. A nicer place than reading but very close to slough innit.
Slough is the home of a university previously known as a poly and the laughable location of the Office. I believe friendly bombs were encouraged to fall on Slough and things havent improved in the last 50 years. on the plus side its home of the mars factory and a power station

drewfromrisca

Yeah I know slough unfortunately... :shock:

The transport for trains seemed quick at only approx 30 mins so that's a bonus.

To be honest all I'm really looking for is somewhere I can walk down the street and not keep looking behind my back, where I can leave house and know it'll still be in one piece when I get back, when I take dog for a walk I'm not going to worry about him getting attacked by pitbulls! Where I live now I get all that.

I'm not far removed from reality to know that all of the above could happen anywhere but I'm just trying to limit the possibility really. It's not a perfect world but a bit of peace, quiet and happiness would be lovely right now.

neil²

Jez mon wrote:

Whitley isn't nice, there aren't that many nice parts if you have to live very near the centre. Caversham has some nice-ish bits and is literally just across the river but beware of traffic.

I was born in Whitley :shock: - at the side of the road, we never made it to the hospital. Spent my formative years nicking bike frames from the dump (recycling I guess!!) next to the speedway, doing them up and flogging them to students for sweet money.

And Ricky Gervais' mum was my dinner lady.

....and yes, I agree that Whitley is a tad dodgy!

If you can afford it Caversham is the nice bit, as are the villages north of the town. I also think that most of Tilehurst is OK too.

Jez mon

neil² wrote:

Jez mon wrote:

Whitley isn't nice, there aren't that many nice parts if you have to live very near the centre. Caversham has some nice-ish bits and is literally just across the river but beware of traffic.

I was born in Whitley :shock: - at the side of the road, we never made it to the hospital. Spent my formative years nicking bike frames from the dump (recycling I guess!!) next to the speedway, doing them up and flogging them to students for sweet money.

And Ricky Gervais' mum was my dinner lady.

....and yes, I agree that Whitley is a tad dodgy!

If you can afford it Caversham is the nice bit, as are the villages north of the town. I also think that most of Tilehurst is OK too.

Yea, I didn't mean to be that blunt!! I would say Twyford is generally an OK place, easy access to London via train, and in pretty easy access of some nice countryside to ride around in! Avoid Sonning at all costs, it might look really nice but has an awful traffic problem!

I agree with other posters on the subject, Reading isn't nearly as sh**y as people like to make out. It's not the nicest place in the world, and there are some dodgy parts, but compared to Slough, I think it's quite nice,

apreading

Theale, Calcot, Earley, Woodley, Caversham (except Amersham Road), alot of Tilehurst are all fine. Just ouside look at Bughfield/Mortimer to the South, Pangbourne to the North or Twyford to the East.

Avoid Whitley, Oxford Road, Amersham Road, Coley because of safety/crime. In my opinion also avoid much of the centre of town and the university area because they are too built up and busy but some people like that.

Some great cycling on the ridgeway, Kennet & Avon, Thames, Sulham Woods, Chilterns etc.

Reading is as good as anywhere else really unless you have alot of money - some good bits & some bad bits.

The town centre is alot better for shopping, easting and drinking now that it was 10 years ago - really quite vibrant but obviously lots of drunks milling about at the wrong time of the evening...

FatLarry

I can't believe this thread has progressed this far without a single mention of "The Whitley Whiff".

So, there it is.

term1te

I used to live in Maidenhead. Very suburban with some quite nice areas especially on the north side of town. Went back recently, and like the rest of "day care Britain", it is slowly turning into a giant pound shop.

My theory is that you can gauge the state of development, or perhaps degradation, of a town by looking at the high street and seeing what type of shop predominates. The four phases are shoe shop, phone shop, pound shop and finally pawn shop. Since I moved there in the early 90s it went through the first two phases. I left in 2003 and it seems to have edged somewhere between pound and pawn in the last 6 years.

Having said that, some nice cycling to the north and west of town.

neil²

FatLarry wrote:

I can't believe this thread has progressed this far without a single mention of "The Whitley Whiff".

So, there it is.

A cockney is born within the sound of the Bow Bells... a Whitley-ite is born under the cloud of the Whitley Whiff.

What Whiltey lads did to bikes... trying to keep on topic...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4988173&l=b47e4a8d8b&id=723565363

I'm the one on the left!

sampras38

neil² wrote:

FatLarry wrote:

I can't believe this thread has progressed this far without a single mention of "The Whitley Whiff".

So, there it is.

A cockney is born within the sound of the Bow Bells... a Whitley-ite is born under the cloud of the Whitley Whiff.

What Whiltey lads did to bikes... trying to keep on topic...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4988173&l=b47e4a8d8b&id=723565363

I'm the one on the left!

I was a Grifter man myself...;-)

drewfromrisca

Dragging up an old post, but I'm still looking.

Viewing a place on Saturday right by Palmer Park Velodrome. It's Amity Road.

Anyone know what the area is like around there?

Monkeypump

Can't help you on that area, but since I missed this thread first time round I'll stick throw my opinion in the hat and give a +1 for Maidenhead.

I agree the town centre is not the greatest, but it does have a fast train to Paddington, and Windsor & Reading are both close enough for shopping/eating/etc.

Access to M4 & M40 are minutes away, with M25 & M3 also easy.

Plenty of decent riding routes nearby, and villages with nice pubs and restaurants are dotted around the area too.

I've managed to walk around for the last 3 years without being mugged or attacked, so it hasn't quite descended to Slough levels yet!

And that's enough estate agent spiel from me!

RichN95.

drewfromrisca wrote:

We've found a few places online for Maidenhead also. any opinions on this place?

If you don't mind that sort of commute, I'd suggest looking west to Newbury (where I'm originally from, sort of)

morxy

drewfromrisca wrote:

Viewing a place on Saturday right by Palmer Park Velodrome. It's Amity Road.

Oh no. That area's known as "Cemetery Junction". Not sure I'd recommend it. Haven't lived in Reading for 5 years but most people I knew thought it was pretty dodgy. Lots of Chicken Cottage type places there. Maybe I'm being oversensitive. You'll see what I mean when you get there.

I lived in Woodley for 20-something years. Too long, I know! But for safe neighbourhoods I'd suggest Woodley itself, Hurst, Charvil, Twyford, Winnersh, Wokingham, Earley, Sonning... Most places around Reading seem fine. The only obviously bad areas that spring to mind are Whitley, Oxford Road (West Reading), parts of Tilehurst and arguably Cemetery Junction (Ricky Gervais' new film!)...

Moving further east, I'd say Maidenhead, Windsor and Egham are generally nice areas. Areas around Reading are generally very safe. But Reading itself has a worse crime record than the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, when I last looked at the crime maps anyway.

Aggieboy

Re the OP. I would suggest you stay away from anywhere with scousers at the moment!!

Why don't you look out along the Met' line for a place? You'll find places cheaper than you are currently paying and also have the option of Central line and Picc' nearby. Car access via M4 and M40 also.

softlad

drewfromrisca wrote:

Dragging up an old post, but I'm still looking.

Viewing a place on Saturday right by Palmer Park Velodrome. It's Amity Road.

Anyone know what the area is like around there?

that area is full of old-ish, terraced houses with street parking and saw quite a lot of immigration in the 70s/80s.

There is no such thing as a 'safe' area anywhere, but like the Oxford Road, the area is - how shall we say - 'vibrant'.....

Some areas off the Oxford Road are fine - as are some areas off Cemetery Junction - but you are no more likely to be shot or stabbed there than you are anywhere else in Reading, to be honest....the knife-wielding chavs all have cars and most muggers tend not to work on their own doorstep for obvious reasons...