Working in London (Hammersmith) - suggestions on where to live?

Hey, I'm a Londoner. The best thing about Hammersmith is that it has great transport links (including night buses) so you can live pretty much anywhere. I don't really like Hammersmith but I don't have any particular reasoning behind that, just a gut instinct. So then it really depends on what kind of person you are.

If you're more of an upmarket person (i.e. you don't mind spending £20 entry to get entry to a bar) and you're earning a lot of money live in Chelsea, if you're earning a decent amount of money live in Fulham and if you really can't afford Fulham live in Putney. It will probs take you half an hour to commute from any of those places.

If you're a hipster/ want to go out a lot I'd go with Old Street/ Camden/ Kings Cross which is commutable (maybe 40 mins on the tube.)

Middle ground would be a flat-share near Notting Hill Gate which doesn't look that nice but is full of quite affluent people and there always seems to be something happening there.

Londoner here also. Not too experienced with that end of town but places like Bayswater are pretty good as well. You're very close on the Central line, you're heading AWAY from the general commute which is always a plus and you're in a nice area near to Hyde Park. Hammersmith itself is a good enough area.

Hammersmith is great, with some of the best tube access and night bus services in London. However, it is also one of the most expensive areas of London to live in and given how accessible it is from pretty much anywhere you may want to consider looking elsewhere.

Download a tube app - they will tell you how long it will take you to get here on the tube. Bear in mind that Hammersmith has two tube stations for different tube lines next door to each other and that shepherds bush which is on the central line is about a 15 minute walk away.

Ps. I live in Hammersmith so if you have any specific questions ask away.

GE Capital?

they used to be in Berkeley square with the big dogs, then their RE arm made a waff investment, and the only way to cure it was to move the whole effin' organisation in to The Ark so it had some tenants. people were pissed off, and frankly, still are....

CivilServant:

Hammersmith is also one of the most expensive areas of London to live in

I've lived in London for a while now, and live west. I know the area EXTREMELY well, despite transport links being great I probably wouldn't live in Hammersmith. A bit too much of a transit zone, and it feels like it. There is the water front there, but it's too small of an area in the middle of councils and back to the the Talgarth Road which gets very noisy in Hammersmith. There is Shepherds Bush with some yummy mummies, but I don't really like it if you don't have kids. I'd probably go towards South Ken, Kings Road if you have a bit of money; otherwise if you want to be close to work but be in a nice neighborhood that's still relatively cheap I'd go for Barons Court. Notting Hill is shit to get to Hammersmith from, so I'd avoid it. Someone mentioned Putney, I wouldn't it's very yummy mummy again; i'd rather pick Fulham Broadway if I had to chose (relatively same prices, and next to each other area wise), also Putney can be a pain to get to the center of London from. Barons court has the picadilly for central london and the district, and you can walk to work. Hammersmith has become expensive if you want to buy a house, but rent is the same as everywhere else in London, if you are going to be sharing you are looking at 650 - 1300 a month anywhere in London. If you want something on your own, the sky is the limit here....

Also - I've lived in Kentish Town, Angel, London Bridge, Canary Wharf, Gloucester Road, and now Barons Court. I live with my girl friend and this is by far my favorite area to live in, it's got a great neighborhood feeling, and you can find actual English people, thank God for that. I'd probably go more towards South Kensington or Sloane Square if I was single though, and it's very close to get to Hammersmith.

And if you are young and broke: always share in London. Always, otherwise all your salary will go to rent.

Aight, now back to my CFA studying!

Appreciate all of your responses - thank you very much!

Based on the responses and some googling, I'm considering either Hammersmith or South Kensington. I know generally you guys said to live outside Hammersmith, but I do place value on its convenience to work.

@CivilServant: A few questions, if you don't mind me asking:

• Would you say that King's Street is the main place in Hammersmith for shopping, food, etc or are there other places in Hammersmith worth mentioning? King Street seemed the most "lively" when I was in the area interviewing, but I didn't have a whole lot of time to check out other Hammersmith areas.
• Where would you say young professional Hammersmith residents tend to spend their time (when they are in Hammersmith)?
• How much of an "advantage" (if any) would you give to Hammersmith for having the Thames right there? In theory, it seems great to have the river to walk/bike along, hang out, etc. Is this the reality? In practice, do find that people take advantage of it?

@ everyone: if you worked in Hammersmith, would you choose to live in Hammersmith or South Kensington? A few random questions and considerations going through my head:

• Flats I'm looking at are roughly the same price to rent and meet my quality standards, so I'm not worried about this factor
• I'm in my mid-twenties and want to make the most of my experience in London as a young professional. (Side question: where do young professionals in London tend to spend their weekends? Is it mostly in Zone 1, in which case South Kensington has the advantage?)
• Based on the tube app, it's about a 17 min tube ride from South Kensington to Hammersmith. The flats I'm looking at are roughly the same distance from the respective tube stations in each area, so choosing to live in South Kensington adds a ~17 min commute each way, per day
• Would you say younger crowds can be found more in Hammersmith or South Kensington? (I have a hypothesis but just wanted to check).
• Are the main attractions/features in South Kensington close to the tube station? (I'd be looking to live relatively close to the tube station)
• How much of an advantage (if any) does Hammersmith tube station have over South Kensington tube station? Hammersmith seems to have access to Piccadilly, District, Hammersmith & City, and Circle lines whereas South Kensington has access to all of those except Hammersmith & City line. In reality, does this make that big of a difference?

Sorry for the lengthy post. Most of my googling gave me very high-level descriptions of the areas, so I'm posting here instead to hopefully get some on-the-ground insights. Would really appreciate any insights (short or long).

Thanks, Proboscis

You've essentially decided to live in Hammersmith, and discarded what most people have told you. Read what we all wrote to you above, that will answer your question.

For me, South Ken/ Chelsea is a no brainer if you can afford it. Just jump on the Piccadilly line down to Hammersmith every day which is less than 15 mins and against all the traffic going into the city. Way better night life, people and more central to everything but it would be around 30% more expensive in general. If you live/ work in Hammersmith you will probably stay there and everything will be more annoying to travel to. I live in Parsons Green and love it excluding the shitty tube connects to go central but from Fulham/ PG you could easily bus down to Hammersmith if you wanted to.