basingstoke
 

anyone live in or around basingstoke?

what are the good areas to live and what are the areas to avoid?

whats the commuting traffic like etc?

thanks!

Hatch Warren and Kempshott are good on the south side (closer to the M3). Chineham is good on the north side (closer to reading and the M4). Where will you be commuting to?

thanks :) i'll take a look at those areas. what can u get for circa 180-200k in terms of property?

considering a job there.. its pretty much right in the centre... a few mins walk from the train station

i live on the south coast right now... circa 40 miles away

in traffic up the m27/m3 that will take all day (m27 around soton can be a standstill), so if i take the job i will need to move closer. probably initially renting a really cheap place while trying to sell my house and looking for someone good to buy.

i guess as the job is near the train station i *could* live further out and get the train in if there are better options (and nice places close to train stations)... but i hate having to pay and wait for trains so would prefer either living walking distance (long shot i guess) or a short (< 20 mins) drive.

Around and about Basingstoke
 

I work in Basingstoke (about 10 mins walk from the station although I do walk very slowly LOL) and have lived around the area for a while.

Much of Basingstoke is fairly modern-ish housing estates, of which the best are probably listed above. I've never been a big fan of this - tight winding cul-de-sacs of detached properties which you can perhaps squeeze a couple of sheets of paper between. There are some very nice non-estate areas as well (e.g. Cliddesden road to the south) but they might be stretching your budget a bit.

I've always chosen to live in the villages surrounding Basingstoke, although the public transport is pretty awful in and out of them so you need to be willing to use the car. I used to live in Cliddesden (the village) south of the M3, which was okay but no transport/services; Old Basing is nice as well, and has more facilities and is walking distance to Basingstoke itself (a bit of a hike but walkable!). Sherfield on Loddon and Bramley to the North are nice, but prone to flooding from the river Loddon and I think Bramley was a chemical dump after the second world war or summat, although it has the advantage of being on the Reading/Basinstoke train line. Dummer and North Waltham to the West are nice villages too. Oakley might be worth considering - actually a small town of its' own accord and a short drive in.

Around the £180-200k mark you are probably looking at a 3 bed semi with a garage I would guess?

As for commuting traffic, I've always found it acceptable. It has its moments - and the new shopping centre combined with dodgy traffic light controlled roundabout near the centre can cause problems. Always a bit of a queue coming up the Alton road from the South (A339) in the mornings. Mind you the snow flurry we had almost gridlocked the place :eek:

Oakley is quite expensive now. I doubt you can get much for £200k. Even a bungalow(with a decent amount of land) is worth more than £300k.

thanks guys - very helpful advice i appreciate it :D

You could always try Hook to the east, any further and it starts getting very expensive Fleet\Hartley Wintney.

Take a look at Andover too, very reasonable as far as house prices, and not too far to commute.

Matt(Born in Basingstoke)

hook is nice, inlaws live there.

Amazingstoke........................hardly the most attractive place, but has a new shopping centre/cinema etc and train access to london is good. I dont think Id want to live there, though like most place has is good areas and bad areas - a friend of mine lived in Chineham, newish development, seemed ok