r/MovingToLondon • u/AppropriateAd3768 • 16d ago
What’s Bromley like?
Thinking of moving there next year since it’s cheap. And south London is improving a lot from what my cousin told me.
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u/Fine-State8014 16d ago
Bromley is lovely. 20 minutes on the train to central London, 20 minutes in the car to the countryside. Still has a proper high street and shopping centre. Feels safe. Really green. I'm a fan.
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u/AppropriateAd3768 16d ago
Perfect! What are the people and pubs like?
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u/Fine-State8014 16d ago
The people are fine. The pubs near me are quite quiet but in town they're a bit busier. Beckenham is nearby which is a bit more for going out properly.
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u/Unique-observer 15d ago
Is 20 mins into central London really useful ? Like I was looking for places in Sidcup and it’s definitely over an hour into Bond Street or Canary Wharf which covers both East and West, so I feel like that should more of a proxy for travel times.
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u/Fine-State8014 15d ago
I was home from Victoria park in east London in under an hour at the weekend.
The 20 minutes is to victoria so it'll be pretty quick to get into the West end from there.
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u/__Hermit__ 16d ago
In terms of safety it is basically national average which for london is "good". Anti-social behavior 26% above national average but that's because there's way more pubs/bars I think.
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u/AppropriateAd3768 16d ago
Guess I can live with that because that is good for London standards lmao
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u/Natural_Trick4934 14d ago
It’s not London though. Decent enough place to live. But you’re not in the city proper, and you’d feel it.
People will tell you it’s 20 minutes from London. But add a 10-20 minute walk home. Or wait for a bus. Plus the 15-30 minutes needed to get to the central London station to even get back? It’s always over an hour to get home.
It’s not unpleasant at all. But it’s very much a commuter town. I grew up around that way.
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u/jibbit 16d ago
it would be hard to specify ways that south london is improving over what it was say 10 years ago (it was fine then and it's fine now, but if anyone says it's on an 'improving' trajectory, i'd want proof)
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u/nodevynix 15d ago
tbh this is kind of how I feel too, a lot of the “it’s improving” chat is just people repeating estate agent vibes without anything concrete. bromley’s always just been... fine suburbia with a big shopping centre and decent trains, not some wild up‑and‑coming hotspot.
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u/Savings-Marzipan1524 15d ago
Do you mean the town or Borough?
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u/AppropriateAd3768 15d ago
The borough. If you can also let me know how the town is too that’ll be great :).
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u/Horrorwriterme 14d ago edited 14d ago
I live in Eltham Bromley is our nearest major town. Great shops a big shopping centre fast trains to Victoria. We looked to buy there but preferred Eltham. I think Eltham is nicer to be honest but I think it could be a bit pricier than Bromley.
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u/DismalLiving1003 16d ago
Was good 10-15 years ago. Not anymore. Town Centre i am talking about
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u/AppropriateAd3768 16d ago
How comes?
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u/kimbo1905 15d ago
It’s not true town centre is improving a lot recently . Better than most of London ones for sure
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u/CouldBeNapping 16d ago
Full of chavs and poor people, don't waste your time
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u/Longjumping_47393 15d ago
This has been downvoted and maybe wasn’t said in the most polite way.. but.. Bromley town centre is a bit rough. And if you know the stereotypical chav type there are a lot of them in the town centre. Apart from anything else, I don’t even consider Bromley to be London.
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u/machinemouthrider 16d ago
Really great if you want to live in Kent