What do you know about Reading?

[ChetMC]

We're Canadians, living in the US, and looking at a possible relocation to the UK. We'd be in Reading, England. We've been told by people who are originally from the UK that Reading is not a very nice place though. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[flapjack]

It's on the up- seriously. There's some big employers moved into the town, it's prime commuter belt (and therefore house prices are expensive), some good schools around. It's fair to say that it's a big-box town, where the high street's made up solely of big brand name stores and not much independence about it- but you could equally live outside the town centre and commute in. Public services seem to be pretty good.

DH is teaching in Thatcham, which is between Reading and Newbury, and it's a reasonable area. You'd be right in the middle of a puddle of MDC mums as well, if that's any incentive?

[ChetMC]

Thank You So Much!

Thank you so much for responding! When I peaked in here it didn't look like there was much traffic. I was worried that either nobody would respond, or I'd offend half a dozen proud citizens of Reading.

Reading is actually semi famous in Canada. Our national broadcaster (the CBC) runs a news magazine program, and for whatever reason, they use Reading as the geographic centre of the UK. Whenever they interview somebody in the UK they give the person's distance from Reading.

Somebody had actually suggested that coming from North America we probably wouldn't notice the unappealing aspects of Reading. If big chain stores and lack of character are what people don't like we should be okay. We currently live within driving distance of 14 Costco stores, and several of the largest shopping malls I've ever seen. :-)

I'm glad to hear that Reading has some good schools. I'm very overwhelmed by the British school system. I'm pretty sure that our oldest would start school in September (she turns 5 in May), but it looks like we're going to miss the school application deadline. I'm not familiar with the process of needing to choose a school and then apply for it, let alone what we should do if we miss the deadline.

Oh... And it would be lovely to be surrounded by MDC moms!

[orangefoot]

ITA with flapjack that Reading is on the up. I wouldn't mind living there.

It has bad press because lots of people who live there aren't keen on the number of Polish people who are living and working there now. There is a big Polish community now and some people don't like it.

The town centre has all the shops you could need, there is a Costco if you like that kind of thing, the riverside has been totally redeveloped and has a cinema, restaurants, bars, Krispy Cremes which my kids love and a shopping centre called the Oracle which you can google and find out about. There is a sewing machine shop and great fabric shop there too which I go to every now and then. There are crunchy edges too if you look for them!

There is a massive music festival there once a year and WOMAD has also had festivals there in the past.

Don't worry about the deadline. That exists of people who are living here all the time. Most schools keep a few places for families moving in to the area and you should be able to find your dd a place somewhere without too much trouble. You can search for schools in a geographical area at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/ This site has all the inspection reports on schools too which you can consider alongside visiting those which are close to you when choosing - if you have a chance to choose!

[IfMamaAintHappy]

when my husband was in the UK for several months a few years ago, we spent the better part of a month in Reading. We were in a flat about 3 blocks from the Oracle, and I still miss it and the town centre. I have heard from others that they felt it was an impersonal sort of place, just because many of the people living there were young and single, rather than families. I didn't have much opportunity to get to know people, but I didn't have any bad experiences.

[chick]

there are some lovely villages around Reading.

My dh used to live in Finchampstead which is about 5 miles out of Reading - lovely and leafy in parts but not in the middle of nowhere. I think we'll move back over that way at some point.

[spudmum]

I lived in Reading for my whole childhood from aged 1-21yrs and my mother's family lived there for several generations so we know it quite well...well did...my parents have retired to London & I've moved to the Midlands. 15 years on I'm sure it's changed a bit...but my brother still has lots of friends who live there and my Aunt & Uncle still live there as well so I'm sure I can help fill you in on any questions.

As far as I remember the main area to avoid was Whitley (mainly local authority housing & v high crime rate) We lived right on the edge in a suburb called Earley which is lovely...good schools, excellent transport links etc, nice leafy feel iyswim. The newer part, Lower Earley (well it was new 20 years ago when I was growing up!) is nice as well...but lacks a bit of the character of Earley I think becuase of the modern housing...but that's just me being picky I think LOL.

The town centre is less commercial than it was...but tbh it still has the best shopping compared to even big cities like Birmingham and London with a good range of department stores (including the very excellent John Lewis) as well as many smaller shops spread out over the town centre, both in the Oracle and outside.

Like the others said it is prime commuter belt so house prices are similar to London and so quite high. http://www.rightmove.co.uk is a good site for finding houses to rent or buy.

Shout if you have any q's

[orangefoot]

A cousin of my dad's lives in Lower Earley and his house is a big 70's box as they say but it does have a big green garden which is big enough to play family cricket in! A friends parents are in Earley which as a pp said is more characterful. My Dh's family lived in Tilehurst for years and that end is nice too.

Find a house on rightmove then look up the postcode on upmystreet to get an idea who lives there. It isn't a foolproff way of telling what an area is like but ours is accurately described as having singles or young couples with no children, with low interest in current affairs, who eat out a lot and watch satellite tv. It's not a bad area but we don't fit in!

[dalerose]

I used to live in Reading, my sister still lives near by. There was a survey done about quality of life in the UK. I think Reading area came first. You should be okay there. We used to live at the Steiner school on the way over to Newbury. Lovely area.

[sjlparis]

Hi,

I live in Reading I moved here from Paris a couple of years ago and I really like it. Like most big cities there are areas to be avoided (def. agree on Whitley) but the town centre itself is fine. There is a big shopping centre here which is great and also really good public transport links to London if you wanted to have a day out shopping

If you didn't want to live in the city itself then the surrounding villages are really nice too.

Feel free to PM me if you would like any more info or to chat.