Opinions on Living in Gravesend?

[PhiloStan]

I'm thinking of moving to Gravesend in the near future and would like some opinions on the area (I'm currently in London). As I'll probably still be traveling to London often I am thinking of living closer to the train station.

Is it a good place to live? Safe? A Google search seems to show that it's not very nice but how true is it?

Thanks!

[maxwellwd]

Not my cup of tea, my brother lives in Gravesend (Dowsing on this forum) crime is an issue, gang violence and foreign crime. There are nice parts on the outskirts but all depends where abouts in the vicinity you would be thinking of moving to

[NickD]

Try a little out of Gravesend: Meopham, Southfleet or Longfield, there are plenty of nice towns/villages to the south of the M2, all have easy access to the station at Ebbsfleet. Gravesend itself is a bit....meh, albeit my Son was born there.

[draftsmann]

I grew up in the Medway Towns but thankfully came up in the world... personally I'm not a great fan of the conurbations between Rochester and Greater London- worst of all worlds IMHO. On the other hand I now keep an occasional pied a terre in SE18 near Shooters Hill and that to me is the best of all worlds- a London postcode, quiet, plenty of green open space but just a few minutes from Woolwich and from there a choice of transport links into central London.

I'd avoid Gravesend though.

[afcneal]

Try a little out of Gravesend: Meopham, Southfleet or Longfield, there are plenty of nice towns/villages to the south of the M2, all have easy access to the station at Ebbsfleet. Gravesend itself is a bit....meh, albeit my Son was born there.

As above - Gravesend is a dump as are most places along the Charing X line to Gillingham. In a bit Bexley, Sidcup are OK but pricier.

[Peck]

Yeah another thumbs down for gravesend I'm afraid - it's a real hole. As others have suggested some of the surrounding small towns / villages are rather nice though

[mountmusic]

As a general rule, any place in Kent from which Essex is visible is best avoided.

[soundood]

prepare to die, inside first slowly and then in a street attack/robbery.

avoid like ebola infected with the plague

[Nexus04]

I found it quite a nice place. In the centre of town there is a drop in centre used by unemployed, petty criminals, drug dealers, thieves, drug addicts, alcoholics and people conning the sicknesses benefit. Its called a Weatherspoons pub apparently.

Seriously its probably no worse than any town in the aea for drunken behaviour of a night time, but as mentioned previously there are nice places a few minutes drive from Gravesend. Check out Meopham, Southfleet, New Barn and Longfield. A little further and you have places like Cobham and Sole Street. Obviously all a lot pricier than Gravesend.
There has been a lot of people moving from London to Kent in the last couple of years and as a consequence house prices have rocketed in places like Dartford and Gravesend, or all along the "Thames Corridor" really

[PhiloStan]

Thanks guys for all the advice; I guess it's pretty much agreed that Gravesend isn't a good place to live. I will consider areas around Southfleet instead.

[notnowkato]

Just stay in London ? It ranges from awful to magnificent in a matter of minutes. Just depends in which direction you walk.

[dowsing]

I've lived in Gravesend for about 10 years or so now and am currently a bit outside in Northfleet. Much like anywhere it has it's good and bad areas. Crime does seem to be on the rise unfortunately. Southfleet is a good shout, I got married there and the mother-in-law is still out that way. In Gravesend itself, I'd recommend the Windmill Hill area.

House prices have shot up in recent years so to make a good saving you may need to look further out into Kent to get decent value for money.

There is also talk of there being a new Paramount Park to be built nearby within the next 10 years or so, but I'm not sure if it's been finalised yet. If this gets the go ahead it would probably boost house prices again.

[matt109]

As a general rule, any place in Kent from which Essex is visible is best avoided.

This made me laugh...

[gunner]

Try a little out of Gravesend: Meopham, Southfleet or Longfield, there are plenty of nice towns/villages to the south of the M2, all have easy access to the station at Ebbsfleet. Gravesend itself is a bit....meh, albeit my Son was born there.

I live in Longfield and its perfectly nice. Decent train link to Victoria or Blackfriars, A2 for M25, Canary Wharf or the coast and the all important Waitrose... ;-)

Gravesend not very nice at all.

Feel free to drop me a line if you want.

[MrSmith]

As a general rule, any place in Kent from which Essex is visible is best avoided.

i grew up in Kent (the nice southern part that is blighted by the shitehole called Ashford) that part of north Kent is one of those commuter towns along with Croydon, Slough, Wembley, Ilford etc that i would never want to move to.

Artless places with a high mouth breathing chav factor. and thats from a council house/free school meals/ no holidays/work ethic perspective.

find somewhere nicer to live.

[Kingstepper]

As a general rule, any place in Kent from which Essex is visible is best avoided.

Or France?

[Weirdfish]

Gravesend was my birthplace and home for around 25 years, still have family around the area, greenhithe, southfleet, Rochester and yalding.
I moved away in 1985 for work, it was still ok then, but every time I go back for visits it seems to get worse, dirty, built up, overcrowded, and yes, reportedly very bad from a crime point of view, but then it's not that far from Dover etc so lots of people seem to make it their home, ( you can replace the word "people " with a word of your own choosing ), 😂😂