Jumping the pond, where to live?

Londoner here. I don't have much to add, but if I was *forced* to choose Reading, Guildford and Woking I'd probably choose Guildford; it has marginally more character. A warts-and-all primer to UK towns and cities, written originally for skateboarders, is http://www.knowhere.co.uk/. Don't take it too seriously, but it gives you a good idea of what some places are like. It says http://www.knowhere.co.uk/3239.html's best parts are the people (mostly war veterans), the quiet and the thatched cottages. The worst are the Totlands Estate, no nightlife and "a lot of kids with nothing to do." http://www.knowhere.co.uk/3239_altlife.html. Nuff said.

I did a very similar commute from central London out to Sidcup one whole year. You should bear in mind that "reverse commuting" is much nicer than the usual slog into London. There's always a seat on the train for sleeping/catching up with work; and if you prefer to drive the roads are quiet(ish). I wouldn't fuss too much about where you live. Victoria/Waterloo/Clapham Junction are all easily accessible from right across town. Settle in wherever work will pay for, and then spend the time finding somewhere that suits you as an individual.

Let us know where you end up, at any rate, and come to the next meetup too! Good luck with the move.

Thank you everyone for such wonderful responses! It's difficult to mark a "best answer". I'll come back and mark it after I decide where to live. It's very encouraging to see that the UK is full of such nice, helpful people. :) So far Clapham/Battersea sounds very promising, so I'll start my search there. That post code link is a lifesaver thanks! It sounds like my biggest deterrent to living in London is train costs, but the monthly pass is a little less than what I pay in car payments/insurance/gas right now so it's sort of a wash I guess. I'm going to ask HR if they give any allowance for transportation costs. Oh and I'm Korean so I guess I'm not "Asian". Am I considered "Oriental"? The term is so weird to me, it makes me think of rugs and noodles.

Another vote for London. Couple of extra tips: - Places in zone 2/3 have the best prices and are still easy to get into Central London. - If you can, share with someone else. You'll get a better place in a better location and still pay less per month than you would if you were on your own. - Avoid living somewhere that means you have to commute across Central London. It's not pleasant especially in this weather. - Try and find somewhere which has train, tube and night bus service. It'll be in a slightly more expensive area but you'll be covered for nights out. As you lose these options then the price gets cheaper. Never go somewhere that has only tube access as you'll have to use a taxi after midnight to get home. - Avoid Farnborough. - Look into places on the route to Farnborough that are still within London. If you're on a train route then you can go up to zone 4 as it'll be pretty quick back into London. Don't forget about the tubes and nightbuses. - www.loot.co.uk is good for finding accomodation. You'll need to buy a pass for the stuff added less than 7 days ago but its cheap and you can get plenty of places to see. - Anything that gets you into Clapham Junction isn't bad too as you can get to Farnborough that way. However check the timetables (use ojp.nationalrail.co.uk) as it may be longer from there. - Bear in mind that Clapham Junction (the railway) is 15-20 minutes walk from the Clapham tube stations. Good luck!

iamcrispy - how can one live with 10 k AND live in North London? I am making a bit more, flatsharing, don't go out loads, and I'm still broke! Like-neon - Yeah you don't want to live in Farnborough. London is the way to go and with 30k you can live well i reckon.

I'm a lifetime londoner, and I'm very fond of the place, despite the dirt/expense/weather etc. There is something for every taste, and despite living here for such a long time, I'm still discovering cool new stuff. Its much less hectic than NY. Also, your other options are not great. These dormatory towns near london are, in my view, rather dull and soulless. 30k is enough to live in London, you won't have masses of cash, but you'll be perfectly comfortable. The vast majority of my friends live on that sort of money, indeed it probably around the average salary for London. Most of them share flats though. I used to have a flatmate who did the exact commute that you do, from London to Farnborough. We lived near Victoria, and he used to take the train from Victoria, and change at Clapham Junction. Clampham Junction, by the way, is the busiest train station in Britain, most of the trains from London going south go through it. Have a look at this http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/lon_con.pdf it shows all the trains that go to clapham junction, and hence all the places you could live without a nightmare commute. Having said that, you might find that clapham/battersea suits you quite well. Its not too hectic, not too expensive, and its easy to get into the centre of town. Clapham common is a huge green space, and there are plenty of nice local restaurants and bars. Its not particularly cool, or edgy, but there is plenty going on, lots of young people, good ethnic mix. I'd look around there if I were you. Good luck

Most of your questions have been answered so I'll chime in with ideas for areas near Waterloo. North of Waterloo is Zone 1 and pretty central (=$$) so if it's affordable housing you're after, I'd look South / East. My own neck of the woods is Kennington which is a 10-minute walk (or 1 tube stop) from Waterloo and has some great parts: good restaurants, indie pubs, delis... and London's best http://www.southlondonpacific.com/on your doorstep. There's also some pretty crappy areas, particularly close to Elephant, so you'll want to visit the area before you make up your mind. As others have said, Clapham is definitely an option: its a very young area and there's certainly lots of options for nightlife. House prices are a bit higher than Kennington and Oval. London Bridge is worth considering; some good places to live round there. Plus, you'd have Borough Market on your doorstep. Sweet. Camberwell is a very diverse area and quite affordable, though there's no close tube line so you'll be walking/bussing further. Battersea has similar transport limitations but is also a decent area to live/play in. If you're looking at any specific areas, drop me (or one of the other London-ites) a line; we'll be happy to provide any local knowledge we can.

£30 K is more than enough to live on in London, and you'll only pay £700-900 a month if you live smack in Zone 1 or get screwed by an Estate Agent - my advice would be to look at the line out of Waterloo, and check out the different places it goes through coming out of London. Moving into a flatshare is also a good option - check out www.gumtree.com or www.moveflat.co.uk for nice places. Plus, as for London being a big, scary place, it's really not, it's more like hundreds of villages smooshed together. Which it kind of is, I suppose.