Information on Croydon Borough

Information About the London Borough of Croydon for Expats

The London Borough of Croydon is a part of Outer London. It is located in South Central London.

The following areas are found in Croydon:

Croydon, West Croydon, Addiscombe, Shirley, Addington, New Addington, Forestdale, Waddon, South Croydon, Sanderstead, Selsdon, Whyteleafe, Coulsdon, Thornton Heath, Kenley, Purley

Offical Website of theLondon Borough of Croydon

One of ExpatExchange.com's most active members offered the following information for expats considering to Croydon:

Croydon (updated 21 Dec 07)

Expat Profile: Not popular with expats. Not many expats live here. We've seen a Canadian or 2, some French and 1 other oddball American.

General Perception: Perceived to be cheap & downmarket and, of course, it's south of the river so it's trains/trams/buses and no direct tube access

What you don't know: Contains most expensive and richest post code in the country. Warehouse Theatre has great fringe plays and a number of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival folks come through and play here as well. Fairfield Halls is a bit worn, but still draws some interesting acts on occassion.

Zone: 5

Zone 1 Connections: 15 minute connection to London Bridge, 20 minutes to Victoria, 35 minutes (no changes) to St. Pancras for the Eurostar

Other connections: 30 minutes to Brighton, 30 minutes to Wimbledon, 15 minutes to Gatwick Airport

The Generalities: Shopping, parks, churches, pubs, child friendly, a bit of rough in some parts

The Council: Currently Tory. Picks up the trash bi-weekly and recyclables twice a month. Generally decent for those in an expat situation.

Key Events: Naturally, anything going on in London itself is easy to get to; however, very local events include the Croydon World Party and Mela held in Lloyd Park of East Croydon for 2 days every July and the Surrey Brown Caps playing Test Cricket at the Whitgift School at the top of June. Big crowds and great parties for both of these events. Also, there's the Croydon & Sutton Real Ale & Cider Festival - not as big as the national one in August up at Earl's Court, but a nice one for October.

Great Local Pubs: When we first moved here it was the "Little Cricks" (real name Cricketers) and a fantastic publican and his wife who arranged outings to horse races, golf societies, quiz nights, monthly parties and a lot of football parties. Whilst that pub has changed hands, the groups still keep up the traditions. Other great pubs in the area include the Claret Free House, Beer Circus, Dog & Bull, the "Big Cricks" (another Cricketers), the Builders Arms and Jack Beards at the Woodman come to mind.

Famous People We've Seen Around: John Prescott (former deputy prime minister), David Gest (former husband to Liza Minelli), Kate Moss (she was born here and still has local friends), Jeff Beck (guitarist), Kellie Shirley (easternders actress), Ronnie Corbett (comedian) and Nigel Harman (eastenders)

General Comments: Dogs have run away and been picked up by the police a couple of times - nice folks. Everything we want can be delivered to our front door. People are good folks and there's a little bit of something for anyone here - from family to singles. Good for working class, middle class or super posh. New money is usually in zone 1, not here. This is not for the feignt of heart - if you want to live amongst the English, it doesn't get any closer to the ground than here.

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