The truth is of course somewhere in the middle. We left ED because we could not afford a bigger house and someone was buying ours for the sort of money that meant a family house elsewhere was in range. Moved to Hayes (BR2). Pluses - it's lovely, schools are better, it's easier to get out of London from (we go South to see family) and the beautiful countryside is right on our doorstep. We got a 4 bed house for ?60k less than we sold our two bed house for, we don't constantly hear police sirens and no one seems to get broken into on a daily basis (there's no forum to hear about it however) Minuses - found it hard to meet like minded people, it's tory through and through (???s would love it!), the pubs are even worse than those in ED if that's possible, there is less of a sense of "community" than ED, the parks are not as good (apart from Kelsey Park and that's a ten minute drive). My test is the lottery test. Would I move back if I won the lottery tomorrow? My answer is "No, I would not move back" - Equally I would not stay in Hayes! Probably move to West Wickham tbh!