What is it like in Northfleet?

Question

We're thinking of moving to this area of kent and not sure where is good? Can anyone tell me about Northfleet or Gravesend? What is it like living in these areas? Crime? Chavs? etc?

Answer 1

I live in Northfleet as do a lot of my friends. We all want to move out of it. It's largely an industrial area dominated by a huge cement works which periodically expells large amounts of yellow dust all over your car and washing etc. Also there are a lot of council properties, especially flats, in quite run down areas, whose generally unemployed occupant's children, enjoy breaking into and vandalising property owned by the decent, hard working people also living here. Most of these areas have high levels of crime and drug abuse in them especially Huntley Avenue and its surrounding roads and Waterdales.

Don't get me wrong though, some Northfleet areas are still quite nice to live in. Pepper Hill is one, Painter's Ash is another. Also Istead Rise comes under Northfleet although, due to its location being surrounded by countryside, house prices are a little bit higher.

Gravesend also has its bad areas. Dickens Estate (crime, drug abuse, vandalism and, due to close proximity to a sewage works, a really bad smell and occasional vermin), King's Farm Estate (high crime rate, drug abuse including heroin, vandalism and robbery resulting in an almost constant Police presence) Jubilee Crescent & Hampton Crescent (pretty much the same but with added bonus of large numbers of Gypsy families living there, too. They also occupy a large part of the Dickens Estate.)

Good areas are Hever Court which is well outside of the town but close to the A2, Riverview Park, Thong, New House Lane and surrounding roads (nice park nearby), anywhere near Echo Square (a really nice area to live in, quite close to most schools and town centre), Chalk is nice too (close to A226 and about 1 mile from town centre) and finally there's Gravesend town centre itself. A lot of houses have been converted into flats and bedsits but there are still a lot of individual properties.

I hope this has been of use to you.