...The quality of food in Crystal Palace is fantastic, and the curry house on the high street is better than any on Brick Lane. There is a fantastic italian just of Jews Walk. 

With the tube coming in 2 years, you can not fail to make cash. Lawrie Park & the Thorpe Estate really take some beating!
Nick

…I get the peaceful feeling of being in the country in my garden, (birds, squirrels, foxes etc) as well as the ability to be in Central London for theatre, concerts and clubs, etc. on a train service which runs every 15 minutes, and only takes that time to get there!

Sydenham high street still needs improvement, but this is beginning to happen - with decent cafes and gastro pubs, and soon property prices here will be 50 per cent more than now - so get in quickly!
G. Maysey

…It's been great. People here are friendly, I know my neighbours, people really care about the area and want it to get better.

There are some really good pubs: The Woodsman, best Sunday lunch in London, The Perry Hill, The Dolphin and the Friendly old style pubs like the Golden Lion. Cafes like the excellent Sugahill, Blue Mountain Cafe, Milano and some great greasy spoons like Semas.

A lot of the flats have been converted back to single dwelling houses and the streets around the high street are great. Apart from the people and the potential it also has great travel links. It will have the East London line extension soon, but the trains are good anyway and I get a seat every morning. They even run on time.    

But the real gem here is what you get for your money. There are incredible houses and flats at prices far lower than other areas. Some estate agents over price (watch out for that) but in general it's better value than most other places I have been to.

And you are close to Crystal Palace park, Betts Park, Mayow park etc etc. There is currently a brilliant scheme to rebuild The Crystal palace, Forest Hill Pools are going to be refurbished and a great new pool built while retaining the old building and streetscape. There are exciting developments ahead. I'm very happy here having moved from Brockley.
L. Newham

... with Kirkdale Bookshop and Gallery, Floor Zone, Cafe Zucker and The Dolphin - and it is also set to benefit from a regeneration scheme which will hopefully include more trees and better street furniture etc.

The photos on this website do Sydenham no justice at all. If you want to see what it has to offer housing-wise you just have to visit The Thorpe Estate just off the high street - a conservation area made up of a network of beautiful Edwardian houses. Tannsfeld, Girton and Trewsbury are also very leafy with diverse architecture.

Beyond Venner there is a network of lovely roads with mainly Victorian terraces (including Byne and Wiverton). The Lawrie Park, Crystal Palace Park Road and Westwood Hill triangle has some wonderful wide avenues with enormous houses and there is also Wells and Sydenham Park roads up to Thorpewood Road, with varied housing ranging from Georgian villas to 1930s.

Sometimes I can't believe I'm still in Zone Three! And don't forget the three parks - Alexandra, Mayow and the award winning Wells park, and it's only a 20 minute walk/5 min drive or bus ride from the Horniman Museum and Gardens and 10/15 drive or bus ride from Dulwich park.
Sam Jones

I have also felt quite overwhelmed by how friendly everyone is - I too have been lent garden tools and half the street came to introduce themselves within the first week of living here!! It feels very much like a village and with nearly everything we need now on our doorstep our car usage has plummeted, which is great.

It has a lovely little cafe, a bookshop with a gallery where you can get tea and coffee, a health food shop and lots of places selling fresh fruit and veg, as well as some high street chains and a great Nepalese restaurant. A decent pub is probably one of the main things missing. But I still love living here!

The transport links are great. The shops are local stores with friendly staff that provide everything you need and for the big shops there is a huge Sainsbury's.

Our neighbours are really friendly. I have had them over for two p**s ups already and had the guided tour of their house. You wouldn't go out there but it is only a few minutes to Crystal Palace and Dulwich for nice bars and restaurants.

All in all Sydenham has everything you need and should not be overlooked. Now is a great time to buy in the area before prices rise with the extension of the tube line.

I know Sydenham will rise to the occasion once the developments come into play, but meanwhile enjoy the affordability while you can and you will reap the benefits very soon!!

SE26 offers the best of both worlds. It's quiet enough to feel like you're in the suburb - fantastic wide tree-lined roads, but still very near Crystal Palace triangle for excellent bars and restaurants, or 10-15 minutes to Bromley and Beckenham for great shopping/cinema etc.

The transport links are brilliant, regular trains from Sydenham to London Bridge (every ten minutes or sometimes less), or from Penge West, Penge East, or Crystal Palace. There are also regular buses, going to Crystal Palace triangle, Balham, Clapham, Oxford Circus, Dulwich, Brixton, Bromley North etc. And of course the East London line is planned to be here in 2010, in good time before the Olympics, as well as proposals to improve Crystal Palace Park.

Take my advice and buy here whilst you still can.

It only takes 15 minutes to either London Bridge or Victoria and the East London Line is coming in the next few years.

Links to town are also great, a cab to Covent Garden, for example, is approximately £12. The addition of the N63 nightbus is very welcome for access to the Hill itself.

Best of all for me is the proximity of the Wood which makes living in the City bearable, and the breathtaking view of the city on a clear night - the Gherkin looks spectacular when lit.

Moving from here will be a painful task...

When we were looking for a house our main concern was access to sports/travel/restaurants/pubs and entertainment and we feel that living in Sydenham gives us total access to all of these things. Croydon, Bromley, Beckenham are all within 15-20 minutes drive. To be honest you could do much worse!!

The High Street has suffered a little by the opening of Sainsbury's Hypermarket but this was 6 years ago and hence I feel that the shops we have left will stay there now! These include the normal mixture of any suburban town of deli's and bakeries etc but with the added bonus of a few of the more bohemian type of artists, antiques and jewellers.

The High Street also has a good selection of pubs and restaurants including Italian, Chinese, Turkish, Traditional English, Thai, Indian and Malaysian. A five minute cab or drive also gets you to Beckenham town centre which doubles again the choice of restaurants and shops.

For more serious shopping Bromley is a 15 minute journey where shopping Mall the Glades and Bromley High St contain most of the big name shops. (M&S, Laura Ashley, Debenhams etc)

Getting away from everything is also easy in Sydenham. Take a quick walk or drive between Lower Sydenham and Beckenham and you cannot help but be suprised by the number of sports clubs and grounds including the council-run 'The Bridge' on Kangley Bridge road. This offers a wide range of sporting pursuits. Parkwise again Sydenham seems to have been blessed and has plenty of little oases that you can go and walk in.

All in all Sydenham has a lot to offer and hopefully will serve you as well as it has for me!