Living in Uxbridge

Uxbridge is a historic market town on London's far western edge, and it feels more like a town in the Home Counties than part of the capital. Its centre has a pedestrianised High Street, two shopping centres, restaurants, pubs and a cinema, and the art deco Uxbridge station, designed by Charles Holden, is the terminus of both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines.

Brunel University's large campus sits on the southern side of the town, and its students and staff give Uxbridge a younger population and a busier evening scene than many outer suburbs. The Battle of Britain Bunker, the underground operations room from which fighter squadrons were controlled in 1940, is now a museum on the site of the former RAF Uxbridge.

Green space and countryside are close. The Grand Union Canal runs along the town's western edge, and the Colne Valley Regional Park, with lakes, woodland and walking routes, stretches west and north towards the Chiltern Hills. Hillingdon Court Park and Fassnidge Park are within the town.

Journeys into central London are long: the Metropolitan line takes around forty-five minutes to Baker Street, and the Piccadilly line takes longer to the West End. Heathrow is a short bus ride away, and the M40 and M25 are close, so many residents drive. Housing includes interwar semi-detached houses, modern flats near the centre, family homes in the surrounding suburbs and student accommodation, and rents are among the lowest in west London. Uxbridge suits students, families and people who work locally, at Heathrow or in the Thames Valley, and who value space and countryside over proximity to central London.