Chatham has been named the 7th best place in England to raise a family – and the people who live there largely agree.
It was given the title in a recent analysis from Electric Ride On Cars which compared schools, homes, childcare and quality of life to determine the ten best locations in the country for families.
These were then rated on a scale of 1-10, with Lincoln taking the number one spot with a family friendliness score of 7.31/10, largely thanks to the exceptional air quality of the city.
Read more: Every Kent Nando’s restaurant ranked from best to worst
Following this is Chesterfield in second place having scored 7.18/10 and Middlesbrough in third with 7.04/10.
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Coming in last was none other than the capital of England itself, London which scored just 2.61/10 closely followed by Swindon which scored 2.69/10.
Among the top 10 was Medway’s Chatham at seventh, which scored a family friendliness rating of 6.21/10.
The area is set to see great deal of rejuvenation in the near future as part of a large high street revival project which has already seen overwhelming support from the public.
Following the news of Chatham’s appeal to families, KentLive took to the area’s high street to see how locals felt about the ranking.
‘I think it’s better than London’
Tina feels Chatham is a better family location than London
Tina Simpson hails from London originally but has since moved to Medway where she has remained for 20 years. She says Chatham feels safer than the capital, though it isn’t perfect.
She said: “I’d say it’s definitely better than bringing the children up in London. I think London is harder to bring your kids up. I would recommend Chatham for families but it’s not a well built-up place for money.
“It’s cheaper for keeping properties but when you want work you’ll have to go further away toward London or Maidstone if you want to earn money.
“But I do think it’s still better than London.”
‘You get the community and plenty of interesting people’
Cinnamon says Chatham has a sense of community that is missing in other locations
Cinnamon Yoxall, 39, also moved to Chatham from London and feels the area is a great spot for families.
She said: “It’s interesting, I like it here but I know that’s not what everyone thinks. I like the close access to the historic parts, the dockyard, Rochester, the countryside and you can jump on the train and get down to the coast.
“Everyone’s really friendly, I came from London where they’re not so friendly but here we know all our neighbours and there’s a bit more of a community feeling here that you don’t get when you go further north toward London.
“I’d definitely recommend it to families, the houses are half the price they are in London and bigger and you get the community and plenty of interesting people.”
‘It’s no worse than the area I’m living now’
Adrian visits Chatham throughout the year and says it is an area he would consider moving to
Adrian Quilter, 62, lives in Dartford but visits Chatham throughout the year. He didn’t seem stunned by Chatham’s high ranking.
He said: “It’s not a surprise really no. I’ve not heard any really bad things about Chatham. I keep up to date with the local news, there doesn’t seem to be too many problems every day.
“I’d consider living here, it’s a pretty reasonable area, good high street and it’s no worse than where I’m living now.”
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