Reading - Good/Bad parts of town?

There's a possibility that I may be partially moving to Reading for a period of approx 6-9 months, and will be looking for some furnished flat/house to rent.

So what are the good/bad parts of town for living in?

And what are the good areas for entertainment/bars/restaurants?

What is the rush hour traffic like, how easy is it to get across town etc?

Anything else I need to think about?

It has a festival. Thats all i know

Originally Posted by AndyBrad

It has a festival. Thats all i know

Ditto.

It's been rather a long time since I lived that way, so can't really help on the Good/Bad bits. However unless there's been some kind of socio-ecomonic-evolutionary miracle, avoid Whitley...

It's a university town, summer evenings, head for the town centre pubs and enjoy the moving scenery!

Rush hour traffic can be awful, there are three main issues

1) A crap one way system
2) The IDR - a ring road that isn't...
3) A lack of bridges over the thames - if your commute involves these then be prepared for traffic jams.

Do you know where you'll be working? Reading is quite a big place which sprawls from Tilehurst in the west to Winnnersh (almost Wokingham) in the east. There are a few business parks on the outskirts of Reading, if you're going to be in one of these then you may want to base yourself conveniantly for them. You don't want to have to go through the centre in the mornings coz you live one side and work the other...

Ian

Work would be on the south side of town, near the M4/A327, not far from junction 11.

Thanks for the above info.

I live in Shinfield about 5 mins from J11, avoid Whitley/Whitley Wood, Caversham is nice but would be a nightmare commute because you would have to cross the river. Rush hour traffic can be quite bad out of town, the A33 can get a bit jammed up, genreally the M4 westbound is not to bad in the mornings but Eastbound into London is often pretty snarled up. There are a few nice villages on the other side of the M4 but its a little more Rural. Lower Earley is mainly residentail, not spent much time there but think its ok.

Would cycling through town be do-able?

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Tim in Belgium

Would cycling through town be do-able?

Depends...

Reckon you could outrun this lot?

Easy

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

Depends...

Reckon you could outrun this lot?

Isn't that Viney somewhere in that lot?

Best part of Reading? The NSL sign just after the "You are now leaving Reading" sign...