Kingston voted happiest place to live in London

By James Baines &Myriam Dijck

Kingston upon Thames has been voted the happiest place to live in and around London according to a survey conducted by Estate Agents, Rightmove.

The leafy borough pipped Croydon and Dartford to the top spot in a survey that measured happiness by twelve factors including pride, amenities and safety.

Kingston’s claim might be disputed by the other boroughs because of its astronomical house prices, but with the Thames running through Richmond Park and commuter access to Central London, they’re to be expected.

Celebrity dwellers

As well as being the official home of ‘Suburban Snowboarding’, Kingston is also home to the likes of former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw and children’s author Jacqueline Wilson.

We asked some of the student population to see if they agreed with the survey’s results, which found some students expressing their doubts, Rory Dixon, 23, said: “I would disagree, but if you love high street shopping and terrible nightclubs you’d be happy enough.”

Jakob Cizic, 22, said: “Who decided that? It’s complete rubbish.”
The results came after another survey saw London come second in the global top 50 of best cities for students, beaten only by Paris. Third came Boston, on the east coast of the United States.

After looking at the reputation and ‘quality of life’ of the universities, London was eventually beaten on the issue of tuition fees.

The survey, aimed at foreign students making up their mind on where to study, concluded that Paris was more student friendly, as their fees for international student are only £1,000 a year, compared to £20,000 in London.

QS Best Student Cities 2012 considered cities that had at least two top universities and a population of more than 250,000.

Other UK cities in the top 50 were Manchester coming 35th, Birmingham 47th and Glasgow 50th.