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cinnamon girl, you have it right - Canvey is really rather an appealingly bonkers place, and in its own little time/culture warp.
Lots of generalisations in what people have posted, and many of them generally true (but always expect the unexpected, Essex can have charm where you least expect it).
My generalisation would be that Essex is best on its eastern and northern borders - ie where it's almost Suffolk (Halstead, Castle Hedingham, Mistley, Wrabness, even Colchester) or almost Cambs (Saffron Walden, Great Dunmow, or that place that Jamie Oliver comes from) - but then I live in Suffolk so I would say that.
Sadly all this will be of limited help if one of you has to work in Southend - so how about Shoeburyness, beloved of Ian Dury and Billy Bragg?
Have you looked at what you can get for £700PCM in Southend area that's probably a very nice and / or nice location 1 bed or an OK two bed. Houses rent for upwards of £800 and around £1000 up for something decent.
Agree with the comments about traffic. It can take as long to get out of Southend towards London as it does to get in morning or evening. Town centres a bit grim but in the burbs you will come across lots of independently owned stores.
There are plenty of trails around the area though and Hadleigh Farm is on the doorstep. Southend council is pretty enlightened about cycling in general and the Cycling Southend website is a good place to connect with other riders. You don't have to ride too far to get out into the countryside either.
Personally speaking have lived here for 4 years after 5 years in Kent and 15 in London beforehand. It's no better or worse than anywhere else where you're looking to spend £700PCM on rent.
And Cinnamon Girl is right to point out the area is the home of the mighty Dr Feelgood. Reason enough to move here!
Alpin. Indian in Hatfield Peveral would be Omars. Tiny place, no drinks licence (bring your own), but ace food
I'm really keen on seeing Canvey Island to follow in the footsteps of Dr Feelgood and pay homage to them.
Once they were popular, they played in Southend 😉
there's a lot of crap been said... Halstead? that's almost Suffolk!
Did you read the bit about him considering Braintree? And the bit about not wanting to live in a town?
95% of Westcliff is a total shithole, the remaining 5% falls well outside of the OPs stated budget.
FFS, total shithole? It's not that bad in comparison to a lot of other places, and sizeable parts of it are really nice. Then again, I may be thinking of the 5%. Or Chalkwell 😉
Brentwood is a good shout, I used to ride a lot around Warley Gap, I'm not sure how much is left of the old trails though.
Don't underestimate the traffic. I would seriously consider one of you looking for another job a bit closer to the other.
Do you know this area? 95% of Westcliff is a total shithole, the remaining 5% falls well outside of the OPs stated budget.
Probably overstating it a little, but not far from the truth. It really has gone seriously downhill in recent years. When my wife lived there in the early 90s it was OKish, but I wouldn't leave my car unattended in large parts of it now.
Leigh-on-Sea is OK, with nice mud-front and pubs.
@Khani - Just been thinking about some of the trails I used to ride out Galleywood/Margaretting way when I lived there years ago
Ooh ooh.. we'll go playing out then, 😀
Sadly all this will be of limited help if one of you has to work in Southend - so how about Shoeburyness, beloved of Ian Dury and Billy Bragg?
Just for you - for the OP, it's pretty much a list of areas to avoid...
95% of Westcliff is a total shithole, the remaining 5% falls well outside of the OPs stated budget.FFS, total shithole? It's not that bad in comparison to [s]a lot of other places[/s] Afghanistan, [s]and sizeable parts of it are really nice. Then again,[/s] I may be thinking of [s]the 5%.[/s] Chalkwell
FTFY matey 😉
I lived on canvey for years, nice place tbh, theres a sense of community there Ive not encountered for a long time - problem with canvey is that unless youre riding (which is very possible) it would take longer to get into southend than chelmsford, and if theres an accident it can takeup to 2 hours to get off the island depending on where you live there. I used to ride from canvey to southend every day and due to the seawall between canvey and leigh it took about 30-45 minutes depending on wind direction and was mainly off road - obviously in winter it can get a bit boggy.
The garrison in shoebury is really nice - obviously good for getting to southend (again very easy to ride into every day) and may take up to an hour to get into chelmsford. I ride from shoebury to southend every day can take between 20 to 45 minutes depending on route.
Its going to depend where in chelmsford and where in southend you are going to be working really.
As getting across each of them in rush hour will add a minumum of 45 minutes (And more like an hour) to the journey itself
I lived in both Chelmsford and Westcliff-on-Sea, and FWIW Living in Westcliff (Rather than just driving through and turning your nose up) was superb ;o)
Cracking houses as when it was built it was for the very affluent Jewish community.
A lot of the big houses were turned into flats, but have been now been converted back into FAmily homes.
The flip side is, that its one of the few places around there that you can still buy a nice property to renovate for sensible money and increase its value significantly. 
Back on topic, from down by the seafront in westcliff, to chelmsford is a good hour in rush hour on a good day, you can double that if theres an accident / hold up as traffic density is horrific.
I have lived in Chelmsford all my life, other than when i was on the road but have always returned back here. I currently live in Bicknacre and have worked in Billericay for 17 years. Billericay is not a bad place to live though I've never seen the attraction as i find it a very confused town. As for cycling, MTB rides in Danbury are very accesable from Chelmsford via, bridleways and cycle paths and the road riding round the lanes are great. Danbury, Bicknacre and surrounding area's arereally a mecca for cycling.
Essex Roads are a good group and Chelmer Cycling club are ok, though a little quirky. I have a part time, part time job in Chelmer Cycles which means i get to see the whole cycling scene and there isn't many weekends when there isn't something going on locally, whether it be Mud, Sweat & Gears MTB race, Thetford MTB races, Beastway, Gorrick Series MTB races and a multitude of charity and club events.
On the whole, not a bad place to live with the North downs only and hour a way by car and pretty safe crime wise.
Springfield in Chelmsford is not a bad place, with easy access to A12, i lived her for a while though I'm not keen on living in estates myself.
Brentwood gains extra points for being where Field and Trek started. Used to travel there, to buy outdoor gear, when that was their only shop.
Your £700 quid rent limit could be the most critical decider! The faster the rail line to London and closer to the major A roads the more you will pay. If the property is close to these and still cheap then it will be one of the areas that previous posters have told you to steer away from. As you don’t need to commute to London you should be able to find somewhere nice. For beautiful morning walks, environment and great country pubs then any of the rural areas west and north will easily take on anything you can find in Kent. Now after saying that I’m going to contradict myself, as follows;
I only know South Essex from my experience for mountain biking I would choose Danbury, Brentwood or Leigh-on-Sea side of Southend as there is very technical hilly stuff straight from your front door. Don’t forget the Olympic Course which will be open next year.
For an easy commute into Southend coming from the M25 towards Southend is a pretty nice run compared to trying to get there from Chelmsford. As always aiming to get into work for 7:30-8:30am is much easier than leaving it later. There are usually lots of rat runs once you get to know the place. Coming from Oxford you are probably used to the traffic.
Getting into Chelmsford is always a pain but A12 is normally clear up until you get close, approaching from the north may be worse than from the south but I only do both a few times a year.
If you want to commute to both places by train then you want to be on the Liverpool Street to Shenfield line but from talking to a mate who commutes north from time to time it’s not cheaper than using your car. If you’ve not got any parking spaces at your office then you could be in for some fun and expense!
I missed the £700 a month bit, we rent out a two bed bungalow in willibikki and get £900 a month for that,
Bazzers for you then..
Somewhere convenient for Southend and Chelmsford would be about...Basildon. Although the centre is not great there are some nice suburbs like Langdon Hills which has some MTB trails to boot. I don't know the trails, but a search on Google will tell you they exist and have been used for XC events so should be OK.
Just a follow up- moving into Colchester in two weeks. Managed to get a lovely 2 bed flat.
Where can I find some riding locally 😆 ?!
(My job fell through. It's not a good time to be a graduate! So still hunting.)
jaywick supposed to be nice.
used to live in Halstead.
almost Suffolk.
almost hilly.
Ha ha, one day Jaywick will be up & coming, until then though maybe not so good.
I dont know the riding in Colchester but Danbury is worth the drive but you need a local.
If you like a bit of racing try here & meet people to show you the riding.
[url] http://www.mudsweatgears.co.uk/ [/url]
Oh & missing out on the job in Southend isnt so bad, the driving would have sent you potty, I live in Leigh on Sea, its great, unless your in a hurry to get anywhere.