Chiswick is nice. Plenty of Cafe’s, restaurants and the like. It is very middle class, which depending on your outlook may be a good or a bad thing.
As far as work goes you can get into London pretty quickly, by bike or public transport.
Play? Mountain bike wise there is not a lot to recommend it other than the canal path and Richmond Park not being a million miles away, neither of which are all that great. If you drive, access to the M4 and out of London is straightforward.
If you want recommendations about a place it might be useful to be a little more descriptive about what your looking for. i.e. as far as work goes Chiswick has some local offices but is not great for trawler-men or shepherds. Likewise if shooting’s your sport then you might be better off in Shepherd Bush.