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London: where to live?

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11:34 / 31.05.06

django-quango: i'm looking to move to SN N16 in a couple of months. Could you perhaps provide me with details of this landlord?

Mon Oncle Ignatius

12:16 / 31.05.06

Stoke Newington is a grower . . . if I'm not mistaken its home to a lot of turkish restaurtants too . . . that could swing it long term for me!

There are tons of great restaurants in N16, from Stoke Newington proper down towards Dalston where most of the Turkish places are. Apparently the best kebab place in the UK(1) is just around the corner from Barden's - though when I went there I couldn't find anything vegetarian so left in a hurry. Testi is very good, and I have heard good things about the Stone Cave (it's a restaurant built to look like it's in a cave... what else?) though once again the vegetarian options are limited.

(1) allegedly

15:01 / 31.05.06

Is north london not more fun?

YES!

North London= Oxford Street, Soho, Hoxton/ Shoreditch, Stokey, Islington, Hampsted Heath, Primrose Hill, Camden, Brick Lane, London Fields, Notting Hill, Crouch End, Hackney, Regents Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalger square, Leicester square (actually scrub that it's horrible), Spitlefields, Portobello Road, think of a landmark or somewhere you want to go its north(* exceptions listed below)

South London= Horrid - even the nice bits are all on the south bank desperately trying to be north (i reckon the Tate modern'll try and jump sooner or later!) - its not like you can easily live on the south bank without paying a fortune and Claphams full of estate agent types on the make- hence nasty prices.

15:04 / 31.05.06

An entirely balanced viewpoint there. As someone who lives in horrid, no-fun South London, I can vouch for its rather-niceness - at least, the bit we live in.

Regrettable Juvenilia

15:17 / 31.05.06

Portobello Road is not North London.

15:22 / 31.05.06

Most of those places are in central London, which doesn't count in my book since we are talking about residential areas - unless you live in Buckingham Palace and there's something you are not telling us. Half of them are in west London as well...

I lived in North London for about five years, I've lived in South London for about five years. I would never opt to move back to North London because it is filthy and horrible and oppressive in the worst possible inner city way. South London has trees, and woods, and parks and air. It is considerably cheaper to live there and you get far more for your money. It takes me 15 minutes on the train to London Bridge, compared with the grueling hours of bus journeys and tube nightmares I recall from my North London days. The only people who will tell you North London is better are the people who have never lived South of the river and feel the need to justify the exorbitant rent they pay for the privilege of living in a bleak, overpriced, depressing factory of housing.

Regrettable Juvenilia

15:27 / 31.05.06

Why must London fight itself? The Thames should be the heavily pulsing centre that joins us together, not a gaping wound that separates us.

15:32 / 31.05.06

Only responding to give balance to the pages of unprovoked South London hate going on in this thread... Mostly from people who have never lived there...

16:03 / 31.05.06

It's not that I have a hatred of south london (i'm from wandsworth originally), it's just that its location relative to the places i frequent is far too incovenient.

i mean, heading back to clapham after a night out in camden is a hassle i'd rather avoid.

16:15 / 31.05.06

A night out in Camden is a hassle I'd rather avoid...

16:54 / 31.05.06

And one of the best things about life south of the river is having a reason to cross the river everyday and get those wonderful views...cause if you live north of the river, let alone north london, you have less reason go down to the estury and you tend to miss out.

But then again I've never been too keen on Stoke Newington - particularly the reliance of long and crowded bus joureys to get in and out of central London.

17:08 / 31.05.06

North London = North of the river in the "North/ south London divide" innit- hence Portobello Road/ Soho being North London.

17:18 / 31.05.06

North London and north of the river are two very different sweeping generalizations. I tend to think of the Euston road as something of a rubicon and gateway to the wilds of that which is truly north London...

17:22 / 31.05.06

I'm mostly taking the piss, its an arguement that i've quite enjoyed with my friends and thought i'd carry it on here. I have lived down south before- and it was transport to and from anywhere fun that made it such a shag - east london line heads into whitechapel from New cross- (lots of really fun journeys going nowhere!), and then you've got the daft bit of the jubilee line and the crappy bit of the northern line that every other train terminates at kennington- and a taxi from Shorditch to Clapham will cost you the best part of £30.00 at three in the morning- or you can play the night bus hopping game... Trains may be faster but you also get leaves on the track, all manor of strikes/ staffing problems and they finish relatively early...

The centre of london is north of the river- hence better transport quicker journeys- my street's got greenery in Finsbury park- as do The Heath, Primrose Hill, Islington, Crouch end, stokey etc- we've also got less bomb damage so more nice victorian housing!

17:28 / 31.05.06

Whereabouts are you then, CB, if not living simultaneously in all those identically splendid parts of London North of the River?

Tryphena Absent

18:08 / 31.05.06

A night out in Camden is a hassle I'd rather avoid...

Depends what you mean by a night out. Good food, good cinema, not good just for drinking.

North London is my village. I left once in the early 90s, my exile continued for 10 years but I have reclaimed my territory and it will take an armoured tank to take me away again.

Goodness Gracious Meme

19:06 / 31.05.06

All generalisations about the 'north/south' London divide are pretty much bollocks, and say more about the generaliser than the city.

Goodness Gracious Meme

19:13 / 31.05.06

eg, agree with others that except in a unuseful north/south of the river definition, Portobello Road and Notting Hill are in no way N.London.

as by that taxonomy, Charing X is north. Duh.

Also, London enormously variable in ways that are way more complex than 'North/South'. Hendon has very little in common with St.Johns Wood, which are both different from Stokie.

Equally: Clapham, Peckham, Forest Hill=all identical. Not.#

Me, I'd probably, if I was ever to move back, look at z.2 south/east. That's mainly because those are the areas I know well, and the transport links are good.

Goodness Gracious Meme

19:17 / 31.05.06

and my ideas of prices are way out of date, but you certainly always used to get more for your money, in space/type of flat terms in S and E than N and W.

Tryphena Absent

19:51 / 31.05.06

Price depends on how far out you go, how re-developed the area is, what the transport links are like. The South and East are less expensive because the tube stations aren't as close together. For instance if you live anywhere in Camden you're in walking distance of at least one tube station within 10 minutes. It takes me seven minutes to get to my local tube station, 15 to get to two more and 7 to 15 to get to two separate overground lines and I'm not taking Gospel Oak into account.

All generalisations about the 'north/south' London divide are pretty much bollocks, and say more about the generaliser than the city.

To an extent this is true but I wouldn't move South (or West, perhaps East for a while) if I could help it because atmospherically I think it's a different area. I think the city has different characters and you have to find the one that suits you. The truth is that you're not going to know that until you've lived here for a while. I'm a North Londoner at the moment and love it because I find it more relaxed, a bit silly, a genuinely pleasant place to live with so much to do on a Sunday when I only want to walk half an hour down the road. South London isn't bad, I just don't fall in love walking around it in the same way. I'd like to live in a nice part of zone 1 but definitely can't afford it. My partner is more East in the head and other people I know live quite far out from the centre and are happier with that.

20:31 / 31.05.06

Yeah, mental geography plays a big role too - I've enjoyed living in central and south east london so am more drawn to those places - I also have negative associations with some parts of london and don't really go to those places anymore.

Living on the fringes of the city of london also has the added bonus that the area is deserted at the weekend - even on workdays the fringes are deserted from about 6.30pm til 7am the next day. there is a brief lull around 9.30 am til 11 am too - so if yo can get to word around 10 am and work until 6 you can avoid all the busy times and maintain the impression that one is living in some kind of deserted post-apocalyptic city...

Tryphena Absent

20:34 / 31.05.06

Yes London-apocalypse-dystopia is a beautiful thing.

22:06 / 31.05.06

I'd say that wherever you live in London or wherever you commute from you are always going to get Metro vomited up in your lap. So i'd recommend not bothering.

22:12 / 31.05.06

Have never read Metro once in the four years I've been here, so it's clearly not compulsory. Haven't ever read Standard Lite, or whatever it's called, either. But I do mostly walk to work on these sunny mornings. If not, I just look at bums for entertainment en route.

22:15 / 31.05.06

I noticed there's been no one here repping for the West. I never meet anyone from West London. A breed apart.

Anyway, none of you were born here anyway. Fuck off back to where you came from.

22:25 / 31.05.06

God, no. Even North London would be better than that.

22:29 / 31.05.06

Sorry for random insulting everyone. Pub.

22:35 / 31.05.06

We'll, for what it's worth, i spent my first five years living in London in the West. Living in Chiswick, Ealing, Brentford. Pretty dull really so i wouldn't recommend it.

Metro is my bugbear for the moment but that my own problem as no matter how many times i tell myself i won't read it groggy eyed on the tube in the morning i still end up with one in my hands. And it tends to annoy me for the rest of the day thinking of the angry clever sarcastic letters i could write to them. It's a dirty habit.

The best place i've lived in London is Brixton/Herne Hill. Great fun. Fantastic people, market, bars, clubs, park, lido etc etc. I loved living there. And on the tube line.

Live in North at the moment in Tottenham and it's pretty crap although Stoke Newington is nearby and that gets my thumbs up.

Happily i'll be moving again down to South London soon and i can't wait, although it's going to be pretty far out, which to be honest i'm going to love. We're, hopefully, going to be moving to within 5 mins walk of a proper Wood. Which compared to North london woods is a fucking forest! And there is a castle! Who gives a shit that it's more that 20mins on the train into Charing Cross!!

Goodness Gracious Meme

22:40 / 31.05.06

Lightweight.

Yeah, I've noticed before how we don't seem to have many West Londoners round here.

Any willing to represent?

(I think Ariadne might be an ex-Westie, but that's as close as I'm aware of)

And the point about mental/emotional geography is a good one. The parts of London I'd live in are the ones I've lived in before, as they have good memories/feel like they're 'mine'.

Anna, I like yr idea of people having N/S/E/W 'mentalities'. I pitched up in SE London without knowing anything about areas but it has good associations(moved there from out of London to go to uni, so my assoc's are with a social/emotional life that was connected with that), then I generally stayed close and so that determines my own london map.

I think I'm probably a Southie/Eastie person when it comes to London.

(on dystopian emptiness, had it pointed out to me that Picadilly Gardens are of Manch resembles Blade Runner late at night. True, and v.cool)

Goodness Gracious Meme

22:41 / 31.05.06

er, lightweight comment aimed at Illmatic.

Goodness Gracious Meme

22:42 / 31.05.06

Oh, and another yay for Brixton, I *loved* living there.

(although years out of london have me wondering if I could handle it these days)

22:45 / 31.05.06

And i've already worked out that a night bus back from Trafager Sq all night will only take 45mins. So i'm ok there.

But i guess i'm at the stage in my life where a close proximity to a large wood, and a huge flat with a big garden (and a SHED!!) is becoming more important to me than being next to the centre of things. I'm happily getting old and am already plotting the herb garden and magic mushroom filled romps to the Castle!

Although i am also having withdrawls from the lack of all night off licences!

Goodness Gracious Meme

22:47 / 31.05.06

Castle????

23:01 / 31.05.06

Severndroog Castle . Ok, it's a folly really, but it is a great building in the fabulous Oxleas Woods which i get excited about just thinking that i'm hopefully moving next to soon. And it has a great cafe for fried breakfast so when you come for the housewarming GGM you can see for itself!

23:14 / 31.05.06

I mean 'by youself' obviously. And the Castle can see see 'by itself' whether it likes us or not. It's that sort of castle.

Anyway, derailing... Yawn, Claphams a pretty good place to live i'd say if very expensive. You've got some good pubs around the common and its great in the summer. Also Lavender Hill has the best pizza place in south london and the Battersea Arts Centre has some good stuff on somtimes.

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