live in central london
- Started
- Last post
- 23 Responses
- antoine_101
moving to london next month. just curious as to what are the nice and safe places to live in central london. i know its expensive, but just wanna start looking at what is around on the net soon, but no idea what areas are nice. dont care what side of the river, just as long as it is close to tube and is central london. any hints / info would be great :)
- paraselene0
what do you mean by central? anything within zones one and two?
where will you be working?
- Concrete0
pounce!
paraselene
(Jan 9 07, 03:58)
- paraselene0
very funny!
- rasko40
you don't really mean 'central' do you?
primrose hill, chalk farm, belsize park. highgate. notting hill.
tufnell park ios actually a pretty good spot as its pretty quiet but close enought to kentish and camden, but not so pricey.
- antoine_1010
umm i guess i mean i dont wanna have to go long distances to go out, shop, work etc. close to the main design studios? dont have a job lined up yet but i guess I mean in zones 1 + 2. just wanna see what is around at the moment and for what price
- mimeartist0
Pretty much everwhere that is nice, has a shit hole or a dodgy part to it, so you just need to be careful that you're not paying through the nose for somewhere with a nice name, but you're on the cusp of it being rough.
Isn't there anyone you can lodge with for a bit first?
- paraselene0
http://www.loot.com/
http://www.gumtree.com/those sites will help to give you an idea of what you can get for what kinds of prices.
in general, most people live in zone two and work in zone one. rasko's suggestions are good for north of the river.
in the south, herne hill is pretty good, but all the southern neighbourhoods can be tricky to get to. it really depends on where you need to go every day. there are studios all over the city.
- lowimpakt0
most expensive public transport in the universe.
- mimeartist0
a single on the tube is now £4 !
but if you get an oyster card its 1.50
bonkers!
- Dancer0
I freelancing for a month or 2 at a studio in London Bridge and bunked at a mates of mine in Balham I cycled there every day and loved it such an easy ride, and took 15-20mins.
I believe that this and other areas are cheaper than the ramped up Clapham costs. I think Para livd in Brixton for a while (didn't you?) which is easy to get to anywhere.
- Gordy220
I live in and am a huge advocate of Bethnal Green - cheepish, good boozers, easy walk to Shoreditch / Brick lane and pretty safe.
Again, you can bike to the city with ease and even Soho isn't to far.
- paraselene0
bethnal green!?
what are ya, made of money?
brixton's ace if you don't mind a bit of grit. i lived in hackney - mare street way, down by the canal - which was also great. now it's gone a bit trendy, though.
- antoine_1010
not so sure about brixton, friend told me its a bit dangerous. is soho where all the clubs are? maybe close to there, but not in the middle of it, dont want pill poppers and meth heads on my door step every night
- lowimpakt0
I have partied in some nice flats in Dalston. It's not fancy like, but it's vibrant.
- rasko40
you need to start looking at moveflat.com and get these dumb ideas about living in soho out of your mind.
and fuck dalston, the place stinks of fried fish and the station smells of sewage.
Hackney I can deal with.
- paraselene0
lol @ soho!
but if you want to be near the west end of things, try notting hill or westbourne park... kensal green or kensal rise is where vespa's at, i think. also pretty nice.
- Blofeldt0
Earls Court or Hammersmith are pretty nice. I lived in Loughborugh Junction and Hearne Hill south of the river and hated it for what its worth.
Depends on where you're coming from and what you're used to I suppose
- Nairn0
I absolutely, wholly and utterly concur with rasko's opinion on Dalston. In practical terms, I'd be inclined to share such disgust with Brixton and much of south of the river and west of the city too, but then I'm a fascist like that.
Come to Islington - we have lots of middle class pillockery, amongst the lowest life expectancies in the UK and plenty enough arbitrary murders - it's fucking great!
Also - Tony Blair lives just around the corner, apparantly. What more could you possibly want?
- Gordy220
Bethnal ain't that pricey - believe me.
Apparently muggings, stabbings and murders drive down the price. Who'd've thought it eh.
- P-A-T0
I live in London Fields, a little area between Dalston, Hackney and Shoreditch. I couldn't think of living anywhere else, and I've lived all over London.
It's got a very creative vibe about it, a great street market on Broadway Market which has some great pubs and cafes. The area is also benefiting from the government investment for the olympics: it's getting my safer than it's previous reputation would suggest and there are lots of young media couples and families buying up in the area.
Plus, it's only a 10 min bike ride from Old St, Shoreditch and Hoxton where lots of good design studios are located - generally the area is considered the creative side of London.
Getting to Soho and central areas is easy as well with a 10 minute or so journey from Bethnal Green station to Oxford St or Tottenham Court Road station - slap bang in the centre of town. Buses normally take about 30 minutes each way in and out of town, if you find you're not much of tube person - like me!