Question about living in Central London

[tectonicplates]

I'm intrigued by the number of people on here who say they live in Central London, or used to, or were considering doing so.

As someone who grew up in the suburbs, I could never imagine living in Central London, but then how are all these people defining what is central? Personally I'd think of the West End and the City, or somewhere very near a mainline station like Marylebone or Victoria. But maybe people define it as zone 1, in which case somewhere like Angel/parts of Islington could be considered in the same category, which I wouldn't think of as absolute Central London.

So if you live in Central London or have done so, where exactly do you consider the boundary to be?

Anywhere in Zone 1, surely?

We lived in Farringdon,near Smithfield market, definitely would call that central. Probably would say all of zone 1?

I live between zone 1-2, and although I do consider it pretty central, I do consider west end/city as 'central'. Its only relevant to whoever you are talking to whether its central or not.

I see many on MN say they are in London, in comparison to someone from say Birmingham, but in actual fact they might live in zone 6 on the outskirts in the suburbs. Compared to me, I dont consider them to be 'central'.

I'd call anything in Zone 1 central - Angel would certainly qualify.

I would call all of zone 1 central London. I have lived in zone 2 but never zone 1. Actually, I did live somewhere where my nearest tube was in Zone 1 but it was a bit of a trek so I think where I was (St Katharine's Dock) was probably more like Zone 2.

I find it a bit mad when people say that they live in Zone 2/3/4/5/6.

Two people living in Zone 6 could be miles/hours away from each other, in very different types of neighbourhood. The only thing that they have in common is that they're likely to have the same type of travel card.

I used to live in Notting hill gate when I had accommodation as part of my job. I would definitely say that's central. I would say either zone 1 or the beginning of zone 2.

I used to live in Canada water and even though that was a boundary between 2/3 it felt a proper trek to work in South Ken, which was very central.

I had a friend who lived just off Oxford Street in student housing, that's probably the most centrally-living person I ever knew. I never visited her though. Another lived on the South Bank near Waterloo, again student.

My DH considers himself to have grown up in Central London. He was in Marylebone, about five minutes walk from Euston Square tube station. His father was just off Berkeley Square, about 10 minutes from oxford Street, which is very central. His mum is now in St John's Wood, which is definitely suburban London, although Zone 2. As a woman she once met at a party put it 'yes, I had heard there are now people living north of The Park'.

As a woman she once met at a party put it 'yes, I had heard there are now people living north of The Park'.

If I’m speaking to a non-Londoner I tend to say I live in central London, if I’m speaking to a Londoner I say North London or Shoreditch. I consider anything in zone 1 to be central London.

Thinking about it I think of Central as defined by stations! So everything in between Kings Cross/Euston to the north, Liverpool Street to the east, Victoria/Waterloo to the south and Paddington to the west.

I used to live just inside Zone 1 and wouldn't have said I was central.

It depends on context. If I

I lived in Spitalfields, less than 5 minutes’ walk from Liverpool St station. I always said that was central London.

Oops

If I had been speaking to another London person I would have said my zone three area was West London. But in the context of on here and where do you live, I’d maybe say it was central London, rather than somewhere you have to commute into.

In *from

Zone 1 here. Close to Marylebone Station. I say I live in Central London cos I do

I wouldn’t call St Johns Wood the suburbs / suburban though. It’s quieter and posher than where I live but I can walk there in 20 mins so still v central. Estate agents are trying to rebrand large parts of Lisson Grove as St Johns Wood - they are geographically cheek by jowl but chalk and cheese in terms of feel.

For me, Central London isn't as large as zone 1. I used to live in Pimlico but didn't really feel that was 'central'.

I would define it as the area within the major train stations, a circle starting down at Waterloo, onto Victoria, up to Paddington then over to Euston and Kings Cross, down to Liverpool Street and back round to Waterloo, via London Bridge.

I had a flat just off Wardour Street for a few years. So definitely central!

I’d probably only say I live in central London to indicate that I don’t live in the ‘burbs. I actually live in Shoreditch which I don’t really regard as “central” - I think if you say central most people think of anywhere within about two miles of Oxford Street.

I used to live 5 mins walk from Westminster/Houses of Parliament. That's v central imo

i've lived in pimlico / fitzrovia / bloomsbury / clerkenwell and I'd consider all of those as central. London has several centres anyway, because the City is a fair way from Hyde Park etc.

I live in Lewisham, I tend to keep my mouth shut tbh .

I live in Soho which is definitely very central. I lived in South Kensington when I was at uni and didn’t really consider that central even though it’s in zone 1. I think I would consider the congestion charge zone as central London.