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?

Lived in Notting Hill when I first came to London, long before the trustfarians and bankers found it, then moved around Islington a bit, and worked on the city borders in Farringdon.Then moved East. I have friends who live in Covent Garden and Bloomsbury and I am always surprised how very villagey those areas feel. Once all the office workers have gone home it is amazing how many people actually live there. That's the thing about London, turn a corner away from the offices, cafes and metro lifers and there is a little community, with a betting shop, a playground and a mini supermarket. Loads of the old Peabody mansions and other charitable housing estates still exist, some gone over to the dark side but others have continued to be social housing, though without the strict rules the Peabody caretakers used to impose.

I used to live in the West End (W1W)

Absolutely loved it

His mum is now in St John's Wood, which is definitely suburban London,

St Johns Wood is just over 2 miles to Oxford Circus so definitely pretty central in my book. I live in Putney which is just over 7 miles away and therefore probably 'suburban'. Real suburbia is further out still as London is a petty large place!

sunshinesupermum but SJW has a very suburban feel doesn't it? We often walk from Oxford Street and I'm always surprised by how close it is. DH aunt lives in Fulham and described it as 'much like living in a village in Somerset'. I grew up in rural
Norfolk and have a slightly different frame of reference!

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 agree. Places like Notting Hill and South Ken are central but they're not Central London.

I would call central london the absolute centre of where you have the Soho , Leicester square, oxford circus and so on. Victoria to me is not central london. Even if it Is, I don't class it as. There are so many places in zone 1 that are still a good tube or bus ride away from the west end as well

I also would never consider living there as it's very hectic especially with nightlife and not ideal to raise a family. I'm outskirts london and very happy here

Anywhere in Zone 1, surely?

I agree.

Plenty of people on here say they live in London but zone 6. I mean I dont class living in Ewell, Banstead etc as London living really.

It really isn’t. I live in the inner ring described above - in W1. It’s a great place to bring up children. We have a great community, local schools, amazing stuff to do on our doorstep. You don’t need a car (tho I have one). I may have to move one day for a bit more space and I don’t want to

I would say z1 to be central.

I grew up in z3 and have moved out to z5/6, so I consider myself to be 'London borders' nowadays. We're less than 20mins to central so it's not as much of an inconvenience as it could be - I know people in z3 with a longer commute 😁

I was zone 2. 9 mins to Bond Street on tube
I thought of myself as central London

I grew up in zone 2/3 & counted that as London but not central.

Lived in Camden for most of my adult single life and brief time in Paddington, which I loved because it was a little drunken night bus home from Soho.

Now out in the sticks of zone 5 and desperately clinging on to being in a London borough 😂

We're less than 20mins to central so it's not as much of an inconvenience as it could be - I know people in z3 with a longer commute

See my tube journey is 18-20 mins to somewhere like oxford circus but in reality I have to get to the tube, down to platform, wait for tube, get out the other side. Crowds really hinder the journey too.

I don't think of Notting Hill as being Central London as after a few years of living here it's too far for me to have gone to

Strictly Zone 1 for me as Central London.

I'm out in Zone 3 which is definitely London

I'm about 5miles from South Kensington which is a nice 25min drive on Saturday to visit a museum (which I miss).

Sunday not sat!

DH lived his whole childhood and until he moved out between Euston and kings cross. I'd say that's very central. He went to school in old street. I think it's a funny way of life for a child personally.

When I was a student I lived on brick Lane which felt central.

Now we live in the green leafy suburbs of zone 3 haha - I much prefer it.

I lived a couple of minutes' walk from Lambeth Palace - equidistant from Lambeth North and Vauxhall. Yes, it was South of the river but I would class it as central London. I walked everywhere, even two hours a day to work and back

I grew up in Pimlico. It was about 10 mins walk to Victoria, 15 to Sloane Square/King’s Rd. SW1 postcode. I went to school in South Kensington/SW7 and could swing by Harrods on my way home. I consider both those places to be Central London. I sometimes say that I grew up in Central London, rather than just London, to indicate “bright lights, big city” rather than Bromley, Ilford type places.

@doadeer why would you think it's a funny life?

Central London to me is West End, Westminster, City and up to a mile west, north and south of those areas, but not east of the City! Around that, inner London, defined by boroughs, then outer London, then suburbs. I lived 15 minutes walk south of Waterloo Bridge for a long time, but that was definitely inner, not central.

[quote burninh]@doadeer why would you think it's a funny life? [/quote]
He grew up in an estate and there weren't a lot of green spaces next to him. It was quite sketchy round kings x so he saw lots of prostitutes and drug dealers etc. They didn't have a car and his mum couldn't take public transport so they didn't go far I guess I associate going to farms, beach etc as childhood activities.

I think that you first need to define what you think the centre of London is - some people would see it as the City, others Charing Cross/Oxford Street/Covent Garden. I can and do walk in to Westminster and St James's for lunch/dinner and can hear Big Ben at night when it is working but not everyone would see where I live as central. By the same measure I don't see the likes of Shoreditch as central as I don't see the City as the centre of London so Shoreditch is pretty far East to me.

I lived in Waterloo and classed that as central London. I grew up in a place on the border of outer London suburbs and home counties, DH grew up in zone 2. I used to think that was fairly central in comparison. I agree with PPs who talk about the area between the mainline stations as being the main central bit. I think it changes over time a bit though, as areas develop more of a presence.