Is the Camden/ Islington border a rough part of London?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Honestly, I am always amazingly wide of the mark when judging these things To me it looked fine though. It was about half a mile walk from Caledonian Road tube station, and a bit further from Camden Road overground - that sort of area? Sort of between Camden Square and Caledonian Park?

I've read some alarming things about Caledonian Road, how it's full of drugs and stabbings Currently been in Hampstead and been here for years and years now so compared to that a lot of other probably lovely places look a bit run down or seem a little edgy. I'm very out of touch.

Would you live there?

The only place on that list I've been to is Tottenham. I think it's interesting during the day, but after about 8pm admittedly made me nervous. I had several different strange men saying stuff to me on one fifteen min walk back to the station - nothing offensive, just not wanted, and surprised me.

at the landlord offering to take you to and from Harlesden station every day. How could you refuse!

I went to school in that area and while that was quite a while ago now tbh I wouldn’t fancy walking around there alone after dark, especially where it’s very residential. So I would say yes it is dodgy.

Can you look at more Highgate/Kentish Town border or even Hampstead/Gospel Oak? Or Kilburn ends of West Hampstead?

West Hampstead isn't really Kilburn if you're on West End Lane. It's villagey and cute, yes more earthy than Hampstead but very safe and friendly and a real little community.

Kilburn probably has some great community aspects too, I don't know it well enough but they have some beautiful houses. The streets tend to be dirtier though and Kilburn high street is not somewhere I'd feel relaxed after dark. Whereas I feel totally comfortable on West End Lane.

Obviously it's all fairly meaningless in a way - you can be mugged anywhere in London. I suspect a big part of it is familiarity, you feel comfortable once you get to know a place.

Yes 'The Cally" is thought to be a bit rough but like PP say there are nice bits mixed it and overall is say the area is regenerating.

Cally Road always was a bit down at heel but I wouldn’t say it was actively dangerous, especially in comparison to other places in London
Unless you’re actively selling drugs or planning to join a gang you’ll not get caught up in it....,well you may have your phone nicked out of your hand but that could happen anywhere in London
The cally has really changed in the last couple of years-as someone said it’s the knock on from all the Kings Cross re development; yes you’ve got a couple of estates in that area but they’re not ‘notorious’ by any stretch of the imagination-nothing compared to the Andover for example
The houses to the east of the cally are some of the loveliest in Islington

• Harlesden
• Tottenham
• Edmonton
• Thornton Heath
• Newham (near hospital, Custom House etc)

But there are thousands and thousands of completely nice and normal people living ordinary, honest and decent lives in these places!
I know Edmonton and Tottenham pretty well and many people who live there. Yes there are places you shouldn’t lurk after dark, especially not if you’re drunk or waving valuable electronics about, but if you stick to the main roads and use your common sense, there is every chance you’ll be fine. (Perhaps different if you’re a young black male).
I grant you that there are nicer, more relaxing places to live, but you can get mugged anywhere in London (actually, in my experience, you’re possibly more at risk in more upmarket places where people in the street are actually likely to have something worth stealing).

Islington has been rated the worst place in Britain to be a woman after Blackpool confused.

All the reports I read said it was the other way round. Islington is the worst place according to the study, to live in the UK if you are a woman.

Lipstick has it spot on.

The area has undergone a huge amount of gentrification recently and although their is still the pocket of roughness if you are street savvy you can easily avoid any trouble. Despite being swamped with tourists at weekends the area still has a certain edge to it which is core to its character. It still has a strong creative vibe be it fashion or music as well as a diverse food scene and the shops and pubs reflect that. If you want soulless gastro pubs, high end delis, luxury brand shopping, tosser coffee shops and yummy mummy 4x4 congestion then Hampstead is your place.

Sorry I meant Islington came out worse than Blackpool.

I'm very interested in diverse food options and would enjoy a creative vibe for sure. So that sounds good.

Hampstead is not soulless. I would suggest that the people who think that don't know it very well - perhaps not beyond school run territory and grabbing a coffee at Starbucks, driving past the high end shops. It's a really pleasant place to live, and I loved it. Food choices not great though!

Camden’s a shit hole and so are most parts of Islington. The border can’t be much worse. If you’re looking for diverse food options then Greenwich / Harrow / Wembley / Southall is your best.

They're all much further out. Maybe in time I'll move out somewhere but at the moment I'm looking fairly centrally.

Tottenham is spot on in the rough areas stakes. Hasn’t changed since I was a kid - if anything, it has got worse.

Harlesden, Wembley, Southall are shit tips - I wouldn't set them on fire let alone live there!!

Used to work in Harlesden & have no desire to do so ever again!

I live near Edmonton and that list is spot on. It's horrific. When we were kids we used to go there on our own because you had to change buses there for the cinema. I wouldn't even go there now with my 21 stone black belt DP in tow!

Tottenham is marginally better than Edmonton I think but only because it's less of a destination.

A pp is right that there are honest and decent people living there, of course that's completely true. But they live with the wolves at their door. You could have one totally lovely road surrounded by shootings and stabbings, so you can't actually leave the house 😂

Use the money you save on house prices to invest in some Kevlar?

@northlondonlassie

It's a fair point that many people in the places I listed, are living normal and decent lives.

However I feel that's the same for almost any regular area of London (except the oligarch havens, where little is normal and much of the money possibly generated indecently!). Everywhere has folk with their head down getting on with it.

What I meant was, the areas I listed are not IMHO "property hotspots", and they retain a higher proportion of criminal incidents and a difficult environment to live in. Sticking to main roads is not always an option if you live somewhere, and that's before even talking about raising teenagers, and the dangers of being in the wrong postcode

So yeah - shout out to the decent folk in Harlesden, but proportionally the good noise is outweighed by a persistent and continual level of gang related nonsense, petty crime, and antisocial incidents. Enough to make me want to live elsewhere if I have choice.

As someone who lives in Tottenham (and grew up in hackney) I would say it is changing. There is a really good sense of community on my road, know loads of neighbours, have a street party in the summer, a street food market on sundays, watch fireworks in our local park etc.... is crime higher than some other places? Yes, but I love it here.

Islington has been rated the worst place in Britain to be a woman after Blackpool

Would be interested to see your source on this!

I think this is the survey mentioned:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/38t19d59V3R9LBqtcYnfh88/where-is-the-best-place-to-be-a-woman

Islington is the most densely populated borough in the UK, and actually one of the most deprived. I'm a woman and very fortunate to live in Barnsbury, which is beautiful - so I would personally disagree with the generalisation that Islington is a shithole! The Cally Road border is quite gritty - but 3 mins from where there was a stabbing outside the Cally Pool you're on Richmond Avenue.

I live near-ish to there, a bit further north, and I think it's fine. As pp said, it's a mixed area. For me, the diversity makes it a good place to live. I agree about the creative vibe.

Yes, Caledonian Road is busy and dirty, but there are some nice quiet side streets. I have walked home from the tube at night and lived to tell the tale . Hungerford Road has some nice houses on it. The area around Camden Square is heavily gentrified, due to its proximity to Camden School for Girls.

Still rough, but importing. I wouldn't let my teens walk around after dark.

Why not try Archway or Holloway? I was there recently and impressed how it has changed. Ten years ago I was saying it was rough too.

improving, not importing.

My phone hates me.

My uncle moved to Edmonton a few years ago and invited us round for a house warming. We live an hour or so outside of London and happily went on the underground. The walk to his new house was genuinely terrifying, we ended up staying for 2 days because the riots started that night. Never again.