To ask what it’s like to live in Camden Town?

[Halling]

I fancy a fresh start - and am thinking of moving here / would love opinions

As with almost everywhere in London it literally depends on exactly where you mean.in Camden.
There are really nice streets and there's really grim ones, and bits that are overcrowded and bits that are really not, about 2 mins walk from those that are.
Anyone telling you it'd a shithole and over crowded is thinking mostly likely about the main streets or Camden market. Most People do not really live right there.
If you're renting then go and wander around, check each street in a range of day/evening/weekend circumstances and see what you think.
I've had several friends live around there (I live islingon) and mostly they lived in great streets with close access to a good range of facilities and green space. I'd certainly consider living there myself

Busy, most places within walking distance, good supermarkets, lovely places to go for long walks nearby.

Don't get much for your money in terms of rent or purchase.

This is a very good description! Great post

How do “immigrants get social housing priorities”?

Camden Town centre is horrible. I even hate the Lock and the market. Full of tourists and people who are dishonest. I used to work at the tube station and people were utter c__s.

But walking away towards Regents Park and Primrose Hill is much nicer.

I think the estates round Mornington Crescent look peaceful and clean. I often go past them on the bus.
@Whyherewego has described it how I see it 👏

You clearly don't live in London

Or the UK 😂

I do.

How do immigrants get priority for social housing?

Off the high street sure. Ehy not? Nice terraces. Not literally on the high street .
If you rent you can give it a try?

Highbury, Tufnell Park etc are hardly suburbs! They're all z2.

And no I don't live in London. However I did until 4 months ago and lived there for 58 years, in North London including time around Holloway and Archway so am familiar with the area.

Oh well if you go past it on the bus then you know all about it right? 😂

Yes, I still live in North London. I lived in Camden for 20 years, very centrally.
I still work 2 days a week in Camden, I’m not sure what you are seeing but I haven’t imagined the last 20 years of my direct, lived experience.

I live a short bus ride from Camden, in Tufnell Park, really lovely, lots of young families, good schools, great transport facilities, really worth checking out

I lived in London until 5 years ago and used to visit Camden Town a few times a year. Daytimes and the occasional evening gig. Always found it lively and enjoyed the atmosphere. I went back six months ago for a night out and found that the High Street had gone seriously downhill, rubbish everywhere, slightly menacing atmosphere. Arriving on the tube at 8:00pm and walking there for say 150 yards on each side looking for a cashpoint I was offered drugs without exaggeration 12-15 times. The dealers were all Pakistani muslims. In the past at night there were dealers of white British origin, but far less of them. The street had an edgy, lawless feel that wasn't there before (to the usual objectors, this was nothing to do with the race of the dealers, simply the amount of them that I encountered). In fact it felt like my presence there was an indication to the dealers of an interest in drugs. I'm of Japanese origin and had barely ever been offered drugs in London previously. Think this might be because Japanese people aren't generally perceived as interested? No idea. Anyway, I can only speak to the High Street and surrounding area. The rest of the place may not have changed.

Lived there in my teens and glad I did - lovely memories of backstage parties, beautiful indie boys and dressing outlandishly. Not a chance would I live there now though - even as a youngster it felt grubby, dangerous and utterly packed! It’s worse now and with less character.

I’ve lived in Camden, Kentish Town, Tufnell Park and Highbury - would recommend all of the last three, but would not recommend living in Camden!

Within a short walk of Camden High Street there are some gorgeous houses and lovely areas to live- bits of Primrose Hill and Belsize Park, for example. Expensive though, and I think if you're approaching it as if the draw of those places is the proximity to Camden Town, you'll end up feeling disappointed- there isn't really the same music/arty crowd as back in the day- they all live much further out- so it's 99% pickpockets and 14yo girls buying cheap vapes.

What's your budget and what sort of place do you want?

@NeelyOHara Oh well if you go past it on the bus then you know all about it right? 😂
Yes I do! I can see there's no gang bangers hanging around and the rubbish and dog shit must have been left elsewhere, up by the market

This is a really good point. If you live there, you know how to avoid the very busy stretch (which is really only the main road between the station and the entrance to the Stables). There are side streets just parallel which are not crowded at all. There's a stretch of hostels and assisted living, then there's a stretch of multimillion pound houses.

Have lived in North London all my life and loved pubbing and clubbing in Camden back in the day. Yes it has changed loads more tourists and still lots of social problems in your face. Great for a day or evening out. In terms of living, if you want to live nearby look at Kentish Town West, Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage, West Hampstead etc. there are lots of nice back roads with lots of ex council flats and houses now privately owned that may be still affordable.

Oh god, now way. Took my kids there on a bit of a nostalgia trip and it was awful.

*no

The lad I knew in ‘85 went to Holloway Boys’ School, Islington, not sure if it’s still there

It's now Beacon High school, which is a mixed school.

There's lots of nice places to live around Camden Town, some of the streets off Camden Rd are nice. I suspect what I think is nice is different to what a lot of people on this thread thinks is nice (I also like Kentish Town and Holloway and enjoyed living there in the past)

Friend in Camden loves it and has lived there for years. She lives in the busiest part and you couldn't pay her to move. When I speak to her on phone, it would be unusual to not hear emergency sirens in the background,, police and ambulance mostly. Night trains through Euston and Kings Cross and St Pancras serenade you to sleep. Another friend a few streets away in Bloomsbury hates it. Too noisy, too much traffic and ebikes, too busy, too much electric light through windows at night, too much rubbish, can't wait to move. So it all depends what you're comfortable with. It's very urban. The last time I was in Camden, a beautiful summer day, sitting by the canal having a coffee, a young man wandered through the crowd, clad only in a bedsheet. He knelt at the water edge and scooped himself a drink of filthy canal water before wandering off to whatever world he was living in. I wouldn't choose to live there myself.