Are there any no go areas in London

[iLoveFoood]

Are there any completely no go areas in London? And why?

Are these violent or extremely dangerous areas, full of gangs or what?

Not that I'm aware of but on a lighthearted note I'd avoid Oxford Street Knightbridge and Westfield at weekends

To answer your question seriously though - there aren't any areas in London that I wouldn't go to (as in visit). There are areas I'd rather not live in but that's for a range of reasons. Obviously some areas are nicer than others.

Where would you not go to, RiverTam, out of interest?

I’m a south Asian woman who likes to wear knee length skirts and heels. Speaking from personal experience, if you’re the same then definitely don’t walk alone through Tower Hamlets or Shadwell at night.

Weirdly I've always fancied the Aberdeen steakhouse - despite being vegetarian .

The thing about London is that posh areas sit side by side with 'dodgy' areas. There is nowhere in London I wouldn't go at all but there are parts I would be more wary of going alone at night. None of those areas are central. But surely that's the same anywhere.

Ask a taxi driver, they know where to avoid.

No there isn't anywhere I avoided.

I got violently mugged in broad daylight in a very nice area. Got mugged again in a different nice area.

Lived in some right shit holes at other times and never had a bad thing happen.

I had a date in an Aberdeen steak house once. I'm not even joking.

Certain areas are slowly improving.. Walthamstow is on the up, and even Tottenham is getting a little smarter. Brentford is an odd mix of million pound houses and sprawling chavvy estates like on BBC comedy People Just Do Nothing - London is an odd mix but just keep in well lit areas and out of rough estates

Had my 18th birthday dinner at the Aberdeen steakhouse (300 million years ago).

Ask a taxi driver, they know where to avoid

Many many years ago a friend and I were out in Brockley. We'd missed the train and found a black cab to take us back home. The taxi driver was up in arms about us wondering around Brockley at 2am. It didn't seem particularly rough tbh, not sure what it's like now.

I wouldn’t stray from main roads in east or south London unless I knew where I was going most of the time. I wouldn’t say that it’s no go per se but more a chance of not knowing what you might stumble across. The other night I came across a bunch of high (weed) youths patting a guy down for some reason. I just looked the other way and carried on. No harm to me obviously but a bit disconcerting if you don’t know were you are going.

I go through a whole load of statistically questionable areas of South London all the time, and as a Pokemon Go Player, I usually have my iPhone out in my hand (and a Radley handbag on my shoulder). In broad daylight I honestly can’t think of anywhere I wouldn’t go as a middle aged woman, but there are some places I wouldn’t want my teenaged son to go - and there are occasional hairy incidents on the buses and around the bus stops at school kicking-out time.

code word 'salt and sauce'

I loved salt and sauce so much when I did a job up there that I came home to London and recreated it in my kitchen.

No, London does not have ghetto areas like some of the big US cities like Los Angeles.

Some areas have less crime than others. Very wealthy people are probably more likely to be the targets of criminals than your average person.

Those most in danger on London streets are young men in gangs who carry knives and with the very occasional innocent who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

@Cherries101

oh no, I didn't realise that was a thing in Shadwell too. What a pity.

OP gangs are all over, there's no particular streets (that I know of) where you will find them, but they're more concerned with what other gangs are doing than what you're doing.

Ask a taxi driver, they know where to avoid.

The only taxi driver I know lives in Deptford .

Sensible answer: no, there are no 'no go' areas. Though as with any town or city there may be places you don't want to go, especially after dark.

On a more frivolous day to day basis, I agree with quite a lot of the suggestions above, and would add the Northern Line at rush hour.

My sisters ex used to live in a rough part of my aforementioned posh city. They couldn't order a takeaway by phone because no drivers would go there. There are also areas where visiting health professionals require an escort as its not safe alone, or its not safe to leave a car unguarded on the street.

There are parts of Glasgow the police and fire brigade won't go to at night without significant back up.

I'd say that's 'no go', at least in some sense. Obviously the people who live there may feel very differently.

Back when I was a student in London a nurse was killed near where I lived, having been caught in the crossfire of a gang fight on her way home from a night shift. I would still go there, and I'd be happy for my future children to go there too. It's extremely rare that anyone not actively involved in gang violence is a victim of it. You're far more likely to be killed in a car accident caused by someone not paying attention, and no one is saying roads are a no go area - because life is about balancing risk against actually having a life.

I now live in a small rural town and am more worried about being trampled by nervous cows while out for a stroll than I ever was about being mugged/stabbed by some hypothetical, possibly religious, brown person when I was in London (because that's what this is really about 99% of the time it's raised, isn't it).

There are parts of Glasgow the police and fire brigade won't go to at night without significant back up.

As you say though, the people who live there may feel differently. Emergency services are often going into unstable situations so different risks apply. The employer also has a duty of care and has to make sure all possible scenarios are covered.

I go to Shadwell now and again at night and although I agree it doesn't feel particularly safe (cramped streets, poor lighting) I wouldn't not go there. Last time there was a large group of young men hanging about but they didn't give me any trouble.

No.

And are you there op?

Bow! Lived there for about a year, got warned of muggers as soon as I got out tube station, got verbal abuse and someone set a car alight in front of our flat.

M&Ms world - seriously why is is popular?

Bow is not a no-go area! Bit of grit, yes, but plenty of £1m flat and houses too.

Bow is not a no-go area! grin Bit of grit, yes, but plenty of £1m flat and houses too.

This. Same goes for Shadwell too. Plenty of young professionals in the area, and some seriously expensive property within a few mins walk to Shadwell station.