Views on living in Camberwell please

[Strawberryjam45]

Just this. I've seen a gorgeous house on Addington square but not sure how safe Camberwell/area around Burgess Park is. I can live with grotty/gritty but not unsafe. Views please.

I think it is fine as an adult but I wouldn’t want to be bringing up teenagers there.

It's like anywhere else in London.

Depends who you are. I loved Camberwell in my 20s but wouldn't want to have kids there. Tiny kids would be ok but as they got independence I would worry about the big road and personal safety aspects.

Thanks all. Very helpful. Yes concerns about personal safety are not ideal although take the point that's an issue in lots of London areas.

I've just moved from Camberwell, out of London entirely. I have a 3 year old.

Addington Square itself is beautiful and is right next to Burgess Park - also very lovely. There are a couple of good cafes in the square (Fowlds and the Tennis Cafe). You are quite near M&S on the Walworth Road but other supermarket options are of the Iceland/Morrisons variety. Apparently the square is largely owned by a famous "crime family" à la the Krays (could be hogwash but that's what I've heard!)

You are near some great places to eat in Camberwell like Louie Louie or Nandine. There is a good library and swimming pool within walking distance of the square and lots of early childcare options. I absolutely adored it in my twenties and early thirties.

However ... we left because it was not the place we wanted to bring our kids up in. I would say it goes beyond gritty on a regular basis. A friend found a razor blade at the top of a slide in the playpark. There are quite a few problems within the Elmington estate (noise, burglaries etc) and the smell of weed everywhere was really starting to piss me off. Ditto the many, many drug addicts begging at Camberwell Green. The primary and secondary state school options are not what you'd call fabulous and we would have wanted to go private. Transport links are also not great - I spent a great deal of time stuck in traffic on the Walworth Road travelling up to E&C. We lived near Denmark Hill station which was a bit better - on the train line in to Blackfriars and Victoria.

It really depends on your age and stage, but I'm not sure even Addington Square would be enough to tempt me to stay in that part of London with kids. I'd probably have gone to Herne Hill or East Dulwich instead.

No I wouldn't. there's gentrification and then still a fucking shithole that can't be gentrified. I was that way yesterday and there was guy literally having a piss at the traffic lights.