In which bit of London would you choose to live?

[spacemonkey]

I moved to Islington in the summer. As I expected, it's a very mixed area - some posh bits, some rough bits. I know the whole of London is like this, pretty much, but this area seems particularly polarised. Anyway, to get to the point, I am thinking about moving again in the new year, in fact I'm going to look at a flat in Bayswater this weekend, and from the minimal investigations I've done it seems to me that Bayswater will suit me much better.

I'm loving living in London, and ideally I want to be somewhere central, buzzing (i.e. not quiet residential but lots of shops/restaurants etc), not too posh, not too rough and preferably further west.

Any recommendations for me? Where would you choose and why?

sm, i would give my right eye to live in london. but only mayfair. or that road alongside hyde park. theres also a pub in kensington i really like, would live near that.

Bayswater's full of people who are only passing through so no real community IME. Kind of handy for transport and the park though.
I liked Battersea/Clapham and Fulham/Hammersmith personally but again, all quite polarised between 4x4 driving middle classes and people who are having a really hard time. Don't know anywhere in London that isn't, really.

see, before i actually moved here i always said i'd want to live in hampstead, and in fact i nearly did move there, but now I'm glad I didn't because it's actually much too lah-di-dah for me!

You do get big clods of [I want to say the CHAV word here but better not] "unsavoury characters" roaming the streets here in N1 though, and I'd rather be somewhere that has less of that IYKWIM

i agree with edam, sm. in fact when you said not too posh, not too rough,i immediately thought "suburb". the only place i can think of which more or less fits the description is ealing, although there is polarisation there too. also probably not as central as you would like.

hey, i'm DEF not lah-di-dah

i love the warwick avenue/maida vale area. the roads are huge and leafy and have quite a few cafes which are gorgeous especially in summer. it is also closed to bayswater which has quite a few good restaurants. great connection on the tube and good bus links to central london too. and not too far/expensive for a cab ride from central london. but unfortunately, the price tag doesn't come cheap.

Spacemonkey, the gumtree website (aimed at Antipodean travellers, but useful way beyond that) has a section on "where to live in London" which I think is really accurate. Can't remember what it says about Bayswater - except that it's generally positive - but I do agree with edam about the transientness (despite having lived there 8 years now). Haven't a clue what you'd do about secondary schools there (in particular).

I've been told Maida Vale is a bit "cold". Have taken to ambling around London checking different bits out and seeing if I like the vibe there. I like the vibe in Clapham actually, and there's quite a good atmosphere up the Holloway Road with all its little caffs and second hand shops. Have irrational aversion to living south of the river, is that stupid?

marylebone. if i had loads of wonga.
near parks, shops, museums, everything in fact.
posh-ish, but definitely on the less posh end of the central london spectrum

binkie, I don't need to worry about schools. My dd is home ed and ds has gone back to school in Colchester (where I moved from).

Sorry maomao, I wasn't implying you were lah-di-dah, nor is davros

ah, OK. Bit out of date there. Sorry.

Do you like bayswater binkie? Would you recommend it? The place I'm looking at is up Hereford Road.

no worries, monkey! I shall read this thread with interest, as I suspect we will have to move as well

you know what i think!

i you don't have to worry about schools then i would recommend battersea, clapham or e. dulwich - aversion to living s. of the river - pah!

suzywong told me people who live south of the river are evil

I do like it, but sort of have to count reasons on my fingers to be sure. (1) it's incredibly convenient for getting around, including getting out of London to the west (2) we could afford a flat of a size which was impossible further west (we're east of Queensway, by the way, so Hereford Rd is already more desirable) (3) there's Whiteleys and the Porchester Ctr and the parks, loads to do all round (4) it's not too posh, and there's loads of foot traffic which means I generally feel safe on the streets

But I do dream of a house with a garden in a street where there are same-aged, same-languaged kids on every side (that's not to say I mind having French children next door! - it's a hurdle to playdates, that's all), a school they all go to that's good and in walking distance, neighbours who don't change every six months ...

well she lives on the other side of the world now! the southern side in fact

lurk
lurkety
lurk

yes, she certainly IS living south of the river now! har-di-har!

Name taking in vain?

I now live on the southern side of this city - har har har har har har

EVIL EVIL EVIL

Harrumph.

gulp

she didn't really say that, honest guvnor

(sorry, that was incoherent gibberish even for me. Mean I am evil. Evil and Proud.