Where to buy in central London for culture - does it have to be east???

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Dont need schools or access to transport .... will be for weekends and eventually retirement - so culture based social life - art, theatre etc - would like some green space nearby and a couple of local bistro's- would like to be able to walk to cultural events.....so do I need to be towards the east/centre? -- if so where should we go for???

I think you need to separate the kind of place where you want to live from where you want to visit or spend time. I live in an uber-trendy part of London but actually I hate the main shopping street and it's still pretty dirty and grubby with a slightly aggressive undertone. Visiting there to hit the pubs/restaurants/pop up galleries or whatever is one thing, and most places in London are easy to get to, but living here is something completely different. If you're happy walking or cycling, you don't need to live there - unless, of course, that's what you want! But a lot of the cutting edge places are in areas that can be fairly grim.

RiverTam - that is a really really good point.....I also lived in Whitechapel (before it was trendy) and still have a property there.....but then and now the fact that there is not a blade of grass in the vicinity means it is not an option for me.....although it would be perfectly placed to where I would spend mt recreation time....leafy mature Canonbury with access to Highbury Fields - is a great option.....my dream location to live/eat out day to day would be Primrose Hill - with so much green space on the door step but it is not near where I imagine I will be heading off to BFI/Barbican/East End etc

I think Ravenscourt Park or Chiswick are great. Both have green spaces although, admittedly not that central. Transport links are good enough though. Notting Hill is a big favourite too with Holland Park nearby.

Canonbury would be amazing, also Bloomsbury. I like Columbia Road (used to live round the corner) but you'd get sick of the market pretty quickly and the wider area isn't fabulous tbh. Or you could try somewhere near Sadlers wells - a friend used to live there and it was lovely and so handy for Islington and the centre of town.

I am not in London but dp and I have done things this way We lived in suburbs as ds was going through school Now he is at uni we are right in town! I really recommend it We are renting atm but looking to buy and are going for an apartment in town as we just want to continue living like this So much more social and I think keeps you young and interested

I'm buying a flat on the Barbican when I retire. There's the small matter of a Euromillions win to sort out before then, but I've got a good 30 years to work on it.

The Barbican itself has some nice green areas, especially by the fountains, and the greenhouses are amazing.

Noddy - renting first is a good idea.....we are in the Home Counties which is great for education and raising children - safe green healthy etc --- BUT a cultural desert - even tho we are only 22 mins to Marylebone on the train - we dont get into town as much as we would like - maybe just toooo tired raising x4 kids and both working full time.....so really looking forward to getting my life back and doing the things we enjoy after the back to back swimming lessons, school runs, etc

We are in the Shoreditch/Bethnal Green area with teens - I loved the idea of retiring in the centre of town, but got impatient and skipped the years in suburbia! There are tons of creative/cultural things going on here, but not much green space. That doesn't bother me as I don't really make use of it, but if you have a hankering for parks it could be frustrating.

I think Marylebone is lovely, as there's the Regent's Park and quite a few small galleries around there now, and very easy to get around. Canonbury is a bit more genteel than the East End, and I agree Highbury Fields is nice.

Personally I would be very happy to live in the Barbican area if I only needed a 1 bed, but I think the green space there is lacking, if you're the kind of person who yearns for Primrose Hill. I would be happy enough with their gardens, but it's not the proper green space like you'd get in one of London's bigger parks.

Wornwellies I too am v impatient so even now thinking about skipping back in to town with youngest (as we have a 5 yr gap) when the older 3 have departed....I suppose that there are also other outside environments to consider than just greenery & parks when we lived in Whitechapel we loved the quiet of the walks along the river at Wapping/Limehouse etc....which I expect you would get at Borough and on the South Bank .... was googling Pimlico last night - not silly prices for such a central location - but not sure if there is much community spirit there?

OP if you could really afford it maybe a riverside property is a good buy.

A schoolfriend of mine an Army chap bought a place on Southbank a few years ago - I think expensive but quite reasonable when he bought it. It has quadripled maybe even more than that in price since he bought it and is certainly central. It's on the Pimlico side of Vauxhall (if you see what I mean) and he rents it out a lot but when not rented of course he uses it. Stunning. has a lovely balcony overlooking the Thames too.

How about the nice bit of SE London between East Dulwich, Camberwell and Peckham? You can cycle or walk to the edgy/creative/artsy bits in Peckham and Camberwell, but get to enjoy the leafy streets and delis on Bellenden Rd and can head into East Dulwich for more? Also great links to centre from Peckham Rye station. Some really beautiful houses around there and lots of green space.

cunning - I was going to say.... I live in that area and it's great. Even better if you're on East London Line (say Crystal Palace) terrific transport links to East London and the other way to Victoria in 30 mins.

the houses generally are nice too.

shaskia - both stunning -- interesting that E2 more expensive that N1 - how times have changed.....

I was raised in norf laandaan (dull suburbia) - went to uni in central London and lived for years in central/north & east London-ish (Bloomsbury/Angel/Whitechapel) - thanks Super et al - but your suggestions to go saaaf brought me out in a rash.....I cant believe I did not know that I had that deep emotional and irrational bias until you suggested it....need to get over myself and open up my horizons (Borough would be fine as long as I was in touching distance of norf and could see it out of the corner of my eye....)

I'm a North Londoner who came south (I live in one of the places cunning mentions, and I really don't know that I'd recommend it) but I was born the south London, so maybe that's why I haven't had a nosebleed yet. The thing I like best about living in South London is that the river is such a big part of your life. If you live north and work central you barely notice the river. But I've crossed it every day for years and I love that.

Stoke Newington and Hackney are good green space wise - Clissold park, London fields, Victoria park and there is the Arcola theatre but I think most "cultural" events would involve getting a bus or train rather than walking. You'd also pay the "yummy mummy" premium for anywhere near the parks.

Pimilico sounds like a good choice and personally love Bloomsbury.

What about Hampstead? Too boring? I love Primrose Hill too but not very edgy. Crouch End?

I think the creative types moved South precisely because of the bias of which you speak - makes it cheap :) Or at least, made it cheap ... always a shock to me how pricey Brixton & Peckham have become.

But, if you could live with South as long as not too South, then around Bermondsey St is touching distance from Norf and more artsy than Borough - White Cube Gallery, etc. I really love the Victorian-warehouse-type architecture around Bermondsey St.

Yes I agree that Borough and Bermondsey St areas are great and still spitting distance of north! I live in South East - Dulwich/Forest Hill/crystal Palace vicinity. It's fab but nowhere near central London. Sounds to me like the OP is thinking zone 1, 2 at a stretch. I'd go for somewhere near the south bank i think.

Wild card here - Battersea or Chelsea?
Battersea Arts centre is a great spot for contemporary arts, as is the Worlds End theatre just over the bridge in Chelsea. Kings Road has stacks of galleries (including a Saatchi and Proud), and has more bistros than you can shake a stick at. The Chelsea Arts Club is also the oldest club for artists and a lot less 'celeb' than Dover St Arts Club
You'll obviously get a lot more for your money in Battersea than Chelsea, and the Power Station development has a lot of focus on cultural space.

Could you afford Lambs Conduit Street and that area behind Russell Square? Around coram's fields? It is lovely and very central