Nice, safe and very friendly neighbourhoods in london zone 2 (maybe 3)

[Mhschoolq]

Following on for my other “where on earth to live?!” posts, I thought I’d ask where you think the friendliest, safest, nicest area in London zone 2 (preferably, but 3 also good!) is?

Zinnia, l have borrowed the name.Their ice cream is the best , they are a local institution.

Top Tufnell Park tribute, @RubyViolet - they are indeed! (One of many lovely places to visit in N19, OP, though I don't get up there as much as I'd like)

With your budget, I’d look at Victoria Park/Bethnal Green because I lived there for 10years and it still feels like home.

Wapping would also be a good bet.

Chiswick, specifically streets off the High St or the other side of Turnham Green tube. Friendly, safe, quite chilled-out without being trendy nor 'rich elite' place. Very good tube links to Kensington / C.London.

(the High St. is Chswick High Road). Also the river nearby.

@Smallgoon

Hackney was Crackney when I was growing up... I guess gentrification results in the area being awarded a 'village' tag. Am sure there's a Brixton village now too...

And Herne Hill pre-gentrification was pretty grotty. I got robbed at knifepoint outside my front door on Rosendale Road when we lived there.

I lived happily in Finsbury Park, Highbury Barn side, for years.

@HardlyEver That's interesting because Finsbury park is the only part of London where I know people that have been mugged! Granted this was quite near the station which is a little rough. I know the area quite well as I'm Arsenal season ticket holder.

I know Rosendale Rd quite well too, and have heard how dangerous Herne Hill used to be back in the day. Rosendale Rd has a fair few Peabody Housing Estates but they're the smarter kind rather than brutalist looking buildings - I almost purchased there but they were on the smaller side. Definitely a more different area these days given Rosendale Primary is rated outstanding by ofsted - I hear they teach the kids Chinese there and that lots of parents cheat the cachement rules to get their kids in.

Value wise I imagine the properties in Finsbury Park and Herne Hill are similarly prices, but my preference would always be HH over FP. And that's despite that part of north London being close to my heart!

Growing up in London I was cat called and approached by dodgy arseholes in the street everywhere, but Finsbury Park was hands down the worst for this.

oh yes back in the day Bethnal Green, Finsbury Park and Hackney were by far the worst. but things have changed and they're all much safer now

Blackstock road in Finsbury Park used to be rough as hell and where every stolen phone in north London ended up to be fenced.

I remember in 2009 the police going in from both ends in formation to do a series of raids on all the dodgy shops.

And now it's got an organic bakery, sourdough pizzeria, some lovely cafes and a fancy florist.

(Still a few dubious shops though but vastly fewer)

And there is the Park Theatre just north of the station now.

I think there are plans to tart up the bit right in front of Finsbury Park station as well which is long overdue. And plans to put cycle lanes along Seven Sisters road to link it to Camden.

I lived in Finsbury Park, just off Blackstock Road before moving to Lewisham and loved it. Admittedly it was the late 1990s/early 2000s but it never felt particularly rough to me - I happily walked round there alone late at night without any bother and only moved to Lewisham because DH and I couldn't afford to buy anything in N4!

Penge?! Great community??? 😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Twizbe

Finsbury Park in the 90s... oh man. But it's 2020 and everywhere in London is safer than it was 20+ years ago. Clapton, Peckham, Bethnal Green.. Kings Cross! All unrecognisable from how they were. Apparently Forest Gate is next. If that's true then anything is possible.

I don't think a safe part of London is an achievable ask really. The point of London's housing policy is that rich areas and houses are next to council estates and poorer areas. So I dont think you can buy your way out of risk. I'm not suggesting that all crime is committed by poorer people either, just watch rich kids roaring round Knightsbridge in their Ferrari's and drug taking in posh restaurants in Chelsea. But mostly crime is avoidable if you are sensible and it is more likely to affect people involved in criminality or unfortunately for them living right in the middle of a nasty estate. But even if you are in neither of those categories you won't be living far from them.

I'm still laughing at "Hackney Village".

Almost as much as I'm laughing at "never see crime in London".

Last Wed afternoon, I was sitting on a bench in Bow outside some (very nice) flats drinking tea with a criminal barrister friend (who lives in the flats). A father and his two small children walked past us. A few minutes later, the father runs past again going in the opposite direction. He reappears walking past us this time. Turns out someone had just stolen his 4 year old daughter's rucksack and he'd ran after them and got it back. Admittedly the thief was in a wheelchair so quite easy to catch. Mugging a 4 year old?! No age discrimination in East London.

The week before I saw multiple people in Bethnal Green mugged by a man on a scooter. He was very obviously scouting the streets near Bethnal Green train station for unsuspecting victims.

I won't bore you with stories of the drug dealers who deal drugs out of their cars parked outside the local sixth form - and secondary school (Ofted rated Outstanding) near where I live. Admittedly the dealers are quite polite and will regularly hold open the gates for me if I'm driving through into my gated development and the gates are just starting to close.

And bike theft in London.....it's increasingly out of control.

Open your eyes and you will see there is crime happening everywhere in London and outside London. Even in "naice" villages and towns in the "countryside". I grew up in a "naice" village in the North West. Sometimes recommended on MN as someone "naice" to move to. Yet they are plagued by mindless vandalism and robberies. Last week an entire street of cars were keyed by some selfish idiots. More problems are reported there than what I hear about in my 'rough' area of London.

You just have to keep your wits about you, don't take unnecessary risks and get on with going about your life.

the thief was in a wheelchair so quite easy to catch. Mugging a 4 year old
do you laugh or cry? - have heard it all now!

The problem with really nice areas, you do get muggings / phone snatching as people wear jewellery or expensive watches - the safe thing is, to take taxis home when back late and on your own.
But safer to go for something middling like Chiswick or pats of NOrth London which are not the most expensive.

Anyone remember that documentary where the journalists walked round a notorious Brixton estate late at night with an expensive laptop to see how quickly they would get mugged? They even resorted to pretending to sell it and approached a guy who took it round the corner “to see about someone who might like to buy it....”

ha! Gotcha! The thieving underclass of Brixton (all shudder!) found conning people out of laptops!

Except then the guy came back and returned it to them .

Of course there is crime, and you can’t generalise about any area. But most Londoners do not walk around in a state of fear, feeling unsafe.

I’m watching 24 Hours in A&E. Treating one of 4 who were women stabbed. In a car park. In Surrey.

Earlsfield sw18

@plumpootle

I don't think a safe part of London is an achievable ask really. The point of London's housing policy is that rich areas and houses are next to council estates and poorer areas. So I dont think you can buy your way out of risk. I'm not suggesting that all crime is committed by poorer people either, just watch rich kids roaring round Knightsbridge in their Ferrari's and drug taking in posh restaurants in Chelsea. But mostly crime is avoidable if you are sensible and it is more likely to affect people involved in criminality or unfortunately for them living right in the middle of a nasty estate. But even if you are in neither of those categories you won't be living far from them.

Given that most crime is committed in the borough of Westminster, it definitely isn't confined to the more deprived parts. In any case you're right, it's unavoidable in London. But I don't find London particularly unsafe.

@ColdNovemberNights

Penge?! Great community??? 😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Twizbe

Haha, I don't know what this means exactly. Penge is not far from me in Forest Hill. There is deffo a nice community feel in FH and neighbouring Sydenham.

Penge is a shit hole thats why 😂

If you're looking Penge way, I'd suggest Beckenham or Hither Green instead.