East/West Side Story

Having just moved in to the West End of Brisbane (which I love, despite my moaning about my expensive studio here) it got me to thinking I should give you all a (incredibly biased) tour about town. So, part one, for you lucky travellers - where should you find a house?!

Le copain and I lived in totally different areas of London. I in zone 2 East End (just past Liverpool st, a veritable gold-mine of sub-continental Asian immigration and dodgy landlords, and him in the (so aptly named) 'frog-valley' that is South Kensington, zone 1. Big, white apartments, interior design stores & macarons. I don't even need to describe it... I have pictures.

Observe.

East

West

Obviously this is generalization at it's worst, but, for an antipodean tourist (or indeed, any tourist) - this is going to help you work out where you will want to live.

For those who need a cheap place and don't mind a bit of grit: Council houses in the East or South. Let me admit - I couldn't hack that. I did for a few months and then upgraded to a full time job and thus a little studio in a block of apartments above a pub. Maybe I lived in a particularly dodgy one, but getting followed home at 10pm or, should you choose the 'safer' option and take a cab, being solicited by the driver. I paid about 200 more (per month) to live on a main road closer to a night bus. Highly recommended.

Hot spots to visit in the South and East: Brick Lane, Columbia Road, Brixton, New Cross, London Fields, Borough markets.

Towards Liverpool street on Shoreditch High St.

For those who want somewhere right in town, a little gritty, a lot cool: Try up North, Camden (good luck to your bank account), Angel/ Islington, Highbury. You'll be paying more rentwise - but the area is vastly populated and seems more peaceful than in the East - I've always felt fine walking around there at night (as a young lady, that seems important). If you're willing to go a bit further out of time I highly recommend Stoke Newington - feels a little edgy and cool, but also a bit like a village. Other people are on to this though, so prices could rise.

Hotspots in the North: Camden market, KOKO nightclub, Regent's canal, Notting Hill.

Camden Markets

For those who don't consider money a factor: Lucky you! Take your pick! Honestly, if I were young, single and had a very full bank account I would probably still live in the East, maybe Shoreditch or so. But, the real budget busters are South Kensington, Notting Hill, Chalk Farm (Primrose Hill), Kensington, Knightsbridge, Chelsea, etc (there are so many horribly expensive places I'm not going to name them all - I defy you to find someone who will!). The boy was living in a teeny student residence and was paying 170 per week. About double what I paid for a much bigger room. I suppose it's all about the postcode, darling.

Hotspots in high society: Harrods, V&A Museum, Museum of Natural History, Hyde Park, Mayfair.

Most of the people I worked with would choose to live somewhere far out of London (Northampton, Kent, Reading) and commute in daily. But watch out for nasty train fares - and for the younger generation, living out of the smoke is certainly not 'cool'.

All the luck possible guys. Get in contact if you want an opinion.



(P.S: Again, excuse my monumentously awful generalizations and, indeed, the fact that the South and North of London are more or less cut out - this blog is for illustrative purposes!)