Where would you live in North London, if it couldn't be SG?

dion

I am going to start by saying that funny bit between Mount Pleasant Sorting Office and Kings Cross - excellent transport links, some nice houses, quiet at the weekend, walking distance from lots of places.

David

Didn't live there but while living at Kings Cross and working at Farringdon walked through it many times. Ever drunk at Filthy McNasty's? It's a good area.

dominic

Crouch End. Admit it, we all want to live in Crouch End.

tosscat

I h8 CE

Colette

oooh, no, not crouch end; there's no tube, therefore it's not a real place. Is this a money no object game?

tosscat

Not anywhere on the dirty Piccadilly line - Holloway road = yuck. Manor House for me I think.

katiejane

No way Crouch End! Barnsbury for me - that posh bit near the Albion.

David

I loved living in Kings Cross. That was renting though, on the canal. Couldn't afford to buy there though.

andy

highbury, primrose hill, barnsbury. I'd even entertain a place in the barbican if I had a big out-of-town country pile.

Colette

@Tosscat, isn't Manor House on the dirty Piccadilly Line?

Barnsbuy looks nice but is full of braying idiots in range rovers and gangs of hoodies throwing stones at cyclists (true). I hate it round there now (and it's where I grew up).

I'd go with the Highbury side of Finsbury Park, or Clerkenwell. Bits of Bloomsbury are lovely too.

tosscat

Is it? I get in a muddle with anything beyond Fin-Fin.

dominic

Tosscat, Collete, Katiejane et al - you're all in denial.

Imagine: all those people carriers, double buggies, the overpriced children's clothes stores, the universal smugness at having chosen a place that is 'good for families', the insane anti-development nimbyism, the rush for 'quality schools'...

What's not to like.

I lived on Pentonville Road once which was good for late night off licenses. And crack.

tosscat

@ dominic I didn't say CE thanks for asking, in fact I think I said "I h8 CE".

Liz

@ David - Flithy's is a great pub. It was my work local when I first moved to London and did great lock ins on a Friday. With bar staff who then became the Libertines. I'd like to live near Highbury Fields.

magicP

I love SGR! Also, that lovely bit between Highgate and Parliament Hill Fields. Otherwise (if it counts as north London) then Marylebone would be my fave spot.

matt

Maybe the Brunswick centre, maybe Chalk Farm, maybe the countryside...

SimonB

I can't believe the transformation of the Brunswick centre. When I was at Uni I lived in Commonwealth Hall just at the top of Marchmont Street ... and the Brunswick was the 'Mos Eisley' of London - "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"

But look at it now! I almost fell over in the street when I visited the area recently for the first time in 10 years.

matt

When I moved to London in 1998, it was as bad as you describe. I sort of wish I'd bought a place in it then!

katiejane

It's a council estate though isn't it? If so, I can imagine the leaseholders have been stung for improvements. I might be wrong though...

matt

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunswick_Centre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunswick_Centre) "The dual management has caused problems though, as the landlord restored the structure of the estate but the council is responsible for maintenance of the residential properties - so while the concrete structure was restored, the windows remained untouched, detracting from the overall aesthetic of the development. In 2007, the council started work on replacing the windows that has resulted in the residents having scaffolding outside their flats for the second time in just a few years." Hmm. I do love the area, though, having worked just off Lamb's Conduit Street for a year and a half after I moved to London.

magicP

I work near the Brunswick and the transformation is astonishing. Lamb's Conduit Street is a favourite of mine and Marchmont Street is a fab local high street, I think.

tosscat

Are we bigging up elsewhere? I'm sure there's a Brunswick Centre forum for posts like this.

katiejane

I've changed my mind on this one too. I'd like to live in one of the posh mews' in Marylebone.

dominic

Broadwater Farm.

naomi

i like the posh bit near the albion in barnsbury too, tufnell park is ok, but i really think we're spoilt here, local high street, local shops, almost everything you could need on your doorstep.

i have a recurring nightmare that i can afford to move to crouch end and my children go to weston park primary and i'm wearing clothes from boden.
is it secretly what i really want?

hooofck

i wonder if on mileend.org they'd still all want to stay in east london etc?

matt

the topic stated North, but I'd probably not mention any of the others anyway