Islington Vs East Dulwich...

[rob]

I work in Islington and live in East Dulwich. Does this help?

[AllforNun]

Clerkenwell crime syndicate "This lot make the krays look like clowns" Senior police officer refering to the family who basically bankrolled Islington.

[HOMum]

excellent guys... really helping me out great to get an insight into what everybody can tell me through experience...

am doing this comparison, as Barnsbury in Islington is the only known case of Super-Gentrification in Britain and Im doing a case study on East Dulwich, to explore the effects of gentrification...

so everything helps..

for example:

why you moved?

what are the similarities?

what are the crucial differences? (aware that i have some great feedback already)

anything you would like to add in general!

[HOMum]

also guys, it it possible that i will quote anything you say as part of my case study of the 'locals', must obviously let you know due to ethical reasons!! ... if anybody objects please let me know!!!

Thankyou

[HOMum]

also guys, it it possible that i will quote anything you say as part of my case study of the 'locals', must obviously let you know due to ethical reasons!! ... if anybody objects please let me know!!!

Thankyou

[lozzyloz]

jayd5 for your study perhaps worth looking at Westbourne Park / Grove / Ladbroke Grove. I grew up there when it was a dump and witnessed its gentrification in the 80's through to today. Now it's all referred to as Notting Hill!

[HOMum]

cheers lozzyloz,

is ladbroke grove, near the brand musuem? think i now that area a little...

will definitely look into it...

jayd5

[lozzyloz]

Yes that's right, just of Portobello Rd. One major impact was effectively closing down the dealing in and around All Saints Rd and council home ownership "gerrymandering" led by Dame Porter.

[Zo?]

We lived just off Highbury Fields for 7 years & moved here (Nunhead) in Feb. Friends who used to live in ED basically sold us on the area - so much greener & calmer than N1. Maybe it's because we now have a bubba, but I really get a warmer sense of community here - people talk to me on the bus and say hello in the shops. Crazy loopy Islington house prices also chased us out of the area, for which I am actually rather grateful.

Also we have family in South East/ South West - it's much easier to visit them now that we no longer have to slog along in our ancient van for an hour just to cross the river.

[Snoopy]

I lived in Islington for 5 years and moved here 6 weeks ago.

I moved because I couldn't afford anything up there and I was desperate to buy my own pad.

Location was the main plus point about Angel - I could walk to work, the westend, and you have so many places around you e.g Old Street, Farringdon, Barbican, Camden etc. Transport was another huge plus point. I could go out anywhere in London and whatever time it was e.g. 3am I could always get home cheaply. I'm already missing that but ED has so many other plus points.

ED's positives are definitely the greenery, the community feel and the sense of calm - you really feel like you've escaped the rat-race every evening/weekend.

The similarities are the type of shops & restaurants there are here - lots of boutiques, one-off shops and butchers, bakers etc. Angel had them too but also had so many of the chains that you just had to know where to look.

Age demographics are v.different. Angel is more 20-30. ED appears more 30+.

I miss the cinema and the theatres of Angel - would be fab to have afew of them around here (actaully, there probably are some, I'm just so new I've missed them)

Overall - I love ED. Afew later night trains wouldn't go a miss but ED wins over Angel.

[AnotherPaul]

I also used to live just off Highbury Fields, Calabria Road, 10 years ago. It was a perfect place to live, I was in my mid-twenties, no kids etc. Being there made me feel part of the life of the city, vibrant and dirty. In one direction I could pop to Highbury, in the other direction lay 15 minute trips on a routemaster into town - sitting downstairs near the back on sunny spring days - bliss. I do miss the variety of good coffee places.

My agenda is a little different now. I need to live somewhere which is still very much London but at lower level - physically smaller and more town-like - and less intense. ED is perfect in that respect, the parks, houses with gardens, schools and many people quite with kind of similar outlook, profession and family status means the area can feel a bit like being a member of some kind of unspoken club. I can't imagine moving from ED to elsewhere in London.

ap

[HOMum]

you have all really helped ... its such a great insight!..

also very interesting to see the amount of people that originally lived in Islington!

jayd5

[mamafeelgood]

a bit off thread as the furthest north i have lived life is shepherds bush, i still wanted to add to the positive atmosphere...

i have lived south of the river all my life, besides the aforementioned 2 year forray to shepherds bush and have always considered south london as one of london's best kept secrets.

[AllforNun]

I had my first 3some in Islington and I tell you now 1ED companion is worth 2 from Islington......... no probs

[kford]

Arsenal v. Dulwich Hamlet?

[Keef]

Has to be the Hamlet all the way!

[mockney piers]

Seeing as there are about a billion gooners on this forum, any chance of petitioning the emirates authorities to get Arsenal down for a pre-season friendly next summer?

I'm sure the are enough boutiques to keep the player's wags happy too, and the footballers might even be able to afford a sandwich in Le Chandelier

[HOMum]

i paid ?8.50 for half a sandwich in there known as the 'club' sandwich!!

wont be going there again!

[peckhamboy]

I haven't lived in islington, but looked for a house round there initially before choosing ED in preference, and I'm glad i did. Main reasons for not buying in Islington/Highbury/Finsbury Park were cost (2 bed flat off Essex Rd for the price of a 3 bed house in ED), crime, safety (applying the test of whether you would be worried about your girlfriend walking back from the station on her own at midnight) and the general grubbiness/claustrophobia of North London. And the other thing that struck me was that despite all the crap you hear about the superior housing stock in Islington, I didn't think it was all that. Most of the Georgian houses are flats, and have tiny gardens if any, and there's a real lack of green space.

And almost every house seems to back onto a council estate. I know that not every council estate is rammed to the gills with thieves and muggers, but some of the estates round there gave the distinct impression (vandalism, graffiti, broken car windows) of being home more troublemakers than average. So the idea of paying nearly half a million for the privilege of having your (very small) home and car broken into regularly didn't really appeal.

[redjam]

We've just moved here after living in Islington for 13 years (St Peter's Street/Barnsbury Terrace). Various reasons we moved, not least that we could get a whole house here for the price of a maisonette with no garden in Islington! I agree with the person who said that Islington is a better place to live in your twenties - ED by contrast feels like a good safe place to bring up kids, with more of a community feel. I'm surprised though that people are saying ED is good for green spaces - it might have two big parks but the playgrounds aren't great, whereas Islington had loads of little interesting squares, and Highbury Fields is fab for kids. LL feels like Upper Street was when we first moved there - a bit scruffy, with some interesting independent shops and bars, but with the chains starting to sniff around. Certainly Upper Street changed a huge amount in the time we lived there as more City money came into the area and the rents increased. Overall we're happy we moved though I do miss the good transport links - it definitely feels more cut off here even though it's only Zone 2.

[sillywoman]

Alan Dale Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Used to live in Cloudesley Road between 1998 and

> 2000.

Me too Alan Dale. Before your time though. I was there from 91 - 95. I loved it. Moved south of the river because of University access though and have never looked back. I've been in ED now for 12 years & am married to a Herne Hiller born & bred. Whenever I go 'up north' now it all seems so cramped and dingy. They don't have as many good parks as we do but they do have more garden squares so it probably evens out?

I do agree though that an easy walk to the city and all it's history and culture is the only thing missing from ED. It's funny this thread should come up as just recently it's been striking me how like Upper Street LL is becomming. I don't see this as a bad thing at all - just natural demographics.

SW

[Alan Dale]

sillywoman Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Alan Dale Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Used to live in Cloudesley Road between 1998

> and

> > 2000.

>

>

> Me too Alan Dale. Before your time though. I was

> there from 91 - 95. I loved it. Moved south of the

> river because of University access though and have

> never looked back. I've been in ED now for 12

> years & am married to a Herne Hiller born & bred.

> Whenever I go 'up north' now it all seems so

> cramped and dingy. They don't have as many good

> parks as we do but they do have more garden

> squares so it probably evens out?

>

> I do agree though that an easy walk to the city

> and all it's history and culture is the only thing

> missing from ED. It's funny this thread should

> come up as just recently it's been striking me how

> like Upper Street LL is becomming. I don't see

> this as a bad thing at all - just natural

> demographics.

>

> SW

Small world. Great street althought there was a bit of a problem with dog dung. I still go back occasionally to eat in The Crown. I used to drink in the Albion a bit too. Very good.

You should try walking to the City from ED. I walk form Camberwell and I'm only 15 minutes closer than say Goose Green.

It might be quicker than you think..

[SeanMacGabhann]

door to door from top of LL takes me 70 minutes or so to Tower Bridge or Blackfriars

I substituted doing that 2 or 3 times a week to walking from E&C every day but I do recommend it to everyone. It's good to know it's do-able should the city gridlock

[Alan Dale]

Good stuff Sean.

Walk in the morning. Bus back up the hill at night. Weekly travel costs- ?4.50.

[HOMum]

upon visiting barnsbury 2 weeks ago ... it was hard to imagine what it used to be like before it became gentrified....

wondered if anyone could enlighten me?

has their population always been made up of predominantly middle-class?

how did the house prices change? (if they did)

was there a noticeable difference?

(aimed at all who have lived in and around Islington who would have experienced these changes)