North or South London
moove2london on 12 Apr 2010Which is the best part of London – is it the area north or south of the River Thames? As soon as you move to London, you’ll notice how territorial people are about where they live. The debate on North vs South London is ongoing and never really results in a definitive answer. This doesn’t stop Londoners arguing it out anyway. Even the most placid personalities will have a strong opinion on whether they prefer Clapham or Islington. We know which Moove2London prefers, but are trying to stay impartial to give you a fair account.
We’re going to list some of the arguments for and against North and South London to help you choose which part of London you’d like to live in. For the purpose of this article, we’re definitely referring to the two areas of London which are north or south of the River Thames. We’re well aware that East London isn’t North London, but it is still north of the river, so when we say North London, we are including West and East London in this. Also confusingly, there are some postcodes which are north of the river, but have a south postcode. For instance, SW1 is actually north of the river. Finally, this is possibly an unfair debate as the area to the north of the Thames, is much bigger than the area to the south.
Transport
If you look at a tube map, then you’ll notice that there are many more tube stations in North London than there are in South London. In fact there are huge areas of South London, particularly South-East London that are just somehow ‘missing’ off the map. This is actually going to get a bit better later this year when the former East London tube line is being extended and rebranded as London Overground and many stations in South-East London will be connected to the network. You might wonder how and why people have managed to live in areas without a tube for so long. The answer to this comes in the form of amazing train and bus routes into Central London. Many people in South London using these forms of transport aren’t in the least bit bothered about not have the option of a tube, as both train and bus journeys allow you to gaze out at the landscape of London whilst breathing in fresh (well, as fresh as London gets) air through the windows. However, it’s perfectly understandable that if you’re moving to London for the first time and you don’t know the city very well/or at all, then you might feel more comfortable living on the tube map. Train and bus routes aren’t that difficult to work out though – just use National Rail or TFL and of course, the transport sections of our area guides on the North, South, East and West London pages.
Parks and open spaces
Whilst North London does offer Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill and of course many of the royal parks located in Central London, there is no doubt about the fact that South London has more to offer in terms of huge green spaces. Let’s say that you live in Balham. You could walk to Clapham Common, Wandsworth Common or Tooting Bec Common, all of which are huge and beautiful.
Affordability
For reasons that seem to be based mainly on the lack of tube stations, South London generally has areas with more affordable property prices than North London. Also, Wandsworth, which is located in South London, has the cheapest council tax rates in the whole of the country. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that this means that South London is ‘poorer’ or full of dodgy areas, because it is also full of many expensive and lovely areas such as Battersea, Clapham, Wimbledon, Richmond (not technically a London postcode, but a very desirable area that is easy to reach Central London from), Putney and Balham, to name a few. In North London, your money doesn’t seem to stretch quite as far and if you want to live in an area such as Hampstead, Crouch End, Greenwich, Highgate or Muswell Hill, you’re going to need to pay a fair bit for your accommodation. There are definitely also affordable areas in North London which are still in nice or up-and-coming areas, such as Stoke Newington.
Getaways
The answer to whether you think North or South London is better, is obviously dependent on where you want to go to. If you want to drive to somewhere north of London, then obviously it’s more convenient for you to live in North London, as it can be frustrating when the first hour of your journey is spent trying to get out of town! However, if you want to get to the coast in under an hour, then you’re much better placed in South London. In terms of airports, South London has Gatwick, whereas North London has Stansted, City, Luton and Heathrow, so it all depends on where you want to go!
Entertainment
There are 118 postcode areas in London and each of them comes with their own set of pubs, bars, restaurants, music venues, comedy nights etc etc. But if you consider the area that we consider to be ‘Central London’ (the City and the West End) is located pretty much entirely north of the river, then it would be difficult to argue that North London doesn’t offer more than South London in terms of entertainment. That being said, as well as popular nights out in places such as Clapham and Balham, South London also offers the 02, which people visit from all over the country/world.
Ok, so hopefully you’ll now be able to decide how you feel about living north or south of the River Thames. The truth is that North London and South London both offer measures of lovely areas and places you should really avoid. But make sure you’re ready to offer an opinion on which is better the next time this interesting debate starts up!