Where to live for a young 20s professional?

[Gemma_S]

Where to live for a young 20s professional? I've heard Clapham, I've also heard East London (Camden, Shoreditch, King's Cross), which area is best? I’ve lived in Prenzlauer Berg In Berlin, Germany, and would prefer to live in a place similar in London.

[David_McDougall]

Hi Gemma,
Can you describe a bit more about what you're looking for in a neighbourhood? Can you describe what you like about Prenzlauer Berg?

[Andrew_Robert_Burges]

It depends entirely on your budget. Obviously, as a young professional, you'll want to be close to the centre of town, for all the bars, clubs and parties, but not close enough that your rent is astronomical. The good thing about London is that if you have your heart set on living in a particular area, with the fluctuating price ranges from one neighbourhood to another, you may not be able to live right in the area of your choice, but you can probably live a short walk, or a tube stop or two away.

So, with regards to areas, here's some brief descriptions which might help you pick:

Camden: used to be a great centre for alternative (rock, metal, goth, punk, etc.) scenes, and, of course, the home of Amy Winehouse and other creative people, but that has now dwindled somewhat into a more tourist area. Still some good places to live, with a number of pubs, bars, restaurants and clubs.

Shoreditch: very arty and trendy (yes, with plenty of hipsters!), lots of cafes and bars, large amount of creative and media companies.

(by the way, bad on what I read about Prenzlauer Berg, the above two might suit you best)

Kings Cross: a transport hub, currently undergoing a lot of development, but with companies such as Google moving in, a lot of investment is going into the area to the north of the station. Useful if you want to get anywhere.

Clapham: Quite a trendy area, with lots of families, green parks and so on, not sure about the entertainments, as I don't go there very much, but there are a number there, if not a little busy at weekends.

Hope that helps!

[chriswalts]

London is fantastic in that there seems to be an area of the city for everyone. The tricky bit is it can take you a while to find out where that area is!

In terms of being a young 20s professional, I'd be more tempted to look South of the river rather than North. Not that there's aren't some fantastic places North, there certainly are, but they tend to be a little "played out" from a scene point of view and are almost always more expensive.

Brixton is certainly a popular choice and extremely vibrant (it's one of my favourite areas of the city). It's getting pretty gentrified now though (and quite expensive) so if you want something close to Brixton but a but more rough around the edges Streatham is a good shout.

One of the most hipstery areas are the moment is Peckham which is just starting to boom so that might be worth looking at. The transportation links have got a lot better know with the Overground which helps and it's still a bit cheaper. Peckham, by the way is the new Dalston, which was the new Shoreditch

If you do want to stay North, Dalston is alright (although the transportation can be a bit annoying) the same is true of Hackney. There are still some good steals to be found Highbury and Islington (although that's becoming harder to find), and if you want to get involved with the Warehouse scene there are quite a few around Manor House or Seven Sisters.

Hope that helps!