Learn Where to Live in London
Because London is such a vast area covering 1,600 square kilometres, it’s important to choose a neighborhood according to your daily activities. Many people commute for over an hour each way to work. To narrow down your search and locate a desirable area within tube line reach, refer to London’s iconic tube map: http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/downloads/tube_map.html or if you work near one of the main train stations, you will be using the over-ground trains: http://www.thetrainline.com.
The Thames river divides London into North and South – North and South London have ‘good’ neighbourhoods and ‘bad’ and almost all neighbourhoods will offer the diversity you expect from London. The tricky part is that “good” and “bad” are often located in the same borough, therefore an area that is very nice will be next to one that is much less so. In addition to exploring the immediate area where you are considering, walk around the adjoining neighbourhoods to make sure you and your family will feel safe and comfortable.
Prices can vary greatly depending on how far the flat is located from Central London and of course, the prestige of the area. Pay careful consideration to that postcode. Sometimes it saves money to be on the “other side” of a street where the postcode is not so prestigious, but you are still in exactly the same neighbourhood. Each postcode is subdivided, for a complete picture consult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_postal_district.
The expat community does not concentrate in one London district but the most popular areas are Notting Hill, South Kensington, and Chelsea, with Bayswater and Paddington as close contenders.
