Herne Hill - nice place to live?

[MAD-T-REX]

I was wondering why this thread had appeared in my Twitter feed.

bumpity bump - reading this thread with interest as my friend and I have been looking at flats. really wanted to move to brixton but haven't found anything yet, so started having a look around herne hill. it seemed like a nice area although

Funny how things change. When I moved to Herne Hill after making this thread, it was considerably more expensive than Brixton and it was harder to find a room. I was thinking about moving up the road recently and found that it'd cost at least £200pm more and I'd have to devote most of my waking hours to it - no thanks.

1) anybody know how good the transport connections are? nightbuses etc?

Transport is well good - trains to Victoria and Blackfriars, it's five minutes on the bus to Denmark Hill, which will have London Overground services from December, and there are direct night buses from Oxford Circus and Aldwych.

2) is it full of 30something professional marrieds? (avoid, avoid!)

The area is dominated by professionals, although not by any particular age group. I'm not aware of any student or artist communities here, but King's is about to build a large accommodation block for its student nurses next to the Sainsburys.

 

[Ms T]

1. Transport links are good. I haven't got a night bus for years, but I think the N3 goes to HH.
2. Lots of professional marrieds. I am probably one myself!

 

[Winot]

1. Transport links are good. I haven't got a night bus for years, but I think the N3 goes to HH.
2. Lots of professional marrieds. I am probably one myself!

Probably professional or probably married

 

[Brixton Hatter]

The Lambeth side of Herne Hill (ie west of Herne Hill and Norwood Road) is quite like a lot of the rest of Brixton: fairly mixed, but with some housing on the expensive side. Poets Corner is pretty 'well to do'. The Southwark side of Herne Hill (east of HH and Norwood Road) is much posher and getting to be like Dulwich with some extremely expensive houses at £500,000+. I expect the rental market in both areas is extremely pressured, and probably no cheaper than Brixton.

I lived along Railton Road for 5 years - great transport links, trains from Herne Hill, lots of night buses (N3, 37, N68 etc), short walk to Brixton tube, close to Brockwell Park. Really liked it there. The pubs have changed a lot though, with only the Half Moon not gastro-ed up.

There are rumours the through-service Thameslink trains from Herne Hill to Luton will stop in a few years, which will cause many people problems. There's a current Dept for Transport consultation about stopping the service at Blackfriars in future. There's a petition somewhere and a consultation (which runs out on August 23.)

More info here: http://www.loughboroughjunction.co.uk/

Consultation comments to: [email protected] by Aug 23.

 

[Ms T]

Probably professional or probably married

Probably both.

 

[el-ahrairah]

it's a very nice and middle class. if you like a nice middle class suburb with almost no soul but lots of places to buy ciabatta, you'll be fine. i lived there for a while. the sainsbury's gets really busy and is well pricey because there are so few proper shops there. a place for the rich really. very very full of 30something professional marrieds and absolutely brimming with manchild jazz dads and yummy mummies.

 

[T & P]

bumpity bump - reading this thread with interest as my friend and I have been looking at flats. really wanted to move to brixton but haven't found anything yet, so started having a look around herne hill. it seemed like a nice area although
1) anybody know how good the transport connections are? nightbuses etc?
2) is it full of 30something professional marrieds? (avoid, avoid!)

Regarding question no. 2, as an example of what it is like, there have been one or two heated discussions here in the past about The Florence, which features a massive children's playroom at the back of the pub so their parents can get shitfaced at the front. So yeah, plenty of those people about.

However, the antidote to The Florence is The Half Moon. Few children and well-to-do Claphamite types ever venture there. The Commercial is also alright.

The Sunday street market is alright too, even if some of the stands are a bit overpriced.

 

[uk benzo]

it's a very nice and middle class. if you like a nice middle class suburb with almost no soul but lots of places to buy ciabatta, you'll be fine. i lived there for a while. the sainsbury's gets really busy and is well pricey because there are so few proper shops there. a place for the rich really. very very full of 30something professional marrieds and absolutely brimming with manchild jazz dads and yummy mummies.

No soul? That's very subjective. As a family man, Herne Hill is great because it has so much stuff for my kid to do. And it is just great seeing lots of other kids around, nice and happy. That is pretty soulful in my opinion. And by the way, I am definitely not rich.

Yes Sainsburys Local is shit, but Brixton is only 10 minutes away. I don't see why it is a problem to shop in Brixton and bring back the produce to Herne Hill, as I and plenty of others do.

 

[T & P]

Actually there are some nice independent shops in the area. The butchers are great and so are the grocers. Both can be a bit dear though. A couple of interesting shops on Half Moon Lane as well. Including (a few months ago, don't know if still around) what looked like a magician's workshop

And of course the park is virtually 30 seconds away from it.

 

[spanglechick]

We're moving out of Herne Hill, reluctantly, after five and a half years together, and grinder a good few years on his own before that.

I find the 'no soul' thing a bit odd - unlike some smaller london areas it has a definite centre and life to it. the pubs are good and there is music, comedy and very occasionally theatre at the half moon. Then for more life there is brixton or camberwell. It's a small, predominantly residential area, though - it would be unfair to judge it by brixton's standards.

Are there a lot of thirty-something marrieds? Well, i'm one myself, so perhaps you'll 'avoid, avoid' my opinion , but yes there are a lot. just as there are all over brixton and all over urban. but all of the ones i know are childless, if that's what worries you. HH (or Brixton, for that matter, since it costs at least as much) is too expensive for most people to stay in once they have kids. You do see families, but it's not 'nappy valley' - you need to go past zone three for that, really.

 

[fakeplasticgirl]

thanks for the tips guys

no offence intended spanglechick - the 'avoid avoid' was in jest i just really don't like children!

 

[nagapie]

I find Herne Hill quite childed. Probably not more so than anywhere else but more concentrated.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I find Herne Hill quite childed. Probably not more so than anywhere else but more concentrated.

Mostly concentrated in the prince regent and the Florence (and the lido cafe apparently).

 

[nagapie]

Mostly concentrated in the prince regent and the Florence (and the lido cafe apparently).

I don't really use any of those. I do use Cafe Prov though, which does target families. But there do always seem to be loads of parents with pushchairs in all the shops.

 

[sleaterkinney]

I live in Herne hill and like it a lot. Brixton is 10/15 minutes away. Dunno why people get het up about kids, I've always been able to zone them out.

 

[Orang Utan]

There's summat wrong with ya if you don't like kids.

 

[fakeplasticgirl]

There's summat wrong with ya if you don't like kids.

why?
hate screaming children

 

[Greebo]

There's summat wrong with ya if you don't like kids.

I don't mind them, I just couldn't eat a whole one.

*gets coat*

 

[Orang Utan]

Cos they're generally more interesting than adults
I guess they can be a pain if they are a stranger's kids but for it to be an issue? Yeah, summat wrong with ya

 

[Orang Utan]

I don't mind them, I just couldn't eat a whole one.

*gets coat*

I have called you a taxi

 

[fakeplasticgirl]

Cos they're generally more interesting than adults
I guess they can be a pain if they are a stranger's kids but for it to be an issue? Yeah, summat wrong with ya

More interesting than adults? No... just as dull.
Actually... the most annoying thing about children are their parents. no i'm not interested in seeing photos of your child or hearing all about their minor successes at school, nobody cares

 

[Orang Utan]

I'm sure your life is just as dull as theirs

 

[Greebo]

I have called you a taxi

Call me whatever you damn well please - water off a duck's back.

 

[fakeplasticgirl]

Cos they're generally more interesting than adults
I guess they can be a pain if they are a stranger's kids but for it to be an issue? Yeah, summat wrong with ya

I genuinely got put off a flat during a viewing because there was a trampoline in the communal garden. maybe there IS something wrong with me

 

[fakeplasticgirl]

I'm sure your life is just as dull as theirs

My life is incredibly dull - I would not deny it. I don't talk about it though.

 

[Orang Utan]

I genuinely got put off a flat during a viewing because there was a trampoline in the communal garden. maybe there IS something wrong with me

Aw man, you could have joined in the fun!

 

[Orang Utan]

My life is incredibly dull - don't get me started. I don't talk about it though.

You never ever talk about your own life?

 

[fakeplasticgirl]

You never ever talk about your own life?

I try and avoid the topic.

 

[Orang Utan]

I wonder what you do talk about.

 

[boohoo]

More interesting than adults? No... just as dull.
Actually... the most annoying thing about children are their parents. no i'm not interested in seeing photos of your child or hearing all about their minor successes at school, nobody cares

*puts away film of baby going mental in a jumperoo*

*brings out pics of murals*