nice not having to use a
supermarket,” says the owner
of the Empress, Michael
Buurman, who has lived in
Vicky Park for 11 years. “This
is our world, basically.” Just
don’t call it a village, the locals
plead — though no one seems
to have told the owners of the
Village Store, Village Organic
or the Village Barber Shop.^
Best place to live if... You
love birdsong and urban buzz.
Best address Gore Road,
Lauriston Road,
or Cassland Road.
£755,500KING’S CROSS C
In 1997, when Harry Potter
first rammed his luggage
through the wall at platform
9¾, King’s Cross was a place to
be passed through as quickly
as possible, except for those
heading to an all-night rave or
a hotel that charged by the
hour. Now? Regeneramus — 67
acres of disused warehouses
and wasteland have been
transformed into a vibrant
neighbourhood that honours
the area’s industrial heritage
and adds a sprinkling of
starchitectural wizardry from
big British names such as
Thomas Heatherwick (of 2012
Olympic cauldron fame). And
King’s Cross is still a work in
progress — Google is building
a billion-pound, 330m-high
“landscraper” next to the rail
lines, with a pool and a
rooftop running trail.
Otherwise, for a swim and the
gym, head to Pancras Square
Leisure (from £35 a month).
As you’d expect in an area
where corporate tenants
include Google, Meta and
Universal Music, flats in the
N1C postcode are far from
cheap, but the proportion of
affordable housing compares
favourably with other big
developments in the capitalVICTORIA PARK B
When a man is tired of
London, the saying goes, he is
tired of life; but when you tire
of hipster Hackney, you
probably just need to mooch
along to Victoria Park. This
leafy east London enclave
offers easy access to the
happening ’hoods, but its
family-friendly (there are five
oustanding state primaries)
blend of green space,
independent shops and pubs
and Georgian and Victorian
houses built with buttery
London stock bricks would
stand out anywhere.
The 213-acre park is^
the undoubted star,
with ponds, pedalos,
playgrounds, a skatepark,
football pitches,
cricket nets and
tennis courts.
Joggers, cyclists
and dog-
walkers flock
here or follow
the towpath
of the adjacent
Hertford
Union Canal.
Opened in 1845
after a petition to
the new queen, the
“People’s Park” has an army
of admirers — it’s regularly
voted one of Britain’s best
parks in the Green Flag
awards and two frequently
updated Facebook pages offer
information on opening
times, events and children’s
classes, as well as snaps of
swans, sunrises and
photogenic pooches.
The Sunday market offers
everything from charcuterie
to zero-waste kombucha, as
well as street-food stalls
selling Afghan, Malaysian and
Filipino cuisine. Music fansflock here in August for the All
Points East festival; for local
acts, head to the bandstand
on Sundays from May to July.
Central Hackney, London
Fields and Shoreditch are all
near by, but locals have little
need to stray from Lauriston
Road, where there’s a cluster
of cracking shops, restaurants
and pubs: the Lauriston has
Saturday DJs and an all-
abilities chess club, while the
Empress is a gastropub in the
best sense of the word.
“The kids go to school
round the corner, and it’s soPark life
From top:
Victoria Park;
Ghostpoet at
last year’s All
Points East
festival in the
park; Granary
Square,
King’s CrossBest Places to Live 2022 London
McDonald’s here in 2019
after receiving more than
850 objections. “Crystal
Palace has become a
thriving community in
the past five years, and
it’s great to have huge
festivals on your doorstep,”
says Le Bihan.
Pick of the (gastro) pubs
are the White Hart and the
Alma, where you can also
pick up blooms from the
adjacent flower stall, and
cuisines on offer run from
Vietnamese at Urban Orient
to Venezuelan at Mi Cocina
Es Tuya. The Haynes Lane
market (Thursday to
Sunday) spreads around
Antenna Studios, a
ramshackle arts hub where
Florence + the Machine
started out.
In January planners gave
the green light to a
£3.2 million restoration of
the ornate Italian-style
subway that took Victorian
visitors to the original
Crystal Palace, bringing the
neighbourhood’s golden
era back to life.
Proof that SE19 is alive
and kicking are the fortunes
of Crystal Palace FC, aka the
Eagles, who are taking wing
under Patrick Vieira, and
there’s fresh hope for the
reopening of the disused
50m pool and diving pool at
the National Sports Centre,
where Olympic champions
including Tom Daley honed
their skills; meanwhile,
the #BacktheBowl
crowdfunding campaign
has raised £60,000 to
reboot the “rusty laptop”:
the Corten steel stage at
the Crystal Palace Bowl,
where Bob Marley and
Pink Floyd once played.
It’s now home to the South
Facing festival; 2022
headliners include Jungle,
London Grammar and
Becky Hill.
While the mix of green
spaces, pretty streets and
chichi shopping and dining
isn’t unique, Crystal Palace
has a welcome urban
edge, despite being on the
suburban rim of the capital.
Best place to live if...
You want family
fun and a hint of
underground culture.
Best address Fox Hill or
Belvedere Road, or the
streets off the Triangle.
£526,000➤ Continued from p43ROY JAMES SHAKESPEARE/GETTY IMAGES; GLAMOURSTOCK; PETER CRIPPS/ALAMYMarch 18, 2018 45