Where to live in London Town

Since moving to London more than two years ago, my husband and I have lived in four very different parts of London. First was Canary Wharf. We didn't choose to live there but R's company (very kindly) paid for our accommodation for the first month. After that we moved to Chelsea and lived in a lower ground flat. (Lower ground is a euphemism for 'basement'.) We chose Chelsea for a number of reasons, including that we had friends living in the area and so had spent some time there in the past, knew it was fairly central and thought it would be a safe bet. To someone who grew up in the leafy green suburbs of Johannesburg (which has been described as the biggest man-made forest on earth) the griminess of many areas of London seemed a bit depressing.

I enjoyed wandering through the quaint streets of Chelsea but did find the area a bit above me. Membership to the local dog park cost £700 per year and that is excluding the days the park is off limits becuase it is used to house exhibitors cars for the Chelsea Flower Show. Luckily I had a very kind neighbour who regularly lent me her card. The actual people walking the dogs in the park were what you would expect if you paid £700 annually ie a bunch of Philippino housekeepers in between smatterings of awfully posh people. Many of these people were retirees which makes sense because anyone under 60 living in Chelsea probably has to work pretty damn hard to pay the rent. I was studying for a law degree and so would walk the dog during the day. There was also one radio celebrity guy. The politics in the dog park were also pretty unusual with certain people bitching to me about other people and / or other people's dogs. It was highly amusing but I did feel like an outsider and began to yearn to live in a place surrounded by at least some poeple who were more like me.

My husband and I explored some areas South of the river and thought Clapham might be a nice option, plus we'd be able to rent a bigger house there as rental prices are far lower then those in Chelsea. While exploring Clapham we stumbled upon Balham which is just South of Clapham, has a wonderful common and a nice suburban feel while not being too pricey. However, recently I have fallen a bit out of love with the area. Sometimes it seems a bit boring and too far from all the fun parts of London which are mostly north of the river. Also, because I don't know anyone here and its fairly quiet, it often feels a bit lonely - especially in the gloom of London Winter.

As we only rent and don't actually own any property we are free to move anywhere when our lease expires and so I am on the hunt again... So far parts of Islington near Angel seem appealing, as does Highgate which is even further North and a lot more affordable and suburban feeling than Angel. The search continues... Sigh...