It’s obvious: Clarendon Park is the best place to live

You poor freshers have enough to be dealing with – you’ve realised how shit the O2 is (yet still love it) and the deadlines are piling up. Time is running away and soon enough you’ll be back bumping into your sixth form ex and eating Mum’s roast dinner, but before then you still have to get that elusive roof for second year over your head.

So, where should you look? No further than Clarendon. Its rows and rows of orange bricked, terraced houses might look like the title shots of Coronation Street, but that’s our Clarendon and we love it.

David Wilson looking out towards Clarendon.

The campus is never too far

Your beeping alarm clock saying 8:50 is all it takes to realise why you should love CP. You shoot out of the door tripping over last night’s Dominos box, anxious to make that 9am, but already you realise there is no need to rush. The Attenborough tower is already looming over you, a sign that campus is never far away for anyone in CP. Perfect for the lazy slob that you are.

Typical Clarendon houses with Attenborough watching over them all.

Vicky Park is right next door

That means everything from the library to the gym is within an easy distance. In the summer, the green spaces for a sneaky bottle of rose or a kick about are never far away. Vicky Park may be a bit scary for that solo stroll back from Shabang but don’t panic – those park benches provide the perfect pit stop for the drunken Clarendon resident to get some shut eye. 

Strolls crossing the park back to Clarendon after that library all-nighter take just minutes.

Queens Road is actually pretty sick

When you’ve not got your head buried in a book, Queens Road is the place to enjoy some down time. It has to be one of the most vibrant, quirky streets in Leicester with its charity shops for those wavy garms, bars and delis with everything from tapas to fry ups to sort out those hangover blues.  You’ll quickly come to feel a part of a CP community by becoming a regular in places like Bareconaleta and Jones’. Nothing wrong with that.

Good old quirky Queens Road

Nights out have never been easier

But Clarendon saves its ultimate convenience for that Friday night out. You don’t even have to think about it, sitting in your living room with your housemates and some tinnies. No taxis to order, no dodgy areas to cross (looking at you Evington), no muggers to confront (again, sorry Evington) and no 80 bus to catch from Oadby. Even for those who live in and around the city centre, you might have a bit more buzz for that Wednesday night bar crawl but it’s far more effort to get to your own students’ union than it should be.

Whether you live on Queens Road or right across to Lorne the O2 is never too far. Sure, you might wake the neighbours but seeing as half of your neighbours are your fellow students on the same drunken stroll as you, it’s not a biggie. However, Clarendon’s real importance shines for that walk back to your door. You’re probably smashed so this is important.

So why look anywhere else? Save yourself the hassle for next year.