Where you choose to live in London and what it says about your overall vibe

If you’re in Wimbledon you’re a wannabe yummy mummy x


Where you choose to live in London is so much more than a simple decision, it’s close to a political statement. It speaks to your background, values, and how much you’re truly willing to spend on a pint before moving elsewhere. It’s no wonder that trying to decide where to live (if you can even find somewhere in today’s housing crisis), is an utter mind field.

Rest assured, The Tab has got you covered. From the rich boroughs of the West to the edgier and more exciting boroughs of the East, we’re here to break down what kind of people tend to dominate some of London’s most talked about areas so that you can truly decide for yourself where you think you’ll best slot in.

Hampstead

Hampstead is home to the people who somehow want to try and fool themselves into thinking that they aren’t living in the biggest city in the world by shutting out the awful pollution and the Heathrow flight path with their excessive gardens and greenery. Only really accessible after an incredibly long and treacherous journey on the hellish Northern line, it’s no wonder those that live there barely leave.

With its picturesque streets and village esc feel, if you’re living here you’re automatically loaded and defo getting your rent money from Mummy and Daddy to fund your three-bedroom maisonette and an annual Mykonos getaway.

Every Hampstead resident walks amongst the cookie cutter families and private schoolers with an air of arrogance, knowing full well that nobody under the age of 30 would even financially dream of living there.

West London

If you thought that Hampstead was bad for its poshness, let’s not even get started on the people who live in West London. Grouping together areas such as Notting Hill (a purely Instagram location at this point) and Kensington (home of Princess Di tbf), it’s a no-brainer that West London is defo not a place to go if you’re living on a tight budget.

West Londoners are straight out of private school, living on a trust fund and drive around in a Fiat 500 on the weekends (when they’re not breaking the bank on completely unnecessary Ubers). Basically, they’re living their ultimate Made in Chelsea dream and we’d be lying if we said we weren’t a little bit jealous.

Nothing screams West London quite like spending an extortionate amount of money on a hot chocolate purely for the aesthetics

Camden

If you live in Camden then you automatically think you’re cool. The key word here is think.

Realistically, whilst it might have been the place to be back in the 80s, nowadays Camden is just a bit grim. If you live here then you probably spend almost 90 per cent of your time trying to convince everyone else that your ridiculously high rent and overpriced pints are justified (spoiler: they’re not).

You’ll also tell everyone that your music taste is strictly “indie” and “edgy” even though it’s defo in the UK Top 40, and take loads of pics of Camden Lock as a subtle “you wish you were here” to all your friends living elsewhere.

The City

Honestly, who even actually lives here? If you call the City your home then you’re either breaking the bank to live in a mouldy, damp and almost entirely unfurnished Tower Hamlets flat or have somehow miraculously inherited your grandparents’ lowkey boujee flat that they bought back in the 50s for less than a third of the current price, there is no in-between.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon (arguably not even considered to be in London but we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt) is notoriously home to the yummy mummies and yoga fanatics who have all gone vegan and religiously wake up at 5am for a quick meditation. They live purely off of sourdough bread, iced lattes and avocados and unashamedly make it their whole personality.

Honestly, not much goes on in Wimbledon, and the vibes of its residents tend to reflect this. If it is your place of stay then you’re probably a tad on the older (and lowkey boring) side or have decided to live at home with your parents for a bit to save some money and are hating every second.

Stratford

Ah Stratford, home of Westfield shopping centre and not much else. The people of Stratford are fun, but always on high alert tbh, with safety still a bit of an issue no matter how hard people try to paint it as the new up-and-coming area to live in.

Brixton

The people of Brixton are what those in Camden only wish they could be: actually cool. Often depicted as south London’s “living-it-large” capital its large and varied music scene means that the people living there have got slightly more edge than some of the other areas of London.

However, don’t be fooled. As with anywhere attractive, Brixton is becoming quickly overrun by the mob of middle class postgrads that are just lapping up the slightly cheaper rent prices and slightly less gentrified south London feel. It’s only a matter of time before they too start hearing “rah, where’s my baccy?” unironically in the pub smoking area.

Clapham

If you ask anyone straight out of uni where they’re planning on living, its going to be Clapham. Paying the price of a small mortgage to live in an incredibly underwhelming flatshare with virtually no public transport nearby is the price its residents are willing to pay just to say they’ve made it.

You can spot a Clapham boy from a mile-off: rugby shirt or Exeter leavers hoodie on and a good old pint in hand, they’re ready to hit the common for a game of football with the boys. As for the girls, well they just love a Boomerang. Tequila shots all round and a cheeky prosecco with brunch, the girls in Clapham are here for a good time not a long time and will post at least three Insta stories at Infernos every Friday night to prove it.

Tooting

A new up-and-coming borough, Tooting is coming for Clapham’s name, being slowly gentrified to the max due to its slightly cheaper lifestyle (key word here is slightly) and somewhat closer tube station.

Let’s be honest, the people of Tooting are a little bit smug. Ever since Tooting Market and that big swimming pool Sadiq Khan insisted got built (has anyone ever actually used it ???) came onto the scene they think they’ve made it big. The truth, however, is that nothing changes the fact that it’s still Tooting, renowned for having “Europe’s biggest Chicken Cottage” and not much else.

Though they would never admit it, Tooting probably wasn’t their first choice, but they’ve “grown to love it” and now wear it like a badge of honour (though they’ll defo be moving elsewhere the minute they can afford it).

Hackney

Home to the London hipsters and almost the entirety of the city’s vegan population, anyone who lives in Hackney automatically thinks they’ve discovered a part of London that nobody knows about yet (spoiler: we all know).

Their past times include drinking craft beer, religiously mooching round Colombia Road market every Sunday (or any vintage shop known to man tbh) and taking a “recent interest” in vinyl even though they secretly get all of their music from trusty Spotify playlists.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Where you should live in London, according to where you go to university

• Where should you live in North London?

• Why you should never, ever live in Brixton