Inner city London Vs gentle suburbs

Where to live in London?

Are you thinking of moving to London? You should, it's a great place to live, one of the best cities in the whole world! Recently findahood.com has tackled the ever controversial issue of North London vs South London, but now it's time to explore another: Inner city London vs London suburbs.

Renting in London

Inner city London

Pros - Inner city London is notoriously expensive but if you live close enough to work that you can walk then you can easily offset the high cost of rent by not paying London's equally high transport costs.

Cons - Inner city London can be very expensive, it's one of the most expensive cities in the world, and are you really getting value for money? Unless you are super rich you will probably need a flat or house share due to the high costs.

London Suburbs

Pros - Living in the less trendy areas of London are considerably cheaper, and you'll get a lot more for your money, possibly even garden space which is hard to find in inner city London.

Cons - If like most Londoners you work in central London you face a long stressful journey during London's notorious rush hour commute - not for the faint hearted.

And the winner is...

This is a tricky one, if you're new to London and want to live in a trendy area where all the action is then inner city London is for you. On the other hand if you have lived in London for a while and want to live somewhere quiet and spacious then the suburbs are a safe bet.

I think we'll call this one a draw

Transport in London

Inner city London

Pros - If you live close to central London you won't have to spend a lot of time and money on travel. You may even be able to walk to work which will save you a fortune.

Cons - Nope, can't think of any!

London Suburbs

Pros - One great thing about London is that is does have great public transport so even if you live quite far out you can easily commute into London to work.

Cons - You'll need to pay a lot for transport regardless of whether you invest in a season ticket. The cost of transport in London keeps rising each year and it will have a big affect on your pennies. Plus your journey into work may be further fustrated with delays and last minute cancellations, and no one likes having to face their boss when they come in late for work.

And the winner is...

Inner city!

Shopping

Inner city London

Pros - London is home to many wonderful shops, and many people travel here just to shop. Trendy areas such as Camden and Soho have their own street markets which offer an impressive range of one off and unique shops. Also there are the world famous establishments such as Harrods and Selfridges and hugely popular Oxford Street and Regents Street.

Cons -However a lot of London's famous shopping areas such as Oxford Street are very overcrowded which can turn your shopping heaven into a shopping hell. If it's high street labels rather than designer names you're after, you might have a far better shopping experience by choosing shopping centres in the suburbs such as Intu in Bromley which has a huge range of high street outlets and are far less busy and has ample parking facilities.

London Suburbs

Pros - The London suburbs also have great shopping areas such as Westfield in Stratford, Bluewater in Greenhithe, Kent and Intu in Bromley. They have a huge indoor shopping malls and are a lot quieter so you can relax and enjoy.

Cons - London is a huge area and it can take a while to discover great but less well known shops and boutiques in the London suburbs, but you'll probably have lots of fun exploring!

And the winner is...

Inner city

At Findahood we're quite divided on this! If you love small independent shops which are full of character then shopping in the suburbs is for you. However, you can also find little gems in the heart of London. Each year millions of tourists flock to our city to visit our world famous shops and so because of that the winner has to be Inner city London.

Crime in London

Inner city London

Pros - Not surprisingly there are no pros to living in an area with a high crime rate, even if you are crook!

Cons - Crime is obviously a big issue for people living in London and crime statistics overwhelming support the argument that there is far more crime in the inner city boroughs of London than the suburbs. It's not surprising that the top three boroughs with the highest crime rates are City of London, Westminster and Camden which are all inner city boroughs. This could well be down to the fact these three boroughs are all considerably dense areas of population.

London Suburbs

Pros - Not surprisingly the top three London boroughs with the lowest levels of crime are areas of suburban London, these are Bexley, Harrow and Sutton. Millions of Londoners choose to live in the suburbs due to it's low crime rates which is important if you have a young family.

And the winner is...

The suburbs!

Who wins Inner city London or London suburbs?

According to our research Inner city London comes out tops! However the brilliant thing about living in London is that you can have it all! No matter where you live in London everything is on your doorstep as London truly is one of the best cities in the world. You can easily live out in the suburbs where cost of living is relatively low but easily work and play in the city. So no matter where you live in London, everyone's a winner!