I want to live in… Clapton
Would you want to live in an area dubbed “murder mile” only a few years ago? No, well you are in the minority. There is nothing like middle class gentrification to bring down the crime rate. It is almost as if the local hoodlums are too embarrassed to commit crime next to a graphic designer with a handlebar moustache; ruins their street cred.
So Clapton is yet another area conquered on the hipster map. The sun never sets on the Hackney empire.
Anyway I digress, the area is a mix mostly of Victorian terraces, small postwar estates and a few Georgian properties around Clapton pond. New bars/restaurants etc are starting to pop up all the time.
Famous for
Still the murder mile; I guess. Also in an episode of satirical TV show Brass Eye which claimed that the petrol station in Clapton is shoplifted every 30 minutes.
Positives
If you liked Dalston ten years ago, then you will like Clapton now. Springfield Park, which extends down the hill eastwards to the River Lea is lovely.
Negatives
Already pricey, and as ever if you don’t like creatives, avoid like the plague. You want a family home? You will need to find over a million.
Transport Links
Four trains an hour to Liverpool Street (12 minutes) one way, Homerton and Hackney Central, are on the London Overground and not too far away.
Schools
Primaries: Southwold and Mandeville “good” and “improving”; Jubilee “outstanding”. Secondaries: Clapton Girls’ Academy and Stormont House “outstanding”, and Mossbourne “exceptional”.
Drink/Eat
The Clapton Hart (231 Lower Clapton Road, E5) the “new Cat and Mutton” and has a huge beer garden. For food Sodo Pizza (126 Upper Clapton Road, E5, sodopizza.co.uk)
Property All properties correct via www.zoopla.co.uk on 4th October 2014
To buy £1,150,000 Four bedroom Victorian house with a large family bathroom and pretty, well planted south facing garden.
To buy property in Clapton click here
To rent £1,170 pcm (£270 pw) one bedroom period conversion with hardwood floors throughout, large sash windows, a modern fitted kitchen and luxury bathroom suite.
To rent in Clapton click here
Photocredit Wikipedia