Best areas to live for commuting to King's Cross / St Pancras

King's Cross and St Pancras form one of the largest transport hubs in Europe, and the area around them has become a major employment district. The redevelopment north of the stations brought large technology and media offices, Central Saint Martins art school in the Granary Building, shops and restaurants around Coal Drops Yard, and new homes along the Regent's Canal. The British Library and the Francis Crick Institute sit beside St Pancras, and the Eurostar terminal brings international business travel.

Six tube lines stop at King's Cross St Pancras: the Victoria, Piccadilly, Northern, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan. Thameslink trains run through St Pancras from Brighton, Gatwick, Luton and Bedford, stopping at Kentish Town, Cricklewood, Blackfriars, Elephant and Castle and London Bridge, and Great Northern services arrive at King's Cross from Finsbury Park and Hertfordshire.

That network makes King's Cross accessible from almost every direction. The Victoria line brings commuters from Brixton, Stockwell, Tottenham Hale and Walthamstow in around fifteen to twenty minutes; the Piccadilly line serves Finsbury Park, Wood Green and Holloway; Thameslink connects parts of south and north-west London without a change. The trade-off is crowding. The Victoria and Piccadilly line platforms are extremely busy at peak times, and station controls sometimes restrict entry. For those who can, walking or cycling along the canal from Islington, Camden or Hackney is a pleasant alternative, and it avoids the worst of the interchange altogether. Anyone arriving on Thameslink should also allow a few minutes to cross from the St Pancras platforms to the King's Cross side, where many of the new offices are.