Living in Fitzrovia

Fitzrovia is the grid of streets between Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, Great Portland Street and Euston Road, and it combines being right in the centre of London with feeling surprisingly low-key. The BT Tower rises from its middle, and the area has long been home to media, advertising, architecture and tech offices, which fill its streets with people at lunchtime and empty them at weekends.

Charlotte Street and the roads around it hold one of London's densest collections of restaurants, from long-established places to newer openings, and the pubs on its corners have literary and artistic histories. Fitzroy Square, at the northern end, is a Georgian square of pale stone terraces, one of the most elegant in the city.

Homes here are mostly flats: above shops and restaurants, in mansion blocks, in converted Georgian and Victorian buildings, and in the new residential development built on the site of the old Middlesex Hospital. There are very few houses to share, and supply is small, so availability rather than just price is the challenge. University College Hospital sits on the eastern edge and many of its staff live nearby.

Transport is abundant: Goodge Street and Warren Street on the Northern and Victoria lines, Tottenham Court Road with the Elizabeth and Central lines, and Great Portland Street for the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan. Walking to the West End, Bloomsbury or King's Cross takes minutes. The trade-offs are the lack of green space beyond the small squares and nearby Regent's Park, the cost, and a neighbourhood that feels quiet and slightly empty on Sundays, when the offices close and the restaurants slow down. It suits people who work centrally and want to walk everywhere.