Living in Hackney Wick

Hackney Wick is an industrial island in the Lea Valley, cut off from the rest of Hackney by the A12 and bounded by the River Lee Navigation and the Hertford Union Canal. For years its warehouses and yards housed one of the largest concentrations of artists' studios in Europe, and the area is still known for studios, music venues, breweries, bars and warehouse events, though many former industrial buildings have been replaced by new-build flats.

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park lies directly across the canal, and it is the area's main open space. Its riverside paths, lawns and playgrounds connect to the London Stadium, the Aquatics Centre, and East Bank, the new cultural and education quarter with museums, a theatre and university campuses. Hackney Marshes, with its famous football pitches, stretches north along the river.

The neighbourhood is mostly flats: canal-side new builds with balconies, converted warehouses, live-work units and some older terraces. The streets can feel half-finished, with construction still ongoing, and some parts are empty at night. Much of the area's social life happens by the water, especially on summer evenings.

Hackney Wick station is on the Overground line between Stratford and Highbury, Camden and Richmond, and Stratford, one stop east, provides the Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines as well as national rail. Journeys to the City and West End therefore usually involve a change, and late-night transport options are limited compared with more central areas; many residents cycle along the canal. Hackney Wick suits young creatives and people who want canal-side living near a huge park, and who accept an evolving, sometimes rough-edged neighbourhood and a commute that begins on the Overground.