Living in Islington

Islington, in the everyday sense, means the area around Angel and Upper Street, one of the longest and busiest restaurant and bar streets in London. Upper Street runs north from Angel towards Highbury Corner, past theatres such as the Almeida, the Business Design Centre, independent shops and hundreds of places to eat and drink, and it stays busy most evenings of the week.

Behind the main roads is some of the finest Georgian and early Victorian housing in inner London. Barnsbury, Canonbury and the streets around Duncan Terrace and Colebrooke Row are arranged around garden squares and terraces, many now expensive flats or family homes, and the Regent's Canal passes through in a tunnel under Angel before emerging among canal-side houses and moorings. Camden Passage, just off Upper Street, has antique shops and a small market, and Chapel Market is a traditional street market near the station.

Islington has little large green space, and among London boroughs it has one of the lowest amounts of park per resident. Highbury Fields, at the northern end of Upper Street, is the main open space, and the canal towpath offers walks towards King's Cross or Victoria Park.

Transport is excellent. Angel station on the Northern line's Bank branch has some of the longest escalators on the Underground and reaches the City in a few minutes, and Highbury & Islington has the Victoria line, the Overground and Great Northern trains to Moorgate. The City is also an easy cycle or walk. Housing ranges from Georgian terraces and mansion blocks to large council estates and new-build flats. Islington suits professionals who want a central, social and walkable neighbourhood, and who are prepared to pay high rents for small flats in return for restaurants, theatres and quick commutes.