Living in New Cross

New Cross is shaped by Goldsmiths, University of London, whose campus sits between the two stations. Its students and staff give the area a young, creative and slightly anarchic character, and its alumni list of artists and musicians partly explains why the pubs and small venues along New Cross Road host so much live music and so many late nights.

The main roads are the area's biggest downside. New Cross Road carries heavy traffic through the centre, and the junctions around the stations are noisy and polluted, which makes the high street feel more like a through route than a destination. The best places to live are away from it.

Telegraph Hill, south of the main road, is the obvious example: a conservation area of large Victorian houses on steep streets around two hilltop parks, from which there are long views over central London. Houses here are often split into flats, and the neighbourhood has a strong community feel, with a well-known local festival. Elsewhere, housing is a mix of Victorian terraces, large estates and purpose-built student accommodation.

Transport is better than it first appears. New Cross station has Southeastern trains to London Bridge and Cannon Street in under ten minutes, and both New Cross and New Cross Gate have Overground trains north through Canada Water and Shoreditch towards Dalston and Highbury. New Cross Gate also has Southern services to London Bridge. There is no tube. New Cross suits students, young creatives and people who want Zone 2 access to London Bridge at rents below Peckham and Deptford, and who do not mind busy roads and a rough edge in places.