Living in Shoreditch

Shoreditch straddles the boundary between Hackney and Tower Hamlets on the edge of the City of London, and it is the densest concentration of bars, restaurants, clubs, galleries, tech offices and street art in east London. Office towers from the City press in from the south, and on weekday evenings workers pour out into the bars; at weekends the crowds come from everywhere.

The area has distinct parts. Around Old Street roundabout, known for years as Silicon Roundabout, tech and design companies dominate; Shoreditch High Street and Great Eastern Street are the nightlife core; Brick Lane, to the south-east, is famous for its curry houses, vintage shops and Sunday markets; and Columbia Road, to the north-east, fills with its flower market on Sunday mornings. The Boundary Estate, built in the 1890s around the raised garden of Arnold Circus, was one of the first council housing schemes in the world and is still lived in.

Housing is a mixture of warehouse and loft conversions, new luxury towers, flats above shops, older council estates and that historic estate. Very little of it is quiet, and rents are among the highest in east London, especially for new-build or converted warehouse flats with outdoor space.

Transport is outstanding. Liverpool Street, with the Elizabeth line, Central line and national rail services, is a walk away; Old Street has the Northern line; and Shoreditch High Street station is on the Overground. Almost the whole of central London is within a short journey, and the City is walkable. The trade-offs are noise, crowds, very little green space beyond small squares and Shoreditch Park, and the cost. It is a place for City and tech workers who want to live where the social life is, not for anyone looking for calm.