Living in Stratford

Stratford is a regeneration story on a huge scale. The 2012 Olympic Games transformed former industrial land into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and the area around it now includes Westfield Stratford City, one of Europe's largest shopping centres, the London Stadium, home of West Ham United, the Aquatics Centre and East Bank, a new cultural and education district with museums, performing arts venues and university campuses.

Stratford station is one of the best-connected transport hubs in London. The Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines, the DLR, the Overground and national rail services all stop here, and Stratford International, nearby, has high-speed trains to St Pancras and Kent. Journeys to Liverpool Street, Canary Wharf, the West End and the City are quick, and Heathrow is on a direct Elizabeth line route.

Housing is dominated by new-build towers and apartment blocks, many purpose-built for rent. East Village, the former athletes' village, is a large rental neighbourhood with parks, shops and a school, and new developments continue to rise around the station. Older Stratford, to the south and east, has Victorian terraces, council estates and a busy traditional town centre around the Stratford Centre and Theatre Royal Stratford East.

The Olympic Park provides extensive green space, wetlands and riverside paths along the River Lea, connecting north to Hackney Marshes and the Lee Valley. The trade-offs are that much of the neighbourhood feels corporate, centred on large developments and shopping, and that independent culture is still developing. Stratford suits people who want modern flats, exceptional transport, parks and leisure facilities, and who are comfortable with a neighbourhood still being built around them.