Living in Streatham

Streatham stretches along one very long road. Streatham High Road runs for well over a mile from Streatham Hill down to Streatham Common, and it is often described as one of the longest high streets in the country. It is practical rather than pretty: supermarkets, independent restaurants from a wide range of cuisines, chain shops, and a steadily growing number of bars and cafés, especially around Streatham Hill.

Housing is the main attraction. Edwardian terraces, large interwar mansion blocks and 1930s flats line the side streets, and a one-bed here usually costs noticeably less than in Clapham, Brixton or Balham. Pullman Court on Streatham Hill, a listed modernist block by Frederick Gibberd, is the best-known example of the area's interwar flats, and there are many plainer relatives of it.

Green space is a real strength. Streatham Common rises steeply to the Rookery, a formal garden near the mineral wells that briefly made Streatham a fashionable spa in the eighteenth century, and Tooting Bec Common borders the western side. Streatham also has an ice rink and leisure centre, which is rare in London.

Transport is the catch. There is no tube, and the three stations — Streatham Hill, Streatham and Streatham Common — are served by Southern and Thameslink trains to Victoria, London Bridge and the City, which are fine at peak times and thinner in the evening. Many people take a bus to Brixton for the Victoria line, which adds time and uncertainty. Streatham suits people who want more space for their rent and who can work around a rail timetable.