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In our biggest ever City Living Survey, over 12,000 Londoners rated their areas for friendliness, accessibility, eating and drinking options, family vibes and affordability. Our survey-takers even told us how happy and relaxed they felt personally, so we could find which districts were hotbeds of anxiety or oases of calm. And now we've crunched the numbers to find the places with the highest overall score.
In first place... it's Clapham!
Yes, it comes in for more than its fair share of stick from the rest of London, but it turns out there are plenty of reasons to feel smug in SW4 – not least the outstanding transport links (including three tube stops and Europe’s busiest railway station) and spacious common, ideal for pushing a buggy, flying a kite or necking a G&T. Moreover, when we surveyed Londoners, those from Clapham gave their area supremely high ratings across all categories – trendiness, friendliness, happiness, affordability and eating and drinking.
© Jonathon Thompson Photography
So be you party animal, bon viveur, yummy mummy or ambitious young professional it may well be time to head south and check out 2015’s Best Place Overall...
▶ Unusual fruit, weird fitness regimes and a subterranean wine bar: it’s the best bits of Clapham
▶ The best restaurants in Clapham
▶ The best bars and pubs in Clapham
And here are the full top 20:
2) SW12 Balham
3) N1 Islington
4) E8 Hackney/Dalston
5) E2 Bethnal Green
6) SW2 Brixton
7) E20 Olympic Park
8) SW11 Battersea/Clapham Junction
9) SW9 Stockwell
10) SW17 Tooting
11) N5 Highbury
12) W10 North Kensington
13) SE22 East Dulwich
14) NW5 Kentish Town
15) SE24 Herne Hill
16) W4 Chiswick
17) SE19 Upper Norwood
18) W11 Notting Hill
19) E18 Woodford
20) NW1 Camden