Knightsbridge- Only of London’s Most Exclusive Neighborhoods and Home to Harrold’s and Harvey Nichol’s Department Stores

The West London Knightsbridge District was largely built out by the mid 19th century but also contains a good amount of late 19th century Queen Anne revival buildings and a good amount of post War and 21st century in-fill. Knightsbridge has been home to some of London’s richest residents really since its beginnings thanks to its underlying landowners being the Duke of Westminster, Lord Cadogan, and the Wellcome Trust. Knightsbridge is also know for its high-end retail being one of two international retail centers in London and host to exclusive department stores such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

From an urban perspective this is a solid walkable district with good retail, cultural, and transit amenities, gorgeous 19th century architectural styles and home to the Victoria and Albert Museum and just across the street from the Royal Albert Hall, Natural History Museum, and the Imperial London College. The district is also only a 25 minute tube ride to Central London. But Knightsbridge is a very exclusive neighborhood with limited income diversity which actually results in a lower overall density as unit sizes are so large. Most parks are also private, although thankfully residents have public access to Hyde Park to the north of the neighborhood. Bike infrastructure is also limited and retail amenities serving middle class families are rather elusive. 

Click here to view my Knightsbridge Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Several nice pedestrian/narrow road biz districts including Upper Tachbrook, Warwick Way, Churton, Wilton (which connects with the busy Victoria Station node). Also wider streets with a decent amount of mixed-use including Vauxhall Bridge and Lupus.
• Incredible 18/19th century terrace homes. Brick or white rowhouses.
• Decent bike lane system (at least for London) including two east to west dedicated lanes.
• Pretty good public transit access including 2 subway station connected to 3 subway lines.
• Tree Canopy throughout Pimlico is decent thanks to all the greens, squares, and public housing sites spreadsheet throughout Pimlico.
• Good cultural amenities but concentrated close to Victoria Station along Churton, Wilton, & Warwick. This includes plenty of restauarants, bars & cafes. Across the district there are a handful of smaller art galleries, and a handful of performing arts theaters.
• Pretty good array of retail amenities as well with the more creative boutiques, clothing stores, and gift stores concentrated near Victoria Station.
• Very dense population for London standards at around 45K residents per square mile.
• For West London standards Pimlico is a pretty economically diverse district thanks to several large multi-block apartment buildings built in the mid 20th century.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Major post WWII/urban renewal sub district in Church Hill Gardens done in the very Garden City style with tall towers sticking up as islands in a parkspace and parking lot. But could be a lot worse esp considering how these look in the US.
* Plenty of quality squares and gardens throughout Pilmco but sadly most of them of private spaces along available to adjacent residents. Nice park space along the river however.