St. Jame’s- the Heart of London’s Historic Aristocracy and Home to some of London’s Best Landmarks

Saint Jame’s namesake came from the area’s dedication of a 12th-century leper hospital to Saint James the Less.The hospital site was eventually rebuilt as St James’s Palace and it gardens and parks. Even to this day much of the neighborhood is still owned by the Crown Estate and due to its proximity to Buckingham Palace, St. James place remained one of London’s most important addresses for the British Aristocracy through WWII. Development came to St James place at the turn of the 17th century, filling in by the middle of the 1700s. Regal homes for the aristocracy were built and the neighborhood became the home to many of 19th century London’s famous gentlemen’s clubs. Not surprisingly the Saint James Neighborhood holds many of London’s greatest landmark buildings and parks and is still a home to the wealthy.

Given its proximity to the West end and Central London and wealth of parks and cultural amenities, this is an outstanding urban district, if you can afford it. Several coroporate headquarters (i.e. BP and Rio Tinto) are also located here giving the district a very vibrant daytime population to augment its solid population density. St. James hosts solid retail amenities (especially clothing & department stores and several shopping malls) but its retail amenities tend to cater to the rich and are less diverse than other Central London neighborhoods.

Click here to view my St. Jame’s Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great landmarks including the Admiralty Arch, St. James Square, St. James Palace, St. James Picadilly, Marlborough House Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Burlington Arcade, Picadilly Circus, His Majesty’s Theatre, Haymarket Theatre, the Riz, and St. James Park to name a few.
* Several grand Blvds and roads including St. James Street, Pall Mall, the Mall, and my favorite regal street Saint James lined with incredible ornate bldgs w/ several elegant monuments in the center.
* Picadilly and Haymarket are the main commercial streets but are also very touristy and busy.
* Jermyn Street is a much more intimate biz district located just a block from Picadilly St with upmarket retail best known for shirtmakers and shops offering the finest gentlemen’s attire. Crown Passage is a really interesting narrow pedestiran street off of Pall Mall and is home to the Red Lion, one of the oldest pubs.
* Incredible regal historic architecture throughout and lots of high end stores.
* Great concentration of museums, gardens, and Historic Houses. Also plenty of restaurants, bars, cafes, private art galleries, theaters, and cinemas.
* Well served by the expansive Green Park and St. James Park but sadly St. James Square is private and is lined by many walled gardens that are either private or part of a museum or historic house.
* This small district is well served by public transit including 3 subways stations and 3 metro lines.
* Solid density at around 40K per square mile.
* The St. James’s has a large daytime population due to it hosting the corporate headquarters of BP, Rio Tinto and many private members’ clubs.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very expensive place to live and very touristy.
* St. James lacks many intimate biz districts but still manages to be pretty mixed-use throughout.
* Outside of the parkspace and wall gardens the tree canopy is pretty limited in St. James.
* Bike lane infrastructure is basically non-existent in St. James.
* Decent retail amenites but not as good other most central London neighborhoods. Good array of Department & clothing stores, tons of book stores, several arcade shopping malls along Picadilly, lots of dessert joints & bakeries, but only a handful of grocery options & pharmacies.

Soho- London’s main Theater District and Historic Hub of London’s Nightlife

Soho’s development really got started in the late 17th century by the Earls of Leicester and Portland who hoped that Soho would become an upper-class estate comparable to Bloomsbury, Marylebone and Mayfair. This started with the construction of terraces around Soho Square in the 1680s. However the neighborhood quickly became a hub of immigrants, especially the French Huguenots, who arrived mainly after the late 1680s giving London its first French quarter. Really only two squares surrounded by terraced housing were constructed and the aristocracy mostly moved away by the mid-19th century, with a cholera outbreak in the district being the last straw. By 20th century Soho had become the centre of London’s nightlife and a major hub for the higherend sex industry thanks to Soho’s’ proximity to wealthy west end London districts. But after WWII Soho had a particularly seedy character as a place filled with petty criminals and brothels/strip clubs. Simultaneously, Soho became the hub of London’s counter-cultural movement in the 1960s with Carnaby Street becoming a hub for hippie fashion and London’s underground music scene. But as with most of Central London, Soho become popular and gentrification really took off in the 1980s. Modern day Soho very much feels like London’s Version of time square with its plethora of theaters, Broadway shows, high end shops, and swarms of tourist. Sadly Soho has become a victim of its own success and its popularity has let it to become overrun by Air BnBs. Soho’s current fulltime population hovers around 2K residents down from its historic high of 30K.

London’s Chinatown is located just south of Soho filling the blocks between Shaftesbury and Leister Square. Chinatown’s emergence didn’t occur until the early 20th century and the bombings during WWII really prevented it from expanding. Leister Square was developed in 1670s as high-end residence, but as with Soho it lost its aristocratic luster and was converted into shopping with theaters emerging in the early 1800s. Trafalgar Square was created in the 1840s as a redevelopment of the Kings Mew’s (royal stables) and built in commemoration of the Naval Battle of Trafalgar of 1805. The square hosts many celebrations but also protests and demonstrations.

Because Soho did not become a district of the rich historically, it has a much more compact feel with more stripped down Georgian architecture more akin to Marylebone or the older districts in East London (i.e. Farrington, Spitalfields). Even with its over tourism, loud nightlife, and low permanent residential population, Soho is still a great urban district thanks to its walkability, cultural and retail amenities, and assess to Central London. Hopefully with better regulation, the Air BnB problem can be held in check and Soho can once again become a district with a strong permanent community again.

Click here to view my Soho album and Chinatown

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Several very famous landmarks here including Leicester Square, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Oxford Circus.
Several famous commercial streets as well (i.e. Carnaby St, Oxford St, Regent St, and Shaftesbury)
Soho Gardens and Golden Square are a pair of lovely gardens and thankfully open to the public.
Great historic regal architecture throughout.
Most of the district hosts a great mixed-use fabric and several narrow pedestrian scale streets stand out (i.e. Argyll St, Ganton, Kingley, Newburgh, Foubert’s Pl, Wardour).
Better bike infrastructure than most central neighborhoods but still not great.
Great public transit access including 6 metro stops and 6 lines.
Wonderful array of historic architecture even outside of the historic landmarks from the 18th-20th centuries.
Excellent Pedestrian streets around Leister Square
The sub district of Chinatown is small but packs a strong punch and is very pedestrian friendly.
This is the heart of the Westend Theater district, esp. concentrated along Shaftesbury Ave. Also many Cinemas in SoHo, likely the highest concentration in central London. Other cultural amenities include tons of restaurants & bars, many live music venues & art galleries.
Solid retail amenities including plenty of department stores even though the fulltime population is small.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Better bike infrastructure than most central neighborhoods but still not great.
Tree canopy is very limited
Population has drastically declined since WWII when the SoHo district had about 30K. It is now down to 2K due to lots of noise from the neighborhood’s raucous nightlife and more and more Air BnB units coming into the district.

Mayfair- Longtime home to England’s Aristocracy Thanks to its Proximity to the Court of St. James

The Mayfair neighborhood was originally part of the manor of Eia and remained largely rural until the early 18th century. Development first came to the district in the 1660s at modern day Piccadilly Circus and progressed along the north side of that street. The neighborhood got its name from the annual Mayfair that took place from 1686 to 1764 in what is now Shepherd Market. The Grosvenor family (who became Dukes of Westminster) became the main developers of Mayfair in the turn of the 18th century and developed grand terrace housing around private squares (i.e. Hanover Square, Berkeley Square and Grosvenor Square). By the end of the 18th century, most of Mayfair had been developed as housing for the upper class, a status the district has never lost. The rise of Mayfair moved upper-class Londoners away from areas such as Covent Garden and Soho, which were in decline by the 18th century. Part of its staying power for the wealthy was its proximity to the Court of St James, excellent park access, and the well-designed layout. The decline of the British aristocracy in the early 20th century led to the area becoming more commercial, with many houses converted into offices for corporate headquarters and various embassies. Yet even with these 20th century changes, Mayfair retained a substantial quantity of high-end residential property, upmarket shops and restaurants, and luxury hotels along Piccadilly and Park Lane, which yes is the namesake for the most expensive property on the Monopoly Board.

Mayfair from an urban perspective is a wonderful mixed-use district filled with lots of high end shopping districts, delicious regal architecture from the 18th and early 19th centuries, excellent subway access, and great parks with Hyde Park & James Park forming its western & eastern borders and historic squares which are actually open the public. But the district is still very exclusive and out of reach for most to reside here. Mayfair can also feel pretty tourist at points (i.e. Oxford & Regent St, and Picadilly Circle) and really lacks a dedicated bike lane and a strong tree canopy.

Click here to view my Mayfair Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Several major touristy streets including Oxford St, Regent St., and Picadilly
* Several wonderful historic squares (Grosvenor Sq, Berkely Sq, Mount St Gardens, & Hanover) and all are open to the public. Excellent access to green space as Hyde Park forms the district’s western border and Green Park/Buckingham Palace Garden its southern.
* Mount street is a lovely biz district with incredible historic buildings. New Bond and Dover are also really nice and Molton & Shepard’s Market are great pedestrian Streets.
* Spectacular regal British architecture from the 18th & 19th centuries.
* Excellent subway connection including 6 metro stations connected to 6 metro lines.
* Even with a low permanent population, Mayfair remains very vibrant with an influx of 85K residents during the day.
* Solid cultural amenities with a great array of restaurants, bars, cafes and a decent array of museums of live music venues. While there are limited theaters here, Mayfair has great access to nearby SoHo.
* Plenty of retail options as well especially department stores and arcades filled with smaller stores.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Some tree canopy, certainly better than most of Central London but not great.
Pretty poor system of dedicated bike lanes in Mayfair. Just a handful of small disconnected segments.
Population density is pretty unimpressive for a central European neighborhood at just 11K residents per square mile.
Very expensive place to live and at times very touristy.

Marylebone- In Demand London Westend District and Historic Home to many famous (real and fictitious) Celebrities

Development began in Marylebone in the early 18th century as the Dukes of the Portland Family, realizing the need for fashionable housing north of the Oxford St (near Oxford Circus) created Cavendish Square within a rational grid system of streets and laid down high end terraced housing of the era. Marylebone developed slowly moving from its southeastern corner (Oxford Circus) with much more ornate stone & terra cotta terraced homes to more modest bricked terraces and rowhouses moving northwest to Regent’s Canal and filling in by the mid-19th century with the Lisson Grove subdistrict being the last area to develop. Much of modern day Marylebone remains owned by aristocratic antecedents who first developed them. Many people of note have lived in Marylebone over the years from Charles Dickens, to J.M.W. turner to the fictional Sherlock Homes Character living at 221 B Baker Street to even Paul McCartney for a brief time.

Present day Marylebone is a bustling and in demand West London District sitting between arguably London’s two best urban parks (Hyde Park & Regent’s Park) and hosting a mix of heavily touristy streets filled with high end shopping (Oxford and Regent St). balanced by many more intimate business districts and mixed-use area. Marylebone also has incredible connection with the London Tube including 8 metro stations and access to 10 subway lines, excellent cultural amenities, and plenty of retail amenities suitable for year round residents as well. The district host a large number of London’s infamous Mew Streets housing more modest rowhouses sitting behind grand terraced housing. My biggest complaint with the district is that many of its wonderful historic squares are private and inaccessible to the general public (likely a vestige of exclusive land covenants) along with limited connected bike lanes.

Click here to view my Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Nice mix of upper middle class and more modest middle class terraces ranging from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Lisson Grove in the NW section of the district is more smaller scale rowhouses with a mix of historic and modern.
* Nice boulevard along Portland while Marylebone Rd (while technically a Blvd) feels more like a Stroad.
* Oxford St is London’s most famous shopping district. This is on the Southern edge of the district. Regent St is a great shopping street as well. More continental historic architecture. Other business commercial district run along Edgware Rd, Baker St. But I prefer the more intimate biz districts running along Thayer/Marylebone High St, James St., Wigmore St., and Paddington St/Crawford St.
* Significant amount of mix uses areas outside of these commercial streets which a bar/restaurant or retail use will occupancy the corner of a residential street.
* Lots of interesting Mew Streets which is a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses typically in affluent neighborhoods.
* Lots of great historic square with grand terraces and flats around them (Portman Sq., Manchester Sq., Montagu Square, Montagu, Bryanston, Paddington Street Gardens, Park Square, and Dorset Square) but many of them are sadly private. Great access to large park space as Marylebone is located between both Hyde Park and Regent’s Park.
* Excellent access to public transit including 8 metro stations and 10 subway lines.
* Great cultural amenities including a ton of restaurants, bars & cafes, several indie theaters, a couple performing art theaters, and several smaller museums.
* Solid retail amenities thanks to a concentration of clothing and department stores running along Oxford St. and wonderful concentration of high end boutiques along Marylebone. Also plenty of bakeries, supermarkets and other standard amenities.
* Solid density at around 31K residents per square mile which is slightly above average for central London. But the district feels much more vibrant than this due to its large day time population.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Tree canopy isn’t great but better than most London Inner city districts due to all the small squares and newer apartments in Lisson Grove that have a decent amount of open space.
Bike lane infrastructure is limited to a couple of small disconnected segments.
Can get crowded and touristy in spots.

Covet Garden- London’s first “Suburb” developed outside of the Historic Roman Walls and one of the City’s Most Bustling Districts

By 1200 part of it had been walled off by the Abbot of Westminster Abbey for use as arable land and orchards, helping eventually give the neighborhood the name “the Convent Garden”. Covet Garden and parts of Holborn were the first London “suburbs” built outside of the original Roman Walls of what is mostly the City of London. The neighborhood was mostly built up by the mid 16th century but likely densified after the Great Fire of 1666, which did not touch the district. The Covent Garden Pizza was laid out in 1630, creating London’s first modern square surrounding by many private residents of note. But this honeymoon for the wealthy and powerful did not last long and by 1654, a small open-air fruit-and-vegetable market had developed on the south side of the fashionable square. Gradually, both the market and the surrounding area fell into disrepute, as taverns, theatres, coffee houses and brothels opened up. By the 18th century Covet Garden had become notorious slum with a concentration of brothels. But by the 1800s urban renewal efforts were afoot first with the creation the modern day neo-classical market building. The market grew and buildings were added: the Floral Hall, Charter Market, and in 1904 the Jubilee Market. The central neo-classical market building re-opened as a shopping centre in 1980 and became a major tourist destination in Central London.

The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centered on Neal’s Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities. From an urban perspective, while Covet Garden is very touristy, it still has managed to retain a large residential base and is one of Central London’s most dense districts. This convergence helps create an incredibly mixed-use environment filled with wonderful narrow streets with lots of small business activity outside of the central Covet Garden Market. Covet Garden is also the site of many of London’s top historic sites, numerous theaters considered part of the Westend and great cultural scene. The major downsides of the district is a real lack of tree canopy limited park spaces, and fragmented bike infrastructure.

Click here to view my Covet Garden Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Gorgeous historic landmark properties (i.e. National Gallery, Caring Cross Station, St. Martin in the Fields, St Giles in the Fields, St Paul’s Church Covent Garden, Covet Garden, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the Royal Ballet & Opera ) and many historic theaters comprising many theaters considered part of the Westend. In additional to many museums, historic sites and theaters also a great array of live music venues, bars & restaurants.
* Also great retail amenities including Covent Garden Market, great array of clothing stores, plenty of supermarkets and grocerias, and plenty of neighborhood serving stores.
* The famous Leicester and Trafalgar Squares are here.
* Whitehall Gardens & Victoria Garden Embankments are very nice and run along the Thames
* Other famous sites like 17 Downing Street and Admiralty Gate are hear.
* Major biz districts include Charing Cross, New Oxford, and the Strand but are very busy and touristy.
* The entire neighborhood of Covet Garden is mixed use and there are some wonderful narrow streets with lots of biz activity (i.e. St. Martin’s Ln, New row, King St., Maiden Ln, Tavistock, Floral, Long Acre, Short’s Garden, Neal St & Neal’s Yard, Endel, James St and a couple really interesting historic nodes like the Seven Dials and where Martin’s Lane & Cranbourn St come together).
* Lots of very narrow pedestrian Lanes without any storefronts. This is a classic feature of old London where buildings where historically built right to the lot lines.
* Population density is one of the highest for London at around 40K residents per sq mile.
* Well served by public transit with 6 metros on 6 lines.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very touristy district.
* Bike lane infrastructure is limited and what does exist is very fragmented.
* Other than the Victoria Garden Embankments, there are only a handful of parks in Covet Garden. A couple good ones however (i.e. Diamond Jubilee Garden, the Phoenix Garden, & Drury Lane Gardens). Tree canopy is very limited in Covent Garden.

Fitzrovia- Historic Bohemian Central London District

Development came to the Fitzrovia neighborhood starting along Oxford Road and Oxford Circle where more regal mid to late 18th century architecture was built for the noble classes. But the bulk of Fitzrovia’s development occurred during the late 18th and early century lined with middle class Georgian Terrace Housing lacking the more elegant square garden housing widespread in neighboring Bloomsbury and Soho (with the exception of Fitzroy Square). The name “Fitzrovia” came into use in the late 1930s among an artistic, bohemian circle that gathered at Fitzroy Tavern. The neighborhood was a cheaper alternative to surrounding West End neighborhoods. The neighborhood was home to writers such as Virginia Woolf and George Bernard Shaw. Fitzrovia became even more disinvested in the 60s & 70s and had a good amount of vacancy in this era. But this did not last as reinvestment came to the area starting in the 90s moving it more inline economically with surrounding Central London Districts. Yet Fitzrovia has managed to maintain a good amount of economic diversity as many buildings have been maintained as low-moderate income housing association. Fitzrovia’s most prominent feature is the BT Tower on Cleveland Street which towers over the rest of the neighborhood. Fitzrovia also has a large daytime population (around 50K) and historically was a known for its fashion and advertising industries concentrated along Charlotte St.

From an urbanist perspective Fitzrovia’s is a very comfortable and walkable district with several small scaled business district, lots of mixed-use areas and convenient access to the West End, Oxford Circle and Central London thanks to its excellent subway connectivity. Outside of the Oxford Corridor Fitzrovia lacks the tourist buzz of many Central London Districts yet still manages to maintain a very vibrant restaurant, bar, and cultural scene. The two biggest issues I have with Fitzrovia is a lack of connected bike lanes and the stroad like Euston Rd forming its northern border. The population should also be higher (currently at around 25K souls per square mile) as it is a center city European neighborhood that is in high demand.

Click here to view my Fitzrovia Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Oxford Street is a major shopping district filled with several department stores. One of London’s most famous streets.
Tottenham Cour, Mortimer/Goodge St and Great Portland are all solid medium sized biz districts. Charlotte St/Rathbone is very active more intimate commercial street.
Great mix-use fabric and most blocks in Fitzrovia including plenty of universities and colleges. Jane Jacobs would love this district. About 50K people work in this small district.
Major TOD nodes with lots of modern office along
Mix of historic and infill. Generally at 3-7 stories.
BT tower should have a great view of the city.
Other than Oxford Street, Fitzrovia is not overwhelmingly touristy.
Great subway access including 7 metro stops served by 7 transit lines.
While parks within Fitzrovia are small and limited, the expansive Regent’s Park is located just to the northwest of the neighborhood.
Great night life here including tons of restaurants, bars, & cafes, plenty of live music venues and several cinemas and performing arts venues. Also a great array of museums and art galleries.
Decent urban density at around 25K people per square mile.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Some well designed and vibrant urban squares and parks but just not enough of them. These include Crabtree Fields, Pearson Square, Whitfield Gardens, the Warren Park. Fitzroy Square Garden is an excellent park surrounding by elegant surrounding terrace housing but the park is unfortunately private.
* Tree canopy is also not surprisingly, limited.
* Some dedicated bike lane segments but not a great network.
* Euston Rd is a busy 6 lane arterial framing the northern edge of Fitzrovia.

Bloomsbury- Central London District known for its Terraced Housing, Gorgeous Urban Squares, and Wonderful Concentration of Museums, Universities, and Institutions.

The boundaries for Bloomsbury are a bit vague. For the purposes of my Bloomsbury neighborhood review I consider the district to be bounded by Bloomsbury/Great Ormond to the South, Grays Inn to the East, Tottenham Ct Rd to the west, and Euston Rd to the north.

Development really got started in the district with the construction of Bloomsbury square and surrounding terrace housing by the 4th Earl of Southampton right after the Great Fire in the 1660s. This was one of London’s first square developments. Development slowly continued in the 18th century but it wasn’t until the early 19th century that Bloomsbury filled in as the Duke of Bedford financed many affluent Georgian style terrace housing developed by the famous James Burton responsible for building around 3 thousand Georgian style terrace housing typically surrounding Parks and Square. Much of Bloomsbury is still owned by the Bedford Estate. Because of this concentration of elegant Georgian style terrace housing Bloomsbury has one of the highest proportions of historically listed buildings and monuments per square meter of any conservation district in London.

Modern Day Bloomsbury is an interesting mix of large institutional uses and museums (i.e. University of London & the British Museum), many historic Terrace housing developments with pockets of mid-century infill and more modern infill due to the district’s gentrification. There are also a number of the classic Mews lanes (compact rowhouses lined along dead-end narrow streets behind more prominent terrace housing). A good example of this is the Gower Mews. Overall Bloomsbury is a great urban district with solid density, wonderful cultural institutions & museums, vibrant streets, world class subway access providing convenient access to all of Central London, and a great array of urban parks and plazas, which are mostly open to the public. If I’m being nit-picky I’d like to see a bit more density in Bloomsbury, but this would need to be carefully done not to destroy some of the district’s monumental and gorgeous terrace housing. Bloomsbury could also use more extensive bike lane infrastructure and better tree canopy.

Click here to view my Bloomsbury Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Euston is a very busy and car heavy east-west street. Tottenham Cut and Bloomsbury Way are other very active streets with all modes of transportation and much more human scale than Euston.
* Nice narrow/quasi pedestrian streets at Museum St & Little Russel. Nice two block biz district along Southampton Row. Good amount of mixed-use blocks on mostly residential streets but less so than neighboring Holborn.
* Great Gardens and parks in Bloomsburg and most of the are open to the public. Bloomsburg Square Garden, Russel Square, Montague Street Gardens, Tavistock Square, Gordan Square, Woburn Square, Brunswick Square Gardens, Mecklenburgh Square, St. George’s Garden, Regent Square Garden, Bramber Green, Argyle Square, Cartwright Gardens. Many of these squares are lined with gorgeous 18th and 19th century flats.
* Several well known destinations and landmarks including St. Pancras Station, King’s Cross, Euston Station, the British Library, The British Museum, the University of London (which includes many great historic landmarks of its own), the Charles Dickens Museum, the Wellcome Collection, Grant Museum of Zoology, St. Pancreas Church, St. George’s Church. Many other smaller museums and cultural sites.
* Other than Museums great array of restaurants, bars, cafes, live music venues and theaters. Solid retail amenities as well including the Brunswick Centre is an interesting modern Brutalist development including a residential building with a shopping centre at ground floor and a major plaza space.
* Better density than most central city London Districts of nearly 30K residents per square mile. Given all the space dedicated to institutional uses this is likely due to the large University of London population.
* Very vibrant district thanks to all the college students and institutional uses.
* Great subway access and 8 metro stops and 8 lines.
* Better bike lane infrastructure than most Central London districts including two bike lanes that span the district.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Decent amount of biking occurs here, but any bike lanes are very short segments.
* A bit on the touristy side but not overwhelming.
* Other than the park space tree canopy is pretty limited.
* Decent density (25K per square mile) and bit better than Farrington to the east but pretty low compared to most European central cities.
* Better tree cover than most Central London district but still underwhelming compared to a City like Parks.

Holborn- Central London Neighborhood located on the Western Edge of the City of London

Holborn is a Central City neighborhood with sitting just west of the City of London. The neighborhood has roots in the ancient parish of Holborn, which lay on the west bank of the now buried River Fleet. The westward growth of London beyond the City Wall, and towards the seat of government in Westminster, took place along the banks of the River Thames and along the roads leading from Ludgate (Fleet Street and The Strand) and Newgate (Holborn/High Holborn). The westward growth towards Westminster accelerated in the 16th century(the Tudor Era) and the Fire of London in 1666 pushed growth in Holborn further northward away from the Thames River. The northern fringe of Holborn filled in during the 18th century.

Modern day Holborn is a highly walkable district with convenient access to the plethora of professional jobs in the City of London along with the West end, Covet Garden, and the major train stations of King Cross & St. Pancras. The built environment of Holborn is mostly 4-7 story mixed use buildings built between the 17th-20th centuries with more monumental buildings along its southern edge (i.e. Fleet St., and the Strand). Holborn really excels at creating the type of mixed-use environment that Jane Jacobs so desired as most streets have some level of non-residential uses. This givens Holborn much more of a medieval feel where use types were much more flexible than even a turn of the 20th century NYC Manhattan neighborhood which tended to concentrate commercial uses on busy linear streets. This lends helps create a district with a vibrant retail, office, and cultural scene having a level of street activity far exceeding its 25K residents (per square mile) would typically justify. There are still some areas for improvement as bike infrastructure is limited to short segments, the tree canopy is concentrated only in parks, and a density of 25K people per square mile feels pretty underwhelming for a Inner City European neighborhood.

Click here to view my Holborn neighborhood on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Holborn is the major west-east corridor and is very active with pedestrian and bike activity. Bloomsbury & Kingsway are similar streets but with less activity and commercial uses.
* Red Lion/Lamb’s Conduit is a nice quasi intimate pedestrian street.
* Other good urban biz streets include Grays Inn, the Strand, and lots of other mixed-use blocks especially along the western edge.
* Major landmarks here include Temple Church, Kings College, Somerset House, Waterhouse Square. Sir John Soane’s Museum,
* Several great parks as well including: Lincoln’s Inn Field North Lawn Garden, B, Red Square Gardens, & Grey’s Inn Square.
* Even outside of the major landmarks architecture is comprised of largely gorgeous styles from the late 17th century-early 20th century with some more modern infill sprinkled throughout the district.
* Well connected to the Tube with 4 stations and 6 lines serving the district.
* Excellent cultural amenities here including tons of restaurants, bars, cares, museums, theaters, & cinemas. Great retail amenities as well. Everything is very convenient here. Great mixed-use fabric that would make Jane Jacobs proud.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Decent amount of bike occurs here, but any bike lanes are very short segments.
* A bit on the touristy side but not overwhelming.
* Other than the park space tree canopy is pretty limited.
* Decent density (25K per square mile) and bit better than Farrington to the east but pretty low compared to most European central cities.

Farringdon- Central London District located north of Smithfield Market & Scene of several of Charles Dicken’s Novels

Farringdon is located in the London Borough of Islington located just north of the City of London with Smithfield Market being its southern border. The Smithfield Market dates back to 1133 and has been continually operating ever since, even escaping destruction from the London Fire of 1666. However, the City of London has sealed the fate of this storied market with plans to close it in 2028. The Farrington neighborhood grew up north from the Smithfield Market after the Great Fire along the Great North Road, which traces the modern day streets of St John & Islington High Streets. The Great Fire of London prompted the expansion of London beyond the traditional City of London boundaries north of the Roman Walls. By the early 1810s Farringdon was fully developed. However much of the northern half of Farrington was considered a slum in the first half of the 19th century and featured frequently in Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist and David Copperfield novels.

The Smithfield market was reconstructed in the 1860s in a stunning new Victorian era building. This era also included the construction of a road over the River Fleet which served as the northeastern terminus of the world’s first underground subway, the Metropolitan Railway, Several urban renewal projects in this time period also helped lift Farrington out of poverty and into a more “respectable” working class neighborhood specializing in printing, brewing, and watchmaking. However after WWII Farrington experienced another period of decline. The neighborhood slowly emerged out of several decades of decline by the 1980s as Farringdon became a desirable place for artists desiring cheap loft space. By the late 1990s, gentrification was in full swing and Farrington became a desirable area for white collar works. In the early 2020s transit improvements to Farringdon station and the creation of the Elizabeth line have further spurred development and increased real estate values.

From an urban perspective Farrington is an attractive highly walkable mixed-use district with excellent public transit and access to central London with decent bike infrastructure and comfortable human scale design. Major amenities include Smithfield Market, Exmouth Market, the St. John’s Biz District, and several attractive urban parks. Given its medium density of around 15K residents per square mile (very low for a Central European City) I’d like to see more intensive development especially around Farringdon Metro Station. There is new construction here but its mostly 4-5 stories and I believe this area should have more residential high-rises to take advantage of its TOD access and Farringdon’s Central London location.

Click here to view my Farringdon Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent pedestrian scaled biz district on Exmouth Market. Also nice biz district on St. John’s St.
* Leather Lane is a very interesting compact biz district. More on the gritty side but has markets sometimes. Parts of it have been pedestrianized. Hatton garden is only a block over from Leather lane and is a historic jewelry district.
* Good biz district along Clerkenwell Rd and Farringdon but wider streets than St. John’s St so not as intimate.
* Nice mix of more historic Eastend Central London 18th & 19th century architecture on narrow medieval streets mixed with more spacious modern styles.
* St. Peter’s Italian Catholic Church is a very interesting 19th century church tucked into the urban fabric. S]
* Three subway stations (i.e. Chancery Lane Station, Farringdon & Barbican) serve the neighborhood which includes 4 different subway lines.
* Not a terribly touristy area. Seems very livable.
* Very mixed use and amenity rich district.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Better park spaces than most Central London neighborhoods (i.e. St. James’ Garden, Spa Fields & Chaterhouse Square, St. John’s Garden) but still kinda limited. Tree canopy is so so.
Decent bike lane infrastructure but still some gaps in the two main lanes along Clerkenwell & Farringdon.
So so density for a central European neighborhood at around 15K-20K people per square mile.