South London on the Norther Line

Does anyone live or has lived along the Norther line south of the River Thames?
I've heard a few things about a few places, but I've also hear a few good things.
I havent been, so I cant say anything, but I plan on visiting the area this/next week.
I met some friends of friends who live in Tooting Broadway and they like it a lot, but it seems a bit too far, and I was wondering about closer areas.   
I've asked about Elephant and Castle and Brixton but mostly people did not recommend them.   I heard Clapham is nice/good, so maybe I'll stop by there first.

I just wanted to find out if there were any no-no areas, but by that I would mean anything that is obvioulsy a bit too high on the drug or guns related crime or activity.  Being able to walk home safe from the tube even at night would be a priority

I havent heard much about Stockwell, looks good in terms of tube connections, I'll try to stop by there as well.  Any insights greatly appreciated

Having lived in Stockwell: good area, just be careful as there are a few not-nice parts lurking around (don't let this put you off, just make sure your neighborhood looks okay when you go to view).  Clapham is lovely, but pricey IMO.  You haven't said what your budget is, so very difficult to recommend places without knowing your price range!

I have a few friends who live or have lived in Clapham and it seems like a good area, easy to get to central London and good amenities.

Thanks for the info
I'm struggling with what my/our budget is, because I don't know how much I/we'll will be making and/or when the job will come (or its location) although things are starting to shape up.  We're paying ~200/wk for a massive 2BR in E. London zone 3 at the moment..
Everything we've seen and liked (online not in person) was 250-300/wk which is a bit too much for now.  I am hoping to stay below 250 because on top of that there would be council tax and utilities and stuff...
Or maybe a 260-270 place and then haggle it down to 250?       (right...)

DFS says you'll be so happy you'll want to Clapham

Clapham is lovely but you will struggle to get that price.

Try Balham - between Tooting and Clapham.

Okay, my hubby works in south London and he says:

For £250/wk (£260 at a push) you wouldn't have a hope of getting 2 bedrooms in Clapham.  You're better off trying: Balham (possibly), Streatham, Tooting.

HOWEVER, something to consider is that Tube links in south London aren't very good.  You're much better off checking out mainline train links which can often be better and quick (and less crowded!) than the Tube.  For instance, Streatham isn't service by the Tube but you can get to London Victoria in under 20 minutes, whereas a similar journey to Waterloo from Tooting would take around 30, I believe!  A lot of people making the mistake of thinking Tube = Better, but that's just not true.

I'm not trying to be biased b/c my hubby works in Streatham, but he says it's more likely to get you the sort of place you need for the price you want.  Tooting is good in that it's in Wandsworth Borough which offers cheapest council tax in London.

I just stayed in Tooting for 2 months. I was at Tooting Broadway tube. I loved it! You've got the Common (park) nearby, good shops, amazing curry restaurants, a nice Sainsburys, etc. Easy peasy into London. About 20 mins to Victoria on the tube. It's very international and safe. And as they said, lowest council tax (I think the 3 BR house I stayed in pays 80£/month!) I think their total rent is about 750£/mo. (plus tax, etc).

Clapham is nice, too, but pricey as they said. Balham is ok- there is the tube and train connections there which as someone said will speed you into town in no time.

hi, thank you for all your help!  I really really appreciate the helpful comments!

I think I'm going to go visit these areas in the south, but most likely if the prices are the same as the north I will likely go with the north, as it just feels closer to everything
But I 'll def visit first.

{{BTW, I'm going for a 1BR not a 2BR.  The reason we have a 2BR now is because we got this flat from/while we were in NYC, through gumtree, through a private person, not an agency, and other than the price being good, it was almost our only option found at the time for the sort of dates that we needed.  So we ended up in zone 3 on the east side, on an ~1100sqft / ~100sqm flat, which is super great in terms of everything, except perhaps location (slightly) and noise  .  Though it's not on a main road, it's one road away from the main road but no houses in front of it so all the noise from the street and a nearby gas station come through all day and night, which is not bad at all for the short-term...}}
But we can comfortable live in a small one-bedroom which will likely be twice or thrice as big as our NYC flat.

I've asked about Elephant and Castle and Brixton but mostly people did not recommend them. 

Brixton has had a horrible reputation for years.  I haven't been through there myself since the early 1990s, but it was bad then and by all accounts has gotten no better, if not worse.  Best avoided.

I am basing this on some factors, seems a bit bold but there is a line between being in a busy area and being in a high crime easy opportunity area. Like any city there is some level of crime, nothing to be scared about but in my experience some areas were a little worse than others.

Brixton is pretty awful. I have only lived in south london so heres my take:

Elephant and Castle is where I went to uni, I wouldnt recommend it at all, much like Brixton. Expensive for anything nice and you need to look out if you have a ground floor flat, couldnt count the amount of times someone would shake the window to see if it was unlocked.

Clapham Junction down the northcote road has some very nice areas, quiet but is very expensive compared to say... the Balham end, Clapham South/North (on the tube line) end.

Tooting, its busy on the highstreet some nice hideaways in there in Tooting Broadway but very busy.

Coliers Wood. Never had any experience of crime, some of the commons aren't ideal, some would use the words "chav", hate to label anyone but there was a lot of hanging around the commons at night. Although never anything wrong with that because no one was rude or anything to me. I did have a nice little three bedroom house for a fair price close to the tube.