Any other former New Yorkers in London?

My name is Tom, and I guess I'm not former yet (I'm moving to London in November... with my girlfriend who will follow after a month or two).

I was hoping to get some thoughts specifically from those that lived in Manhattan or Brooklyn before moving to London.  

What neighborhoods do you think have a similar feel between the two (obviously nothing is quite the same, but I'm thinking demographically)?  Which have good restaurant scenes, if I'm more into downtown/Brooklyn than Midtown ?  And is there a publication in London that's at all similar to New York Magazine (not sure how I could live here without it)?  

Also get it can't hurt to meet a few folks to grab a pint with when I move over, aside from coworkers.  Nice to meet you all.



edit: now that I'm browsing the forum a bit I do see a few posts from people who have made the same move, but I'm not sure who's still around...

YO!

Whut up?!

I'm from the Lower East Side, born and raised!

I have lived in England just over a year now. I like Brixton, a lot, and to me it feels very much like 'back in the day' East Village, NYC... Riots and all... lol.

I have found a number of websites that are similar to New York Magazine, but not an actual magazine, no... I still get it, from NYC, I have it delivered here!

Londonist is supposed to be like Gothamist, but, it is a very 'scrubbed' version.

You can check that site out.

If I think of others I will let you know...

Hi there,

Former NY'r here. Try out Camden, and Greenwich. Sort of gives me that NY vibe.

Thanks you two for responding.

I guess I'm not really looking for a NY vibe so much as I am looking for places that have things going on, good restaurants (and by that I mean the good restaurants one finds downtown or in nicer parts of Brooklyn these days, not Midtown places full of people charging the corporate expense account), etc.

To ask a more specific question - how often will people in London travel from one area to another for dinner or to go out?  Here just about everywhere I want to go (aside from occasional trips to Brooklyn) is between the rivers from Canal to 14th... so it doesn't really matter whether you're in the West Village or the Lower East Side, everything is easy to get to.

For instance if one lives in Chelsea or Fulham... would they ever go out in Angel or Shoreditch, or is it just such a hassle that it isn't worth it?

Well, you can do it, and it is not far - London is VERY SMALL compared to NYC - but trains here are not cheap, and cab prices are insane. Public transport in NYC is MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE.

And, after 1:00am, no more trains - only night busses. And they are often late, and full of drunks, and you may have to change several times depending on where you are going. I hate the night busses.

I go out to Chelsea, Fulham, Angel, and Shoreditch, all of the time - and I live close to Brixton, which is down south.

I go out all over London.

But, I get my booty on that last train... So, I have a transportation curfew, which is lame.

London is VERY SMALL compared to NYC

London is 659 square miles.  Manhattan is 23.

To ask a more specific question - how often will people in London travel from one area to another for dinner or to go out?  Here just about everywhere I want to go (aside from occasional trips to Brooklyn) is between the rivers from Canal to 14th... so it doesn't really matter whether you're in the West Village or the Lower East Side, everything is easy to get to.

London is much more spread out.  My friends live all over London and we don't limit ourselves to just each other's neighborhoods.  We are always eager to try new places that have gotten good reviews or have interesting new food and because London covers so much more space, you have to do a little travelling.  We live smack in the middle of London (also expat New Yorkers) and recently went to pop up restaurant in a car park in Peckham because it had great views and revolving chefs from a variety of different restaurants. 

London is 659 square miles.  Manhattan is 23.

Was just thinking the same thing - even if you count all of NYC, not just Manhattan, London is still bigger (the whole of NYC is 468 square miles).

It's still pretty easy to get around London though - I haven't lived there, but I've been to London on various day trips and I've managed to get to various different areas in the city within the space of a day.

OK, London is bigger than Manhattan - I stand corrected.  

I guess I am saying it is small because most people are not going to Newham, or Croydon to go out for dinner - they stick to more central-ish London. And the areas he mentioned were not very far apart. (I also sort of included Brooklyn in my size assessment, because it was mentioned.)

I find London super easy to travel around. The mass trans. is fantastic. Buses, DLR, Tube. It's very much like NY. You can pick up whatever vibe you're looking for, just depends on what you want. The train curfew is kind of crappy. And you don't want to be the night bus home that's for sure.

Thanks guys for the responses.  I'm OK taking a cab home very late at night, that's what I do in NYC anyway (part of the cost of a night out, and the traffic is usually minimal at 2am so it's quick)... though I do know London cabs are 3x as expensive as they are here.

Anyone want to opine on neighborhoods?  The two of us will have a decent budget, so we'd like to be somewhere "nice" but not dead (if you know what I mean).  Are there still bars/restaurants in Chelsea/Kensington that one would want to go to, or is it like living on Manhattan's Upper West Side these days?  I'm sort of down to that area, or Marylebone (which is central, a bit more urban, but the flats look tiny), or maybe Angel/Islington (but that's about as far east as I'll be working in Mayfair.

I love Angel/Islington. It is a nice area!

I would strongly recommend that you consider your commute when considering places to live.  Except for Marylebone, all the places you've mentioned would require changing tube lines or a multi tube/bus commute.  

I find Chelsea to be a little remote.  It's not well served by the tube making commuting to just about anywhere is difficult.  Kensington is a little better placed for commuting.  There's a Whole Foods on Kensington High Street as well as plenty of restaurants, pubs and shops.  Islington is a mix of families a singles with a good selection of shops, cafes and pubs however, the streets can be a little dicey on Saturday and Sunday mornings with the aftermath of the previous night's partying.  The Northern Line, despite recent upgrading, is still the most problem prone tube line.  I live in Marylebone, so I'm obviously a little biased.  It's central with easy access to tubes and buses, there is a great High Street, lots of nice shops, a Sunday farmer's market and a good variety of restaurants.  If you're working in Mayfair, you can walk to work.  Our 1st flat in Marylebone was 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and about 1000 square feet which was comparable to what we had in Manhattan.  If you have decent budget (of course decent is subjective) you should be able to find something but to be honest flats in London in general are going to be smaller than what you're used to.

2 bed, 2 bath and 1,000 square feet sounds great.  Haven't seen anything like that in Marylebone online though.  Maybe it'll be different when I get there.  Also definitely looking for a period building... I've spent too long in a 1960s NY highrise with 8-foot ceilings.