London Neighborhoods

raelwv · 01-10-2013, 07:16 AM

In my WIP, the main character is working for a publication based in London (the UK one). When it started in the Victorian era it was based in a well-to-do neighborhood, but as the decades went past and its fortunes faded, it's wound up in an industrial park on the outskirts of town.

What I'm looking for is the names of a couple of neighborhoods/regions that would fit those descriptions. If anybody's got any ideas, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

waylander · 01-10-2013, 01:50 PM

London has grown hugely since the Victorian era so being on the outskirts of town now represents a problem. A nice village outside London in the Victorian era now within London, easily doable. A formerly well-to-do area now rough within London also doable.

tirial · 01-10-2013, 01:53 PM

If it was a mainstream publication based in London in the Victorian era, you might want to consider Fleet Street. Chelsea or Kensington have the prestige but not the same history. They might be more suited to a specialist magazine. For very adult interests try Soho.

Business parks and trading estates can be found all over. They usually aren't on the outskirts of London itself, but in the poorer districts. Tottenham, Lambeth, Southwark or Croydon all have trading estates and won't have the costs of Central London.

JimmyB27 · 01-10-2013, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raelwv

In my WIP, the main character is working for a publication based in London (the UK one). When it started in the Victorian era it was based in a well-to-do neighborhood, but as the decades went past and its fortunes faded, it's wound up in an industrial park on the outskirts of town.

What I'm looking for is the names of a couple of neighborhoods/regions that would fit those descriptions. If anybody's got any ideas, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

Do you mean that the publication's fortunes faded and it had to move to the outskirts of town, or the area's fortunes faded and it became a more downtrodden place?

onesecondglance · 01-10-2013, 03:07 PM

London doesn't really have outskirts. There are parts where you can debate whether it's still London or whether it's a different town, but there's no edge per se.

EMaree · 01-10-2013, 03:36 PM

Just a sidenote, and I'm sorry if you're already well aware, but instead of regions you might want to think in terms of boroughs. That's the word used to differentiate the different 'sections' of London. There still are a few well-known neighbourhoods, though.

Soho (Westminister Borough) and Fleet Street (Westerminister) are the ones that come to mind for publishing companies. Whitechapel (Tower Hamlets) is also an artsy area in my mind but I think that might be due to overexposure to certain comics rather than actual fact.

Tirial's reply seems to cover things excellently.

mirandashell · 01-10-2013, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raelwv

In my WIP, the main character is working for a publication based in London (the UK one).

Oh that's cheered me up!

JimmyB27 · 01-10-2013, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onesecondglance

London doesn't really have outskirts. There are parts where you can debate whether it's still London or whether it's a different town, but there's no edge per se.

If you believe the airport naming, even Luton is in London.

shaldna · 01-10-2013, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raelwv

In my WIP, the main character is working for a publication based in London (the UK one). When it started in the Victorian era it was based in a well-to-do neighborhood, but as the decades went past and its fortunes faded, it's wound up in an industrial park on the outskirts of town.

What I'm looking for is the names of a couple of neighborhoods/regions that would fit those descriptions. If anybody's got any ideas, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

London as we know it now is actually made up of a central town that expanded and swallowed up a lot of other smaller towns - hence you have self contained towns within London.

For an idea of what London looked like in the Victorian era have a look at this http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/map1859.html

or this one is pretty good too http://www.victorianlondon.org/map1895/frontpage.htm

If the area was well to do then, chances are it still is - land is expensive in London, and those who invest in the expensive areas make sure they stay expensive.

Buffysquirrel · 01-10-2013, 04:07 PM

Tower Hamlets or Brixton I think still have bad reputations, although whether they're deserved is another matter. The well-to-do parts include Hampstead, which also has an artsy reputation. Islington is artsy but not so well off.

So long as you realise that when we say 'not so well off' we mean the house prices haven't yet reached £2M.

raelwv · 01-10-2013, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyB27

Do you mean that the publication's fortunes faded and it had to move to the outskirts of town, or the area's fortunes faded and it became a more downtrodden place?

Good question. I mean that the publication's fortunes faded. If it was based in my neck of the woods, I would say it moved from downtown to a strip mall in the suburbs.

EMaree · 01-10-2013, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buffysquirrel

So long as you realise that when we say 'not so well off' we mean the house prices haven't yet reached £2M.

Haha. I love how surreal London feels compared to any other part of the UK. It really is a completely different world.

Torgo · 01-10-2013, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raelwv

Good question. I mean that the publication's fortunes faded. If it was based in my neck of the woods, I would say it moved from downtown to a strip mall in the suburbs.

What kind of a publication? If it was, say, a literary magazine, maybe it used to be in genteel literary Bloomsbury and is now above a laundromat in, I dunno, Erith or something. (Linda Smith on her home town of Erith: "It's not twinned with anywhere, but it does have a suicide pact with Dagenham.")

waylander · 01-10-2013, 09:40 PM

So it moved from say Bloomsbury to say Harlesden

Steve Collins · 01-10-2013, 11:21 PM

Brixton and Streatham (Or Saint Reatham as many of the locals call it). Were affluent Victorian neighbourhoods, the large houses were eventually turned into bedsits and boarding houses and the borough (Lambeth) soon deteriorated into what it is today.

Shakesbear · 01-11-2013, 01:47 AM

Quote:

it was based in a well-to-do neighborhood

the offices, printing press or both? If it is the offices then yes it would be possible to have them in a well to do residential area, though the neighbours would be less than happy at having a business next door. Trade, tsk tsk! A printing press would be more problematic as it would be VERY noisy and upset the neighbours. You might find this of interest: http://www.victorianlondon.org/distr...aternoster.htm

01-10-2013, 07:16 AM	#1
raelwv New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 45	London Neighborhoods In my WIP, the main character is working for a publication based in London (the UK one). When it started in the Victorian era it was based in a well-to-do neighborhood, but as the decades went past and its fortunes faded, it's wound up in an industrial park on the outskirts of town. What I'm looking for is the names of a couple of neighborhoods/regions that would fit those descriptions. If anybody's got any ideas, I'd appreciate it. Thanks! __________________ JD Byrne - Feeding the Silence Moore Hollow (2nd Draft in process) The Water Road (betas reading)

01-10-2013, 01:50 PM	#2
waylander Who's going for a beer? Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 5,253	London has grown hugely since the Victorian era so being on the outskirts of town now represents a problem. A nice village outside London in the Victorian era now within London, easily doable. A formerly well-to-do area now rough within London also doable. __________________ Behind the smile, there's danger and a promise to be told. Last edited by waylander; 01-10-2013 at 01:57 PM.

01-10-2013, 01:53 PM	#3
tirial practical experience, FTW Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 143	If it was a mainstream publication based in London in the Victorian era, you might want to consider Fleet Street. Chelsea or Kensington have the prestige but not the same history. They might be more suited to a specialist magazine. For very adult interests try Soho. Business parks and trading estates can be found all over. They usually aren't on the outskirts of London itself, but in the poorer districts. Tottenham, Lambeth, Southwark or Croydon all have trading estates and won't have the costs of Central London. __________________ Smashing Reads: Tools to Promote your Smashwords ebook \| My Non-Fiction

01-10-2013, 03:07 PM	#5
onesecondglance pretending to be awake Join Date: May 2012 Location: Berkshire, UK Posts: 2,128	London doesn't really have outskirts. There are parts where you can debate whether it's still London or whether it's a different town, but there's no edge per se. __________________ Λrchangel: near-future SF noir \| 95,053 (bottle conditioning like homebrewed beer) Bleed Through: post-apocalyptic parallel universe vampire action horror superhero thriller (this description clearly needs more adjectives; suggestions welcome) I write music. \| I gave in and joined twitter. \| And I have a blog too.

01-10-2013, 03:36 PM	#6
EMaree is drinking tea Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Scotland Posts: 1,490	Just a sidenote, and I'm sorry if you're already well aware, but instead of regions you might want to think in terms of boroughs. That's the word used to differentiate the different 'sections' of London. There still are a few well-known neighbourhoods, though. Soho (Westminister Borough) and Fleet Street (Westerminister) are the ones that come to mind for publishing companies. Whitechapel (Tower Hamlets) is also an artsy area in my mind but I think that might be due to overexposure to certain comics rather than actual fact. Tirial's reply seems to cover things excellently. __________________ Website/Blog- Twitter Writing: Seamonster YA Revising: YA Urban Fantasy with giant robots With Agent: YA Urban Fantasy with angels and demons Published: MG Fantasy "Dragon Tamers" & "Dragon Tamers 2: Digital Tempest"

01-10-2013, 04:07 PM	#10
Buffysquirrel Possibly not a real squirrel Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Coldest corner of the living room, United Kingdom Posts: 4,704	Tower Hamlets or Brixton I think still have bad reputations, although whether they're deserved is another matter. The well-to-do parts include Hampstead, which also has an artsy reputation. Islington is artsy but not so well off. So long as you realise that when we say 'not so well off' we mean the house prices haven't yet reached £2M. __________________ Writing from a female point of view seems to be generally regarded as something more like writing from the perspective of a deer: you might get points for novelty, but it'd be impossible to get right, and who really wants to hear a deer narrate a story, anyway? Jennifer duBois Damn the prologue, full speed ahead! Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary

01-10-2013, 09:40 PM	#14
waylander Who's going for a beer? Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 5,253	So it moved from say Bloomsbury to say Harlesden __________________ Behind the smile, there's danger and a promise to be told.

01-10-2013, 11:21 PM	#15
Steve Collins practical experience, FTW Join Date: May 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 178	Brixton and Streatham (Or Saint Reatham as many of the locals call it). Were affluent Victorian neighbourhoods, the large houses were eventually turned into bedsits and boarding houses and the borough (Lambeth) soon deteriorated into what it is today. __________________ "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those that would do us harm" - George Orwell

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