North Tottenham

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Permalink Reply by Abi on February 14, 2013 at 11:59

You think it made no difference? I rented on one of the streets off the Emirates before buying my flat in SoTo, and the place changed radically even while I was there (two years). My partner said it was barely recognisable from the place he moved into eight years prior to that, i.e. before the stadium went up. The road went from being super scruffy to having most of the houses done up inside and out and we soon had a posh deli at the end of the road and loads of nice pubs and places to hang out in. It's amazing how quickly it all happened, and I don't think it would have done if it wasn't for Arsenal being there - but I am probably talking more about what you'd call Holloway.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on February 14, 2013 at 13:21

I can see how that would look. But the problem is separating causes and effects. (After it happened therefore because it happened.)

In the seventies I lived in Highbury Barn a short walk from the old Arsenal Stadium. (You could hear the crowd roar.) My friends called the two rooms I rented a "pent-hovel" as it was under the roof of a very narrow Victorian House. When I moved there Blackstock Road and the streets near Arsenal Station were - it seemed to me - still mainly a working class area.

The gentrification processes were underway though. Lots of properties which had been rooms reverted to single family homes - even a few huge houses. Lots of little houses got painted-up and had new fences and potted plants.

My interpretation of the changes was that this was happening across Islington. And, at least at that time, not specifically related to the Arsenal stadium. My guess is that having the stadium at Avenell Road could have been a brake on change because of the crowds and traffic problems.

It also seemed to me that many people who'd lived there for decades did not have the resources to maintain their property.  I "fixed" roof leaks temporarily by going up in the loft and sliding in laminated cardboard between the tiles. One Christmas I came back from Zena's to find there was no water. The bathroom window frame had fallen out and snow had settled on the pipes inside.

Soon after, my landlady died. (She lived on the ground  floor.)  Zena said I'm the only person she knows who went upmarket from Islington to Tottenham. At the time there was a mad rush to buy property in Highbury with lots of gazumping - which got worse. Somewhere I still have an Estate Agents' brochure which asked a sky-high price for a flat, illustrating it solely by a photo of the original ceiling moulding.

And yes we had a great Italian deli close-by.  It's still there but perhaps not with the same charming Italian family running it.

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Permalink Reply by Abi on February 14, 2013 at 13:37

the only person she knows who went upmarket from Islington to Tottenham.

Pretty common situation now I think! Quite a lot of first time buyers like ourselves who spent most of their twenties renting in Islington couldn't afford to buy there so we've moved up to the closest area that has things like gardens and bedrooms and an actual kitchen for less than £300k.

It's definitely a step up from the rented Islington place we had that was (literally) falling apart and so cold I developed chilblains, which I didn't know people still got. but I do miss those delis...

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Permalink Reply by LSquared on February 13, 2013 at 16:27

I'm surprised you haven't seen a change over the last 6 years, I certainly have in Soto. 6 years ago when I moved out, Finsbury Park was still pretty poor in terms of restaurants as well.

The thing that made a real difference to FP seemed to be the cleanup of Stroud Green Road and Finsbury Park. (oT, but that's why I find the Wards Corner development so depressing. Cleaning up WGR and the market would be a much cheaper way of making the area a nicer place to be without hurting existing businesses.)

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Permalink Reply by Christine Protz on February 14, 2013 at 10:34

I endorse all the other comments regarding north Tottenham, having lived here for nearly 70 years. Interestingly, against expectations, in that time I have found it a rather safe place form me. Perhaps I have just been lucky. But I like the people, the parks, Bruce Castle, the many community groups and the transport. But let's also add Tottenham Marshes - a splendid area of well-managed open land with the River Lea going through it. It's a great place for wildlife, walking, cycling and finding your way northwards along the Lea Valley to Hertfordshire and south to the Olympic Park. It really is Tottenham's hidden gem.

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