Proximity to the centre of town, and excellent transport links to the City and Docklands, is helping NW10 draw together a fabulously diverse range of people. Improved housing in some of the more deprived regions is giving what has long been one of London's most vibrant communities a real lift, whilst young professionals seem to be colonising Queens Park.
Willesden Green has the best of the houses, drawing on the prestige of the neighbouring Brondsbury Park and Mapesbury Estates. A haven for those priced out of Maida Vale and Hampstead, there are some bargains to be had at the upper end of the market.
Pleasant roads in the Dobree Estate and the triangle between Chamberlayne Road and All Souls Avenue offer a quiet sanctuary from city life. There's a lot of Edwardian and 30's housing, adding a suburban sheen to the place. Over in Willesden itself properties are fewer and smaller, feeding down into Harlesden.
Harlesden is a bustling, vibrant affair - very much the archetypal inner city community. You'll find people aplenty singing its praises (not least for investment potential) and a few war-zone accounts. Ignore the scare stories and have a look for yourself. Regeneration cash is sprucing up the town centre, and an increasingly affluent young population is moving in.
Victoriana and new blocks are the norm, prices are cheap and if you look carefully you'll find a period property with original features at a snip. Conversions are plentiful, as more and more apartment style flats replace the ubiquitous bedsits. The crescent of Springwell Avenue and Harlesden Gardens are popular, attractive, and central. Prices move with the landscape, upward towards Kensal Rise Station.
So keen are young professional buyers on Queens Park, that neighbouring districts are quietly assuming the name to bolster their desirability. Kensal Rise and Kensal Green are prime examples, selling themselves and their mixed bag of Victorian terraces and ex-council blocks as part of a new popular and fashionable neighbourhood.
It's a fair enough claim. The quiet enclave of Kensal Green, tucked behind the shops on Harrow Road, is not only next door to Queens Park but sits at the top of the achingly trendy Ladbroke Grove. You'll find attractive cottage terraces here, along with some more substantial properties and conversions.
Kensal Green has a large Sainsburys on its doorstep, but the various areas of NW10 all have their own shopping parades. Community spirit is strong, and there are plenty of local independent traders, often open late. The ethic diversity of the population is reflected in the vast array of restaurants, take aways and gastronomic delights on offer. Portobello Road is also temptingly near.
The full range of City attractions is a short bus or tube ride away, but local recreation possibilities are afforded by the excellent Willesden Sports Complex. You can also take a stroll, or chase your dog around, the pretty gardens at Queens and Roundwood Parks.
Transport links are NW10's greatest boon, although this close to the City centre, the area would be desperately unlucky not to be routed into the transport infrastructure. As it is, NW10 is chockablock with tube stops, with the Jubilee line collecting stations to the north and the Barkerloo line mopping up those to the south. Anywhere unreachable on the underground will usually find a connection overland from Willesden Junction.
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