The change is partly down to government investment but the real energy came from a street-level renaissance rooted in a restless culture of pubs, clubs, restaurants and a buzzing and dynamic music scene.
An influx of fashion-conscious young professionals, typically media and creative types, has transformed the property market and pushed prices up. There has also been some overflow from Clapham, although Brixton has never quite made it as a suburban family area ( the former six month presence of Major senior and his garden gnomes notwithstanding).
That said, in London a revival in fortunes is always relative: Brixton may have arrived but it's quite not in the same league as rejuvenated areas like Battersea and Clerkenwell. But unlike more gentrified areas it 's still within reach of first time buyers and has managed something others have not: the difficult trick of becoming more up-market and desirable without becoming completely made-over into a well-mannered bourgeois enclave.
The SW2 part of Brixton, divided down the middle by Brixton Hill, begins south of Acre Lane and extends southwards to include Streatham Hill (south of Christchurch) and Tulse Hill (south of Brockwell Park). Kings Avenue forms the border to the west. This is a mixed area with everything from Victorian terraces and conversions to inter-war semis, purpose-built flats and ex-local authority properties.
Prices are highest for the large three storey Victorian houses off Acre Lane and Brixton Hill and tend to ease in the direction of Tulse Hill, which has a fair sprinkling of council properties and smaller terraced houses. Streatham Hill has some popular corners, notably the Telford estate and the ABCD streets (Amesbury, Barcombe, Cricklade, Downton), as well as mansion blocks and Victorian cottages.
Culture, entertainment and a dynamic street and nightlife are Brixton's greatest assets. Although the population is about 70% white the area has long been associated with the black community and is home to Choice FM, the Voice newspaper, the Black Cultural Archives and a number of arts and design projects.
The music scene is a major draw: Brixton academy is one of London's most well-established venues; The Fridge, Mass, the Academy and Bug Bar among its most up-to-the-minute bar/clubs. There's also a five screen cinema, The Ritzy, which has a mixed programme of mainstream and art house movies.
If you like your restaurants well-designed and contemporary, serving top-notch international fare to the kind of clientele for whom urban cool is a way of life then Brixton is definitely for you: Bah Humbug, located in a crypt serves vegetarian food which is unlikely to appeal to Goths; Fujiyama offers Japanese noodles; the Satay Bar a trendy mix of Malaysian and Indonesian.
Shops are mostly the usual high street chains although there is also the bustling sprawl of Brixton Market where you can find a wide selection of African and Caribbean foodstuffs as well as a bewildering array of stalls and arcades selling everything from fabrics and fruit to jewellery and wigs.
If all of this leaves you exhausted and you crave a little peace and tranquillity Brockwell Park provides respite in the form of walled gardens, ponds, a popular open air swimming pool, and tennis courts. And if all this cosmopolitanism is getting you down you can take comfort in the presence (in the park) of a traditional bowling green and a Regency lodge with, praise the lord, that most English of institutions, a public tea room.
Brixton tube station is on the Victoria line; there are also train stations at Brixton (Victoria) and Tulse Hill ( London Bridge).
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