Is it a blue collar section of London, yuppy, artsy. What ethnic groups live there? Just curious. Later, Patrick
I worked there for 4 years, and obviously being an Arsenal fan and a Londoner, know the area well. The "Islington" part is trying to get a little "trendy". Tonly Blair, before becoming Prime Minister lived there, along with the other "left wing" intelligensia! It used to be an affluent area in Victorian times, but more recently has become more of a "run down" inner city area, but trying to rise from that. If you can't find a nationality in that area, then it doesn't exist! Historically it used to be an Irish (although still a lot) in the north part, and a Greek (Cypriot) influx as well, particularly at 1974 when the Turks invaded Cyprus. Now with the large influx of of "assylum seekers" there are people from Africa, eastern Europe and just about anywhere else who want their living standard to rise. A lot of Somalians, Russians, Romanians, etc. have moved there along with the more traditional Italian, Chinese communities and restauranteurs. So basically "it's got the lot"!
My view I find the immediate area around Highbury (i.e. the houses within view of the stadium) to be pretty typical blue collar sized houses for London. Not as big as the townhomes in say Kennsington, but a little better maintained than some of the East End. Islington is getting pretty trendy--kind of like Notting Hill was before the movie. There are quite a few restraunts and a bit of a bohemiam feel (though not as 'studenty' as say Camden Town). If you read Fever Pitch, he talks about the area and the fact that some of the closest residents to the stadium aren't really huge Arsenal fans. I will say that the area around the stadium on a game day is really neat. There are all these smells from the vendors cooking "meat-like" products (I don't dare call them meat). The crowd is all adorned in red and it is a pretty fun event.