Croydon

[Pansori]

Croydon is one of the boroughs of Greater London located far in the South. It is hardly an eye-candy but I do feel a level of admiration to it due to the unique distinctiveness of urban planning and ideas. It many senses it is a very unique and "not Londonish" part of London with a wide avenue, highrise buildings (albeit, gritty and very 70s-ish) and not least... a tramway

If you want to feel the distinctive 70's spirit in London then it's the place to go.

1.
In order to take photos of Croydon it is a good idea to get there first (how smart). It can be done either by direct train (if you're traveling from Central London) OR, if you're after some fun, you can do it by Tramway from Wimbledon... The only system of tramways in Greater London serves Croydon and surrounding areas connecting them to Wimbledon which is one of the major suburban centres of South/SW London. A very cool and funky mean of public transport. Fast and comfortable too... and what an acceleration! It goes as fast as 80km/h and gets to this speed in no time (it's like riding a sports-car )! In the photo you can see the speedometer bar at 70km/h
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2.
Next to some gritty council-house-like estates a new construction is taking place. Despite its somewhat gritty and bad image Croydon seems to be a rather trendy new area. Perhaps not least due to good transport connections and shopping options (there are quite a few massive shopping malls nearby including IKEA and many others)
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Lovely buildings... it actually does look like ghetto in places
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Croydon is not less of a suburb than Wimbledon or other "typical" suburban areas of London. It looks completely different than anything else in Greater London though. Relatively vast open public areas, wide pedestrian sidewalks, squares and generally open feeling as opposed to claustrophobic narrow streets and sidewalks pretty much all over Greater London. It does have its positive sides
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Underground pedestrian crossing. I much prefer overground pedestrian bridges though... there are quite a few reasons for that one of them being the bad smell of urine in such underground places (and, believe me, that is the case in London)
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[Pansori]

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nestle UK headquarters are located in Croydon (along with some other companies)
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The tram ads some character and liveliness to otherwise dull urban environment
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Could this not be a downtown of some less-exciting mid-sized American city?
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There are quite a few reasonably good looking modern facades... seemingly many more are coming with a massive redevelopment project around the train station
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[Pansori]

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Could that actually be London?!
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These guys were extremely keen of getting into picture. Why not? Here they are
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Area near the train station
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Gatwick Express train going towards Gatwick Airport
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A very interesting building next to East Croydon train station
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Croydon is an intensive railway hub with trains departing to Gatwick Airport, Brighton and many other major destinations South from London
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One of the new projects coming up
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Trams terminate at a temporary stop due to some major engineering works taking place near the East Croydon station
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more coming...

[Pansori]

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Highstreet
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Bus and tram lane
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Railway tracks towards Sutton
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Advert of Lithuanian beer "Svyturys" in some local "Eastern European Food" shop... it is available in larger Tescos as well. It is a reasonably good beer which is surely of a better quality than Fosters, Carlsberg, Carling and the likes but falls short in terms of quality to compete with Budvar, Pilsner Urquell and similar high-quality imported lagers
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[Pansori]

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Bulgaria
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Old and new blends in well... in this photo... literally
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[Pansori]

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A filthy looking pub. Not sure if it was open though
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[Pansori]

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Tramway flyover. It looks (and is) quite steep
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Tracks towards West Croydon railway station
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[Pansori]

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The same construction as in the first photo from far away
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Polish shop
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Streetscape with tram rails
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This is all I wanted to share. Thanks all!

[csk]

Some fantastic photo's there, thanks for that, really shows the architectural diversity of Croydon and the great (but slightly gritty) cityscape / urban realm that gives Croydon that unique look! Really helps show the scale and vibrancy of Central Croydon!

[Comdot]

splendid thread, croydon is somewhere i've been long wondering about but not quite visited.

[Pansori]

Thanks, fellows.

@csk
I may sound unpopular but I did actually enjoy Croydon (especially the main avenue with highrises, Welsley rd. that is).

@Comdot
quite the same here... I was there 4 years ago or so (also, for no reason, just to have a look around) but completely forgot, or just didn't quite memorize the environment. It was one of those 'major' locations in greater London that I had never visited properly until now. I guess it is well worth visiting for those who are into urban stuff like most SSCers are

[csk]

Deleted

[csk]

Originally Posted by Pansori

Thanks, fellows.

I may sound unpopular but I did actually enjoy Croydon (especially the main avenue with highrises, Welsley rd. that is).

Wellesley Road is pretty amazing in terms of it's scale especially when you drive through town, if you're into your urban landscapes take the drive in across the flyover into town which is also quite impressive. If your interested there is currently a plan to completely transform Wellesely road into more of a pedestrian friendly boulevard (Croydon's own version of the Champs Elysees or Las Ramblas, as described by the council, very ambitious comparisons in reality!) This is the link:

http://www.croydonthirdcity.co.uk/

[Pansori]

Originally Posted by csk

Wellesley Road is pretty amazing in terms of it's scale especially when you drive through town, if you're into your urban landscapes take the drive in across the flyover into town which is also quite impressive. If your interested there is currently a plan to completely transform Wellesely road into more of a pedestrian friendly boulevard (Croydon's own version of the Champs Elysees or Las Ramblas, as described by the council, very ambitious comparisons in reality!) This is the link:

http://www.croydonthirdcity.co.uk/

Thanks, this is quite interesting. Croydon surely has got loads of potential.

[Langur]

My highlights of Croydon:

1) Driving in on the flyover at night.
2) The Nestle Tower (one of the best 60s buildings in Britain)
3) Croydon Clocktower (great Victorian building and arts cinema)
4) Fairfield Halls (one of the best cultural venues in Britain)
5) Galicia tapas restaurant, one of my favourite restaurants in London

Also Croydon has some very very wealthy and attractive suburbs. It's not as bad as people say....

[ill tonkso]

Croydon always impresses me in photos (never been there) when you consider it feels bigger than many of the Core City's and it's just a suburb. Shame it isn't on the Tube network though, would really bring it into London more.

[Langur]

^ Trains to East Croydon from Victoria are incredibly fast - it's just two stops away! They're faster than any Tube line and frequent too.

[Hazeley]

Originally Posted by ill tonkso

Croydon always impresses me in photos (never been there) when you consider it feels bigger than many of the Core City's and it's just a suburb. Shame it isn't on the Tube network though, would really bring it into London more.

West Croydon is soon to be on the extended East London line. I think it'll become part of London Overground.

[Pansori]

Yes, indeed, tube network is not always a crucial factor to the convenience and speed of travel. East Croydon is one of the major interchange stations with a fantastic (speed-wise and comfort-wise) connection to Gatwick Airport, Brighton and the South East of England as well as central London (10-15 minutes or so?). So transport is certainly not an issue.

[fozzy]

I think croydon is butt ugly!