Why does Elephant & Castle have the reputation? Different than "bad areas" in New York?

Question

I am going to school in the area. Why does it have such an awful reputation? I have been/worked/stayed in areas of Brooklyn and Harlem in New York that were pretty awful and except for some skeezy men shouting at me I was ok. Is this worse than those areas? It seems like you can walk a mile and get to a "good area". Anyway, what are the people like there? I like to be alone most of the time and don't feel like always having to walk with other people.

Answer 1

London in general tends to be that way, you get poverty and wealth right beside each other and areas tend to gain bad reputations very quickly.  My friend lived in Elephant & Castle and never had any problems, I used to visit her but the whole whole underground walkway & the horrible shopping centre are really off putting but even within a few yards of it there are some lovely houses and the tube station isn't far from the Imperial War Museum which is really lovely.

It's really easy to gain a reputation for being a sleazy or bad area, I often see people make remarks about areas they've never visited or simply passed through once, some repeat things they've heard but don't know if they're actually true or not.  To be honest, some of the things people say baffle me especially when it's an area that I know and I know there's not that much wrong with it.  

There are a lot of University students in and around Elephant and Castle because of the University.  In the market area near the shopping centre you'll see a good mix of ethnicities.  

Answer 2

It's a fairly unfriendly area from an architectural point of view - lots of traffic, underpasses, big ugly buildings - especially the shopping centre which is like a huge pustular sore on the ar*e of the area.  That whole area of south-east London is a bit deprived and has always been a poor relation to those around it.  Personally, I've never run into any trouble while passing through there - It would take someone more local to the area to answer your question better.

You're right about good and bad areas being close together in London.  It's weird, but there are some areas where you can have rich people and expensive houses that are five minutes drive from a place with crumbling housing estates and gang murders.

Answer 3

I wouldn't worry yourself too much about Elephant & Castle's reputation, there are many worse places in London.

If you like being independent my tip is to get yourself a (cheap!) bike.  E&C is so central that you can cycle into the middle of London in 20 minutes or so, plus you should be safer cyling home at night than you would be on foot.