Site navigation

Latest activity:

Those folks up the road aren't like us... or are they?

I’ve been very happy in Finsbury Park, but property prices being what they are, my partner and I are about to make a move up the road to Archway. I admit, though, I’ve been a little apprehensive about leaving this diverse but friendly community and moving to an unfamiliar one.

So in the hope of setting my mind at ease, I’ve been playing with the online ACORN demographics service, to get an idea how the people who live around my new home will differ from my current neighbours.

According to this service, the end of Tollington Park where I currently live is inhabited by “educated urbanites.” These sorts of people are typically aged between 20-29, support environmental charities, almost all have university degrees and are 1.7 times more likely than the average person to own a Mac. All of that was pretty much as I’d suspected, but given the area’s upmarket atmosphere I was surprised to find that family income for this demographic is typically under £30,000.

I then turned to my new address, near the top of the Holloway Road. According to ACORN, this area is home to a group rather loosely described as “multi-ethnic young”. On closer investigation I was pleased to find this referred to a mix of people very similar to those I’m leaving. There’s a similar spread of ages, residents are still likely to have a college degree and green interests remain the charities of choice.

So why the different classification? Well, apparently this demographic tends to have a much higher family income, often £50,000 and up. Though there are some grand old buildings in Archway, as a whole it doesn’t exactly reek of affluence, so this was almost as unexpected as the low incomes in Finsbury Park.

But the most striking difference is that “multi-ethnic young” – i.e. precisely the sort of people who apparently populate Archway – are a stunning three times more likely than the average person to own a Mac.

Is it too late to call off the move?