Clapton, London

Clapton is the bit of Hackney that both football clubs carrying its name took one look at and left for the far side of the Lea, so the people who stayed had to make their own fun. Lower Clapton Road spent years wearing a nickname estate agents now pretend they've never heard, and the people who bought on it back then are the only ones in east London who smile when it comes up. Everyone else rents half an Edwardian terrace, walks the marshes on a Sunday to feel rural, and pays inner-London money to live one stop from somewhere busier.