Soho

No, Soho is most definitely not a a place for families to live in. It is ... different. Walking around it, the closest match is probably downtown Helsinki on a slightly cool early summer day, before the holiday season has had the opportunity to kick in.

If you look at a map of London, you'll see that Soho is a relatively small region just north of Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, both notorious tourist sites. The kinds of tourists who would visit Soho, on the other hand, would likely find the Square and the Circus somewhat oppressive.

There are numerous theatres around Piccadilly, and some of the smaller ones have valiantly edged themselves towards the fringes of Soho. Whatever you may have heard about the district, you've probably been mislead to some extent. Yes, there are sex shops. Yes, there are private sex clubs. And yes, you may overhear a prostitute and a john discussing practical arrangements. In Soho, that's just another unremarkable event in a day.

But those same sex shops and clubs are probably the reason for Soho's continuing gravity. Rents in London are insane, and the price tags next to (or immediately nearby) major tourist attractions reflect this state of affairs. One reason is the simple fact that prime real estate encourages bidding wars, which in turn prices out all but the biggest brands.

Soho is just a couple of blocks north of Trafalgar Square, but it still sports a very healthy selection of small, individual restaurants. Just the kind of places you wouldn't expect to afford the rents so close to Piccadilly. This is where the character of Soho comes into play. The presence of sex shops, along with the prominence of the other PR-wise dubious characteristics ensure that the major brands will keep their distance.

The biggest, most expensive brands in the world simply will not want themselves associated, even by accident, with the seedy side of Soho.

Cue the small restaurants. And the foodies.

(The sex shops are pretty classy establishments, too, by the way.)