Why Is The Posh Part Of Town Always In The North?

[Gannex]

I've often wondered why the fancy neighbourhoods of a town or city are almost always north of the centre, with the poorer neighourhoods usually being on the south side? Any ideas why this should be? Is the fancy part of YOUR town north of the centre, as it is in London, Chicago, Los Angeles, and almost every city I've been to?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I've often wondered why the fancy neighbourhoods of a town or city are almost always north of the centre, with the poorer neighourhoods usually being on the south side? Any ideas why this should be? Is the fancy part of YOUR town north of the centre, as it is in London, Chicago, Los Angeles, and almost every city I've been to?

We learn't about this in Geography last year ;)

I think it's linked to industrialisation and prevailing winds that blew the smoke over the city. High class areas tend to be away from where the factory smoke was blown.

Also, maybe as poor immagrants looking for work may usually come from the south (Mexico in the USA, Eurupe to the UK) So the south side of the city is where they arrive and settle :s (maybe, Ive just made this bit up)

[Ian McC]

Well I live in the posh part, though to be honest it isn't saying much :D

[jim mcglinchey]

I've often wondered why the fancy neighbourhoods of a town or city are almost always north of the centre, with the poorer neighourhoods usually being on the south side? Any ideas why this should be? Is the fancy part of YOUR town north of the centre, as it is in London, Chicago, Los Angeles, and almost every city I've been to?

Au contraire, in Ireland most of the gab****e ends of town are in the north. north Dublin, north Belfast etc.and the rich pigs are mostly in the southern 'burbs.

Jim McGlinchey
Last house before you hit the mountains.
North Rd
North, North Belfast.

[luvracin]

"Posh" part of Melbourne is in the east & south east.

[J4MIE]

Where I live doesn't have a centre, never mind a North :p :

[LotusElise]

The place I live doesn't have a posh part. It's all a dump.
The posh part of where my parents live is in the south.

[ioan]

In Vienna the posh part is mainly in the western part of the city.

[Daniel]

In Perth the posh part is either just to the south of the centre or on the west coast :)

[Gannex]

Thanks guys. I guess that answers the question pretty well; the posh part of town is always in the north, except when it isn't, which seems to be pretty often.

[RaikkonenRules]

In Newark the posh side is in the South, probably because there is just bearly a North side of it. :p :

Same in nearby Retford.

[Mark in Oshawa]

"Posh" part of Melbourne is in the east & south east.


yes, but Melbourne is DOWN UNDER, hence everything is backwards....

Gannex, I thought it was just me that noticed it.

In my home town of Oshawa Ontario, Lake Ontario is on the south boundry, so you would THINK the nicer homes are there, but in reality, without exception, the tony neighbourhoods where all the big shots from GM live are to the North and West. Also, GM has their massive assembly plant in the south, but of course, it wasn't built until Oshawa was well settled, and the south was always seen as the poor side of the tracks.

No, I don't think there is a real strong reason for it, for if you went by prevailing winds blowing pollution, at least in my part of the world, you wouldn't put a factory in the south or west because the smoke would be blown over the city by the prevailing winds.

I think it is purely psychological, or maybe you can argue there are other cities that fly in the face of this, but for the most part, a lot of places I have been to the south always is the "poor" end and it is noticeable.

[LeonBrooke]

In Auckland, it's the east of the central isthmus, and the north shore. But, technically, Auckland is three separate cities - north, central, south. There's no posh part of the south; the posh part of central is the east; and there's no non-posh part of the north.

[Ranger]

"Posh" is in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Leon, the pics I have seen of Auckland don't seem to have a bad side, it is a beautiful city.

Unlike the South side of Chicago, where I have heard gun shots are often heard in the damnest places and times....

[race aficionado]

Thanks guys. I guess that answers the question pretty well; the posh part of town is always in the north, except when it isn't, which seems to be pretty often.

spoken like a man that learns pretty fast. :p

:s mokin:

[Mark in Oshawa]

You cant fool them Brits Race....lol...us Canadians on the other hand, some of us are suckers.....

[LeonBrooke]

Leon, the pics I have seen of Auckland don't seem to have a bad side, it is a beautiful city.

That's what they want you to believe. I wouldn't say Auckland has a bad side in the same way that you mean for Chicago, but it definitely has a poor end, where the main roads are paved in tar and stones... the first time I visited it I was shocked.

[BDunnell]

The poshest bits of Berlin are probably down towards the lakes in the south-west, but there are others.

Let's not forget either that there are large 'posh' areas of London in the west as well as the north.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

T

Let's not forget either that there are large 'posh' areas of London in the west as well as the north.

This backs up the theory that Prevailing winds (westerlies in England) blew the smoke from factories to the east. (so rich people lived in the west where the cleaner air was) And the East end was the only place the poor could afford to live. :up:

[BDunnell]

This backs up the theory that Prevailing winds (westerlies in England) blew the smoke from factories to the east. (so rich people lived in the west where the cleaner was) And the East end was the only place the poor could afford to live. :up:

But north London is generally considered to be 'posh', too. So was London's smoke only blown to the south (albeit not over leafy Wimbledon, presumably, hence its relative affluence) and east?

[FrankenSchwinn]

anyone here been to the north of paris? it's the worse!

[GruppoB]

Posh part of LA is the west.

[Mark in Oshawa]

South part of Toronto is Toronto Island, which is a park., so it is another one I guess that breaks the mold.

Heck, Gannex, it was a nice theory...but in practice it is falling apart.....

[schmenke]

I guess we don't have a "posh" part to our city, although the higher-priced property tends to be closer to the city centre. Only the wealthy can afford to live there I guess. All us poor working-class shmucks have to live further out in the 'burbs where housing is more affordable :mark:

[Gannex]

South part of Toronto is Toronto Island, which is a park., so it is another one I guess that breaks the mold.

Heck, Gannex, it was a nice theory...but in practice it is falling apart.....
Falling apart completely. I think the last time I was this spectacularly wrong about something was when I said, with total confidence, that the Williams Walrus would be the class of the grid! Or maybe when I stated as a fact that Michael Schumacher would drive until 2008. Or just possibly when I predicted McLaren would dominate in '06. Or would it have been when . . .

Oh the heck with it. I'm going to the pub, where my predictions are much more accurate, as in "I think I'll have another, Jim." Talk to you all later.

[LeonBrooke]

... Or just possibly when I predicted McLaren would dominate in '06.

don't worry. I think the only people who didn't think that were a friend of mine who's not interested in F1, my girlfriend who knows nothing about F1, and my mum, who was uncannily accurate when she said Michael would win the title. Oh, how I laughed when she said that...

[Mark in Oshawa]

Never bet against Ferrari is the moral of that story....

[millencolin]

well in brisbane, there are pockets of posh areas in the north and south but if you want the real posh bits... they suburbs along the brisbane river are the place to be

[Valve Bounce]

I've often wondered why the fancy neighbourhoods of a town or city are almost always north of the centre, with the poorer neighourhoods usually being on the south side? Any ideas why this should be? Is the fancy part of YOUR town north of the centre, as it is in London, Chicago, Los Angeles, and almost every city I've been to?

You obviously havn't been to North Melbourne
nor visited Toorak, Albert Park and Brighton.