Planning to go to Southbank Uni and live in E&C next year, is everyone on here from this neighborhood or know something about it? Is it safe, is there anything out of the ordinary to do, well connected?

Any facts would be massively appreciated. Thanks.

steer clear of at all costs, if possible.

It's as safe as a large amount of London frankly.

As to connections -- have you looked it up on a travel map? It's massively well connected!

it doesnt have an elephant and im unconvinced about the castle.

I permanently used to hear about what a place Elephant and Castle was upon first moving to London.

Went there for the first time in recent times and it didn't seem so bad. Then again, I wasn't there for too long, but I have heard a lot of stories.

The shopping centre is one of the naffest buildings I have ever laid eyes upon, although in general it's very well linked and you should be able to get a acceptable place to live on a undergraduate budget. I say go for it - if you go to Southbank Uni you'll meet loads of people in the same boat so you'll rapidly suss out the more student-popular areas.

There is nothing extraordinary to do but it is awfully well connected. The local pubs are perhaps the cheapest in Zone 1. in my opinion I didn't feel it was unsafe but I could appreciate a young woman not wanting to wander around there on their own.

I live just along the street in Bermondsey. E&C looks a lot shoddier than it is - grim condemned council blocks everywhere. It's liable to get gentrified over the next decade though.

Honestly, as others have said, it's indeed no worse than 20 other parts of London you could name.

In short: well connected, looks terrible, still has a few sketchy edges no doubt but by and large ok / better than it looks (and it's on the up). There are a a small number of notable clubs. There's a wee bit more info at /r/london/wiki/living/areas written by (ex-)resident(s).

I live nearly 10 minutes south of E&C in Walworth. The thing is, folks love to grind my gears re living here, but here's what I tell them (aka my belief on life here):

• Yes, parts of the area look a little rough, but the neighborhood has EVERYTHING you can possibly need within a 10 minute walk
• Probably one of the best connected areas in terms of bus routes in the city. You can get just about anywhere in London using any of the bus routes that cross the roundabout
• It's safe. To be honest, it occasionally does look scary, and you don't want to be wandering around the Heygate Estate (finally due for pulling down in September) at night, but I've experienced no situations at any time, day or night.
• Let's face it, it's the last area that is technically in Zone 1. You can walk to Trafalgar Square in 35 minutes. There are no further areas on the border of Zone 1/2 where you can pay approximately 490-550 for a decent room, excepting a few rare flats in Shoreditch/Hoxton (which is still kind of far from central London, unless you plan on basing yourself in East London for everything)
• Colombian food and drink galore! Also the Latin American community in general really brings a lot of energy and heart to the area
• E&C Shopping Centre has super low-cost bowling and pool, plus you have Ministry of Sound basically on the Southbank campus; you're also a 10 minute walk to Borough Market, which is perhaps the best market in London (free samples galore!)

In short, I don't care what people say/think, it's a fantastic area, it's safe, it has all you could possibly need, and it's one of the best linked areas in London...and it's still moderately affordable. I don't plan on leaving any time soon, that's for sure.