Finding a Place in the Iconic City

London is one of the most vibrant and diverse metropolises in the world and as such it attracts tens of thousands of new residents every year. People from all over the globe flock to live, play and, of course, to work in the English capital's iconic boroughs and what, new Londoners will invariably find, are diverse enough to satisfy the broadest spectrum of lifestyle requirements, from those of the student, to the family, to the commercial tycoon.

While this capacity to accommodate a multitude of cultures, ages and life priorities is undoubtedly one of the city's significant draw cards, it can also prove a little daunting to the new London Property hunter. There are, after all, thirty-two distinct districts within the city limits and each of these has its own unique flavour; its own special urban atmosphere.

So in a sense, the task facing the London property seeker is mired in a fundamental contradiction. The city's diversity, its sheer cultural and commercial variety, both draws people towards the well-worn avenues, the historic parks and palaces of the English capital, and it serves to confuse newcomers, who, dazzled by London's sprawling schizophrenia, find it difficult to discern, unguided, where exactly they fit in.

The best way to find a place in London is, undoubtedly, to walk the length and breadth of its crisscrossing streets, and to sample the atmosphere of the districts these pass through. Revel in the gleaming glass and high rise severity of Canary Wharf, take in Camden's edgy counter-culture and meander, thinking wishfully, past the plush properties of Kensington and Chelsea.

Indeed, the only way to find one's place — one's home — in a city as staggeringly mutable as London is to treat it, ironically enough, as one would treat a tourist destination. Take a tour, see the sights, soak up the spirit of the city and inevitably, after pounding pavement, cobbles and the turf of Regent's park, property seekers will find that London gives up that piece of itself perfectly suited to their individual lifestyle.