IF STOKE NEWINGTON were a vegetable, it would be an organic, biodynamic heirloom-variety carrot. It would arrive as part of a conscience-appeasing cornucopia in a recyclable box delivered by a biofuel-powered moped. It would be grungily authentic and slightly overpriced - just like the terraced houses that dominate the streets of N16.

“Stokie's always been a bit crusty and cosy,” says the singer-songwriter David Gray. When he moved here in the late 1990s he was still playing pubs along Church Street. He and Stokie had yet to hit the big time.

“We managed to buy a little house before prices went mad and did that thing everyone does when they buy here: sanded the floors. Only I hit a water pipe and flooded the place. I didn't know what a stopcock was - never mind where - but a neighbour bailed me out. That wouldn't happen in Islington. I'm not sure it would happen now.”

When the waters subsided, Gray set up a home studio and started his breakthrough album White Ladder. “You can clearly hear cars going by the house on some tracks.” Stokie is the soundtrack of his success. “I did well and did what a lot of people who live in Stokie secretly desire but would never admit: I moved to Islington. But I really, really hated it.”

Stokie has no Tube and no real desire for one. Locals like being out of the way, a bit awkward. They love getting on their folding bikes and fear too many people falling in love with “the Village”. Church Street remains relatively chain-free, with the costly exception of Fresh and Wild, home of the original expensive organic carrot.

DAMIAN BARR

HOW IT RATES Located on the northern edge of Hackney, between Dalston and Stamford Hill, Stoke Newington's centre is around Church Street. Best known for its population of liberal lefties, it has one of the highest birth rates in Britain — or even Europe. Several historic buildings have survived, including the Grade I listed 19th-century St Matthias Church on Wordsworth Road.

WHAT'S NEW Compared with other parts of Hackney, Stoke Newington has undergone little major residential construction recently, but there is a boutique development of 11 flats due to complete next spring on Shacklewell Lane, on the edge of Dalston. Prices start at £312,500 for a two-bedroom apartment. Contact New London (0845 643 1500).

QUALITY OF LIFE Lively and youthful. Church Street has plenty of quality restaurants, food shops and alternative therapy centres such as Shine. The community spirit is strong for London, as evidenced by its active local groups, the huge annual Stokefest and the Early Music Festivals, and the local magazine, N16. Away from the noisy and polluted main thoroughfare, Stoke Newington High Street, the most likely cause of jams is the large number of pushchairs.

TRAVEL The A10 — here called Stoke Newington High Street — cuts through the middle of Stoke Newington leading to the North Circular. There are plenty of buses, south to the centre, or up to the Tube at Seven Sisters. Alternatively, the locals catch the train to Liverpool Street — or get on their bikes.

SMARTEST STREETS Queen Elizabeth Walk overlooks Clissold Park and houses can fetch £1 million. Allerton Road is similar, with gardens backing onto a reservoir. Many people want to live south of Church Street: Shakespeare Walk, Milton Grove, Clissold Road, Clissold Crescent, Winston Road, Burma Road and Lidfield Road are the popular Victorian residential streets.

EDUCATION The Jubilee and Grasmere Primary Schools are both in high demand, helping to bolster house prices in their catchment areas. Stoke Newington Secondary School on Clissold Road is one of Hackney's best.

UPSIDE There are plenty of green spaces here, including Clissold Park and Abney Park cemetery, which is famed for its leafy beauty and old memorials. The Castle Climbing Centre, in a former pumping station, provides an unusual exercise option and striking landmark. The community is rich in diversity, with large numbers of Asian, Irish, Turkish, Jewish, Afro-Caribbean, Polish and Somali residents. The Saturday farmers' market is reputedly the first in the UK to have solely organic producers.

DOWNSIDE The independent spirit that defines this “city village” is threatened by the influx of chains such as Starbucks and Tesco, which are arousing strong local opposition. The area was in the news for all the wrong reasons recently when a Stoke Newington resident, Muktar Said Ibrahim, was arrested and convicted of trying to plant a bomb on the 26 bus in Shoreditch on July 21, 2005.

KASIA MACIEJOWSKA

£322,500

The average property price in Stoke Newington postcode N16

Source: mouseprice.com

10.8%

The increase in property prices in N16 over the past year

Source: mouseprice.com

45.3%

The increase in property prices in N16 over the past five years

Source: mouseprice.com

7.2%

The percentage of the Stoke Newington population aged 0-4 years. The national average is 5.96 per cent

Source: Hackney council

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers