Pimlico is primarily a residential area and (Vauxhaull Bridge Road aside) has been considerably smartened up in recent years. As in many parts of London, there are many fine white stucco fronted Victorian houses and beautiful private garden squares. The Tate Gallery fronts the river Thames and is now home to a fine collection of British art from 1500 to the present day including a vast collection of Turners.

Bordered by plush Belgravia, Chelsea and Westminster, Pimlico, tucked into its bend of the river, remained for a long time remarkably unknown. The social mix of the community changed as, in the course of the 1980s, a nearly all tenanted, rather rundown, district became a place of converted flats and the first smart developments. The latest rash of new homes have put the seal on the transformation.

This is MP land, full of politicians' pied-a-terre or main homes within the division bell boundary - the zone close enough to the House for them to rush from dinner, or whatever, to be counted through the lobbies. If you live in one of the streets known for a high political population, watch out for the regular stampede when there's a vote. Cambridge Street is a typical 'little Westminster': at one count, 25 MPs had homes there. They are joined by City people who love the central London location and good transport links: there's Victoria, and you're never more than a 10-minute walk from one of the tube stations.

Pimlico may look superficiallly like Belgravia - lots of snowy Regency stucco, classical detailing and regularity - but it was never quite as smart.

Pimlico is short of open space, though there's Ranelagh Gardens over on the Chelsea side and the splendid St James's Park on the other. So the three large garden squares have long been its most desirable addresses - apart from the riverside flats.

Adjoining Victoria encompasses a large area and is a draw for a huge number of tourists perhaps because of the excellent connections to the rest of the UK.