Welcome to the beautiful south side of Glasgow. Gorgeous blonde sandstone tenements, leafy streets, segregated cycle lanes, community-run back lanes decorated with colourful signs painted by local children and trendy independent businesses galore.

Glasgow’s Strathbungo neighbourhood has once again been dubbed one of the most sought-after areas to live in the UK. This time, it was among the 72 locations on a Best Places to Live 2025 list published last week (North Berwick, East Lothian was crowned best in Scotland). It comes around six months after Time Out magazine put Strathbungo at number 22 on its annual ranking of the World’s Coolest Neighbourhoods.

Having recently moved back to the south side, I thought I would share my favourite part of the culture. The small business drama here is unrivalled. Strathbungo is part of the clutch of neighbourhoods that form the heart of the south side. Shawlands and Govanhill are the others, but let’s throw in Langside and Battlefield for good measure. Usually involving purveyors of expensive pastries or speciality coffees, the entertainment value of following these frequent melodramas could rival anything that Bravo has to offer.

According to legend, it all started when an “anti-Zionist, queer, Yiddish, anarchist, vegan, pay-what-you-can” café moved into Govanhill. The Pink Peacock opened on Victoria Road in 2021 before closing in 2023. In their farewell post on Instagram, an owner, with tears streaming down their face, blamed “bigotry, antisemitism and the oppressive forces of the kyriarchy” for the closure. “The owners of the Pink Peacock Cafe faced an uphill battle against prejudice, discrimination, and hatred, making it nearly impossible for them to continue their noble mission of creating a safe space for everyone,” they wrote.

Strathbungo in Glasgow's........

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