Crystal Palace has been named one of the best places to live in London this year.

Praised as “a new Clapham” (something every best of London needs, according to the guide), it follows in the footsteps of Balham, Dulwich and Peckham in a top ten list published by the Sunday Times yesterday (March 20).

In the list that also includes Greenwich, Barnes and Bermondsey, Crystal Palace is named as a haven for middle-class families – and is even described as “lovelier than Clapham ever was.”

The guide says: “The chattering classes, pushed ever further out by the capital’s property-price madness, are homing in on Crystal Palace, which is a sea of buggies, cafes and gentrifying period homes.”

There is a nod to the enduring appeal of Crystal Palace Park’s dinosaurs, the first artistic representations of dinosaurs of their size when they were made over a century ago.

And Westow Hill is compared to San Francisco by virtue of its steep side streets lined with townhouses, giving a glimpse of the city skyline in the distance.

Crystal Palace’s vintage shops, transport links and foodie credentials are all taken into account to place it on the list.

The top ten list is published annually and uses data on crime rates, property prices and school performance alongside local knowledge to pick the best places to live.

It notes that swiftly rising prices in the capital are nudging the metropolitan middle class to move further out of London into more suburban areas and venture into “previously no-go neighbourhoods” like Brixton, Peckham and Streatham.