A long-underappreciated neck of the woods, Holloway and Archway combine (on the whole) large houses on leafy streets, reasonable pubs (there's certainly lots of choice such as The Landseer) and easy access to the olde-worlde splendour of Highgate to the north and the trendy buzz of Upper Street to the south. On Holloway Road itself, you have the iconic Daniel Libeskind building, which is part of London Metropolitan University. Tube and train stations are tolerably spaced along the main drag, with a good mix of grocery, takeaway, hardware, bike and vintage clothes shops. The definite sense of community is at its best on match days, when Arsenal fans fill every last neighbouring boozer with red shirts and good-natured bantz.
