which end of Oxford Street is the top?

i took a guess.

I am guessing people's choice is going to be determined by three things:

~ closeness to where they live
~ significance in terms of a building or other location they regard as important

and (now this is going to be the smallest category, if it shows up at all)
~ topography

I voted Marble Arch - a mixture of closeness and significance; it is closer to Oxford and more significant as it where I disembark most regularly from the bus from Oxford, usually to board the Central Line.

I voted for Tottenham Court Road end. Case for: it's right next to Centre Point so it stands to reason Marble Arch must be further out and therefore the bottom.

Case against: the bit near Marble Arch is quite nice and the Tottenham Court Road end is a shithole.

TCR, mainly because when I was a kid I usually used to start shopping at Oxford Circus and work my way up to TCR.

Also, TCR feels higher in altitude.

ive never heard anyone say 'top of oxford st'

that's what i was thinking. people define its ends by tube stations or east/west or other street names.

so this is why it's called topography? cool.

lots of people i know talk about its top and its bottom, in fact i've got into arguments about which is which. hence the poll. some sound reasoning here so far - as for the answers, hmmmm...

do the people who talk about its top and bottom live here or not, out of interest? thinking about this... i do talk about the top of ch x rd and tcr and chalk farm rd and mare st and upper st and essex rd and that means north, and i talk about the top of brixton hill and that means the highest bit...

yes, these are people from & in london! i think yr right that 'top' often means north. but oxford st doesn't have a north so......confusion reigns.

I think of the top as the north side - i.e. the bit furthest away from where I work. It's a long top, mind.

yeah, i think that's why i never think of it as having a top... no hills (well, a gentle slope, near marble arch/bond st, but barely noticeable) and no north.

The Oxford Circus bit is the top.

That's why Topshop is there.

the top of oxford street is marble arch, obv

but why?

because tcr is the arse end

This is a complete no-brainer because the street numbers are higher as you go west, so the TCR end is the bottom and Marble Arch is the top. Both ends are utter shitholes.

but don't things normally go from top to bottom? like if you're number 1 in class, one would say you're top of the class.

so clearly 1 tottenham court road is top and 928-930F tottenham court road will be bottom.

erm replace tottenham court road with oxford street lol

but then, extensions to things are normally tagged along the bottom of things.. and NEW oxford street is near the tottenham court road end.

ARRRGH THERE'S NO ANSWER TO THIS.

The top of Oxford Street was Oxford, to yer average Roman.

ive never heard anyone say 'top of oxford st'

Me neither.

agree with emsk..think of there being a top to chalk farm rd, essex rd, upper st etc, prob because north-south streets, never thought of it in relation to oxford st before

top of the oxford street to ya

i mean, top o'the oxford street

Case against: the bit near Marble Arch is quite nice and the Tottenham Court Road end is a shithole.

is it though? it's quieter perhaps but apart from the primark i don't know what it really has going for it on that end (oxford street itself)!

Never really thought of the street having a top or bottom but instinctively voted Marble Arch end because it was nearer to where I grew up which was in the North West suburbs, although TCR end IS geographically further north.

apart from the primark i don't know what it really has going for it on that end (oxford street itself)!

hyde park?

My initial reaction was to say Marble Arch, but I've also never heard someone say 'the top of Oxford Street.' Why would they? It would be confusing!

does anyone in Eastenders still say "ahp Wyhst"?

does anyone *not* in EE ever say it???

hyde park is not on oxford street.

bayswater road is what oxford street turns into, after it goes past the top.

the labyrinth of subways from Marble Arch tube is an especially unappealing, tho probably necessary aspect of that end of Oxford Street. I always think that the island with the arch on it needs something to make it more attractive besides the arch itself as apart from the palms it is rather barren and brutalist, although I have been bereft of inspiration as to what, as, presumably, has everyone else.

what happened to the plan to move the arch into Hyde Park? I remember that being talked about a few years back. Not as implausible as it sounds, seeing as Marble Arch used to stand outside buck house and was taken down and reassembled in its present position, so all the blocks are already numbered.

i wish the Arch was three times it's size.

I always think that the island with the arch on it needs something to make it more attractive

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/02/TESCO.jpg

surely you mean
http://www.inkycircus.com/photos/uncategorized/mcdonalds.jpg

howbouta TESCO witha MCDONALDS init?

and inside the McDonalds a terrorists detention centre

awes

i voted for marble arch because it sounded nice.

I voted for the opposite of what Matt DC said, but for the same reason he gave.

so you think marble arch is right next to centre point?

Yeah, I don't know anyone who says top or bottom for Oxford Street as it is East/West and has no real physical topography.

But if I had to pick, I'd say the Marble Arch end is the top. Probably because I think of the descent into London from the countryside environs of Hyde Park (OK, not since the Middle Ages, but I still think that way - i.e. London ends at Marble Arch.) Also, because Tot Court Road is closer to the City, and therefore obviously "downtown".

Marble Arch because I walk "down" a flat street, and I always start at that end on that particular street.

I was on it yesterday, and the answer's clearly Marble Arch. Both HMVs are fairly gash, but at least they're cheaper than Sister Ray.

Marble Arch because downtown = bottom.

There is no top. There is no downtown.

there are four lights

There is no top. There is no downtown.

http://empathic.info/Images/ringlogo_spoon.jpg

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Hahaha

That was decisive :-)

FWIW, as a visitor, I'd say Marble Arch, because I figure the top end is the end that's harder to reach. And doing it on a nightbus pished from the east end makes Marble Arch a clear winner. Is this the deciding vote then?

lol. i voted tcr, don't really know why. sure it's a shithole, but it has that in common with *the entire length of oxford street*. and at least it's *near* cool things, unlike wack west london-area arches i could mention.

orsome!

thanks a bunch ILX.

My old cock-er-nee parents have the deciding vote and they say - you're all fackin' crazy for even thinking about it but it's the TCR end.

i voted tcr, don't really know why. sure it's a shithole, but it has that in common with *the entire length of oxford street*

Marble Arch is nice, and I quite like the bit round by Selfridges.

man the bottom of oxford street looks pretty different these days huh

which end is the bottom?

Poll.