With the beach and city close by, a thriving café culture and a village feel, it’s hardly surprising that this Atlantic Seaboard neighbourhood is perennially popular.
About the area:
There’s a village feel to Green Point, with its narrow streets backing onto Signal Hill, the open spaces of Green Point Common with sports fields, golf course and the Green Point Urban Park separating it from the beachfront. Residents love being so close to the centre of town and enjoy an outdoor-active lifestyle. The beach is close by for all forms of watersports. There are clubs for most major sports based on the Green Point Common, including a new athletics stadium, and, of course, the landmark Cape Town Stadium is right there for international sporting events and concerts.
While once it was once the sleepy, less-fashionable neighbour to trendy De Waterkant, Green Point now has a thriving cafe culture and cosmopolitan vibe of its own. Along Main Road local institution Giovanni’s Deli has been serving authentic Italian food in the area for 30 years. For food shopping there’s a Spar and a Woolworths Food, and the Cape Quarter in De Waterkant and the V&A Waterfront are within walking distance for more varied retail therapy. The suburb is a popular place for families as well as young professionals, and the Green Point Urban Park, with its well-maintained play areas, outdoor gyms, picnic spaces, biodiversity garden and lakes, is the perfect place for toddlers and schoolchildren to let off steam. Reddam House Atlantic Seaboard is the nearest private school, and schools in the City Bowl or Sea Point are also easily accessible.
For Green Point residents the Sea Point promenade is an extension of their own backyard; the perfect place for sociable dog-walking, running, cycling and skateboarding. Cutting back home through the urban park or heading in the other direction to Granger Bay for the Oranjezicht City Farm Market on Saturdays adds that extra splash of ocean energy to a well-balanced, urban lifestyle.
Green Point is so close to everything: seven minutes to work or to school, the mountain in our backyard and the ocean out front. We have gorgeous winter sun for long hours and I can check the swell out from my window to see if the surf is up.
- Says Fran Stewart, resident.
Best in food:
• Giovanni’s for fab deli food and cappuccinos
• Il Leone Mastrantonio: for stylish Italian food
• El Burro: for authentic Mexican cuisine
• Salathai: for informal and authentic Thai food
• Don Armando: for steak and Argentinian cuisine
Keeping active:
• Green Point Athletics Stadium
• Metropolitan Golf Club
• Green Point Cricket Club
• Hamilton’s Rugby Club
• Green Point Salesian Football Club
• Virgin Active Point Gym
• Green Point Tennis Club
Things to do:
• Skateboard, cycle or run on Sea Point promenade.
• Head to the beach for surfing and watersports.
• Picnic and play in Green Point Urban Park.
• Walk to Cape Town Stadium for international concerts and sporting events.
Learn more about the Atlantic Seaboard here:
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.