The leafy northern suburbs of Athens almost quadrupled in size in the last 20 years, as more and more Athenians moved here to escape the pollution, the noise, and the congestion of more traditional high end residential neighborhoods like Kolonaki, the area around the Hilton hotel, and the district behind the Panathinaikon stadium. The rise in incomes and the creation of a new upper middle class in this period also led to the urbanization of Athens' traditionally quiet northern suburbs, with people putting a premium on a Kifissia or Ekali residence. Until the late 1970s, Kifissia, Kefalari, and beyond were considered by upper class Athenians as summer retreats, and many of them owned huge villas here, to which they escaped in the summer months to avoid the stifling heat of downtown. Nowadays, the Kifissia commercial district is as busy and as congested as Kolonaki, and finding a parking space there is actually harder than in downtown Athens. Still, although traffic has increased exponentially, especially on the Kifissias Avenue axis, the area is decidedly more upscale and more elegant than downtown. Most residences are single homes, and the apartment buildings are newer, more spacious, and offer more amenities. The sidewalks are cracked here also, and the streets are full of potholes, but they are covered by the canopies of lines of trees everywhere. The main attraction of the northern suburbs is shopping, dining, extensive sports facilities, and a series of upscale hotels that dot the landscape around Kifissia. The Kifissia shopping district, beginning just off Kifissias Avenue and extending for about one kilometer all the way to Kefalari Square, is as upscale as they come. A series of shopping malls all around this area host all the trendy boutiques that you will find in Kolonaki, and more. A number of small but elegant restaurants, with fine food and good wine lists, offer a variety of dining options. Finally, the swimming pools, the tennis clubs, the spas, and the gyms in this area make it the fitness hub of Athens. The Kifissia-Piraeus subway line, whose last stop is at the bottom of Kifissia Square, link the suburb with downtown Athens and the Metro network, with transfer stops at Omonoia Square and Monastiraki. A number of buses lines, featuring new and air conditioned vehicles, run the Kifissias Avenue axis to downtown but, during most of the day, the service is slow due to traffic. |
