Lindsey grew up on the London to Brighton commuter line and ended up in the capital by academic misadventure. Many years later, firmly rooted in Highbury she still gets lost south of the river but isn't shy of sallying forth or taking random buses just to see where they go.

Her favourite London things include Sadlers Wells, Waterloo Bridge, artsy fringe happenings, the 341 bus, the fact you'll never run out of pubs to go to and learning about pigs in sewers.

Lindsey spends her time herding cats, writing words and juggling an ungainly portfolio of freelance commitments while trying to get to the gym. She’s fond of a drink and very partial to cheese.

Hazel was born and raised in London (Zone 1) and, apart from a distressing three year enforced exile to a university town, has lived in London all her life. Along with many rambling, incoherent tales of her early days as an irregular food, arts and news contributor for Londonist before becoming Editor in May 2007, she has a long and varied tale of growing up in London following theatre, art, culture and anything with obscenities in the title, or naked people painted purple doing improvised dance.

With a day job at a national newspaper and an inability to turn down the chance to be on TV, she is all media, all the time, and usually available for comment but not before the first of two strong coffees in the morning.

Her main interests are experimental performing arts, live art, art installations, cultural festivals, unusual food and craft activities.

Sally originally hails from Southend-on-Sea in Essex, but seems to be largely unscathed by this fact. For the last 12 years or so she has been living in Peckham, and sings its praises with all the fervour of the newly converted.

Sally thinks London's bestest bit is the South Bank: its worstest bit is anywhere near the North Circular - she comes out in a rash just thinking about it.

In between researching her second book and being a Londonista, she runs a shop and helps with her husband's import business.

Her hobbies include her cat, planning ambitious outings which never happen, and Body Balance (which is a sort of yoga for wimps). Her icons are Silent Bob and Modesty Blaise.

Sally's specialist subjects are South London, 'multi-culturalism', food and nature.

Dean hails from a small outpost due south of the River Thames, an unmapped speck of greater London famed for a bowling alley, a Sixties office block and litte else. His lifelong dream is to buy a farm in Patagonia and raise pygmy goats, but until that happens he can be found hovering around Hackney telling any poor fool in earshot about the holistic benefits of swimming in London Fields lido on a cold winter's morning.

Currently residing in the East End (but avoiding turning into one of those eastenders whothink it's really cool to dress like its 1947), Talia has been part of the team here at Londonist since 2005. Heading up the music & nightlife sections of the site, she's one of those people who's handy to have on speed-dial if you're short of things to do that evening and really need a good boogie. Outside of Londonist she spends her time making radio shows, writing about music, encouraging people to dance with resident DJ slots at Popstarz and Ghetto, geeking out on the internet and interviewing popstars before committing the uber sin of asking for a photo with them. She also pretends to be ahead of the game. Check her personal blog at Karinski.net for tales of djing, Scandanavian pop and the hotness of band members who look like monsters / Billie Piper.

Chris would like to tell people that he hails from London, but his American accent would betray such a flagrant lie. However, when he first moved here in 2001, he felt disconcertingly at home. Currently residing at the western front of the East End (otherwise known as Clerkenwell) Chris enjoys foraging for new lunch spots and trying to keep track of the bewildering London art scene. Learn more.

After moving to London from the much-maligned West Midlands, Dave lived on the Isle of Dogs for more than a decade. However, having recently moved to Clerkenwell, he no longer feels the need to fiercely defend the capital's most distinctive peninsula and its myriad transport challenges, preferring instead to bore his victims with unimportant (and mostly likely incorrect) trivia concerning his new habitat.

As well as Clerkenwell, his favourite parts of London include Greenwich Park, the South Bank, Holland Park and the British Library – forming between them the four corners of an irregular concave inner-London quadrilateral.

He enjoys many normal pastimes such as drinking, sleeping and eating, as well as more unusual ones such as geekiness, pedantry, casual exploration and pretending to be able to skate. He sometimes dreams of a life unencumbered by delays and frustration. Dave actually grew up in one of the southernmost suburbs of London, but he doesn't like to admit it.

Dave is not around much during the week, but takes custody of Londonist at weekends.

Rachel was born and raised in Leeds but made a break for the capital at the dawn of the millennium. She's lived in Ealing, Golders Green, Chalk Farm, Muswell Hill and now resides with her diabetic cat in Hither Green. London transport fascinates her, she worships the British Museum and believes nothing compares to an afternoon's meander in Greenwich.

She drinks pretentious European lager and blond "ales", has a permanent backlog of unread books and is justifiably proud of her butternut squash and spinach risotto. She also spends far too much time on the internet.

Rachel specialises in bookshops, the arts and anything that offends her left-leaning sensibilities.

Duncan hails from the rugby bastion of the West Country and so it's no surprise that such a football mad lad should be lured inexorably towards the bright floodlights at the other end of the M4 where in the nineties he gave computer training courses in what is now the upstairs of the Burger King just outside Paddington Station before moving on to write for the London Football Review amongst others and then slotting into the Londonist squad as the football editor.

Duncan's favourite London football memories include watching Arsenal putting six past his native Gloucester in 1987, sharing a boardroom with Barnet's Stan Flashman and Barry Fry, getting lost in a dark and deserted Upton Park, marvelling at Ian Holloway's way with words, covering Millwall's run to the 2004 cup final and greeting Oliver Bierhoff as he sat with a towel wrapped round his power suit on a chilly night in the Stamford Bridge press box.

Duncan loves Bush Hall for music, the Canal Cafe Theatre for comedy, Beatroot on Berwick Street for lunch and is forever indebted to the mercy of Thames Barrier security guards after he'd failed to realise that their car park, although handy for The Valley, closes at half-time.

CRAiG loved London from his first visit as a child, transfixed by a St James Park pelican busily drowning a pigeon.

He moved here to work in Downing Street a decade ago, and has never wanted to live beyond Zone 2 since (or 3, tops). Except, that is, when the rain just won't stop, the Jubilee line doesn't work flawlessly or people seem to forget they're sharing the city with 8 million others. Whenever in need of reminding why London is indeed the greatest city on earth, CRAiG often finds himself dancing at the world's finest gay clubs or running up our city's hillier bits to see the view. If you spot him speeding up Greenwich Park, Primrose Hill or past Brockwell Park cafe then the only thing that makes him stop is a skinny Americano (with an extra shot). He lives in South London with his boy, who is similarly addicted to running and coffee.

CRAiG likes to write about news, London politics, sport and gay stuff.

Phil actually lives near Oxford, having been forced into rural life by his parents. However, now that he can drive he spends at least an evening a week sampling the capital's music delights at whatever shady venue looks good. Outside of Londonist, he's trying to get his way through a Business Management degree at Winchester, doing a dissertation, stalking a few bands around the South of England, and holding down two jobs to pay for it all. He also likes Marmite, loves Chocolate and hates Pineapple, if you're ever gift hunting for him.

Check out his blog here.

Amanda is another transplanted American. She last called Brooklyn home, but now lives at Mornington Crescent, mostly so she can make jokes about getting to Mornington Crescent. A writer by trade and a photographer by way of a hobby that got out of hand, she also enjoys really loud music, really pretty music, Primrose Hill, cardigan sweaters, and tea. She is also likely to mention her website, but generally in a context of aggravation.

Alice moved to the lovely city of London from Canada in 2001, planning to only stay for a year. But the opportunity to be laughed at every time she says "tomato" or "pants" proved far too tempting and she's been here ever since. She works in TV, which isn't as glamorous as it sounds, but does mean she gets to call watching television "research".

After four years in North London (in Chalk Farm, Hampstead, Queens Park and then finally Tufnell Park), she braved a move south to Balham and is now a committed South Londoner. She likes London architecture, the lack of cold snowy winters and the ready availability of pubs. She dislikes the Northern Line, Marmite, and when people think she's American.

Alice has a blog where she writes about her cats and her garden amongst other things, and another where she collects the complete works of Steve Guttenberg. It's a long story.

Alice is especially interested in anything to do with film & TV in London.

Chloe grew up in a nondescript Thameside town in Oxfordshire, and may have languished there forevermore as an employee in a soft furnishings shop were it not for a drunken house viewing in Camden in 2006. During her first week in London someone flashed at her on the Circle Line, but it's been plain sailing ever since.

Now she lives in Tufnell Park with her best friend and the occasional company of next door's cat, whom they tempted in with a Sainsburys Taste the Difference chorizo and mozzarella sausage. Her favourite things in the capital are gigs, galleries, the ICA, Rough Trade East and knitwear. Buying her a gig ticket or a jumper is thus the way to her heart.

Before moving to London, Zoe tried living in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Rome and Madrid. Just to make sure. She's pretty sure she's in the right place now, but still misses the ready availability of a proper Italian latte.

Part popular culture nerd, part history geek, Zoe cried a tiny bit the first time she saw the inside of Shakespeare's Globe. And she'll never tire of the post-theatre dash from the bright lights of the West End to the Strand, down into the darkness of Villiers Street, and across the quiet stillness of Golden Jubilee Bridge to get the train home from Waterloo and start writing about what she's seen.

She's been writing sporadically for londonist since 2006, and has recently started her own blog.

Aside from being with her brilliant boyfriend, family and friends, Zoe is probably happiest in a quiet auditorium (theatre, cinema, whatever) when the lights have gone down, and the show is yet to start. In that moment, she believes anything can happen.

Chris has been a stand-up comedian since 2007, where he talks about revolution, socialism, skepticism, and how best to sort out this big ol' mess of a world we live in.

Chris loves comedy with a passion bordering on obsessive. He writes about comedy, geek stuff and fun events, and takes an interest in any news story which will anger or inspire the masses. He also writes an occasional column for Londonist called "A Comedian Blogs", with musings on the London comedy circuit. He now spends much of his life overdosing on live music, comedy, lectures, exhibitions, galleries and protests.

He also has a lot of time for indie/goth/electro music, lefty political activism, manga, Richard Dawkins, writing, history, home-made cakes, and causing mischief. He blogs here and Tweets here. His friendship is guaranteed if you know, and love, the music of Sally Shapiro.

Neil Arnold is a folklorist from Kent. He is the author of MONSTER! THE A-Z OF ZOOFORM PHENOMENA, which he describes as 'Marc Bolan meets National Geographic'. He also runs KENT BIG CAT RESEARCH, and the blogs BEASTS OF LONDON and MONSTERS OF KENT.

Neil has a fascination with swingin' '60s London, glam rock and psychedelic music, Twin Peaks, Italian football and The Banana Splits. He lives opposite a haunted castle in historic Rochester with his vampire go-go girlfriend Jemma, but spends most of his time in London, purchasing hairspray, eye-liner, and vinyl. Neil believes in monsters more than he does himself.

Jaz grew up between London and Brighton, with Londoner parents who she often berated for having dragged her to the sticks. After a few years in the North West, she finally made it to London and after trying Shepherds Bush and Brixton she's settled on the always entertaining Brick Lane. Being a childhood country mouse, she thinks London's copius transport is amazing and occupys herself between buses with pretty mainstream pursuits of parks, pubs, walking, eating and more pubs. A big fan of Londonist, she mainly cheats around actually writing articles, and instead runs the London Blogger Interviews - always up for suggestions/volunteers! You can also find her on twitter lots and occasionally her blog.

Gone but not forgotten:

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