You should do a walk through the Village one sunny afternoon. The district's Member of Parliament is actress Glenda Jackson, which will tell you something about the type of people who live there: mostly in the arts, higher education, and with social conscience. My friend lives across from the house Freud lived and worked in, and one afternoon following lunch she gave me the neighbourhood tour: quite some neighbourhood.

There's an Old Hampstead Pub Walk every Saturday evening, and a regular Village walk every Wednesday at 2 pm. I have found these very pleasant ways to discover parts of London. I believe the URL is:
www.walks.com