How London bankers living in “Notting Hell” are faring in the midst of the Wall St meltdown.

Expenses (even relatively minor) are being cut. Marriages are looking tenuous. And there are more men about. A longtime denizen of London’s posh Notting Hill has this to say about the scene in London, via the Times (UK):

First up, I notice a lot more men than usual ambling up the Portobello Road in flip-flops and chinos on a weekday. In Tesco, in ritzy Holland Park Avenue, a new discount brands section (bleach, cornflakes, fizzy lemonade) has been placed front of store.

In Holland Park Starbucks, there are men at every table hunched over venti-sized cups of latte and The Wall Street Journal, BlackBerrys welded to their hands. They are wearing button-down shirts and suits. An hour later, when I return, they are still there. I know there are three Lehman casualties in the next road alone. I don’t know their names but I wonder if they are these men in Starbucks.

(What is it about professional types and flip-flops?)

Before you can say “trickle-down” — it’s clear that it’s also bad times for the merchants and business owners of “Notting Hell”. Here in New York, it’s the black car drivers that are among those that will be affected. In Notting Hill, one American banker who previously spent £160 weekly on news is cutting out deliveries of the New York Times and the Financial Times. And another is cutting out dog-walking services, merchants tell the Times.

On the real estate front, no one’s a buyer, and there’s not a lot of activity for rentals at the high end, either (£3,000 and £5,000/week — and you thought New York had ridiculous rents). But rentals in the £500 and £800/week range are moving like hotcakes.

Notting Hill dwellers — give the rest of us a flavor of what’s going on.