to be rhinking of moving to Palmers Green?

[Mamumu]

Hi all! I have found a nice flatshare with anothers single mum, but it's a bit far from the center, in Palmers Green (I didn't know that part of London, I've only lived in the West).

The good points is that 1) the room is affordable 2) the other mum and her daughter seem very nice and 3) there's a good nursery right in front of the house. What puts me off really is... well, it's not precisely 'edgy' or 'trendy', if you know what I mean. I'm an artist and work in the fashion industry. I don't think I'm posh, but I like more other parts of London, such as Islington, Angel, Alexandra Palace, St Johns Wood, St James park, Buckingham palace... Ok, I'll stop! So maybe I'm a bit posh? But not posh-posh, I'm more the arty type. Anyway...

So, what can you girls tell me about Palmers Green? Is it really horrible, is it nice, safe or unsafe, are there good primary schools in the area... Anything you can say will be of great help! DD is 3 BTW!

Thanks in advance!!!

BTW I XP works in Baker Street, so how about getting there, would it take too long?

Ha ha! that's not far from where I grew up. Used to be nicknamed 'Palmers Greek' as it had such a big Greek community, even the Greek kids called it that. Its good for families and is very suburban. Its pretty safe for London and there are some good schools around too such as Oakthorpe Primary. You may get bored though as its not very fashionable. If you want somewhere cool, you're better off going to Hackney (there are some very nice bits but its expensive and the crime rates higher).

It would be murder to get to Baker Street though as there is no tube network around there. The only ways I can think of would be to get a bus to the closest Piccadilly Line and change for the Bakerloo line. It would take at least 45 mins to get in depending on how quickly you could get to the tube. I think there's an overland line in PG but not sure where it goes. You would need to move eastwards to get fast journeys into central London.

Palmers Green's okay! I used to live there and live down the road from there now. I still visit all the time (but that's mainly to see friends in the pub!)

It's not a particularly posh or arty area, but it isn't scummy either - in fact it's pretty damn safe for an area in London. You'd soon get used to which parts are okay and which are not. Plus, the transport links are very good, with a BR station, a tube station in neighbouring Wood Green and loads of buses on Green Lanes/The North Circ. So you could get to your arty farty places in about 10 minutes or less!

There are a lot of lovely Victorian/Edwardian built buildings to look at and it's a very culturally diverse place to live - we actually call it "Palmers Greek" for a laugh due to the high percentage of Mediterranean families living there! My next door neighbours in N13 were Greek and possibly the loveliest people in the whole world - I've still in touch with them now and it's been 15 years since I moved!!!

Entertainment wise, you've got The Inn On The Green and The Fox pub - both Irish owned but not themed if you see what I mean. They have some good bands/music nights in there and both play sky sports. They open late on weekends ('till about 2am) and despite a bad rep about 10 years ago, there's never any trouble now. The Fox does a very different, absolutely GORGEOUS carvery on Sunday by the way. The Live Room has just opened there as well - they seem to get some good music acts in.

School-wise, you have three schools in the area rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted. They are; Firs Farm, Oakthorpe and Tottenhall. if you can get your kiddie in to one of those, you'll be laughing!!!

For shopping, there's a big Morrisons and an Iceland (bit chavvy) but I did hear that they're planning to open an M&S soon. There's lots of little shops along the high street. Best of all, it's right next to Winchmore Hill, which is posh and literally only a 5 minute walk away.

I would say YANBU to consider moving to good ole Plamers Green - it's a very vibrant, fun place to live - go for it!

Sorry, went to Hackney central and wished to die!!! I found it too dodgy/gritty/depressing... the Village part, near Victoria Park, I found better though, but wouldn't live there either, it's not too well connected...

Anyway, for now I think Palmers Greek ;) sounds like I good option. I'm mediterranean, so maybe it'll make me feel 'at home'.

Just want to know, how 'safe' is it?

Gaslit, I love you, thanks for all the info!!! =D

caprincorn76, maybe I could take a bus directly to somewhere closer to central london (waterloo, london bridge, trafalgar square...) and meet her dad there?

Sorry - Cross posted with Capricorn about "Palmers Greek"!

I think with the overhead train, you can get from Palmers Green to Kings Cross in about 20 mins and then zip along the Metropolitan Line for 3 stops to Baker Street. Gotta be easier than doing the Piccadilly line, I reckon!!!

The overground is the easiest way to get to town from Palmers Green, but it goes to kings cross for part of the day, and somewhere else the rest of the day, hmm, can't remember where...

Of course going a bit further out will be a bit more suburban, but you'll probably find half the people who live there are ex-Islingtonites who have had children and want a bit more space so have moved North.

My other half lived there when I met him, about 8 years ago. I thought at the time it seemed very safe, not very edgy, but not the back of beyond either.

I would be happy to live there, if that is any help!

Thanks CreepyFunbags! BTW, where do you live?

We're away from London now but a few of our friends have done the Zone 1, then Zone 3, then out to Winchmore Hill / Palmers Green thing!

Grew up in Enfield, went to school in Edmonton, so know Palmers Green fairly well - it's full of nice Victorian and Edwardian places, and still has quite a 'community' feel due to the large amount of local shops competing with the supermarkets. All along Green Lanes (which takes you into the trendier parts of town) there are Mediterranean foodshops, shading into more exotic shops the further in you get.

As for entertainment, it's been a while since I went out there, but I seem to remember that the afore-mentioned Fox pub was famous for having a really good comedy club before such things were ten a penny.

Transport links are great - the train takes you inot Kings Cross at the weekends, and Highbury and Islington during the week, plus you've got tons of buses into central London and the tube in Wood Green, Bounds Green and Turnpike Lane (all Piccadilly line). Plus, I believe it's either Palmers Green or Winchmore Hill (the next stop along the line) which has a great little farmers' market in the car park some weekends. It may also be the station that has gallery space on the platform - it's certainly one of the stations on the line into Kings Cross, so would be a great place for you to exhibit your work.

Imagine spending suturdays visiting those Greek and Turkish shops! The colours, the smells....Food is 'arty' isn't?

We lived there and still visit, is not bad. Don't forget it is close to 'posh' Muswell Hill and sort of close to 'arty' Crouch End.

I would not recommend you move to Palmers Green. It's changed for the worse. Every day more and more family homes are being converted into staff run hostels for criminal psychopaths on release, child molesters, prolific offenders, Bulgarian and Iraqi war criminals, mentally ill people not 'deemed' to be dangerous, the list goes on and on, it has really gone downhill in the last 5 years or so. Drug dealers are everywhere and dealing and shoplifting and begging is rife. Nobody comes out their home after dark because of anti social behaviour and mentally ill people aimlessly wandering the streets. Cars are being stolen and damaged on a daily basis. It used to be a very desirable place to live but it isn't now. I would move somewhere else, especially if you are buying your property. Buy a property in Palmers Green and you will lose money on your investment, your children will not have a good education and will be living in a dangerous drug and crime affected area. Move further out - I would suggest moving to for example, Potters Bar.

AskASillyQuest1on

In the nicest possible way OP I’m pretty sure you can be arty and work in fashion anywhere.

How is ally pally edegy? If you know ally pally then palmers green is only a couple more stops on the train line. You could be in ally pally from palmers green in 10mins

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