Moving Seattle to London

[artsyseattle]

DH's company is moving him to London August/September time frame. We have a 2 1/2 yr old daughter who will be moving with us. We currently live in a beautiful, family friendly, middle-class, leafy suburb, and the borough of Barnet seems to be very close to what we are used to, minus the proximity to water.

We are looking for a two-bedroom flat, close to the underground, and with great shops nearby. I'm beginning to understand the schools, but our dd will only be three, so I'm not to worried about schools yet as we can move after we get to know the area better.

Can you suggest some areas to look, as well as some areas to avoid.

Hi - I grew up around Barnet/Whetstone/Finchley area and still live there so hopefully I can help a bit.
Woodside Park/North Finchley (N12 postcode) - near underground, shops, kind of leafy though not as much greenery as High Barnet, good schools
High Barnet - near shops, parks, a very short walk to countryside and green fields. I went to school there and remember it was very easy to get into the countryside.
There are a lot of good mum and baby groups and things to do with toddlers....my daughter is only 10 months so can't do as much of the active stuff until she's a bit older. Hope this helps and good luck! :)

Thanks pp!

Are you looking to buy or rent? Am living in barnet area and know it quite well so could suggest some areas (and love a property search, so cd suggest properties if buying!). One thing - if your dd is 3 before september then you will have to fill out school applications by feb 2013, as she will start when she is 4, so you may not have long to check out areas and move again.

@Cheekydino-We are looking to rent. Maybe buy in a few years, but we are renting our house out in N Seattle for now as we are unsure how long we will be staying. We are looking for a two bedroom flat, near the underground. We are looking to be car-less for a year, so near transportation is essential. Can you tell me which primary schools I should be considering? And how close I should be looking?

Hmm. I don't know enough about primaries to recommend any with confidence especially as people seem to like different things about a school, but ofsted reports are a good place to start (they are online), and the catchment area is usually found on the school website. Our local one is only 300 metres, so we moved one street away in the hope our ds will get in.
High barnet has really good schools and is a lovely leafy suburb, but the commute might be a bit long depending on where your dh works.

Woodside Park and Totteridge are very green with good schools.
Out of Barnet a little but do you know there is an American School in St Johns Wood (V expensive) but lots of Americans live around there. Not to say you necessarily want to be with lots of Americans but sometimes it's nice to have a connection when you're far from home.
The local section of netmums website for that area might be busier than here.

Hi, not sure you are still checking this but I live in barnet and although a lovely area and nice for kids i find it a bit boring. I think youd prefer muswell hill, crouch end, highgate or belsize park, if you can afford it.

Having slagged it off i feel i can say the good bits, schools are good and aplenty, lots of green, community feel, well connected. Good sized property for the money.

(you say seattle i think pearl jam- not quite barnet