Ealing v Crouch End v Kensal Rise v Muswell Hill v Finchley

[HermioneLou]

Any recent views on this area competition considering property quality/prices, primary schools, community feeling that is nice for both kids and parents? How would rank them? We are looking to move our small family of three before our kid starts primary school (looking for non-religious, state one). Looking for a two-bed garden flat below 600k. All areas seem lovely and family friendly and would love some honest feedback on how parents enjoy these places and how connected you feel (or not).

Can comment on Crouchy and Muswell hill
MH is quite middle class lulu lemon type mums. Poor selection restaurant and bar. Nowt of note and high turnover of occupancy. Cilicia , Broadway cafe, the giraffe cafe are all great. Multiple coffee shop chains. Not mixed in term age,or demographics. MC used to bemums, used to be a solicitor,fin@nce,PR etc. school catchment fierce and competitive. Two good secondary school

CE is more mixed in term of age,salary,demographics . Has more of a buzzy vibe. Good range food & pubs. Feels self contained as no tube, and it’s an effort to leave. Nearest Tube, Finsbury Park ,Turnpike Lane by bus. Schools catchment are tiny & competitive.

Folk obsess & cheat in both CE and MH to get in school of choice

Ealing or Finchley for me

i like Ealing - suburban feel but lots of good shops and restaurants, has the tube and train - and I think cross rail

lots of great schools, good family and community feel, nice green spaces around. Don’t have many negative things to say tbh

For Ealing - watch the tv show outnumbered which is set there

Parts of it does feel like that to me tbh

Motherland was in filmed muswell hill Korto cafe. MH is the epitome of motherland

Finchley is a diverse area in terms of population. It’s also quite sprawling so Finchley Central is different from East Finchley, is different to North Finchley or Woodside Park. All are lovely - great community assets including theatres, cinemas, sports facilities - loads of lovely open spaces and parks, and generally really good schools. Brilliant transport connections with multiple tube stations and great buses. Lots of local cafes and restaurants though fewer really good ones than I would like. High Roads across Finchley are functional but not much more than that, alas.
It’s a great place to bring up children.

@Quietvoiceplease thank you so much! how are Finchleys different from each other? Which one do you like most if I may ask?

East Finchley for me or Central. I prefer both to Muswell Hill or Crouch End

Wow that's not my experience of MH at all. I have lovely mum friends from here, it's so great for the woods and places to go. Great bakeries and coffee shops, very friendly. Choice of loads of parks and things to do. Excellent primary schools.

And for record I'm northern working class and DH is too and we don't ever feel like we don't fit in. But that's just our experience.

I like east finchley and crouch end too but I have never lived there.

The cafe, yes, but the majority of Motherland was filmed in Acton!

Yes as I said filmed in Korto,the mussy hill vibe is very motherland

“Mum friends” eek that’s a chilling phrase .
Aesthetically MH is very pretty,super park, queens wood and Highgate are peaceful. The Broadway cafe is super. Cilicia is reliable, Luna nice but pricy . The Coffee shops are unremarkable. A chain is a chain with no discernible features
Well know it’s super competitive to get into the schools esp RA or tetherdown. A lot of church attendance and manoeuvres to get in school of choice

Gosh, you're a joy.

Yes mum friends. My son is disabled and I have made friends with other women who have disabled children... Mum friends.

North and Ten & Pierre Alix are lovely and not chains.

Anyway, I'm not being paid by the Muswell hill tourism board... Just happy with where I live.

mum friends. Never understand it as a phrase. A friend is a friend? What typifies or qualifies as a mum friend Vs a friend?

clearly you like MH , evidenced by your posts. Fair enough.
I am actually a pretty joyful person,just keeping keeping on

So in general I’d say East Finchley was seen as having a slightly more villagey vibe, abuts Muswell Hill and is in zone 3 and therefore more expensive. It has the Phoenix cinema and (I think) quite a residents community vibe, but it’s high street is not great and doesn’t really have a villagey feel except perhaps in people’s memories. I’ve never lived there so this is my impression though.
Finchley Central slightly harder to pin down in geography and in character. Largely residential, with some quite old areas around Church End in particular. No specific facilities but schools, open spaces (Dollis brook runs through Woodside Park and Finchley N12 and N3 and is lovely) and a tube station. Ballards Lane shops weave along Finchley Central but is functional. I’m hoping people will use their high streets more and this might improve.
North Finchley and Woodside Park also largely residential (especially Woodside Park) but has two tube stations, the artsdepot, the leisure park (with a Vue and chain eateries) and a slightly more cohesive shopping district around Tally Ho, though mostly just functional too - but loads of great cafes and independent grocery stores (and a lovely Waterstones).
Large parts of Finchley are Victorian housing, and the streets are mostly lovely. It feels safe, despite very recent and tragic news. Don’t read Nextdoor as you’d believe we lived in the worst kind of no go land.
i’ve lived in Finchley - central and north - for 25 years and love it. Great place to bring up children, lovely community, lots to do, great schools and very good connections to central London, and elsewhere via the A1, M1 and A406.
it will never be as cool (expensive) as its neighbours of Muswell Hill and Highgate, but I like it even more for that reason!

quietvoiceplease good analysis and I completely agree with this
"it will never be as cool (expensive) as its neighbours of Muswell Hill and Highgate, but I like it even more for that reason!"

The Finchleys are definitely more urban than MH and CE although, obviously, still suburbs. I think areas like MH and CE attract people who did not grow up in London as you can almost pretend you are in the provinces, that's why I don't like them. I also get the shakes if I'm not reasonably near a tube station, having used the underground all my life, including going to school.
Mind you, I do champion Ealing too, much of which is far from urban but still feels "Londoney " (and I went to school there!)

Hi,
there just reading the thread now. Any recommendations in this area if school is no longer important?

Motherland was set in West London though. But I do know MH v well and hear what you’re saying!

East Finchley is lovely. Def my pick.

Yeah motherland was set in west London - other than the cafe filmed in Chiswick, Acton and Ealing. It definitely has a Chiswick vibe for sure
https://www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/tv-movies/where-london-motherland-set/

Motherland was epitome of West London, and norf London lulu lemon competitive muthas

Can't really comment on the others but Ealing is great. You get the tube, mainline trains into Paddington and out to Reading and Oxford, the Elizabeth line and the Heathrow Express. State primarys, especially around actual Ealing town are generally very good. Beautiful parks, the new cinema complex (finally!) and the independent cinema as well. Very nice vibe, some decent independent coffee shops - Cafe Zee, Roasted Kangaroo and some good restaurants. Lots going on in terms of community and things for kids to join in with.

am waiting for someone to tell me who Lulu Lemon is!

“mum friends. Never understand it as a phrase. A friend is a friend? What typifies or qualifies as a mum friend Vs a friend?”

it’s really not that hard to understand. It is a friend you made through your children, rather than school, a hobby or work.

OP I moved from Ealing to Muswell Hill. I prefer MH, I like the Broadway and the parks etc, and my kids are really enjoying school here, I’d definitely recommend.

Thank you so much. Very useful. Why did you move from Ealing to MH? How does it compare? Is MH as well connected as Ealing which seems quite all right after Elizabeth line.

Thanks! This is my feeling too. We loved it and considering buying it there but trying to compare to MH or CE