Bounds Green (north London) - is it nice?

[Happyus]

Hello mums,

My husband and I are considering moving with our 13 months old baby to Bounds Green.I don't know north London very well so any comments would help.

The idea of moving to North London is to make my husband's commute from Kings Cross easier, and to be able to buy a 3 beds house (budget 550k)..

We now live in a rented flat in Fulham that is obviously a nice area, but too expensive and we need more space.

Any insights on the Bounds Green area would be great. Nice parts? Bad parts? Nice parks? Any stores, cafes, restaurants?

Thanks!
Happyus

Bounds Green is OK but nothing like Fulham.

It's somewhere lots of people who really want to live in Muswell Hill end up as the houses are cheaper and it is on the tube.

There are some nice bits and some quiet areas like Woodland Way, although Scout park is in the middle and it can be a bit noisy when the scouts are having a camp out.

There was plans for a waste plant in the area which did seem to go away, but I would check that the plan are definitely gone before buying in the area as Im sure it will have a huge traffic impact.

I don't know anything about schools apart from the ones on the Muswell Hill side.

Rhodes Avenue very desirable and oversubscribed, secondary Alexandra Park very good but again very oversubscribed.

Personally I'd only move there if it got me a really nice house, but as I say I've never lived there.

Perhaps a Bounds Green person will come and tell you all the good bits.

I used to live between there and Muswell Hill - it's a residential area, doesn't really have a centre as such. Such shops as there are are decent Turkish grocery stores and the like. Perfectly ok but nothing chichi. I felt safe walking around at night, though I did once see someone get their phone snatched.

There's a lovely garden centre with a cafe on Durnsford Road but other than that you would be going to Muswell Hill or Southgate for cafes and restaurants. Couple of decent pubs are the Ranelegh just up from the tube and a bit closer to Mus Hill the Maid of Muswell. The North Circular is big and noisy through there so make sure you are buying well away from it. The proposed waste plant was called Pinkhams Way, don't know what happened there in the end.

Forgot to say, there are frequent buses between Bounds Green and Muswell Hill so it's not really as much of a hassle as it sounds to move between them.

We moved from Tufnell Park to Bounds Green last summer, and got loads more for our money. It's pleasant enough, not massively exciting but nice and quiet and safe. There's a brilliant cafe/bar called The Step and a nice child-friendly pub called The Ranleagh. I'd definitely recommend it, it's also easy to get to Muswell Hill and the train goes to Hornsey in about 4 mins if you fancy going to Crouch End. Definitely up and coming, I'd say.

Thanks for the replies!

We put an offer on a house and it was accepted. We can not wait to move.... have more space and start exploring North London!

We are now in the same position. We live in Kent and looking to move to North London. We have just put an offer to a house in Bounds Green. Could you tell me your recent experiences about the area. I have 2 18 months old so looking to sending them to Bounds Green Infant/Junior Schools in the future so if you could let me know about the school, I would really appreciate that, too. Thanks.