What's Wood Green like?

[lazysummer]

DD and her boyfriend are looking at flats in this area. Is it a good and safe place to live? She currently lives in Clapham Common.

To be fair OP it does depend what their priorities are. Wood Green is not a "naice" area. At all. But it's very reasonably priced considering its location and has good transport links.

When we bought our first flat in London we decided to prioritise the area (it was really important to me to live somewhere which felt safe). We compromised instead on number of bedrooms, distance from central London etc.

On the other hand I have friends who bought larger properties in more, ahem, vibrant areas and are happy with that choice.

Most people have to compromise quite a lot in order to buy in London so they might need to work out the least worst option (sorry if that's a bit doom and gloom!)

Wood Green is grim. If they can afford I'd buy closer to Bounds Green/Bowes Park. Horrible aggressive atmosphere. I wouldn't feel comfortable walking at night. I grew up and live nearby.

I used to go some voluntary work there about 15 years ago. I absolutely hated going there. Would dread it every week - even the bus ride there was depressing. Haven't been back since so have no idea what it's like now.

I used to live in Wood Green (just off Noel Park/near Turnpike Lane), it wasn't that bad. A short walk to Green Lanes which has amazing Turkish food. May be it's gone downhill since I left (about 12 years ago now) though!

Wood Green is fine. It's unlikely to be fine if you're the child of a crack addict living on an estate. It's likely to be fine if you're buying a property and moving from Clapham.

It's well connected, close to Green Lanes for Turkish food/shops and close to Crouch End.

It seems like E10/E17/E11 is the place to be, although I'm bias.

And I'd hate to live in Clapham!

Posted earlier. I think Wood Greenis fine, however I did go for E17 when buying a house....

Temporarily rented a flat on Broadwater Farm, back in the day. Scarey!

We live the next town over where prices are through the roof unfortunately. There's quite a big community down there as well as the shopping mall but again is a bit dangerous. It's also near the train station i don't know where but apparently there are some quite nice parts you'd have to look hard. I

Have you looked at Hornsey? It's a little better but still cheap and near the posher parts of NL.

The Wood Green bookshop is very good - a truly independent shop. There are good (free) music/art sessions at wg library.

Otherwise the high street does feel like it has gone downhill - bhs replaced by a massive pound shop, m&s looked derelict last I saw, etc. But the mall has a good toy shop, Tiger, primark, boots etc.

I do think it depends which direction you go from the centre - towards crouch end /Hornsey /ally pally /muswell hill/ bounds green / Bowes park = all good & I have friends who still like Noel Park too. Towards Tottenham /Broadwater/ wg centre etc = less good.

We used to live in East Finchley, an often forgotten bit attached to Muswell Hill. Villagey feel and a tube.

If I was going back now, I'd look west at places along the central line, such as Perivale, straight into town in 30 mins. Lovely properties near the park and tube.

I used to go to Wood Green a lot as a teenager in the 90s. I still go back occasionally now. It's one of the few areas of north London that seems to have gone downhill and never seems to 'up and come' despite on paper having some nice housing stock, street improvements, good transport and being on the edge of some very gentrified areas. Wallis, M&S and Pearsons the department store all pulled out, with the latter becoming a Primark. Dalston used to be far worse but now it's far better. Definitely agree Bounds Green or Alexandra Park preferable if a bit dull

Thanks to all for your replies. They are looking at Noel Park particularly.

Budget?

Not sure of budget, but looking at 2 bed flats, preferably Victorian/ Edwardian.

I've lived in Wood Green for over 20 years and the negative comments (grim, horrible..etc) just don't sound like my community at all.
Life in Wood Green can be pretty cool actually.
I know lots of my neighbours and we've had a couple of street parties.
I don't live in Noel Park but only a stones throw away.
We have great transport links, the Chocolate Factory (art studios), Karamel (vegan cafe and arts venue) and The Big Green Bookshop (run by a lovely lot who also put on community book events).
Today I had a coffee in The Green Rooms (a new arts hotel featured in Elle Deco etc), went for a piano lesson in the piano shop on Myddleton Road (Bowes Park area but still N22), rambled in Alexandra Palace parkland and went ice skating in the ice rink at Ally Pally with my skating mad daughter.
Yes the high street could do with a kick up the arse but I think that is the same for lots of pockets of London. There seems to be plans to improve the area and I have my fingers crossed!

I do feel safe to walk the streets and have chosen to bring up my two children here. There's been a definite influx of young families and home improvements over the last couple of years.

The Salisbury Pub on Green Lanes is an excellent pub and there's a nice cafe called Blend. The Turkish restaurants in the area are some of the best in the U.K. and cheap to boot.

I'm in an area that gets slagged off a bit (SE25 for those who care) and funnily enough DFiance and I were renting in Clapham until this time last year.

I think you really have to wander around the area to get to know it. I wouldn't be too worried about jobless types hanging on the high street during working hours - it's inevitable that the 'naice' inhabitants will be in Zone 1 at that point (and even my parents' lovely Surrey village has a few dodgy types hanging around the offy on a Wednesday at 3pm). But go down in the early evening, research online. Is there anywhere that they'd want to go for dinner/a pint? DFiance are still pre-kids & late 20s so not having somewhere to nip out for one - that wasn't horribly intimidating - was quite important to us.

Look, at the end of the day, unless you're Paris Hilton you're going to need to move out of South West London to buy a decent one bed flat for less than £400,000. Sadly!

You don't always get a choice in this. If we could have bought our 2 bed Victorian garden flat in Clapham for 300k we would have done! We couldn't, so we moved down here. I'm still happier to be on the property ladder. I couldn't have lived somewhere I felt unsafe (although Clapham North on a Saturday night at 1am can be pretty dodgy..) but I'm prepared to give up a bit of glamour in order to have the security of home owning. And in London you can't have it all!

Great advice- thank you!

I work in wood green , live in Bounds Green and grew up in crouch end so I feel I know the area well. There are nice parts if you head up green lanes towards Manor House, but the high road is one of the most stressful places in London, and I am fairly easy going. Choc a bloc with people all of whom seem to smoke and hit their kids. Sorry if that sounds really snobby, I'm honestly not a snob. I've lived in seven sisters and Whitechapel (before it got a bit trendier) and both of those are infinitely nicer than Wood Green high st. I'd also reccomend Bounds Green - it's still got a bit of grit to it, but has some nice pubs and cafes and is more relaxed - perfect combo in my opinion

Hi - I've just seen this thread as I've been thinking a bit about Wood Green myself. I currently live in the 'nice' bit of N22 near Ally Pally in a gorgeous flat (the estate agent told me 10 years ago to buy on the 'right' side of the railway) but with two kids, I'm thinking I'd like more space and am considering a house in Wood Green (among other places). The group of streets which make up the Scotch Estate just round the back of Lordship Lane look nice and leafy and the houses seem decently sized from the outside. But the thing about WG is that while yes, it is 'moody', there are small signs of improvement, from the Green Rooms hotel, where I've seen plenty of hipsters and mum's hanging out for coffee, and the new Pret. Also, Haringey is proposing to embark on a major regeneration project of the area to the tune of 3.5 billion pounds! All the plans and proposals are on Haringey council's website and consultations are taking place now. They are actively encouraging people to give their comments on the plans which I must say look impressive. Although I will say it does seem that much of the investment is dependent on WG getting the Crossrail connection but thousands of new homes, jobs and shops are planned over the next 15years, so now might be the time to buy before prices rocket! Having said all that, my kids are in fab schools near my end, so maybe I feel more confident to take a punt. People have been a little negative about it on this thread but I certainly wouldn't discount it.

I live very near Wood Green, in Tottenham near Bruce Castle. Yes it's a bit gritty; but this is where we could afford to buy a house in North London. We've been here three years and I can honestly say that I love living here. I have never felt threatened, even when coming home late at night. We friends with all our neighbours and although we come from all around the globe we socialise and have built a real community. I can walk to the tube in 12 minutes and it's 15 mins to Oxford Circus, or I can go to the overground in 3 mins and it's 20 mins to Liverpool Street.

I know I sound a bit evangelical but I really can't recommend N17 enough. People are sometimes a bit horrified when I say I live in Tottenham but it's changing so much and it's one of the few vaguely affordable places left in North London. We bought a 2 bed Victorian flat 3 years ago for £235k. We're just sold it for £400k and are moving to a lovely big Victorian terrace just around the corner.

It feels so much more central than Wood Green- I think because it's on the Victoria line rather than the Piccadilly. Do ask them to consider Tottenham- it's really much nicer than its reputation would suggest.

If it's near Turnpike Lane, your DD should run a mile. The only place I've ever been mugged and the police advice was to
Move away from the neighborhood...

We live near Wood Green and I no longer feel as safe as I once did. There has been an increase in anti-social behaviour in the last couple of years (in line with the decline of the high street), with incidents including men openly urinating during the day in parks used by kids and women being sexually harassed by groups of men (this happens a lot on Green Lanes). Yes, you can still get a house for a decent price, particularly in Noel Park area (although the schools aren't that great there), but I now want to move away.

Sorry, but it's grim. I lived near there for a while and a friend of mine lives there now. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Wood Green is going to change dramatically in the next few years due to huge re-development so now would be the time to buy a home there. It's very near muswell hill, ally pally and highgate, on the Picadilly line and very near the north circular if you drive.