South Woodford, Woodford Green or Buckhurst Hill?

[wndrwoman]

Hello!

What are your opinions on these areas as places to live and bring up a young family? I know the least about Buckhurst Hill.

We are looking to move as we hear there are good schools, green space, and friendly communities. We are a young couple, no kids yet but would like to have a small family in the near future. We work in the City but would love to be able to relax/coffee/brunch/park in our local area on the weekends and avoid travelling towards central.

We care quality of schools and being part of a community.

I would appreciate any advice you can about these particular areas/ and their personalities.

Thank you!

i would like to know the answer too!

IMO South Woodford is more cramped and has more road noise but it will depend on the road.

Presumably you'll want to be able to walk to the Tube if you possibly can. So does everybody else. From some parts of S. Woodford you can also go to Snaresbrook. Trains to the City are horribly packed but at least it is possible.

Also, re South Woodford, if you're thinking of having kids, then you'll want to think about looking nearish the schools - catchment areas can be quite small.

I would consider north Chingford too. Overground train to Liverpool st in 30 minutes, epping forest on your doorstep. Nice area and prices are not as expensive as Buckhurst Hill/woodford green. I agree South Woodford is less green and more congested.

Plus train station is the first stop so always gauranteed a seat.

I'd have a look at north Chingford and highams park too.

Are you thinking of moving to one of these areas too?

Thank you PigletJohn. I'm looking at Church End area because of Churchfields but I'm told it's super popular because of the school nearby. Oh dear regarding the tube, maybe I try out the journey to work from there!

Thank you Sassybynature. I hadn't considered North Chingford before. If you have any insights on what roads are a good starting point to look into would really appreciate it. And if you know anything about the schools there. :)

Buckhurst Hill-beautiful but very pricey
South Woodford-mostly lovely but not so roomy ad area has gone a bit downhill in the last few years-depends where you buy
Woodford-lovely but a few rougher areas-not so nice around by Roding Valley but thats still ok, just not as pretty
North Chingford-not so glam but a steady nice area next to the Forest
Highams Park-the new' Walthamstow, a lovely area but house prices pushed up due to the ex Hackney brigade moving out of Walthamstow to HP

look also at Theydon Bois-gorgeous with a tube station
Loughton-average area but has a tube and near woodland
Epping-gorgeous area with a tube and looks like a village

Thanks Fiddlefigs and Peachypetite.

Re Highams park, any advice on which roads/parts are in your opinion good places to start looking would be highly appreciated!

I grew up in Epping and went to school in Woodford Green, it’s a lovely area! But I do think schools can be an issue, in my day scrimping and saving for private was very common. Was a few years ago so that may have changed though.

Can vouch for north Chingford, we have just moved because of work but area was lovely, forest on the doorstep and a decentish high street etc. Lots of things to do for kids in the area too! You get more bang for your buck and lots of big houses with lovely large gardens.

I've lived in the area for 20 yrs. DCs in local private schools. We are one of those scrimping families mentioned.

State Primaries all good but yes watch catchment areas. Churchfields has collapsed to a small area since we've lived here. Grammar schools have increased capacity but still a bun fight. The comps are super tankers with 8-10 form entry. Beale I think is 12. Highams Park (if you end up there) has a high preforming secondary (outstanding rated) also small catchment. Trinity catholic sec- also strong but religious link enforced hard. privates increasingly competitive. So Woodford better provisioned overall than the other two options in terms of services. Woodford Green is leafier overall but Woodford Bridge not. I'd avoid. Snaresbrook also a great choice. Wanstead. Buckhurst Hill I know less well. Not sure I'd bother. Loughton has more going on if you're going out that far. Both Loughton and BH feel like properly Essex relative to the others. You'd need to judge if that degree would of suburban vibe works for you.

Bewildering range of kids activities - anything you can think of. Lots of activities for parents. It's a great area raise kids. Hard to go far wrong.

we're currently in zone 3 n17 and would like a but more space and i've just started the search for areas. We're a bit ahead of you & all ready have two primary ages children.

So to sum up from the all the above info...

• check out North Chingford
• Check out Epping
• check out Highams park - ex hackney crowd (me!)
• Theydon Bois-gorgeous has a tube

• South Woodford is over crowded
• Some areas of Woodford are okay
• Loughton & Buckhust hill are proper Essex

does that sound about right?

I was also wondering about enfield.

OP i hope you don't mind me jump on the thread, its like you read my mind this morning!

The secondary schools in Redbridge borough are better than in Epping Forest borough.

If that’s a factor then I’d try to stay in Redbridge.

CreativeMumma not at all! The more the merrier, I was worried that I wouldn't get a response but everyone here has posted so much fab insight!

Your summary sounds about spot on. I'm starting to look into North Chingford now but would love to know more about the best roads to start looking into (I realise that's subjective).

Thank you to everybody who took the time to post :)

HRH Catherine sorry if this is a silly question; is it not possible to apply to schools outside of the borough you live in (even if it is very close by)?

Super competitive I gather. Catchments are very small.

HRH Catherine - ah I see, thank you I'm starting to get the hang of this now!

South Woodford, you'll fight to get on the Central Line in the morning . North Chingford has a nice vibe near the station and a seat every day! It's also got great open spaces.
Most Waltham Forest and Redbridge schools are decent but they all go up and down and by the time you have children, it'll be different to now.

South Woodford maybe a little more crowded but that's because it has everything! M & S Food, a reasonably sized Sainsbury's, a Waitrose lots of restaurants and cafes, a multi screen Odeon cinema and a Tube station. It's easy to park at Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

The Firs Estate ( the common name for roads between Bressey Grove and Broadwalk) are the best plus The Drive. Depends on your budget of course. All in the London Borough of Redbridge.

I've lived in SW for over 30 years! It's got better in that time, not worse!

Checkout the local free publication South Woodford Village Gazette to get the vibe.

issuu.com/swvg

Thank you Mayhew! Heard lots of good things about NC on here so starting to look into it now.

Thank you Mosaic! Firs Estate is beyond my budget, am looking into Church End. Going to dive into the link you sent - cheers!

Creativemumma that's about the gist of it but Woodford is generally very nice as is Woodford Green, not Woodford Bridge though, South Woodford is nice but more crowded but has great shops/nightlife etc
Enfield is nice too but £££ also depends on which part of Enfield, I think EN1 is a no EN3 is a yes.

Wanstead hasnt been mentioned much but is very nice