Colindale and Edgware Road, good for family with young baby?

[Mia722]

Hey girls, hubby needs to relocate to London due to work and we are looking for the areas that suit for family with young baby(little boy is 7 month now). Hubby found a few seemingly nice 3 bedroom flats, brand new ones in the area of Colindale and Edgware Road NW9. Wondering if anyone is familiar with this area? It looks like it is under huge development and reconstruction, but I am still very concerned if it is safe to bring the small baby with us living in this area.

Any suggestions here in terms of family friendly area? thanks!

I'm from Kingsbury and have lived in Colindale. I wouldn't choose Colindale.
Kingsbury is better (though it's changed a lot) and I'd choose Kingsbury/Queensbury, Edgware Stanmore over Colindale or Burnt Oak.

Harebellmeadow the Chalk Hill Estate isn't in Colindale it's Wembley Park though I thought it'd been pulled down/rebuilt years ago

Hi, had my kids in Crystal Palace. Lovely place to bring up kids. 3 local parks, Crystal Park Park, South Norwood Lakes, Westow Park. Lots of coffee shops. Lots of trains from Crystal Palace, Gypsy Hill, Anerley, Penge East, Penge West. Google Transport for London map. Kings College Hospital if planning more kids. Close to Forest Hill for Hornimans Museum, Dulwich for more open spaces, Beckenham for Waitrose.
Good Luck with your move.

Have just seen the updates to this thread. I have lived both sides of the river and North is more expensive and on the whole a bit more 'posh'. I lived in NW London, hence knowing what Colindale was like some years ago, and moved away, returned a few years ago and have seen the changes.

I would suggest Abbey Wood if you wanted to be south, but I believe prices are rising there. Crystal Palace/Gipsy Hill might be an option but although I lived in Croydon, West, East and South in the 70's I wouldn't live there now.

Another area that is being regenerated to an extent is Mill Hill East which used to be Army and is being developed, however it is more pricey than Colindale. Some parts of Watford might be in your budget.

Hi OP

Honestly I think SE London would be a better place to focus on esp if your OH needs to commute to London Bridge!

Yes, there is not the same extent of tube coverage as there is north of the river, but there is an extensive network of overground/national rail train lines!

With your budget, looking at somewhere like Greenwich/Blackheath you could get more for your money compared with that first property you posted.

And the further out you go eg to places like Beckenham or Crystal Palace, for £2000/month you could get a house to rent with garden.

As opposed to living on 5th floor of purpose built flats, surrounded by countless other residents.

You do sound keen on north London though, the only place I've visited/spent time in is St Albans which was lovely.

I've got a close friend who lives there, Verulaminum Park is great for families!

Although, when we were there recently there were issues with the travellers who had set up site in the park- OH had his wallet stolen, as did several others, and Police were there literally chasing after a number of suspects!

Unfortunately that was impression we were left with, but St Albans otherwise spears to be a fantastic place to be with small children.

Hey girls, wondering anyone knows about Upwood Road, Lee, London, SE12 8AN, this has come to our list for consideration, is this a family friendly area?

That's a nice, safe family friendly area. SE12 has good transport links from Hither Green or Lee stations. Very good primary schools in Lee (but not sure about secondary schools. Close to Blackheath/Greenwich for cafe culture.

Bit late to the show on this but I live in Colindale, not far from the RAF museum. The area has got so much better in the last 5 years and there are facilities for young children.

There are a few children's centres in colindale and slightly further out in mill hill that have stay and play, soft play groups etc. As PP have said the RAF museum is not far and is brilliant.

I am however moving out of the area, as I have a 15 week old and we are currently in a 1 bed flat so need more space and sadly can't afford to stay in the area.

Thanks very much MrsPatmore! comparing with Basevi Way London SE8, which would you recommend more?:)

Whetstone and High Barnet are fab; good tube access (30 - 40 mins direct into city) and good bus and overland train network as well. Crucially, the area has excellent schools and lots of parks so it's a family magnet. It's a lovely place to live because you don't feel the crush of a city but you are within easy access of it. . If you go further in towards Muswell Hill you will need £2 million for a decent 3 or 4 bed but you can still get a decent house in High Barnet/New Barnet for a lot less than that. It's ethnically mixed but not remotely 'ghettoised' towards any one group/culture.

Basevi Way is a new'ish estate down by the river in Greenwich. V close to central Greenwich and DLR stops. I don't think the school choice is as good as in Lee and Deptford is close by which is getting trendy but is also edgy. I think Lee is safer and more family friendly but the commute may be slightly longer (although not much). Basically Lee is a bit more surburban.

I have a friend in Whetstone and that's a great area too but much more expensive than South London and not such an easy commute to LB.

Deptford is 6 mins to London Bridge, so that’s a great commute.
It’s not that edgy - but somewhat different from Dublin! However, it is getting trendier, slowly....
That Crystal Palace one looks good too, to give you a house. Great post from someone above re everything CP has to over. Longer commute to LB, but totally doable.
Lee - still a contender. But possibly a bit dull.
Hither Green could be a good alternative. A bit more going on than Lee maybe. Also Brockley or Beckenham, as someone else mentioned above.

Hey girls, just want to update that we have just successfully found a suitable 3 bed house in the are of finchley, within our budget and very close to west finchley station so commute is good too. Thanks for all your kind advice, I really appreciate it:)

Yeah. Good choice. You're quite near me now