Montepelier area in Ealing

[onthefencesitter]

DH and I just viewed a 3 bed flat in this area. We loved the flat, we can afford it, plus it's significantly larger than our current flat (we are selling it to upsize). DH likes the flat but not the location; he says it's not well connected as it's a 15-20 min walk from Ealing Broadway station (we are currently a 10 Min walk from our zone 3 tube station) and will add 20 minutes to the commute. I want this particular part of Ealing as it's in the catchment of Montpelier primary school plus it's very green..plus crossrail is due to open soon.

But at the same time DH is ok with living in areas like Muswell Hill even though plenty of parts of Muswell hill are over a mile from a tube station. We have put in serious offers in the past for a flat there and he was enthusiastic to live there. I think Ealing is better connected than Muswell hill (we both work in the city) and also has many more shops.

Would be grateful if any locals could advise. My DH actually thinks that Ealing is a lovely area, he just thinks it might not be the most practical transport wise but perhaps some of you could raise some other 'pros' that outweigh this. Btw how are the secondary schools there?.

Thank you.

Montpellier is a lovely area and in sure theres loads of buses down to ebroadway if u dont fancy the walk..

Primary has a good reputation but it is a funny area for secondary...lots get c of e godly to try and get into Twyford in Acton although they are also opening another school that side of the Borough which should ve in full flow in a couple of years...otherwise some get to drayton or brentside in Hanwell

@averythinline ah we are jewish so may be trying for jewish school though DH isn't as keen because he went to one and didn't rate it even if the results were good (DH says that was down to parents, but i guess the same can be said for many london comps!)

Ealing is really well connected for zone 3, with multiple options in case of issues on one line. It will all depend on your destination though- my office moved within London and my commute went from a comfortable 40 mins to a much more challenging 75 mins door to door. That risk is always going to be there in zone 3 - we had also been looking at Muswell Hill, and favoured Ealing because it was better connected to work. Two years later we would have made the opposite assessment.

maybe just as important as length is that it is a comfortable commute - I always had a seat when commuting from Ealing Broadway to the city, and even when going Piccadilly was slightly faster (we lived in Northfields part of Ealing), I would walk the extra distance to EB because I knew It would be far more pleasant. Not sure if this will change due to Crossrail extending the line?

We loved Ealing, especially once we had kids - super child friendly area and community. We have since left London entirely, but would absolutely recommend it!

Dont know if theres a Jewish school in the area that might change your logistics again....but at least 2 synagogues
Definitely agree evidence is that parental involvement is key in attainment but ealing state schools are pretty good if you look at progress8 scores....debatable if religious schools are comprehensive really....esp Twyford but they used to have world faith places as well...

I really like the area especially for road travel getting out of London on M40 and M4 to M25 etc for coast, West Country and the NW for weekends etc rather than the schlep around the NC from Muswell Hill.

Would you consider Northfields or the parts of Hanwell that are easy to walk to Boston Manor tube station? From those areas you have Piccadilly line and very easy to get to train station at Brentford or into Ealing Broadway from Northfields.
Fielding and Oaklands are both decent primary schools and Elthorne is a nice secondary. Less lovely than Montpelier but still nice open spaces and good amenities. I used to love the walk into Ealing Broadway through Lamas and Walpole parks

I went to Montpelier Primary school!

Was it good? Also what did you do for secondary?