How living in Hampstead Heath looks like?

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Hampstead Heath is our favourite area so far. We dream about living there. It’s so quiet and close to the nature. However many people here seem to praise Muswell Hill or Crouch End.
Does anyone have experience of living in Hampstead Heath/Highgate? Are the people nice there, keen to talk to each other (for example mums in the playground). We are not fully British and didn’t go to private school here but very open minded and love talking to people.

I've never lived there but my friend has. There is a steady, older population and a more transient younger population that rent so it's harder to have long standing relationships as people up sticks to buy elsewhere in London. There is also a sizeable population of people there on work postings for a couple of years who then leave. This means schools do have places opening up in all years.

It's a nice place to live, affluent as you would expect with nice cafes, bars and the Heath.

We live a short distance away and spend a lot of time there at toddler classes. I've found that most of the adults at the toddler classes are nannies - 60% or more. And also when we go to playgrounds. It's quite a difference from when we lived in Highbury with my eldest was at toddler groups, it would be mums most of the time. I'm a sahm and it's been quite hard to for me to meet other mums here as the nannies don't want to connect in the same way, they tend to chat to other nannies. There are some brilliant activities though for dc in the area, which is why we go there.

The area is not too far out of central London but I think that car use tends to be higher than other parts of zone 2/3, perhaps because it's quite hilly and it's an affluent area. That means you're less likely to bump into people out and about, so a bit less of a community than in walkable areas. It also means that traffic is awful especially at school run times.

I’ve lived in Hampstead area for over 10 years and love it. I have two under 5s and it’s been a lovely place to spend time with small children - really quiet, clean and safe. I would agree that one downside is nannies definitely dominate the playgroup and swings, but I’ve met other mums there too and there’s no shortage of mums to meet locally using Peanut. We love nature so the heath is a huge plus. Also the large Waterstones and cafe, the cinemas and the range of largely child friendly eating options. We find it a friendly place to live - for example we know all the people on our street and often bump into people we know on the high street. I think it’s probably more laid back than other similarly affluent areas of London. My partner and I like that we can easily access grown up things like the cinema or a meal out if we get a couple of hours childcare. The quick access to London is a huge plus and I do a lot with the children in the city centre as well as locally.
For children there’s events at the local libraries, gymnastics at Finchley Road O2, an amazing playgroup and after school club on the high street, the Peggy Jay centre on the heath, lots of playground options. Swiss Cottage and Kentish Town have leisure centres.
AMA 🙂

We must be two of the non nannies at toddler play group 🙂👋🏼

Oh and yes to heavy traffic at school run times. It can get quite congested if you’re relying on driving. One of those double the drive time that Google suggests situations. For example, at school rush hour Hampstead to Highgate takes 20-30 minutes

I have 2 under 2 and while we do have a nanny, I also go to playgroups and try to do as much as possible with my children. Unfortunately I saw lots of my local friends move away as their family and their property needs expanded as Hampstead is so atrociously expensive. The competition for good schools is also insane despite the many opportunities on offer.
The benefits are quite obvious - lots of outdoor space, mostly safe and idyllic atmosphere, great schools and nurseries on your doorstep.

I just wanted to add that state primaries do still have lots of space. The ones we toured last year all had space in most year groups and there was no issue getting into reception. I totally appreciate this might be very different with private/ secondary - our experience is just with state primary. (We were also largely very impressed with the primaries we looked at)

That’s true, state schools in Hampstead are all outstanding. I have lots of friends that are happy there, but it’s quite complicated when it comes to indies.