Where would you choose? Muswell Hill, Crouch End, Southgate

[Mumtobe0204]

Just that really.

I found 4 properties I like.

MH - between coldfall wood and colney hatch lane

CE - Harringay ladder or just next to Harringay overground

Southgate - on hampden way.

I commute to central London for work. Farringdon/chancery lane.

Primary schools are important.

I live in Alexandra Park, close to all those areas. We’ll we’re moving to Somerset soon, but that’s because we’re fed up with London generally. If we were staying it would be in Alexandra Park! Lovely neighbourhood, close to CE and MH, lots of parks etc. Overgound from Alexandra Palace, takes about 20 mins into Moorgate, Zone 3. Walking distance to Bounds Green zone 3 Piccadilly line.

im not a parent but im aware Rhodes Ave (primary) and Alexandra Park (secondary) both have excellent reputations.

I’ve almost talked myself out of moving but am planning to retire soon and want to release some equity.

Fed up of London too, live in MH but even lovely parks n woods aren't enough reason to stay..

Hmm...turnpike lane is a horrible area imo

I'd choose MH but tricky if you work in central as you're a bit of a hike from a tube.

It’s where the Tube is, not where the property OP might buy is.

I have lived in all these places. We would have chosen Muswell Hill if we could have afforded what we wanted. We settled on Southgate because of the space and the schools but it’s not cool at all.

I know you’re only thinking about primaries now. I think secondary schools are important. You may as well buy in the catchment of a good secondary so you have an option when the time comes, plus it will have good resale value.

My thoughts:

MH - a favourite of ours though very wealthy so expect it to be monocultural! A pain to get to.

CE - Also quite wealthy, white and middle class but proximity to Finsbury Park means it has a bit more diversity and is less of posh bubble. (Still quite a posh bubble)

SG - not trendy at all, but safe and wide open spaces. Hampden Way is a really busy road so avoid that, there are loads of other roads to buy on. Piccadilly line is so convenient even if you are the end of it!

@bryceQ MH served by buses to highgate underground almost as regular as the tube

I live in Southgate. Hampden Road is very busy and the house you are looking at isn't on the side that is not overlooked. We however know lot of families that live on that road quite happily and it's in the catchment for the popular ashmole primary/secondary.

Well I live in N15, so look over here if want? Two of mine are at the local outstanding (ofsted rated) primary and the youngest is in an amazing nursery. The area is honestly good (DM me if you want more info) and you’ll get waaaay more for your money that CE.

The one in Kings Gate Mews, which is still available as far as I can see, is in the street next to my house. I could walk over there in about 3 minutes right now if I wanted to 😀.

It’s not the Harringay ladder, that’s on the other side of the railway.

I don’t understand why @Crikeyalmighty says “it’s not great for transport”. We are 5 minutes’ walk from Hornsey overground, with frequent trains to the City that all go through Finsbury Park (literally 2 stops/5 minutes down the line) where you can connect straight to the Victoria and Piccadilly lines. There is a bus stop at the end of the road. Crouch End Broadway is 10 mins walk or 3 mins on bus. The whole area is full of lovely Victorian houses and the property is right between two really good primary schools. Stationers’ Park is 5 mins walk away.

That mews is in a really quiet spot with no passing traffic.

It’s a really good buy.

Def southgate. Its really lovely. Good links near m25 lovely schools and parks.

Look up the Thameslink Great Northern route map- Hornsey, Harringay, Finsbury Park, Drayton Park, Highbury & Islington, Essex Road, Old Street, Moorgate.

At Highbury & Islington you just cross the platform to connect to the tube in seconds

Moorgate connects to Elizabeth line now as well as Northern.

There are trains to Gatwick from Finsbury Park.

Oh just re-read your OP. Commute to Farringdon super easy- Hornsey to Finsbury Park then cross platform for direct train to Farringdon.

Route here.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148710962#/?channel=RES_BUY

Ooh that one’s lovely @Quitelikeit. Just a couple of stops on 144 bus to Hornsey station to access the Farringdon route I posted above.

To be honest, the Kings Gate Mews property doesn’t have a great layout or internal proportions. I think it’s overpriced. There are loads of lovely places in the area though. Selection of period ones below. You could. Also look at New River Village for more modern flats.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147536864

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147534080

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148230434

The one near coppets wood is a short walk to the bus, and the bus is frequent. I used to live right near there and Dh and I both caught the tube in, had no issues.

OP isn’t commuting to a Northern Line station though, so Highgate tube is not that useful to her. Farringdon would mean changing at KX. I find the Northern line really noisy, hot in summer and slow, as well as a faff to get in and out of the deep stations. Much nicer to go overground the whole way from Hornsey.

The Nelson Road and Church Road ones are lovely! I wouldn't choose to live on Middle Lane, it's a traffic rat run.

Church Road is probably more busy for traffic than Middle Lane. The Middle Lane one does have Priory Park right opposite (plus a private garden) but it’s a bit more of a walk to Hornsey station. The Church Road one is much closer to Hornsey and also v close to a large Sainsbury’s it’s also first floor I think so no garden but no traffic right outside the window.

At East Barnet / Southgate for that price you could get a lovely 3 bed house with drive and has quick access to trains to moorgate, piccadilly line and northern line.

I lived in Bounds Green but moved out when my children were primary school aged.

@WhatapityWapiti I agree I think it's a cracking buy- I'm going from my experience but it's a long time ago if I'm honest and it may well be different now- so ignore me OP- as @WhatapityWapiti has her feet on the ground now- lovely area - I've got a very soft spot for it as only have happy memories

That’s nice @Crikeyalmighty . We’ve been here since 2008. The building of the new shiny Sainsburys on Hornsey High Street was a game changer, and Banners is now gone, but there are plenty of the old Crouch End institutions still going too, like Beam and the Haberdashery. The Town Hall redevelopment has really smartened up the centre of CE too.

@WhatapityWapiti ah I did love Banners- there was a really good little restaurant on the corner of Weston park with a roof terrace when we were there and a fantastic old school tea rooms where they served cakes off silver cake stands - think that was on Tottenham lane. We had a flat at one point on Rathcoole Gardens (that flat was a bit grim) and then a much nicer big one bedder on 1st floor on Weston park when our son was born in 1998.