Crouch End is villagey, family-friendly North London at its best. The area is teeming with independent coffee shops and boutiques, and there are seemingly endless options for recreation and leisure. Although just beyond reach of the tube, there are excellent bus connections, and many people live within a 25-minute walk of Finsbury Park station.
Families and local businesses galore. This is the kind of neighbourhood where you might run into the same people in your favourite independent coffee shop, where they've learnt your name and usual order. There are still true locals in Crouch End - people who have always lived here and would never consider living anywhere else. The area is popular with artist/bohemian types as well as families.
Crouch End is considered by most to be a safe neighbourhood, and is popular with families. It is not a nightlife destination, and doesn't suffer from the associated antisocial behavior.
Some residents have said on community forums that parking in Crouch End is difficult and expensive. Pay and display rates can be over £3 per hour. Pay attention to controlled parking zones. A proportionally higher number of Crouch End residents own one or more cars than other Haringey residents.
Crouch End is in large part, though by no means exclusively, a family area. It has some bars and pubs, but is not a buzzy nightlife destination.
Both primary and secondary schools in Crouch End are mostly good. The area also offers access to a lot of green space, and many of the properties here are very large. The area has a lot of staying power, with many people choosing to upgrade from a flat to a house or to a larger house without changing neighbourhoods. Crouch End is definitively, though not exclusively, a family area.
Green space and roomy properties - and the presence of other kids and dogs - make this neighbourhood a great place to own a pet.
Crouch End, in Zone 3, is very well served by bus, but less well connected by tube. The W7 bus goes to Finsbury Park Tube, which is on the Picadilly and Victoria lines. Hornsey and Harringay rail stations get to King's Cross in under 15 minutes.