Places in Finchley/barnet to live

Ybe

Which is better out of whetstone and North Finchley if you want to be in a suburban area where central london is easily accessible by tube. 

GDB2222

I would go for Whetstone myself, as there’s much more open space around. 

Green_hopeful

Have a look at the main line trains as well. They are often much quicker to get into London than the tube. 

Maahes

Having lived in Barnet for over thirty years, all things being equal I would pick Whetstone over North Finchley. Both are on the Northern Line but Oakleigh Park train station is close to Whetstone.

Ybe

Maahes said:

Having lived in Barnet for over thirty years, all things being equal I would pick Whetstone over North Finchley. Both are on the Northern Line but Oakleigh Park train station is close to Whetstone.

Are they both nice areas though? If you ignore the Oakleigh park train link. 

Maahes

Ybe said:

Maahes said:

Having lived in Barnet for over thirty years, all things being equal I would pick Whetstone over North Finchley. Both are on the Northern Line but Oakleigh Park train station is close to Whetstone.

Are they both nice areas though? If you ignore the Oakleigh park train link. 

Define 'nice areas'. I would have happily lived in both, Whetstone is a bit more upmarket, nicer high street, better restaurants and pubs. If you're travelling into London to work, Whetstone is better as you're more likely to get a seat on the tube.

silvercar

More house for your money in High Barnet (always get a seat on the tube) or New Barnet (near the train line, with Cockfosters tube not that far away). Whetstone and N Finchley are both good areas.

Jaybee_16

Whetstone would always be a preference over North Finchley. 

Section62

Ybe said:

Which is better out of whetstone and North Finchley if you want to be in a suburban area where central london is easily accessible by tube. 

North Finchley town centre is a bit remote from the nearest tube station, but has the advantage of being on the Superloop bus routes which give good connections to other lines in case of strikes/incidents/engineering work. North Finchley is a longstanding bus network hub which balances the poorer tube connection.

Whetstone has a decent bus route connecting to Arnos Grove (and passes close to New Southgate) as well as the north-south routes, but access towards the west (Mill Hill or Edgware) is a bit tortuous.

Which area is best depends on other things - like the type of housing you want and whether you'll have a car as well. North Finchley is probably better overall if you'll be car-free.

It also depends on what you mean by "central" London, and why you'll be travelling there.  Thameslink from Mill Hill can get you to St Pancras or Farringdon generally faster than any of the tube services elsewhere in the Barnet area. The Pic line from Arnos Grove tends to be more comfortable for getting to the West End. One of the downsides of using the Northern Line is the central London interchanges tending to be very busy stations (e.g. Euston or Leicester Square) - so if you'll be doing regular journeys in peak times it is sometimes best to start with which route is likely to give you least stress.

Otherwise I'd agree with the comments others have made - especially GDB2222's point about open space.  If you need greenery then North Finchley isn't ideal. (Mill Hill East might be better on that score)