North Wood Green is a suburban pocket of North London that allows residents the serenity of living outside of the centre while still maintaining wonderful transport connections. Commuters who are drawn to the area for the beautiful Victorian homes and green spaces are still able to easily get into central London via the Piccadilly line at Wood Green station. As for the weekends, there’s little reason to venture away. Whether it’s going for a fry up at The Duck Inn Cafe, playing bingo at Mecca, or enjoying a match at Haringey Rhinos RFC, there’s more than enough going on in the area. Seeing all that the neighbourhood has to offer and its relatively affordable prices, it’s no wonder that both families and young professionals have recently been flocking to the area.

Back in the beginning of the 19th century, Wood Green was a small settlement of only 100 people. The corner where Wood Green High Road met Lordship Lane, just near the present-day Wood Green station, there was a farrier’s shop that popped up in 1770, bringing the first commercial business to that area. Once the railway arrived, development really picked up. As more people arrived in the area, that commercial corner became a gathering place, serving as a place for political meetings throughout the 19th century. Today, being so close to the area’s shopping centre, it is sadly no longer a gathering place for public speakers.

The Wood Green tube station seems to be a favourite amongst musicians. It gets mentioned in songs by Mark Knopfler, Pablo Gad, and Sway DaSafo.

Unfortunately, some of the local schools are in real need of improvement, for example, Earlham Primary School was recently given a low rating from Ofsted. In a related inspection, they were given a warning in order to encourage them to pick up their students’ scores.

Housing developers have been interested in this area for a while. The project between 22 and 42 High Road is the largest scheme currently under way in the area, comprising 197 homes, a premier Inn hotel, as well as retail and office space. Meanwhile, there is a slightly smaller project nearing completion on Caxton Square which will stand at nine storey’s at its highest point, providing new homes and flexible commercial space. Looking further forward, plans are currently being considered for an expansive residential scheme in the centre of Wood Green that could include several hundred new homes centred around two new public squares. On top of this, development is likely to further escalate if Wood Green station is included as part of the Crossrail 2 project. Yet despite £1.8 billion being invested in the project in 2020 it is unclear when the project will materialise as plans have been underconsideration in different forms since the 1970s.