What's the best and worst thing about living in Stroud Green?

Donna

Just wondering. Mine are: Best: There are fantastic restaurants & pubs on my doorstep yet I can still get the paper and milk delivered and there's a community like this (online anyway)! Worst: finsbury Park station. Don't know what they are doing when they think they are modernising, but it still looks grotty.

rainbow_carnage

Ooh, I love these sorts of polls.

Best:

Great selection of cheap restaurants
Good transport links
The park/BMF
Parkland Walk

Worst:

Limited selection of restaurants that deliver
No good cafe with wi-fi to work in
Nothing open after midnight (23.30 for food)
Dog shit everywhere

sg_mike

Dream River cafe is good for wifi, plus it's really peaceful and unrushed, I love the place.

Best thing about SG is that it's the first bit of true greenery and suburbia that you hit from central London. I know there's highbury fields and stuff, but's that's too touristy. And Parkland walk's good.

Lack of free cashpoints is a bit of a nightmare - only one at Tescos which is crap for such a big neighbourhood. And too much traffic trying to squeeze past parked cars on Tollington Park and Upper Tollington Park, one of the scariest roads in the area to cycle on!

Bridget

Here goes, mine are:
The best:
The parks: Finsbury and Wray
Restaurants such as Dotori, Patek and Dudleys
The tube, takes just 10 mins to get into town
The people a great community
Hard as Nails: reasonable beauty stuff
SGR Pharmacy - the pharmacist is better than my doctors
Its proximity to lots of great places: Crouch E, Belsize park, Hampstead, Broadway Market, Angel etc

The worst:
Muscle dogs and dog shit
Lack of decent deli, supermarket, hairdresser, clothes shop, gym, kids toy shop, butchers
Orrible yoofs from local secondary school
Lack of decent secondary schools
Overt drug dealing

graeme

Like:
ok restaurants
couple of decent pubs
nice tree lined streets
parkland walk
walkable to City
good gym (Crouch End)
easy transport everywhere
decent mix of people

Meh not so much
Filth all up Stroud Green road to Nandos with bins and rubbish everywhere. Bins in the middle of the street at Tesco.
No bakery
ANOTHER fruit and veg shop?
Growing crime, drug problem
Nandos
WTF?! planning regs round Finsbury Park station
Skanky tramps

tosscat

@sg_mike - it's been said before - there's a free cashpoint in the post office, there's three at FP station, there's one at the former post office opposite the Triangle. Also the Fullback will give you cashback, Londis on Ferme Park road will give you cashback, probably others as well.

katiejane

dairy does cashback

dion

tesco does cashback

twinspark

Best

The glittering diversity that is the Stroud Green Riviera

Worst

Receiving newsletters signed 'Love & Rockets'

ShaunG

Best Learning from Tosscat that Fullback does cashback. Free money opposite my front door.

magicP

Best:
Fab shops (including the under-rated Londis) and restaurants;
Local, independent feel
Excellent transport links into town; loads of buses
Proximity to CE and Muswell Hill
The Overground (also under-rated)
Parkland Walk
Lovely big houses

Worst:
Dodgy area outside Tesco/White Lion
Can be a bit grubby at times

Donna

That's so cool about the cashback. Thanks. Didn't know Hard as Nails was any good. Will have to try them. It's so true about the limited number of good restaurants that deliver. Bit of a shame.

Glyn

Best:

Nice, small shops (apart from Mega-Londis, which is also pretty good)
Quick trains to Kings Cross on weekends.
Generally filled with friendly, young-ish types and not very many teenagers.

Worst:

No-one knows where it is.
Slight fear that things might "get a bit stabby" on certain roads (often Hanley Road for some reason).
Johnny Borrell has been spotted in the area.

ShaunG

"get a bit stabby" - nice Shaun of the Dead reference.

twinspark

'"Dodgy area outside Tesco/White Lion '

Magic P I know what you mean!! I have thought of writing to Wetherspoons more than once. Thing is the White Lion was one of their earliest pubs after Tim W. split with Marlers Bars [ first incarnation of The Noble] It was typical Wetherspoons all faux Victoriana that arrived in a van but it was cosy, with a big central fine and not really in need of a makeover. Suddenly they turned it into an annexe of Luton airport departure lounge [ orange & yellow carpet tiles!!] It does cater to a very local crowd but it is grim. Actually I can remember when it was a car showroom owned by a retired Arsenal player - with the usual 'cut' of sales to George Graham no doubt

Best real pub is the Park Tavern on Tollington Park - next to the Front Room, the landlord looks like a Toby Jug, albeit without a handle on the back of his head. Doesn't do food but does have late opening on Sats.

NoOne

Best:
the view from the covered reservoir
the park
riding the bus with people who were in Eastenders 10 years ago and you thought were dead
Woodys for random midnight shopping

Worst:
the fact people have never heard of SG
CPZ during the day time
people being shot in the head on the Islington side of SGR
road works

magicP

>the fact people have never heard of SG

That's a good thing!

dion

@ NoOne - who got shot in the head on the Islington side?

sophie

one of the best things about living here is sg.org! i don't mean to suck up but at least once a week i find myself quoting something off here, trying a new restaurant/cafe/pub, or smiling at people on sgr who i think might possibly be on this site. that's still a good thing despite the 'what a weirdo' looks i often get in return. i also love being near finsbury park station but also not really having to get on the tube to go anywhere (except work) as everything is here. the worst things are tesco's poor selection of meat, and dog poo.

unaesthetic

tesco has a poor selection of dog poo? well it is only a tesco metro (they have a poor selection of pretty much everything)

NoOne

@ Dion it wasnt actually in SG but very close! Lennox Road off Tollington about 10 days ago, armed robbery, shot a bloke in the head and drove off with mobile phones.

magicP

The Tesco needs completely refurbishing and the rubbish tills being sorted out so that everyone is in one queue and just moves to the next available till.

tosscat

The best thing is sg.org The other best thing is being vilified on sg.org I've forgotten the bad things, much.