Colindale is well connected, as long as you don't mind the noise that comes with it. There is a Tube line, a dense bus network and gigabit broadband almost everywhere. A third of households have no car. In return, almost every postcode is near a loud road.
The Northern line's Edgware branch stops on Colindale Avenue. For national rail, Hendon Rail Station, Mill Hill Broadway Rail Station and Brent Cross West Station are all within reach. Only about 4% of working residents took the train to work at the 2021 census, while about 11% took the bus, and there are 232 bus stops in and around the area.
The biggest share of residents didn't commute at all. About 31% worked from home at the 2021 census. About 27% drove, around 5% walked and about 1% cycled. About 35% of households have no car and about 20% have two or more, so the district has both plenty of bus users and plenty of traffic.
The Department for Transport's journey-time statistics are modelled averages for the area. They date from 2019, and the public transport figures are the least reliable because bus services can change while the distances stay the same. On those figures the nearest town centre is about 8 minutes away by car, 10 by bike, 14 by public transport and 16 on foot. A GP is about 7 minutes away by car, on foot or by public transport, and a food shop about 7 minutes on foot or by car. Employment centres are about 7 minutes by car and 16 by public transport. A hospital is about 21 minutes by car and 36 by public transport. Everything except the hospital is within a short walk.
The bus figures are current. The 216 stops with timetable data average about 440 departures each on a weekday, with around 24 buses an hour at the peak, and 215 of them have a weekend service. For most residents that means a bus every few minutes, so a missed bus costs very little.
Gigabit broadband is available to about 88% of premises, and superfast to about 99%, with no postcode below the minimum standard the government guarantees. Every postcode has 4G or 5G from every network.
There are 101 public charge points in the area, with 120 connectors between them, and 3 of them are rapid chargers. With so few rapid points, charging an electric car here usually means waiting for a slow charger.
Road noise is the cost of all this access. About 98% of postcodes are near or above 65 decibels of road noise, the level at which official noise mapping treats it as significant, and the loudest band recorded reaches 75 decibels. Rail noise is a separate source. About 44% of postcodes are near the 65-decibel level for rail, also peaking at 75. If you are viewing a flat, check which side of the block it faces and whether the bedroom windows look onto the main road or the railway. Colindale started out building aircraft beside Hendon Aerodrome, and the area is still noisy now that the aircraft have gone.
Connectivity is one of Colindale's real strengths. Buses, the Tube, broadband and a short walk to most everyday needs make it easy to live here without a car, provided the traffic noise doesn't bother you.