It is very varied in character. The area to the east of the tube station consists predominantly of large Victorian houses, many of which have been converted into flats.
The area grew because of Woodside Park station. This was planned by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) and was originally opened as Torrington Park on 1 April 1872 by the Great Northern Railway (which had taken over the EH&LR).
The station was on a branch of a line that ran from Finsbury Park to Edgware via Highgate. The station was renamed within a month of opening, and again in 1882.
After the 1921 Railways Act created the Big Four railway companies the line was, from 1923, part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). The section of the High Barnet branch north of East Finchley was incorporated into the London Underground network through the "Northern Heights" project begun in the late 1930s. The station was first served by Northern line trains on 14 April 1940 and, after a period where the station was serviced by both operators, LNER services ended in 1941. The station still retains much of its original Victorian architectural character today.
The north-western part of the area, which can also be regarded as the part of Totteridge in N12 rather than N20, is sometimes called Woodside Park Garden Suburb and consists of semi-detached or detached 3 to 4 bedroom houses built in the 1950s. It includes the Woodside Park Club.
The eastern boundary of the Garden Suburb is the Dollis Brook and the southern boundary is the Folly Brook. To the south of this Suburb is an area of 1920s and 1930s houses, where many of the roads are named after places in Sussex, such as Sussex Ring and Cissbury Ring.
Between the Garden Suburb and the Northern Line is an area originally of Victorian housing. Many of the houses, including the former residence of Spike Milligan, have been pulled down and replaced by modern housing or blocks of flats. Much of this area consists of a council estate where Emma Bunton grew up.
There is a small amount of commercial activity around the mini roundabout at Chanctonbury Way, which was originally the main shopping area for Woodside Park, providing basic services such as a post office, a butcher and an ironmonger. Since the creation of North Finchley shopping parade, many of the original shops have closed down and have been replaced by specialised businesses.