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Southgate is a cosmopolitan district. There has been a prominent Jewish community since early 20th century. There are also many Greek, Turkish and Japanese families living in the district.
As of the 2011 census, White British makes up 45% of the population, followed by Other White at 20%.
Within the area is the art deco Grade II* Southgate tube station designed by Charles Holden. The surrounding roads have a variety of shops and restaurants including an ASDA. The area has several large green parks such as Grovelands Park which covers ninety-two acres and contains a former boating lake of seven acres adjoining dense woods and bracken. In Waterfall Road is Christ Church, a building of stone which has a tower and spire and was built in 1862 by Sir Gilbert Scott. In the grounds stands the Minchenden Oak, said to be the largest oak tree in England, and rumoured to be 800 years old. Across the road from the church lies the Walker Cricket Ground; a regular Middlesex venue which was first used in 1859 and is named after the cricketer John Walker.
Southgate was originally the South Gate of Enfield Chase, the King's hunting grounds. This is reflected in the street names Chase Road (which leads due north from the station to Oakwood, and was formerly the avenue into the Chase) and Chase Side. There is a blue plaque on a building on the site of the south gate. A little further to the south was another small medieval settlement called South Street which had grown up around a village green; by 1829 the two settlements had merged and the village green became today's Southgate Green.
Becoming separate from Edmonton in 1881, Southgate had a population in 1891 of just 10,970. By 1901 the figure had moved up to 14,993, and by 1911 the figure had ballooned to 33,612, aided by the nearby railway station in Palmers Green.
Southgate was predominantly developed in the 1930s: largish semi-detached houses were built on the hilly former estates (Walker, Osidge, Monkfrith, etc.) following increased transport development. In 1933, the North Circular Road was completed through Edmonton and Southgate, and also in 1933, the London Underground Piccadilly line was extended from Arnos Grove (where it had reached the previous year), through Southgate tube station, on to Enfield West (now known as Oakwood). This unleashed a building boom, and by 1939 the area had become almost fully developed.
By 1951, the population had grown to 73,377 - falling by about 1,000 ten years later as many moved to new towns nearby.
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