Luton as an area to move to?

[WoburnSands]

Just weighing up different relocation options...any one got any recommendations as to what kind of a place Luton would to be like to live?

My Dad was once warned off going into a pub in Luton as a guy who worked there said it was rough, had a long at my Dad, and obviously decided he didn't think my Dad would handle it - "I wouldn't go in there, mate"! (or words to that effect) How rude!! But that's just one isolated story..what are the house prices and general areas like?

[WoburnSands]

Sorry forgot to phrase it as an AIBU.

AIBU to want to live in Luton?

[flirtygirl]

Yes much nicer places to live.

[StillNotANewUser]

I wouldn't live there - house prices are generally cheap but that's because a lot of it is really quite rough.

[BennyTheBall]

I don't want to be too rude as there are probably MNers that live there and I have 2 friends that live there - but, it's a pretty awful place imo and I would hate to live there.

[Mosseywossey]

I live in Luton and some areas are nice but it quite horrible in others
It depend what area you are looking at really, do you know which places you are looking at.

[tireddotcom72]

Some parts are OK Stopsley / putteridge / wigmore all on Herts borders good road links and easy train links to central London

[zwellers]

I wouldn't. Lived there for three years. Awful soulless town centre poor range of shops. Lots a racial tension. Poor employment.

[WhiteWriting]

I lived in Luton for one year as a child so don't have much of an opinion. However, towards the end of that year, my DM and DF went out for dinner. My DM took the opportunity to tell my DF it was house move or divorce. Nuff said?

[elQuintoConyo]

I went to university there not long ago, I would never live there again. Although I lived up near Stockwood Park!

[t4nut]

Best avoided. Unless youre looking for somewhere where casual random violence is an asset.

Seriously though, there are worse places in the UK but not many.

[WoburnSands]

No I don't know yet what places to look at Mosseywossey - just thought about it as a general place to live.

[Lillagroda]

Ooh no. Unpleasant place. I do live ten miles away in a medium town in Central Beds though and it's very nice with good transport links. Towards MK.

Aware that was a pathetically rubbish attempt at anonymity.

[Mishegoss]

Dont do it. We live about 20 minutes away and sometimes I forget how awful it is and go shopping there. I come home depressed. We call it Mordor 😉

[fluffiphlox]

Try St Albans, Harpenden, Woburn, Olney. Or anywhere really but not there. It's a shit hole.

[gerbo]

Try Tring, berkhamsted, wendover or St albans. Really lovely places to live, good commuter links, if pricey.

[WoburnSands]

Oh dear Mishegoss!!

Ah thanks fluffiphlox - I'm familiar with a few of the places you mentioned there.

[allowlsthinkalot]

Don't do it. I lived there for six months and they were the worst of my life. The place is grim. Really grim. And I lived in one of the nice parts. I'd look at Bedfordshire villages or Hitchin across the border into Herts if you can afford it and want to live in that area.

Luton isn't even cheap. It's dirty, depressing and vile.

[BennyTheBall]

It's the only town we drive through that I centrally lock all the car doors.

[WoburnSands]

Thanks- St Albans is a popular suggestion - it seems from what you're saying close to the Beds/Herts border (without a map in front of me)

[Mosseywossey]

As in a general area i wouldn't.
After uni I may stay in Luton as it is cheap and really close to London and my family.
But its rough.
Fairly Hill is nice and Leagrave

[LavenderEverywhere]

I think if the OP could afford St Albans, Tring and Berkhamsted she wouldn't be here asking for opinions on Luton, she'd be viewing houses in the other three!

[BennyTheBall]

Suggesting St Albans as an alternative to Luton is slightly bonkers as St Albans is one of the most expensive places to buy in the country and Luton is comparatively cheap.

[Dontyoulovecalpol]

If you're looking at Luton you can't afford St. Albans or harpenden

I don't know it massively well but it always strikes me as somewhere that has to come up at some point- there are some nice Victorian houses and its cheap (relatively speaking)
Some parts seem OK.
However it might be worth looking at the villages around it.

[TooManyMochas]

We lived not a million miles from Luton, over the border in Herts, and I found that whole REGION depressing to be honest. Its either ugly-as-a-pig's-arse (Hemel, Luton, Welwyn, Stevenage, Watford) or up itself and chronically over-priced (Harpenden, St. Albans). I've lived in several different countries and four different parts of the UK and I don't think there's a more soulless area than Beds/Bucks/Herts on the surface of the earth.

[sailawaywithme]

I lived there for 2 years, for my graduate job. It's a shithole.