Stevenage

[HertsMum80]

DP grew up there and after 15 years of living with me on the northern edge of the M25 wants to go back. His family are all there and parents are into their 60s now and there are nephews and nieces and cousins kids to be involved with.

My UK based family have largely all passed so I feel no connection to anywhere.

Can anyone tell me the pros of living there asides a detached property for the same price as our terrace? I work in Potters Bar so looks not too much longer of a commute.

I was brought up there and live
20mins away

pros decent leisure park with good shops
plenty of supermarkets big stores diy stores etc
big cinema and bowling alley
the old town has a nice feel with plenty of pubs nd thriving restaurants

well followed football team if yr thing
it’s good travel links. Fast trains to
london and near a1m for commute
nice parks
reasonable work opportunities plus close too London. St Albans Hatfield

cons. Very busy traffic now
some areas are rough
some are ok. I like the old town and fishers green or Bradbury end
a fair amount of socail
deprivation mixed with people with reasonable jobs.
schools are just ok except John Henry Newman but that is Catholic.

however I don’t think it deserves its bad reputation. I’ve never felt unsafe there and I go in fairly regularly for shopping and seeing old friends.

I always say if I got divorced I’d move there as I could still get a decent house for my money 🤣

Just to add tho. You may want to get thread moved to chat as it will get more traffic. I would not call Stevo rural at all.

Hi everyone - we've moved the thread to Chat now, at the OP's request. Good luck with your move, @HertsMum80 !

@HertsMum80 , there are nice villages nearby and Old Stevenage is nice. Stevenage is a new town Stevenage New Town.
What @HeBeaverandSheBeaver said.

Hitchin, about 6 miles away, is much nicer.

@HeBeaverandSheBeaver Thanks for the intel. Traffic is a worry - does it move? Is the access to the A1M generally moving?

I’ve been hundreds of times over the many years DP and I have been together but never thought ‘oh, I could live here’. Chells Manor and Gt Ashby seem to have detacheds for about 450-500 and i’ve always thought of them as reasonably nice areas.

I looked at the departures board online for the station and was impressed on the frequency and sheer number of destinations!

My primary concerns are quiet and getting to work in 40 minutes.

getting to work in 40 minutes. Should be ok but you can never tell.

Are you driving in which case it’s a bit risky. Train should be
fine

Lots of cops I know live there, so it can't be bad. Family support/socialising is great if you get on with them.

Was up in Biggleswade for a wedding yesterday and I'd happily move there. No idea on prices, we're much closer to London so the exchange rate would probably be good. Some great walks, apparently.

I am driving. I am not in Potters Bar for work, rather a village outside it only accessibke by car.

if it’s good enough for the police to live in, it’s good enough for me! Any particular areas to avoid?

40 minutes is very do-able as long as you're close to A1 and don't have to get through stevenage first. Do you want to be in the town itself or would you consider nearby? Codicote is a lovely village with lots of new housing and a good community feel.

Would consider nearby if the commute shortens, WGC a little out of price range.

Avoid Bedford. I’d also avoid pin green and broadwater

however within these areas there will be property that is on a nice quiet road.

best areas are old town Fishers Green area behind the lister hospital is nice. Bragburyend some of chells is ok. You could also consider Aston and knebworth. Villages very close to Stevo knebworth has train links to London too.

Some lovely houses. Very good hospital and the clever people who work there live nearby. Good to get to London and Edin on the train. Easy to get to St Albans, hitchin, Cambridge at weekends.

Bedwell i
mean to avoid.

Very good hospital Er, no. Lister Hospital - Care Quality Commission

Oh Lord. I have a friend who is an absolute snob and calls this place Saint Evenáge!
😄
Can’t help advise though - sorry.

I have a friend who made St Albans sound more gritty by calling is Stablands.

Are you sure she isn’t being ironic @TaylorsMate
we nidgers all say st evenage as a joke

I eat St Ockwell food from the supermarket. St Ockwell Baked Beans.

What is Chells Manor like? How long might it take to get to the A1M in the morning? Some nice big detacheds in our budget!

Chells manor is ok Is mostly new builds but from the 80s90s style.
traffic prob take 15 mins to get on motorway from there. Depends on when you leave tho.
bad neighbours are everywhere not just Stevo so I’d be driving nearby in hot weekends to see what the neighbours are upto.Loud music and a hot tub
in the garden would
be no for
me

Thanks - i’d be leaving at 7:45 I imagine - right into the peak :/ Symonds Green looks lovely but a little more expensive and the new builds across the A1M are smaller.

i want one of the 1960s Shephall houses but to move it slightly more out to the edge of town…!

Really appreciating all this advice!

Shephall is ok if you can find the right house. A corner plot might work. However be prepared for parking issues. Those houses were not built with multiple car households. I was brought up in shephall. Nice big rooms and decent gardens for the money.

I was brought up in Stevenage but moved away a good few years ago because of dh job otherwise I’d of stayed.. my parents and siblings are there so I visit several times a year infact I was just there last week.
My parents live in Shephall where I was brought up so I know the area very well..majority of houses if not all were originally built with no driveways but many people have put a driveway in now including my parents which is a blessing because the road is very crowded now and people have decided to park both sides of the road which is very annoying..years ago there was plenty of space but with most houses having 2/3 cars a household it’s crazy now.
Shephall is convenient for the doctors, dentist etc the local shops are not far The Hyde there’s a Co-Op, newsagents, chip shop, chemist , hairdressers, Chinese takeaway.. a couple of other shops I can’t remember which ones
Bus stops at The Hyde will take you to the town.. a short walk to Sainsbury’s which is located in the Poplars a housing estate which was built in the mid eighties.. Aston is a lovely small village not far away I used to cycle there as a kid and often brought my own kids there on a bike ride
The lakes Fairlands are about a twenty minutes walk from Shephall.. lovely over there with a nice picnic in the summer.. there’s also a cafe there
The shephall houses tend to not have a downstairs toilet although I think some of the four bedrooms houses did? Bedrooms tend to be average sized and a third bedroom is usually a box room size..no en suites in these houses and most have a utility room which is very handy
Overall Stevenage is a great place to live and I miss it hth