Am I being unreasonable/lazy to not want to move to a very hilly town?

[Amandette]

We (myself, dh + one dc) are moving to a different part of the country.

Dh and I will both be working in a particular city, and have been looking at towns a commutable distance away.

We’ve narrowed it down to 3.

Town A is dh’s favourite by far - in all fairness, it is a lovely town, with a beautiful high street, great schools, low crime etc etc, seems to tick all the boxes. But the high street is at the bottom of a valley and all the houses are on the really steep valley sides above it. I’ve heard that you can’t really park on the high street, so any trip to town to go the shops or anything else would end in this massive climb home.

I would prefer Town B or Town C which aren’t quite as picturesque/upper middle class but are far flatter.

Dh thinks I’m being lazy. AIBU to discount a town for this reason?

I am the opposite and cannot understand how people love to live in flat places. We're going to spend 3 months living in a particularly hilly part of a capital city this summer and I cannot wait. We're there right now and I love how fit and healthy walking is making me feel.

I grew up in an actual hilly rural idylI some of those roads were a big effort but where your considering doesn’t sound that hilly.I was imagining a hill like this

Hated bitch hill in Bangor when at uni but I definitely love living in a hilly area now

I am the opposite and cannot understand how people love to live in flat places. We're going to spend 3 months living in a particularly hilly part of a capital city this summer and I cannot wait. We're there right now and I love how fit and healthy walking is making me feel.

I used to live in Lausanne, which is famously hilly and covered in a lot of snow in winter and that, while more challenging than Berkhampstead, was generally a really positive experience in terms of fitness. Just going about my daily life (I didn't drive) kept me very fit, quite apart from the hills contributing to making the city beautiful.

I wouldn't mind walking so much, but parking on a steep hill and driving on icy roads would be a killer, so I would avoid hilly places unless you can totally rely on public transport.

Oh god I would much rather live in Berko than Hemel!! The hills are not too bad, I used to work on the high st but had to park up the top of the hills.
Parking isn't so bad - and they are building a multistory car park at Waitrose (much to the dismay of residents)
Soooo much better than hemel. Honestly.
You could also look at Tring as an option?

No way I'd live in Hemel over Berko. The hills really aren't that bad and Hemel schools really aren't going to be the same experience as Berko for your DC. Sorry, I'm with your DH.

I think YABU. But I live in Cumbria on the edge of the Lake District, so there's not a lot of flat round here!

Ah yes the mountains of Berkhamsted. V droll.

Berko isn't that hilly. I wouldn't choose Hemel over Berko given the choice as it's a totally different place.

Have you considered Tring? Next stop along on the train.

I live in a hilly village in Yorkshire.
It's a mile and a half to the bottom of the hill to the nearest town. I walk down it and if I only have a couple of bags, I walk back up. If I get a big shop, I get a taxi. And My legs and bum muscles are fab!

How high is the summit of the tallest hill in Berkhamsted? Will the OP be needing acetazolamide for the altitude sickness induced by a trip to the Co-op? Is hypothermia an ever-present danger?

I work at the top of a hill that's basically Mount fucking Doom and it's a slog. I've been here for six years and we all complain that walking up it has never gotten easier - not even slightly. It's so bad it actually puts a lot of people off going out at lunch time because you arrive back at the office sweating and out of breath.

I'm not lazy but no way would I choose to live somewhere like that.

Don’t do it! You are not lazy! FIL lives in a similar place. I’m fit but struggle with the hills due to a joint problem. MIL could never go out unless in a car due to her knee problems. If FIL wasn’t there she was house bound. Might be fine now, but think about future proofing.

I live in the Welsh Valleys, can't imagine living somewhere flat

Even from tiny the kids have walked up and down the hills, it does give you a base layer of fitness

I live in Cumbria so everywhere is hilly by definition! I love it. And like PP's I'm a lot fitter since moving here!

I'm disabled & live in a city built on 7 hills ( Sheffield) I would love to live somewhere flat as it really is a struggle for me to get around.

Berko is nice - parallel parking on the high street isn’t great but there’s a car park behind the Sainsbury’s (? Might be Tesco).

I’m proper lazy but wouldn’t discount Berkhamsted. It’s not that hilly. I mean I’d discount it because it’s a bit la-di-da and too far from a large city for me but that’s by the by

That's what I imagined Adversecamber! That hill is near me.

I'm obviously alone in thinking Berko is not lovely. I must have been very lucky in the places I have lived.

We nearly moved to Wicklow which has some very steep hills. I noticed everyone, including the pensioners, seemed to be wearing trainers. Looking back, I think we were lucky the house fell through. I'm pathetic trying to walk on ice so dunno what I'd have done in bad weather there.

@reefedsail I can objectively say it's nice - but I wouldn't want to live there.

I live in a hilly town and you just get used to it after a bit.

Dh is set on it, I’d rather live in a nice part of Hemel Hempstead.

Doesn't exist. There are awful bits, and fucking awful bits.

My granny lived in Berko when I was a kid, and lived at the top of Hall Park Gate, so along the main road and all the way up the hill. We walked up there every day when I stayed (several weeks a year) and it's fine. She was super fit from doing it. And anyway, there are buses.