AIBU to panic 😩

[RaRaRabbit]

I am moving soon, to Borehamwood.

It's so close until I go and all I've heard is horror stories!!!
I had never been there before visiting the property.. the road itself seemed quiet, well kept houses on the road.

Anytime I mention I'm moving there people looked shocked, even to say they never would!
I'm confused and really worried now.
I have 2 young kids that obviously I'll be putting in the schools there.

I WAS so excited, I would be going from a flat to a house with a garden, now.. i don't know what to do. Apparently crime rate is high there too 😣 but, if I don't move I will be stuck where I am YEARS. This move has taken 4 years. I love the area I am in, love the schools etc. BUT I HATE the neighbour that lives above me to the point it effects my mental health and noone and I mean noone wants where I am or a flat. (Trust me, I've tried. . For years!)

WWYD!? please be kind, this is so stressful.

Have you lived there or do you live there!? Opinions pls.

It will be the South Side... near Rippon Way.

You've hit the jackpot!!! South side is the best!!!

South side has the best schools and great bus links, plus a short walk to the centre and the station. Be excited for the move, it'll be great

We moved from the area we’d both grown up in which is one of the most desirable places in the country to a similar sounding place-people we’re shocked & we had lots of stories about crime & dealers.

We moved for 12 months while I was on maternity-with the plan to move back when my wages went back to normal. There’s no way we’d have been able to afford to stay there on statutory maternity pay. The new area was much cheaper.

Well, we never left. Been here 6 yrs now & we love it. We have fabulous neighbours on either side & it has a proper community feel that our previous area had lost.

Even been able to buy here, so we have a good sized family home with a garden for what we’d have been lucky to get a 1 bed flat for in our old area.

Might be a bit scary, but don’t listen to the haters. Go in determined to make the best of it & think about the space you & your kids will have. Good luck

I’ve pm’d you but you have nothing to worry about

I don't know Borehamwood at all but used to live in one of those areas people pull faces about. I'd moved there from a totally different part of the country so had no idea about its reputation and genuinely didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about it until I got comments from people who lived elsewhere in the town. It was a lovely area, not the most beautiful of houses but people took good care of their gardens and looked out for each other without being nosy. I think there had been some dodgy people living there a decade or two before but there was no sign of it by the time I moved in.

I grew up in Barnet which is not far away and now live in North Herts. I had loads of friends who lived in Borehamwood. It's fine. You've got miles of countryside not far away, lots of lovely local places to visit. You'll be absolutely fine. Good luck OP!

I used to manage properties in borehamwood for social housing (in my previous life as a housing officer) and they were lovely!

You'll have such a new lease of life with a house and not having a horrible neighbour above you. Try not to worry.

Theres good and bad everywhere, don't let other peoples opinions put you off.
We live about 30 mins from Borehamwood but have friends that live there. You'll be much happier in a house with garden. There's good transport links, loads of cafes, shops etc. And Aldernam country park is on the doorstep, which is a huge open space. Start getting excited for your new life in your new home x

My daughter moved from a sleepy slightly backward rural village that's one of the country's most affluent areas and transferred from the local village store to the nearest one inside a 24hr garage in one of the roughest areas in a city centre.

Her flat is a new build with secure keypad entry access and inside what looks like a brand new housing development and it's so bizarre when you drive out of her road and turn right to find what resembles the Wild West it's just shy of the odd bit of tumbleweed rolling and dead body tossed out on the roadside.

Bodies and tumblweed she's not arsed about one bit. It has everything right on her doorstep.

Markets, massive shopping complex and supermarkets, every fast food joint known to man, buses and trains every few minutes there is nothing she needs or will need that isn't above and beyond a ten minute walk and she's gobsmacked by how cheap everything is to buy.

Actually feels safer, happier and as though other people have her back working in this rough garage with its 2am aggressive customers now and then than she did here.

Sometimes the rougher areas with high crime rates and grim outlooks on paper have much more to offer than first meets the eye.
I grew up on a really rough council estate in the 80's and distinctly recall feeling safe and knowing that if you're in trouble, everyone jumps in and watches out for you.

Now we're in this tiny village and I don't think half the people would give you the steam off their piss without having to question you at length and ask why you want it beforehand.

Try not to panic. It'll be reight.

I spent a few years living in a rough area, people would look all wide eyed at me and remark how bad the are was etc I never had one problem living there and in fact there was a great community spirit that I’ve not felt since leaving the area. Don’t mind what others say, move and see how u get on.

You could be me. I know nothing about Borehamwood and I don't live in England. I married young and on moving to our second home got the 'what are you moving there for/it's dead rough/nothing to do there/I wouldn't live there ' etc. Fast forward 30 odd years and folk are on 10 year long waiting lists to move where I am. Yes, we have had windows broken-once, we have one neighbour we don't talk to. Ive been happy here, places change, neighbours change. A house with a garden sounds lovely and it sounds like yourself and your family have a promising future. You will have no noise above you, thats for sure. Wishing you and your family all the best.

@PinniGig What’s so mad is Borehamwood is actually a perfectly nice, thriving, albeit not particularly exciting, town. It’s where elstree studios are and where most of the BBC stuff is filmed. There are some slightly rougher residential areas but the town and the high street are thriving. Poor OP is being frightened about her move by people who haven’t got a clue and are completely wrong.

[quote Rummikubfan]@PinniGig What’s so mad is Borehamwood is actually a perfectly nice, thriving, albeit not particularly exciting, town. It’s where elstree studios are and where most of the BBC stuff is filmed. There are some slightly rougher residential areas but the town and the high street are thriving. Poor OP is being frightened about her move by people who haven’t got a clue and are completely wrong.[/quote]
Exactly. It's a town in Hertfordshire. That's posh in my book.

There's always that type of "OMG you're not moving there???" either because they heard or knew someone that once saw a thing that happened to an Uncle or because it was mentioned once in the Daily Mail about 14yrs ago that it had a bad rep.

Even still the worst and most dank, grim parts of the world still have their winner little corners when you get to know the place and where to go.

OP don't worry check out what's in the area, get revved and excited for the move.

Don't worry or let people stress you out all Never mind that shit.. here comes BOREHAMWOOD!!

People laughed at the postcode I was moving to. N9w I am sitting in nice, quiet and friendly are and they are bitching about burglariea, car crime and unfriednly neigbours😂
Sometimes it absolutely works out

I live in a London post code which make people faint.
I'm perfectly happy and can have a flat white, a proper french baguette, a pint of craft beer and watch a niche film in a cinema within 15 mins from mine.
You'll be fine OP!

Thank you everyone for your comments and also messages. I definitely do feel better now about the move.

Thank you 🙂

Rara- you are welcome. Good luck to you and your family.

Enjoy you’re new home .

Thank you 🙂🤗

I lived in a Bor for 5 years, near the Rippon way-Thirsk Road actually.
It was ok, a bit of rough area but I had no issues there.
I moved there blindly before I checked the area.
Most of the time I was at work anyway, so I only literally went to sleep there.