Best and worst areas of St Albans

[andrewperkins]

My wife and I have a two-year-old son and are looking to move to either St Albans or Hitchin, hoping for a safer area than we currently live in with plenty to do for families.

For St Albans in particular, while we love it, we know that even the top of our budget will require compromises. With this in mind, I'd be really keen to hear from parents who live in St Albans about their experience and what they believe to be the best areas and if there are any that should be avoided.

We are prepared to have a walk into the centre of up to 30 minutes if we can get a bit more house for the money, but would want to make sure we're still in a decent location for primary schooling and general area.

Hi Andrew,
Not sure if you've made the decision between Hitchin and St Albans already in which case this may be academic, but I was advising a friend on the same dilemma (Hitchin or St Albans) recently, so I thought I’d share what we felt:
• Hitchin secondaries schools seemed better: I know them less well but to me a lot of the St Albans ones are great on paper, but a little impersonal in reality.
• Both have an excellent range of primaries
• If you need a London commute it's considerably more expensive for a season ticket from Hitchin, so do factor this into affordability calcs
• Hitchin does feel more rural and you’ve got more sense of open countryside, but St Albans has a little more culture I’d say, so swings and roundabouts!
In terms of St Albans areas, Fleetville and the area around Clarence Park are gorgeous but often hideously expensive.

Jersey Farm/Marshalswick is more affordable and very family friendly. The Quadrant has it's own parade of shops so you’re not constantly needing to go into town.
A few other areas I’d consider: near King Harry Lane where there’s been a lot of new build development, the Camp (property prices are rising a lot here and Cunningham Hill is a great school) and finally Cottonmill (slightly controversial as it's not got a great reputation - I suppose because a lot of housing here is ex council, but I think they’re often very spacious, and if you were looking for somewhere to invest, I think the location means it is likely to see prices rise).
Hope that’s of some use! If you have any more specific questions, feel free to shout and I'll try and help.
Katharine

Thank you so much for your detailed response - I couldn't be more appreciative.

We've still not found anywhere but have explored each of the areas you highlighted more.

St Albans is our top choice as it's closer to our families, but Hitchin being considerably smaller has less complexity to it - we have a 2-year-old son so we'd probably look to be near Samuel Lucas and Hitchin Boys if we were looking to stay long-term. In St Albans there are more neighbourhoods each with its own traits.

A big concern is crime - I know I'm thinking a little far ahead but I read a lot about recent issues for teenage boys in St Albans. Is this noticeable?