Harpenden or Highgate? Wise words desperately sought.

[muffinchops]

Pleeeeeasse help with major indecision bordering on paralysis! In short, used to live in London pre-birth of ds, moved to commuter 'town' just outside Hertford where depression ensued and now want to move again. In my heart, I'm still hankering after London but hubster is dead against (but he gets to work there seemingly 24/7).
Have been torn apart by decision making process. Harpenden has lots to recommend it on paper but am terrified of making a mistake again and there is a potential house in the offing, but I am paralysed.
Please, please can anyone make the case for the respective 'H's for a young family.

muffin

it was obviously done in error. surely not a problem

Although i'm now intrigued to know what the OP did do! And if still looking for house in Highgate, my big brother has his on the market just now!

too muffin. Now you're for it from the Harpenden Massive.

i go out alot in harpended - it's very poncey

I go to the Farmer's Market there each month, and that's about it. On paper it ticks all the right boxes (good schools, reasonable shops, pleasant green bits, trains), I just don't warm to it for some reason.

Full of lawyers too. Whenever we go dh bumps into work colleagues and we have to do uncomfortable polite chit chat. We've also ducked round corners to avoid ex-colleagues on a few occasions.

scmp - no one said there was a problem. Just didn't want to waste effort forming a response if was no longer relevant!

MM - is the farmers' market any good? When's it on?

i love highgate. it's beautiful i used to live there. what about somewhere a little bit further out then highgate if your dh doesn't like london?

I used to live in Highgate. I now live in Harpenden. I would choose Harpenden. It is a bit 1950s Blighty but that means it is a lovely place to bring up children. The commute is incredibly quick into London - I would be very surprised if the commute from Highgate is quicker so the argument about getting more time with your working husband is a bit flimsy. I have a friend who lives in Muswell Hill, they both work in the City (one of the couple is a lawyer). Their children now travel quite some distance to school, on a bus, shich takes forever. They seem to just live in their house, they don't seem to be part of a community or partake in anything that Muswell Hill or its environs have to offer, they just live there. They don't seem to have any local friends (school friends are scattered because none of them have any links with the place really). Harpenden is much more of a community which has much to offer. Everyone on here that lives IN Harpenden is positive about it - that is surely worth something. Does anyone who has posted actually live with children in Highgate? Perhaps you should ask yourself - if you move to Highgate are you and your family going to actually LIVE in Highgate or are you just going to have a house there?

LOL - I have just, after posting (in very irritated from Tunbridge Wells fashion), read the comments about the thread being 15,000 years old. I think I did my town proud.

PS She must have gone to Harpenden - too busy now in the ladies' craft circle to post on Mumsnet.

I don't think Harpenden is like East Herts - don't mean to be sniffy - alright I do but West Herts is a lot nicer than Hertford, welwyn garden, stevenage

St Albans is muuuuuch more city like with a great farmers market and good transport links. Harpenden is fine, some of it is actually lovely but the schools in St Albans are great.

If you really can't bear it then consider Bucks, brilliant schooling there and Amersham and the surrounding areas are lovely.

CSWS - Farmers market is the 4th Sunday of each month, from about 10am-2pm. It is good, but can get very congested. There are stalls on the Sainsburys/WHSmith side of the main road.

It is pretty much the same stalls as the St Albans one (2nd Sunday of the month, also 10-2). We usually go to both, but I prefer St Albans - ds can walk around more freely (have to confine him to pushchair for Harpenden), and it combines well with visiting the Verulamium duck pond and playground.

Whoops, revival may have been my fault. I just saw the word 'Highgate' and didn't notice the date. Would love to know where she ended up though.

CSWS - Harpenden Farmers' market is this Sunday and this time it will be open from 12 - 6pm (I think there is something else going on too - from memory it might be a christmas market). Not sure.

EmilyBronte - I would love to know too.