Bishop's Stortford with young children?

[porcupine11]

I'd love to collect some info and opinions on Bishop's Stortford...

We are currently renting in St Albans, and have been looking at houses to buy here. It looks like we could get much more for our budget (c430k) in Bishop's Stortford, which is also miles closer to DH's work. However I have never been to the area. Are there lots of families with young children in Bishop's Stortford, and things for babies and pre-schoolers to do, and is it easy to meet new mum friends who are/were early 30s professionals?

My sister moved to BS when her children were, I think, 4 and 8. She lived on a relatively new very large housing area with it's own massive supermarket, play area, open spaces etc. She definitely got good value for money property wise compared to where she was (Enfield) and only moved to emigrate for a better job, not because she didn't like the area.

What is the town centre like, compared to e.g. St Albans or Hertford - is it old or new?

I live in Stortford and have 2 DS aged 1 and 4.

It was a fairly small market town that has grown hugely over the last ten years. The town centre has a new-ish shopping centre development with a big Sainsburys and there is many of the usual shops - ELC, Starbucks, Costa, Next, Fatface, White Stuff, Boots, Waitrose etc as well as some lovely independent (but pricey) shops.

There is a reasonable amount to do with babies and pre-schoolers, swimming lessons, tumble tots, music stuff and playgroups etc. There is a Surestart centre but I've found it almost impossible to get onto any of their activities as they seem to book up immediately. There's two (fairly grotty) soft play places and millions of tea/coffee places. Lots of playgrounds. And the town is full of 30 something professional type mums, a lot of people commute into London from the town. It's also fairly easy to get to Saffron Walden and Cambridge. Primary schools are pretty good, lots with 'excellent' Ofsted ratings.

Have you thought about what part of the town you'd live in? Housing round the station tends to be older in style but much more expensive, or there is Thorley Park which was a big development built in the 80s, then Bishops Park, Bishops Gate and St Michaels Mead which were built in the late 90s.

Let me know if you have any specific queries ...