Hitchin/WGC and close areas please help

[purplesun]

Good morning ladies,
I have just accepted a job in Hatfield and I have only a few weeks to relocate from Glasgow. I don't know the area but I have read some very good things about Hertfordshire! I have two young boys so good schools is a priority. I have come across Hitchin and WGC so far that are both easy to commute for Hatfield/London/Cambridge, not too expensive and seem nice. Can you advise me better? Are they ok for primary and secondary? Any area to avoid when looking for a house? Any other suggestion?
I really appreciate. Thank you in advance!

Commuting to Hatfield from further north (Stevenage, Hitchin, Biggleswade) requires travelling on the a1 which is an absolute nightmare if you need to commute at peak times. You would generally need to add an hour on to your journey time.

However, Hitchin has some really lovely areas if you are prepared to withstand the commute.

Welwyn Garden City is very mixed - it has some lovely areas and some very dodgy ones too. If you manage to stay the right side of the town it is nice and has quite a village-y feel to it.

Hatfield - as I'm sure you have worked out - is pretty much a no-go apart from the Hatfield Garden Village area which is very nice but I believe leads to a problem with good schools.

St Albans (a 10 minute drive) would be your best option for schools and is a wonderful place to live. It is pricey though and still has some avoidable areas ('Cottonmill' and 'Newgreens').

Some other places with a short commute worth considering would be Hertford, Park Street, Knebworth, Wheathamstead.

Am not that knowledgable about schools, hopefully someone else will be along to advise on that. Anything else you'd like to know I'd be delighted to try and help.

Good luck with the move!

Thank you! I would have never imagine traffic was so bad! So if we go for Hitchin I will have to take the train I suppose..

yes, I figured it out about Hatfield :)

I will give a look to the other ares today, thanks! It would be so much easier to live closer and just take the car for a trip instead that looking only on the internet!

I hope someone can advise about schools. Thank you again!

I live in St Albans and commute to Hatfield by car. Takes about 20min and traffic is rarely a problem. The majority of St Albans' schools are very good although catchment areas can be small for the most popular ones. St Albans and the surrounding area is pretty expensive though particularly for properties close to the train station (a lot of St Albans residents commute into London). Sandridge might be worth a look.

Hi Snorbs,
thanks a lot! I am looking at St Albans today. It seems nice. Is there any area to avoid? Could you please tell me if there are good activities to do with children and if it feels safe to live there?

lackingimagination do you know if there are areas of Herford to avoid? I saw a nice flat north west. Quite affordable and I wonder why..

Hi purple. I'm afraid I don't know much about Hertford only that its a nice 15 minute commute to Hatfield with no traffic. It has a small, quaint town centre and is a popular place to visit but I don't know about areas to live.

St Albans has lots of open spaces and plenty of parks for children, lots of nice places to go for walks and there always seems to be lots of children around playing. I have always felt so safe living round here and never seen, heard of or experienced anything unusual. I have always said it is the one place I would love to bring my children up (I don't have any yet!).

There is an estate called Cottonmill which I wouldn't be comfortable walking through but it is tucked right out of the way so really doesn't cause any problems. Newgreens has a bit of a reputation but may have changed in recent years. The rest is lovely with the most popular areas for families being Jersey Farm, Marshalswick and Sandridge. All in a fab position for the best schools.

St Albans is also a great area for the adults with a lively but grown-up bar scene (if you know the right places) and tonnes of very good restaurants. Shopping is also good and you're 20 minutes from central London on the train and 5 minutes from the M1, M25 and A1 links.

Anything else you'd like to know?

Thank you! I am worried about catchment area for schools, but it is great to have a few nice areas to look at! I am looking at properties right now!
I think I am fine at the moment about St Albans!

I'll have to wait till someone can tell me more about Hertford and possibly other locations!

I'd stay away from Oysterfields in St Albans as well as Cottonmill. But, to be honest, even the not-so-nice areas of St Albans are hardly the worst places in the world. And go a few streets over and you're back in nice neighbourhoods again. It's like that in New Greens - the streets immediately near the shops are a bit run-down but go a couple more streets over and it's fine.

There's lots for kids to do with good parks and activities. The only thing that's really missing is a cinema although the old one is (slowly) being renovated with a view to re-opening and the Albans Arena sometimes shows films as well as doing theatre, comedy, music etc. Or just travel to Hemel Hempstead, Hatfield or Watford for a variety of multiplexes. I love living here.

It sound actually really nice
I am just struggling to find something in budget in the nice areas pretty much everywhere, from St Albans to Hertford. I have to work on it I suppose.

Can anyone tell me anything about Barnet, Frogmore (St Albans), Wheathampstead, Hampstead and Hemel Hampstead?

Try also looking at Baldock. Great primaries and an outstanding secondary. You would have the same A1 issues to get to Hatfield but Baldock is more afffordable than St Albans but still great links to London and Cambridge.

Avoid Sele Farm in Hertford.
Look at Hertford Heath & Bengeo both just outside Hertford.

Forget Hampstead - it's London and a hugely expensive area.

Hemel H is ok but lacks prettiness/character from what I've heard.

Hitchin is good though, if you can afford. Cheaper than St.Albans too.

Wheathampstead is lovely and with a good primary school but no secondary. This is a big problem at the moment as it means secondary-age children have to try to get in to schools in St Albans or Harpenden which can be very difficult.

Agree with FishFngers. Baldock schools are sought after. I've known families from Stevenage, Welwyn etc move to Baldock for the schools. There are a couple of quiet villages around as well if you prefer a more rural setting, with quick access to the main roads- Ashwell, cottered,. Have heard the Village schools are good as well.

Thank you ladies! I really appreciate the help!

Baldock is a contender! Not many properties on the market but there are a couple that I like and that's enough for me. I have to check nurseries.
Any idea if the traffic will be bad as in Hitchin?

yesterday I saw quite a lot of properties in WGC that I like. Being just a few minutes from Hatfield really tempts me.. But I am not that keen on spending 2k per month in nursery... We'll see.. Do you know if the south and east areas (Hall Grove, Hatfield Hyde and Panshanger) of WGC are fine? There are quite a lot of good properties on the market.

Hitchin is probably still on the run since nursery would be slightly cheaper (still expensive!). But I am concerned about schools and I have seen only a few properties that are ok.

I like Hertford but I've only seen one property in budget that I like. I'll phone nurseries anyway. Do you know if schools are a problem?

Have a lovely day!!

purplesun Not many properties on offer in Baldock. One of my friends is still renting and waiting for a property to buy. Its been more than a year now. People tend to stay put, I guess.

Search further afield for accommodation. Letchworth has good properties, slightly cheaper and its so near, Baldock is almost like its satellite town. No idea about peak hour traffic into Baldock, sorry.

We used to live in Panshanger eons ago. Very quiet, residential roads. Lovely place. But this was before we had DD. So don't have too much info on the schools.

We live between Hall Grove and Panshanger in WGC. Moved here from London a couple of years ago. Nuce community feel, not too far from town centre, quite a few local primaries and close-ish to Stanborough Lakes which is a lovely family area.

Born and bred in WGC!! I'm at Hall Grove now.

Not too much has changed although that could be the rose tinted glasses but there's not much trouble, quiet and not overly expensive.
( What do I know though, I'm in social housing!)

Most schools are fine, a few I'd avoid due to ineffective dealings with bullying but the majority are good. I'm not an expert though as DS has a statement and going to a SN secondary.

Hi, I live in hitchin and love it, but schools are a real issue, the good ones are always oversubscribed, and the nearer you can live to a preferred school the better. Westmill is the estate which has a bad reputation, and I would avoid, but the rest of it is fine.
Commuting to Hatfield from there is fine, you can avoid the a1m by going through codicote. I commuted to potters bar from hitchin using back roads and rarely had a problem.

I'd go for hitchin in your shoes.

Commute to Hatfield is fine, schools are good - three good secondary options, but make sure you are in catchment- do your research carefully.

St. Albans is lovely but much more expensive!

Thank you ladies! You've been amazing!

I think at this point I will focus on WGC, Hertford and Hitchin I would like st Albans but I cannot afford to live there. My husband may have an interview in Hatfield as well in the next couple of weeks so if he will work in Hatfield it would probably be better to stay in Hertford or WGC and commute together from a short distance. It would give us more time together and with the boys

The plan is to come down from Glasgow next week and take a look around. I'll see a few nurseries and maybe start looking for accommodation. I have an appointment for the mortgage today (wish me luck!) but even if everything goes well, I don't know if in 6 weeks we would be able to buy a flat/house. A friend of mine yesterday told me it could take many weeks to have all the papers sorted, even if the house you buy is empty ...

I will take a look at properties to rent in the area I would like to buy a house and hope for the best. Unfortunately there are not many properties for rent and almost nothing short term...

I am looking forward to moving now! Once we decide where to go, we could meet, if you like the idea!

Have a lovely day and weekend!!

Hi purple good luck with your trip down here. Sounds like your researching skills are very good! But if there's anything trivial you'd like to know from a local then do get in touch :-)

I like the sound of renting somewhere short term it will give you time to properly suss out the area for yourselves and see exactly where you'd like to live more permanently. It must be so tough trying to do it all on the Internet, you just can't get that 'feel' for a place. But, yes, the rental market is pretty slow at the moment here so fingers crossed on that one too.

Let us know how it went!

Hi lackingimagination,

thanks a lot! I definitely need to see all these places. A friend also suggested Hemel Hempstead. I know it is not as pretty as st Albans or Hitchin but it is actually significantly cheaper. So I'll give it a try and take a good look around.

And of course I'll let you know where we'll end up!

Actually there is one think I would like to ask. I don't know if anybody can help. Is there a hospital for sick children somewhere?

Thanks :)