Place A or Place B - which would you go for?

[Blondie1984]

Place A -
Currently a bit dead but is close to a couple of areas which have a bit more going on
Good schools
Slightly easier commute to work
Could afford a decent sized house
Fairly good prospects for the area becoming more popular as people continue to move out of London so chance of property value increases are good

OR

Place B
More lively with a nice buzz about it -some nice restaurants, nice shops and "feels" a lot nicer - more friendly
Schools are OK
Commute to work would be a bit longer
Could only afford a fairly small house (at best) or, more likely, an apartment
Area is already well established so any property value increases would be minimal - if any at all

Which would you choose? Help!!

So there aren't actually any kids on the scene yet yet but I'm thinking good schools would help for when they do arrive or as and when the time comes to sell

In terms of nothing to do...there are a few small shops: Boots, Superdrug, Waterstones plus the usual coffee shops, charity shops, estate agents etc. there are a couple of gyms and a theatre but that's about it...

To get to the nicer places is a 10 min drive to one, and about a 20min drive to the other which is place B

Place A is Chesham in Bucks
Place B is Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire

Oh, well. Hertfordshire any day

I've got friends in both towns. Think Chesham has a grammar system? It all sounds a bit cutthroat and mental for 11 year olds. I would have thought schools are pretty good in Berko but someone with more knowledge will come along shortly.

Hi, i live in chesham. I like the fact that it is a small, normal town with everything you need for day to day shopping. As you have said berko is great for restaurants etc and you also have amersham and beaconsfield on the other side. The theatre in chesham is a little gem, berko has a wonderful art deco cinema, but unless you become a member, which is expensive it is hard to get tickets. Also check out the cost of commuting as the berko line is more expensive than the chiltern and metropolitan lines. Bucks also has grammar schools which are highly sought after. If you do want to look in chesham i would be happy to help with advice on areas, we moved here over 20 years ago from london. Also i find berko a nightmare to park in as it is so busy.

Yes i believe Chesham is within the grammar system ....

Bilbodog whilst the supermarkets are good, a colleague who lives there struggles for other things - there are is nothing as far as clothing, homeware, gifts etc - the sorts of shops that you could lose a few hours in of a Saturday afternoon...although really keen to hear if you know/think differently or if there are things that perhaps she is overlooking.

Thankfully my commute is by car and not rail so I'm not concerned about the cost element although i believe the journey from Berkhamsted to London is slightly quicker and there are more trains per hour than from Chesham

Hi, your friend is right about clothes and gift shopping and i would choose berkhamsted for those type of shops, or go to the eden centre in high wycombe or hemel hempstead or watford, but you dont need to live in the towns, they are all less than 30 mins away. Where do you need to commute to as im sure you know roads are very busy in this part of the south east and there are various routes which may get super congested and depending on where you need to get to you may be better placed to keep to one side or another of a particular town?