Living in Hertfordshire without a car?

[creed26]

We are considering a job in Hatfield and don't necessarily want to live in Hatfield. We don't drive and a lot of Hertfordshire looks like it would be difficult without a car. I think St. Albans might be OK without a car, but has higher rents that a lot of the rest of the county.

Where are good the areas in Hertfordshire for living without a car?

In my experience, buses aren't that frequent or reliable.

You could live in a village on the Hatfield train line, if the job is near the station. (But the trains are dire at the moment, with lots of cancellations.)

Or live close enough to Hatfield to cycle in.

Do you have to think about schools?

I agree that st ablans is doable without a car. You would need to live either in London Coney or somewhere central. It wouldn't work If picked somewhere like Jersey Farm. There are plenty of buses between St Albans and Hatfield. You can use the university buses without being student. You just pay more.

Thank you for responding. Work is right is the center of Hatfield, so arriving by either bus or train should be fine (or cycling if it's close enough). We do have to worry about schools though. We have a daughter who is in 9th year right now and so many of the schools in Hertfordshire seem to be oversubscribed. I don't know how bad it will be coming in mid-year either, although I suppose the schools should know if they currently have an open seat.

Are WGC, Hitchin and Letchworth good places for easy walking distances for daily things like shopping and dining and access to transit for the occasional trip to London?

What would you consider to be the "most walkable" city or town in Hertfordshire?

We've moved from St Albans to a small village outside Hitchin.

Hitchin Town is beautiful, loads of places to eat and lots to do. Most things within walking distance. Would definitely recommend

Transport links from Potters Bar are pretty good towards Hatfield, into London etc

To be fair I use that train line twice a week and it really is fine and much better than Thameslink. You could maybe consider Barnet - Oakleigh Park and New Barnet are on the same line and would be easily commutable. Or even further out St Neots / Sandy way.

If your DD is in year 9, I'd find out what schools have places first. You don't want to chose somewhere to live, and find out she can only get a place at a school that she wouldn't like. The girls school in Hatfield has a good reputation.

To be fair I use that train line twice a week and it really is fine
The Hatfield-Kings Cross line's been terrible for months. My teenagers use it twice a day, and the trains keep being cancelled. One notable day this week, DD's train to school was cancelled, so I gave her a lift, came home and found DS's later train (he's in sixth form) had also been cancelled... Then their train home was cancelled too! That was just an unrelated rant, sorry

PS It might still be better than Thameslink though!

To be fair better than Thameslink isn't any type of compliment. But generally the trains run ok on the Hatfield line. I am honestly not a shareholder.