Best place to live in Essex?

[Gemmu]

Hi all
We're hoping to buy a new place in Essex for under 300k and were hoping for some advice.
We currently live in Loughton and although we love the area, the forest and the tube, the knife crime has heightened and we couldn't afford a house here.
Our budget has pushed us out of our original choice of Rayleigh.
We would like somewhere great for young families, a low crime rate and preferably semi rural with access to London for work.
We have been looking at Braintree but I keep reading terrible reviews about the town. We love the idea of Halstead, Kelvedon and Maldon but I'm not sure if the commute to London would be to much of a nightmare. Burnham on Crouch and Wivenhoe are also on our maybe list.
We're originally from Chelmsford and Brentwood and we aren't keen to move back to either area.
Any opinions would be most welcome. We would like some guidance from families in the know
Thanks in advance

250k will definitely get you a 3 bed in braintree! Ours is a semi with a double garage and was only 235k. Best of luck to find the best house for you!

Thank you so much!
We went to Braintree yesterday and had a walk around and drive around the surrounding areas and we couldn't fault what we saw, so it's definitely still in the running for us. Lovely Costa there!
We had a drive around Halstead but the shops had closed so didn't get a true feel for the area and will have to return.
We shall check out all the links and other places mentioned in this thread to see what's out there.
Really appreciate all this advice

Gemmu Braintree really isn't that awful. It has a bad reputation but it's been ideal for us up until now. Only reason we are looking to move is due to work and elderly relatives... otherwise Id be quite happy staying here!