I'm shocked at the negativity about Stafford, thankfully there's a few positive voices @Staffordislovely @missyB1in this sea of negativity. If you go anywhere in 2019 Britain you will find empty town centres drunks and homeless people, roadworks. But to make sweeping generalisations about Stafford is very unfair
I'm from Stafford and, like I said, I go back once a week or more to visit family and friends. I've lived in other places too, so have been able to make comparisons. I was 15 years in London - it's a good job I didn't let the few homeless people hanging around with cans put me off - I lived in Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and now a village in Derbyshire (sadly lots of towns in Derbyshire have problems of empty shops and homeless people, like some posters have attributed to Stafford. I chose to go back to live and work in stafford when I was going through very difficult person circumstances in my life and it was an ideal place for me to live. I loved it!
Some positives- the Victoria park in town, lovely gardens and a bandstand with regular concerts and activities, with a recently refurbished play area for kids and a skatepark for the older ones - it's always full every time I drive past it. St Mary's church and the churchyard and the lanes around it -try the grove or the soup kitchen for coffee and cakes. Mill st and Mill bank - lots of individual shops and an art gallery/coffee bar. St chads church -very old. The Swan hotel, the ancient high house, the old traditional market hall, plus regular food Fairs, markets and activities in the market square. The castle which also holds regular events including a outdoor Shakespeare production. There's some lovely old buildings too, Pubs clubs restaurants , the gatehouse theatre, a new cinema and shopping mall - people, me included, aren't happy that planners and councillors tore the centre of the town up and dragged it all into the area around the river with the new mall at the other end of town with new library and council offices.
There's some active Facebook pages - one called "friends of stafford" who are trying to work with planners and councillors to regenerate the old parts of stafford and as far as I know there is progress being made
The schools are good as far as I know - I did ok and I've heard no complaints from my family and friends with school age children. The FE college seems good too.
Sadly the hospital provision has been reduced due to the big scandal - there's an active Facebook group to try to revive it. My dad was in the hospital around the time of the scandal and I much preferred it to the care that my mum got form Stoke hospital a few years ago which resulted in us making a safeguarding compliant. There's lots of new housing been built as well as a military community that's increased in recent years - all needing schools, housing and healthcare, so to have cut the hospital (and the university) back really doesn't make sense
OP I'm probably biased about stafford, but you need to go and look at it with your eyes open - people are friendly - there was always the myth that stafford people are stuck up, put about by stoke and Black Country people- but they're great when you get to know them
Good luck with your search. I'll try to answer any of your questions
Oh and don't forget to go to Cannock Chase if you fancy a walk or a picnic it's a secret paradise and a brilliant visitors centre with coffee shops and activities going on