Opinions on areas of St Albans for young family.

[amberexpat]

We are moving to the area and currently looking at a home on Sutton Rd. I ask because our current flat in London is....not what we thought it was the few times we looked at it. Tons of teens hanging outside up to no good, drug dealings, theft etc. My girls hate walking home if we see them hanging outside. I don’t want to not love where I live again. I’m terrified that the next place we move to looks great but things are different during the evenings. I know St Albans isn’t London, but would you live on Sutton rd?
Can you advise the best areas of St Albans?

i think that sutton rd should be fine at night (if you are worried you could always take a drive down there at night?) but I haven't heard of it (or really any area of St Albans) being dodgy. have you looked at the likes of Drakes Drive and new house park? they are nice areas for families and have good schools near

St Albans is pretty safe all round but don’t be tempted by Hatfield it’s cheaper but there is a good reason for it.

@sleepismysuperpower1 thanks, I will take a look at those! I did read in a St Albans fb group there’s been some burglaries around there.(Sutton rd) will try to get a better feel for it.

@madeyemoodysmum yes, I have heard that! I’m only really looking in SA and Harpenden, I want safe and family friendly not cheap and dodgy!

Fleetville is fine. The Camp area is a bit less nice but compared to London St Albans is super safe. The biggest moan tends to be people not picking up after their dogs. Good luck

Sutton Road is a nice area. New greens is a very nice area too. Everywhere has there rough spots but in general St. Albans is very nice. It just depends on your needs as to what part will suit you and your family

Thank you, good to hear!
There seems to not be too many homes on the market so trying to not settle. Will be renting first!
We live in a pretty dodgy part of Islington now so I think we will be fine, just hate to make a mistake!

If you can afford Harpenden I would choose there over St Albans personally.

@Lucylou321 I’m struggling to find many homes there that work for us! Seems to be low amount of homes on the market so I’ve been searching both areas. Also worried about Harpendens schools all being over subscribed! Will take your advice!

Sutton Road is not a nice road, but it's not terrible.

It's very close to much better areas of Fleetville - Woodstock Road and the parallel roads up towards the town is miles better.

You can put in the post code of the property on police.uk and you’ll get the info on the specific area.

Generally, crime rates in St Albans are similar to some of the safer London boroughs. If you google ‘St Albans stabbings’, you’ll see it isn’t exactly uneventful.

@amberexpat I moved from Islington here as well. Much safer and lots still to do. Feel free to message me if you want more info. I’ve never seen any problems and it’s cleaner, safer and more friendly than Islington.

St Albans is about the same in terms of crime (and gang related crime) as north london. It’s where the county lines gang crap often begins. If I were you I would consider something further up north towards Milton Keynes / Bedfordshire / Buckinghamshire - the commute into London is approx the same but you will have access to better schools (the buckinghamshire / bedfordshire / aylesbury grammars and independents etc), and there are still villages there where you can feel safe.

@JoJoSM2 Interesting! I plugged it in and there was 5 incidents in sept..

@GinUnicorn I will have to get my thoughts together and message you! You know exactly where I’m coming from, thank you!

@GrumpyHoonMain interesting, I have looked there a bit, but worry about getting around. We haven’t gotten our UK license yet and will as soon as we get out of London. Are things As accessible? Prices are much better!

Gotta say as someone from Islington total bollocks to similar crime - it’s not even comparable. Trains are good and fast but really busy in rush hour so don’t expect a seat. Other than that transports okay if overpriced

@ amberexpat - yes definitely accessible towards Bedfordshire and around the Milton Keynes / Buckingham side of Buckinghamshire. Things get less accessible in Buckinghamshire proper.

Take a look at Aspley Guise / Woburn Sands / Loughton (in Milton Keynes), Wooton.

GinUnicorn, of course. Islington is particularly bad for high crime. Almost double the rates compared to St Albans or some other parts of London.

@GinUnicorn after posting this I got an alert a man was mugged at 4pm not far from me. I feel silly asking now about safety!

@GrumpyHoonMain thank you for those, looking Into them now, thanks for the specific areas!

Hey everyone, I saw this thread and am also thinking of moving from Islington to St A.
Can I ask about areas please as someone new to St A? Is the area just near the city centre (church crescent, worley road and folly lane) decent?
We’d like to be close to the city and within walking distance of the mainland station.

Thanks so much!