Hitchin or St. Albans?

[jelambed]

Hello!

My family and I will be moving down south from a little town in Northumberland as I got a new job and offices are in London. I used to live down in London for 8 years but can't bear the idea of moving back with a 2 year old.

I have been looking at St Albans and Hitchin, as friends have been very positive about them. We're not fussed about ofsted ratings, we're not what would fall under the category of "competitive parents", we just want a nice, safe and quiet space to live in with easy access to London (less than 1hr commute). Would just love to be able to workout at a gym once in a while and be close to amenities as we won't be using a car. We'd be renting a 2 bed property, I noticed a bigger amount of cheaper property in Hitchin.

Any thoughts/advice/recommendations would be welcome! Even for other areas of interest! Happy to provide more details too.

I don't know Hitchin at all but St Albans certainly has everything you want and is a very walkable sort of place to live if you don't have a car as long as you have the money to live centrally. It has a nice street market, interesting history, a good independent cinema, lots of green spaces and walks and the station is easy to walk to, again as long as you live centrally. I don't live there myself as it's so expensive but if you can afford it, it's lovely.

There's nice bits in both and meh bits in both. So depends more exactly where the properties are.

Honestly both are nice.
I'd focus on commute time combined with the rental to make the decision.

Your commute and living environment (space, flow, decor) will have the biggest impact on quality of life.