Thinking of leaving London. Does this place exist? Where is it?

[Speaknowfearlessreputation]

London has gotten so expensive and I am finding that the community I once loved is disappearing too.

If this is on our wish list, where would suit us?

-strong community: friendly, easy to integrate, lots to do
-liberal minded people
-creative people around (I work in a creative industry)
-access to London (doesn’t have to be commutable as I work from home, but DH and I do need to get back once every fortnight or so)
-a charming high street full of independent shops
-not too polluted
-good schools, preferably progressive schools
-great place to be a kid

Where would this place be?

Yep. The town is lovely. I visit regularly and have friends there. But it's hardly liberal or creative. It's Tory, super upper middle class, and smug. Consequently the schools are very conformist as far as I can tell.

@saraclara it isn't Tory and hasn't been for a good few years- it's Lib Dem- we've lived there twice before but left in 2013 as it was pretty soulless in the daytime in the week as very much commutersville and it was suprisingly dead in an evening as so many people had young kids - ( we didn't by that point)

It may have improved given the amount of home working. It's convenient and not unattractive but it no longer really worked for us- it's also expensive if you need to commute every day- as it's not in zones and housing is as much as somewhere like Kingston or Twickenham that are in zones

Yep, hard agree. It's always raining there, all the locals are chippy and miserable and it takes forever to get to London - you're looking at a 4-hr train journey/5-hr drive

it isn't Tory and hasn't been for a good few years- it's Lib Dem

I'm very happy to be mistaken!

But much as I enjoy visiting the town to shop or to wander round,I feel quite out of place. And the social events that I've attended through my (fairly normal) friends have been full of shiny wealthy people who've snubbed me when I've tried to engage with them. I'm fairly obviously not as polished as them though 😄

I personally don't see the appeal of st albans. I felt it was quite "war time" looking houses, small and tight and barely any parking.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149539655#/?channel=RES_BUY