Information: 11 Good And Bad Things About Harpenden, Hertfordshire
Many people love and hate Harpenden, I was born in Harpenden and lived most of my early years here. I’m in my mid 30’s now (so expect some bias) and recently came back to Harpenden after living and working abroad for many years. I’m leaving the UK and so called “cleaky” Harpenden in two weeks and thought this post would be fitting for anyone arriving into Harpenden!
Between Luton and St Albans is Harpenden, a charming and traditional town. It has a village feel but all the conveniences of the town with nearly 30,000 residents. Here are 11 good and bad things about Harpenden in Hertfordshire…
The good things:
- The trains run often
- Lovely common with children’s activities
- Loads of coffee shops, pubs, banks, hairdressers, and estate agents
- A community of rich and famous
- Exotic Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, and Maserati’s are a common sight
- 25mins from London
- A great place for WAGS
- Good schools
- Harpenden’s very own privately paid for policemen walking the beat
- Really close to the M1 and M25
- A kebab shop on station road that stays open until midnight everyday
The bad things:
- To own a family house outright you need to be a millionaire
- Anyone under 21 will probably be bored, many pubs being 21+
- A top 10 most expensive place to live in the United Kingdom
- Little to no ethnic or cultural diversity
- Many wannabe millionaires with huge mortgages and company cars
- Vast amounts of tango or bright purple coloured, big spoiler, booming hatchbacks pimped up to high heaven accelerating from 0-30mph as fast as they can (owners of which reside outside of Harpenden!)
- A police station that closes at night with high street shop robberies being common at 3am!
- There are a load of mobile caravans with permanent residents living in a village called Slip End which is just 3 mins drive from Harpenden center
- A kebab shop on station road that stays open until midnight everyday that attracts hoards of 16 year olds with nowhere to go and nothing to do
- Huge amounts of traffic at 8:30am and 3:30pm every week day with one mum driving and one child in the back seat being driven 900 yards to and from school in an oversized range rover
- A land of mums with one baby drinking and chatting in coffee shops from 10am to 3:30pm every week day
Feel free to add your own comments below! Oh, I’ll add this… Harpenden high street has an underground network of tunnels linking up various pubs and buildings, and no you can’t go down there anymore as it’s all locked up now.
These comments say a lot more about the writer than about Harpenden. It shows an immature and self-obsessed mind with an unhealthy obsession for celebrity and its trappings and the empty things in life.
Harpenden is full of kind, friendly, generous and cheerful people. The residents are generally intelligent, well motivated and hard working – that’s why they receive large salaries so forcing up the price of houses and creating high car ownership. It’s a myth that house prices are astronomic however, go to outlining areas such as Southdown and Batford and house process are affordable.
He writes that there is nothing to do in Harpenden for the under 21s. Go to the Inn on the Green, Slug and Lettuce or the Cock (to name but few) and you will find that the pubs, and restaurants, pizza places etc, positively full of younger people.
I suggest to the writer that if he is not intelligent or committed enough to earn a salary commensurate with Harpenden then he should look for a home elsewhere. But stop whingeing – it’s so sad.
Dear Harpenden Resident,
I did list both the good and bad things about Harpenden!
As far as my personal traits go, yes I guess I do have some narcissism ingrained in to my DNA. However, I have no obsession with celebrity what-so-ever but if you are referring to the two articles that were posted before and after this post, those came from other people not me!
Agreed, Harpenden residents are generally intelligent, well motivated and hard working I did not say anything different, but I guess you’re referring that I’m not. Yes, Southdown and Batford are cheaper but only because both areas are further out of Harpenden (and the train station) and both have large council estates (albeit most council houses are now privately owned), and generally a lower quality grade of housing stock. Batford also has very little in the way of amenities within walking distance apart from a small coop, a pub and a petrol station which also makes a difference on the house prices.
Yes you are right there are pubs that are under 21s and there is a pizza restaurant and various coffee shops.
Well my dear Harpenden Resident it seems you really do have a beef with me. There are good and bad things about every place in the world, this article was my list of good and bad things about Harpenden, you could have simply disagreed with my list but it seems you’re more interested in me (I’m flattered).
Oh also, I actually really like Harpenden and the only reason I’m leaving is because I have a new contract in another country (although I’ll still keep HarpendenUK active), and my list was based on facts, well apart from the WAGS maybe.