Hitchin, allegedly one of the happiest places to live in the country. That is, if you’re the sort of person that gains immense pleasure from sitting in a barber shop and admiring one’s self in the mirror.
For sure the town centre is reasonably attractive, but it’s nothing compared to similar-size towns in other parts of the country. Indeed there’s more than a fair share of 60s or 70s monstrosities to blot the scene, as well as a number of choice estates round the periphery, the types of ones bus drivers refuse to drive through. Yet despite these negative attributes, people seem to want to over-mortgage themselves to live here.
Perhaps this malaise is why elements of the town are populated with the most utterly obnoxious and objectionable people imaginable. The types that are sufficiently smug and horrible that they’d run someone over for daring to cross a road in front of their 4×4, and yet it would still be the victims fault simply for existing. Then there’s the breed who move there (at cost) to get their offspring in the well-regarded state schools, yet value a loft conversion over actually doing the decent thing and sending their child to a fee-paying school to allow someone less fortunate to have the state place.
So in summary, Hitchin as a town is horribly congested, not as picturesque as it thinks it is, and full of some pretty obnoxious people. Apart from the quick train journey to London, not sure why people want to mortgage themselves up to the hilt to live in this smug self-deluded town.
