Essex residents have shared their fondness of a city named one of the best places to live in the UK. Chelmsford was crowned the best place to live in the East of England by the Sunday Times.
The city, home to more than 180,000 people, was praised by judges as a "perfect example of the modern commuter hub". They also acknowledged the "excellent" local schools and "impeccable" transport connections.
Local residents described Chelmsford as "developing a character" as time progresses and being a "fantastic" place for families to settle. The former market town and county town of Essex was given city status in 2012 with plenty of changes seen in recent years.
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Chelmsford is constantly growing with large developments routinely helping the city's population increase. Developments such as nearly 900 homes to the west of the city and thousands in the ever-expanding Beaulieu Park and Channels areas of the city.
But alongside the built-up residential areas, the area continues to have popular open areas. Judy Annphile, 69, has been living in the area for up to 60 years and said: "There's a good choice of shops and plenty of open spaces. People are friendly and helpful. If you have a dog there's lots of places to walk them. There's sports facilities, the ice rink, swimming pool and lots of gyms."
Hylands Park and the historic Hylands House are both popular places for people to go for a stroll, dog walk or simply relax in the sun. Oaklands Park and Central Park in the city centre are also popular with children's play areas.
Jan Scott, 72, was one of those enjoying the sun in Central Park as "a change of scenery" from her home in Rayleigh when EssexLive toured Chelmsford. She said: "It's a nice place compared to Basildon and other places. It's got nice parks, shops and nice open spaces and it's clean."
The High Chelmer Shopping Centre is filled with popular chains such as Primark, New Look and Boots among others whilst the Meadows Shopping Centre also has the likes of Card Factory, The Works and One Beyond.
Bond Street is the city's more luxurious shopping destination. It's home to Charles Tyrwhitt, John Lewis, Space NK, The White Company and White Stuff. It's also got a Tiptree tearoom to enjoy locally made products.
There is also more than plenty of options when it comes to finding something to eat. Pig and Whistle, on the city's outskirts, is an award-winning restaurant, while other independent businesses include The San (Chinese), Balti King (Indian), Zorba the Greek, Moto Pizza, A Canteen, Robinsons (fish and chips) among plenty of others too. There is also, of course, the likes of McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Nandos, Prezzo and more.
Not everyone, however, is positive of Chelmsford. George Tinsley, 32, believes other parts of Essex, such as Colchester, are better than the city. He said: "It's a nice place to live. The shopping aspect has been greatly built up with Bond Street, but I could rant about how I don't like it more than I do though.
"A lot of money has come into the town and been spent on restaurants and clothes shops. Perhaps they should have designed the infrastructure more and invested more on independent restaurants and music venues that I think every other city has that we don't. Colchester is so much further ahead in terms of pretty much everything."
Whilst there are some empty shops - an issue affecting lots of High Streets nationally - these tend to be refurbished and replaced pretty quickly. "They have filled in most of the gaps," said Ms Scott of the High Street areas. "There's lots of restaurants. The shops were empty but they are balancing out now between shops and restaurants."
She added: "It's developing a character. It's somewhere that you would want to come to where's that's not always been the case. If you do not live in a town you would travel here for a day out."
From an entertainment perspective, there's plenty to do. You can take in the latest films at the Odeon or Everyman cinemas, top shows and performers often visit Chelmsford Theatre and Hot Box is one of the places to go to for live music in the city.
You can also learn interesting facts at the Museum of Chelmsford or pick up locally-sourced products from various farm shops. For the active among us, there's a number of gyms plus Chelmsford City Football Club, Essex County Cricket Club, Chelmsford Rugby Club and the Chelmsford Chieftains ice hockey among other team sports if you prefer to spectate than take part.
King Edward VI Grammar School and Chelmsford County High School for Girls are the city's two selective schools and are both high-performing nationally, while several comprehensive schools are highly-recommended too. The Chelmsford campus of Anglia Ruskin University, named Times Higher Education University of the Year for 2023, offers an excellent education for older students.
Ms Annphile claims the city has some issues with drug use, adding she expects this also impacts "every town". But on general public safety, she added: "Being an older person it's important to feel safe and I feel that way here."
Official Essex Police figures show a decrease (7.6%) in anti-social behaviour offences reported in 2024 compared to 2023 in the Chelmsford district. There was, however, an increase (11.5%) in possession of drugs offences in the area and over the timeframe.
Land Registry figures show the average house price in December 2024 was £376,376. It's slightly more than the county's average (£361,725) with Brentwood, Epping Forest, Maldon, Rochford and Uttlesford more expensive places to live.
The city is certainly a popular spot for families and commuters. Chelmsford railway station is one of the busiest in the East of England and the almost-finished Beaulieu Park Station will help accommodate the growing demand for Greater Anglia train services. There is also an expansive bus network covering Chelmsford and wider Essex.
Local estate agent Matthew Baldock, who specialises on properties in Chelmsford, said: "I may be biased as we have lived in Chelmsford our whole lives but the only surprise here is that our city hasn’t made the list sooner. We believe Chelmsford is a fantastic place to raise a family and with 38 per cent of our resident make up being family homes then others clearly agree.
"There’s plenty to do in the city centre, plenty of parks and open spaces and we have a number of fantastic schools and great transport links with the Elizabeth Line, Stratford and Liverpool Street being within easy reach. Nearly 80 per cent of our homes are within 200 metres of a bus stop or the station and in this new age of working from home, 81 per cent of homes have access to ultra fast broadband."
At EssexLive we're on a mission to highlight every corner of Essex. We will be visiting a new neighbourhood every week to talk to the people who live there and capture what life is like across our county. For some places that will highlight the hidden gems there or the reason people are flocking to live there, for others it might allow us to shine a light on an issue that's troubling residents.
Our aim is to get everyone #ExploringEssex more, and venturing further across the county to discover different areas to visit and live in. If you have a suggestion for where we should visit next let us know below.
