Anyone live in Bournemouth? What's it like?

[prampusher]

we are thinking about places to move to... just been watching Grand Designs and it featured Bournemouth.. would love to live by the sea but I have always associated it as being a place for OAPs... am I foolishly misinformed?

[Lullabyloo]

yes....lived there till i was 22...very trendy now!
High percentage of foreign students as loads of language schools.
Nice place to live

[prampusher]

ta lullyboo... that's interesting indeedy I had also read about somewhere nearby (can't remember name) being a very deprived place... god I sound like a snob but being in London and having never lived in v salubrious places we are keen to be somewhere... well just nicer I guess!

[foxybrown]

I lived there during my college days (vaguely remembers that long ago)

Really lovely to live by the sea, clean, nice town. Busy in the summer though (stating the obvious) Quite an affluent place I thought. Definately worth a visit if you are considering it.

[EasterSparklerEgg]

I live in Poole. Love it here. Bournemouth is lovely too but wouldn't live too close to town centre - it can get rather rowdy in the evenings.
We are very fortunate living here as there is so much to do in the summer.
I would find it very hard to choose somewhere else to live in Britain after living here.

[Lullabyloo]

nowhere v.deprived near Bournemouth that i know of.???????
Very affluent area tbh

[prampusher]

ooh that's helpful... Poole is supposed to be gorgeous but I've always thought it must be very pricey housing wise. Yep that social dep thing foxed me too... actually I don't know what I'm worrying about anyway - we've always lived in the less posh parts of town and been very happy there... just be nice to be somewhere where the air is cleaner and perhaps the pace of life is a little slower.
Is Bournmouth really that rowdy? So much for my sleepy pensioners vision of it! But then my old nan could get pretty rowdy
well we shall go and have a look I think. anyone recommend a baby friendly cafe/restaurant for eating/changing pit stops?

[prampusher]

EasterSparklerEgg - what makes Poole such a fab place to live? Never been. We seem to want a place that doesn't exist. Seaside, fields close by but an array of convenient shops, a diverse multi-cultural range of people... clean air... good schools, reasonably priced housing...
See I'm dreaming aren't I??

[brimfull]

I live not far from bournemouth,just outside Ringwood.
Bournemouth is a lovely place,there are some nice bits and some rougher bits(not that rough though) like any city.
It isn't very multi-cultural though .But hopefully that will change soon.
Shopping is good,nearby southampton good aswell.
Housing isn't that cheap,cheaper than Ringwood though,but obviously depends on the area.
Apparently the town centre is a real eye opener at night with loads of drunk students and young people.But I don't frequent Bournemouth at night.
Summer is fantastic,best time to go to the beach is around 4-5pm when all the tourists(grockels) are heading home.I love the beach on the winter though.
New Forest is on your doorstep here which is beautiful.
Have I sold it to you yet?

[prampusher]

ooh ggirl it's sounding really good actually. we were going to go to Swanage and check that out... supposed to be beautiful but I imagine it's much quieter than Bournemouth area and as I was born and bred in the big smoke it might be too much of a culture shock I'm thinking. Yep I'm not a fan of beach tourist traps either... someone described day trippers as treating seaside towns like Petrol station toilets... ie they don't even think about what state they leave it in before they leave. Yuck. Bournemouth does look really pretty though... are schools okay around there? I won't be out on the town either so I guess that's not really something to think about too much ... we do sometimes go out though so are there any nice types of pubs/bars anyone know? Also if you could rec. a baby friendly cafe that would be brilliant sorry, to fire a mass of questions!

[amynnixmum]

Its quite cosmopolitan these days but agree with sparkler not to live to close to the centre. There are some deprived area around here but then I imagine there are places like that all over the country. There was a poll the other day that said Bournemouth was the happiest town in England.

Theres lots of family friendly places around as well as night clubs if thats your scene. Some good schools too.

[amynnixmum]

Bournemouth beach is beautiful but very busy. If you live here though you will find out where the quieter less touristy bits are though and go there instead.

[brimfull]

ds loves the steam train to swanage ,you can park at norden look here here

Sorry don't know about the schools,you'd have to check ofsted site.
There's a cafe by the library in the centre of bournemouth that would be fine to feed a baby,comfy chairs for breastfeeding.Can't remember the name of it though.

[prampusher]

it's sounding good!!! you're all brilliant - v helpful info. god sorry I sound like I've made people think about the deprived thing. only mentioned it because it came up in a google. I've been living in Hackney which as well as being a great place has its own set of problems and well as positives...

railway looks fantastic too...sorry making this a shortie as the lo is now on my knee and doing crazy things to the keyboard and phone (he knows how to put the computer into hibernate! didnt even know it could do that... though of course his skills are a bit hit and miss. Ta all.

[EasterSparklerEgg]

Poole is great as there is so much surrounding it. We have Poole Quay which have loads of events going on in the summer. We have Poole Town Centre for shopping. Poole Park. New Forest is close. Not far from Bournemouth for beaches. Easy to get to Swanage, Weymouth, Corfe Castle by car, bus or train. So there you have it. Beaches, forests and busy shopping centres (even smaller and quiter shopping areas around ie Wimborne). We have it all here!

[prampusher]

yay very excited about visiting now! Must get in my car and get there right away!

funny too, to think our lo will have a west country accent if he grows up there...there is a soft lilt right? I love the accent actually. I'm just typically London sounding...

It all sounds very enticing. are you sure you don't all work for the tourist board?

oh and forests too! Don't tell everybody - they'll all be moving there!

[amynnixmum]

we also have some good meet-ups don't we sparkler

[prampusher]

ooh stop it amynnixmum, I'm still stuck here a little longer... we will head there v soon and I shall report back You have utterly sold it to me... ladies (or gents in case you are) take jobs in sales if ever you fancy it! Mucho £ I should reckon.

Actually would miss people here in London... still it's not that far afterall and sounds like the pluses would far outweight negatives.

[EasterSparklerEgg]

The meet ups??! Well they are something else! Only the best meet ups happen in the Poole and Bournemouth area - I hope you like drinking?

[prampusher]

Is the Pope Catholic?

[DelGirl]

we have fab meet ups prampusher.

I moved to Bournemouth when I was 19, i'm now 41 and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else apart from maybe Italy. There are looads of nice places I know but we do seem to have it all down here. The only downside is property prices are very high which the salaries don't match.

[Surfermum]

I moved to Bournemouth from London about 20 years ago, moved away to the Cotswolds, but then came back. It really is a lovely area to live in. We have everything, the beaches, the New Forest, the Purbecks.

There's lots going on in the towns - a shed load of restaurants and bars. Something for everyone really, from nightclubs and young people's pubs (lol I must be old), family pubs, proper pubs. Pubs with views, pubs with live music, pubs doing great food.

And of course THE must be seen in venue, Bumbles. So bad it's good. Oh and of course Elements where Prince William was seen just last week.

There's BIC, Pavilion and Pier theatres, a theatre in Poole and a theatre in Wimborne run by volunteers. Loads of cinemas. Skating rink, waterpark, several pools. You can learn to surf, windsurf, sail, kitesurf. Or like me, learn to hip hop. There is tons for children to do - Farmer Palmers, open top bus rides along the coast, loads of soft play areas, lovely parks, Moors Valley Country Park, small theme parks. We're really spoiled for choice every school holiday.

Town centre isn't really a place to live unless you're 20 or a student, but the residential areas outside the town centre aren't that far away. There's probably areas to suit everyone's pockets from Sandbanks and the rich and famous's helipads to more modest areas and the rougher areas.

London isn't that far away. There are train connections and by car it's only about an hour and a half to West London.

Am I repeating what everyone else has said? .

And most important, we have the best meet ups. I can honestly say I have made some lovely friends from going to them .... and have had some stonking hangovers.

So.... what's keeping you?

[DelGirl]

do you work for the tourist board on the side Surfer? You should send that piece to the TB, you might get paid if it's published

[Surfermum]

I did gush about it a bit didn't I , but we are lucky aren't we?

Off to slimming world now - but will reply later to your email Delgirl. TTFN

[MintChocChippyMinton]

It is everything surfermum says. A note of caution though. When we moved from London to Poole just after DS1 was born, people said that we would either stay forever and our extended family would move down too; or we would feel isolated with young children and move back to London to be with family and friends (which we have done).

[HotCrossPenguin]

Bournemouth girls - shall we take guesses on what the 'deprived area' might be?
A couple of areas spring to mind...