Eastbourne Eastbourne Eastbourne.....

Always find it bizarre people feel the need to specify 'safe/nice' area in these threads. I would have thought that goes without saying.

I suppose you need to stand out from the "Hey mumsnet, I love crime-ridden shitholes, please recommend some of the UK's roughest and ugliest concrete jungles for me to bring my DC up in!" crowd.

The secondary schools here are good actually! The 3 in our area of Old Town; Cavendish, Ratton and Gildredge House are all popular with our friends and their kids for different reasons and are all rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

I think that people that may have grown up in a town will then rubbish it - (I feel the same way about the town that I grew up in!! And I’d also tell you my school was crap but that was a loooong time ago!) but coming here as an adult (and having lived in other places too) I can appreciate and understand the things that it does have going for it.
Large houses with lovely gardens, beautiful countryside and beaches and decent schools - as with anywhere, choose the area carefully, but with a budget of your size, you’re not going to end up in a not nice area. Look at Old Town/ Summerdown/ Willingdon/ Meads - good luck!

Having grown up very close to Eastbourne I can tell you the secondary schools are rubbish. In fact most schools are in East Sussex unless you go Lewes way.

There are very few nice areas of Eastbourne too.

I think with any large towns there are problems areas that you want to avoid if possible. Seems a bit unfair to tar the whole of Eastbourne as rundown and crappy! It’s really not. Some lovely areas with beautiful houses that would be in your budget.

There’s a lot of young families with kids here, we moved from Brighton & Hove a few years ago (house prices too high where we would have wanted to be, and actually Brighton for me was becoming very run down) and our lovely neighbours moved from London for similar reasons. We’ve got the South Downs on our doorstep, forests nearby and miles of lovely coastline. In fact we took our kayak out today off the beach - the kids absolutely love it.

Personally, I would avoid Seaford, very small town and nothing going on there at all.

Lewes might be worth a look. Definitely the most artsy of the 3 towns. Very cliquey though.

If you can come down to have a wander around these places sometime that might help you to decide - good luck with it all!

Seaford is lovely and my kids do have a lot of activities and opportunities there. Just don’t be tempted by anything in Newhaven!

I would recommend Lewes or Seaford . Eastbourne is rather dreary in comparison .

I live and work in that area of East Sussex. I think Seaford or Lewes would suit you better. Eastbourne has been getting crappier for years, run down, lots of crime, drugs and homelessness. (This isn't just anecdotal, I worked in homelessness and now work solely with clients who have MH issues and are vulnerable. I see the underbelly of East Sussex!).

Lewes has a lot of arty/cultural /alternative stuff going on (DP describes Totnes as the Lewes of the South West) and Seaford is catching it up. People who like the Lewes vibe but can't afford the prices are moving to Seaford instead, and Seaford has some nice cafes and independent shops, and a beach!

It'll never be as pretty as Lewes though. And the bonfire night celebrations in Lewes are just awesome!

It's a shame you're too far away to come for a day and just stroll around both towns, and Eastbourne, and get a feel for them all.

I live in eastbourne and I adore it, Willingdon area is very nice and some big gardens. Like every town it has drugs and alcohol abuse but generally people are friendly.

My nan used to take us there, we used to visit the leisure centre. I think it had a wage machine. We are talking a good thirty years ago but I used to enjoy it there, the playgrounds and everything. I'm still hoping there's a chance I'll be able to move down that general direction one day.

Eastbourne is a horrific dump. I did NHS home visits there for years. There are huge drug problems and gangs and alcoholics wandering the streets. I lived in Seaford which is much nicer, also East Dean, Alfriston, Bexhill, Rye. There are parts of Eastbourne I won't go to alone on a visit as they are too rough. If you must live there try Old Town. Lewes is much nicer too. I moved to the west Country last year. Havery a really good look before moving. The south coast can be quite rough in places.

I grew up in that area and still visit regularly to see DM and DF .
1 would say that Eastbourne ticks just about all those boxes - countryside , nice safe area lots to do for kids ( I love Druscilla‘s Zoo) BUT I’m not sure I’d describe it as liberal and artsy ( it’s no Brighton ) but I stand to be corrected if others have different experiences
What about some of the Brighton suburbs - would they fit your budget - or Lewes?
Good luck - you’ll love East Sussex

I’m near there, just along the coast. It’s a lovely area, huge amount of very attractive countryside, area of outstanding natural beauty, good train connections to Brighton, London and Lewes, think schools are pretty good there, new cinema in improving shopping centre, by the sea, some lovely properties.
Not as artsy as Brighton, but has art gallery, Towner, that’s very popular.
If you want somewhere a little less urban, the Meads Village area is lovely and by sea, next to open countryside. pretty villages around there too.

Ooh, people never seem to mention anywhere near me. I’m 20 mins away from Eastbourne but go there regularly. I’d say it would definitely fit most of your criteria. The only thing I hate about Eastbourne is their hospital!