Can you tell me pros/cons of living in Portsmouth, Southampton or Chichester?

[Tellmewhyyou]

We are a family of 4 with 2 kids primary ages and are thinking of relocating to the south coast due to husbands work.

We'd like a city vibe and want to be centrally based on south coast with access to east and west south coast for visiting family in both directions.

Give me your thoughts and experiences :D

I'm from Southampton so not Portsmouth. There's that rivalry pp mentioned 😂

As others have said Southampton is a mixed bag. Some nicer areas, some absolutely scummy areas.

I was a student in Chichester and it's definitely the posher of the three options but I'm not sure I'd describe it as having a city vibe. We used to go to Portsmouth for decent shopping and clubbing as students.

I live in the New Forest now which definitely isn't as up market as you might think, although house prices will lead you to believe otherwise 🙄

Thanks everyone👍🏻

A lot of food for thought, but overriding feel is that Southampton and Portsmouth (barring Southsea area) are both pretty rundown. Chichester seems to have a fairly good rep, but potentially a bit sleepy.

Hmmm, probably need to do some more research. We did also look at New Forest area, maybe Bournemouth / Poole, although starting to go quite west then.

Hadn’t thought about Winchester, so will look at that too.

Chichester is sleepy for nightlife but there’s loads of restaurants and the theatre is great and I like how close we are to London (although not as close as we were, still doable), Brighton and Portsmouth. I guess it depends what you’re looking for really. I love going to Southampton for shopping and ikea and often think some of the outskirts look great. I don’t think I’d fancy Portsmouth. I think Winchester is sleepy too? I’ve only been there in the day though.

I commute to Chichester/Bognor from London and it's always a lovely easy drive and a lovely place once there. Only issue is the traffic on the larger roads.

Of the three, I'd be looking at Chichester.

It's lovely and there's some beautiful countryside very close by.

Winchester (where I currently live) is brilliant but not a proper city. I don't really think Chichester is either.

I love Southampton and don't recognise a lot of the comments. Haven't been to every park but all the ones I have been to have been lovely. Portsmouth is a little run down in parts of the centre but has loads going on, theatre, really good restaurants etc and Southsea is really nice. I used to love running along the seafront there.

If you want a city vibe please don't live in Chandlers Ford or Hedge end! Both totally soulless suburbs, nowhere decent to eat etc. Everyone raved about CF when I first moved here but I couldn't leave fast enough. Schools are good but there's nothing else apart from a decent soft play (Kids 2day).

I've not been impressed by Fareham either, just a small town with nothing much there. Definitely not a city vibe! I agree the traffic around Fareham/Portsmouth etc is always horrendous.

Winchester is way more expensive than S'oton but has a plethora of good schools.

Not a great deal of nightlife in Winch but some great restaurants. Not as much theatre as Southampton or Portsmouth but easy to get to stuff in either and an hour to London. It depends what you want from a city vibe. Winchester is not diverse at all, Southampton is much better for that.

Also, a lot of people hate on Eastleigh but I think it's fine for a town, a couple of really decent restaurants, cinema, arts centre. I'd much much rather live there if I couldn't afford Winchester, rather than Chandlers Ford/hedge end/Fareham.

I'd not move to Poole or Bournemouth unless that's where your husband will be working. If he's working in Southampton getting from Poole/Bournemouth and back in rush hour will be miserable. Same with Hamble to Southampton. Hamble La is dreadful.

Winchester is nice but £££, like I said depends on budget.

New Forest gets really grid locked in the summer and definitely no city vibe! I'd be concerned about your DCs getting places independently when they're a bit older if you lived there.

I live there now, and we walk for miles up the Itchen with the dogs.

There are great transport links to go anywhere in the country by road, rail or aeroplane.

Town Ctr has some decent restaurants, cinema, bowling. Is 2 stops on the train from Southampton Central. 2 Stops from Winchester.

House prices are roughly 360k for a 3 bed semi.

Schools are pretty good (from what I've heard - mine have left now).

Sorry that was in response to @PangoBakery re: Eastleigh

Yeah I very nearly lived there, Winchester just edged it for commuting and range of restaurants but I think it's pretty decent, I often go there. Really have never got the bad press! The Artisan Turkish place is so good.

Portsmouth has some good schools. St Edmunds is outstanding, Oaklands in Waterlooville is excellent Portsmouth Academy is good. Not sure about the primaries. It's a good wee city. Really compact.I moan about it but that's cos I am homesick for Glasgow. I live in one of the poorer areas and it isn't that bad. Nice people and good community clubs etc. Yes the town centre is very run down and alot of homeless people but this is the same all other cities.
It also has a great seafront area, loads for kids to do and nice parks/countryside within easy car/train journey. Has a lovely retail area at Gunwarf Quays. Southsea is where you want to move to as most trendy/family etc

I used to live in south sea and loved it.I worked in Southampton and the commute was terrible… train awful and motorway gridlocked at least twice a week. I really didn’t like Southampton. Winchester is nice but pricey. I like Chichester and some of the lovely villages nearby (not cheap). I’m too out of it for school advice.

what’s your budget and what sort of places do you like? Have a drive down. Stay in the places you’re considering. Whitley would be my idea of hell but clearly a lot of people would disagree.

if I was moving back I’d go for Southsea /Old Portsmouth or Chichester.

Do you actually want to live right in a city? Portsmouth/Southampton are completely different to Chichester/Winchester. You need to visit and see which vibe you prefer.

I know all 4 places well and would chose the cathedral city option, but that’s just me. Chichester has a wonderful theatre - better than Winchester - if that’s a consideration. Winchester is further from the sea than the other options - does that matter? Chichester has historically been cheaper than Winchester due to being further from London, but has older demographic/sleepier/even more middle class. Brilliant for access to the sea (west wittering sandy beach/sailing etc). Winchester state secondary schools are absolutely brilliant - better than those in Chichester (though obviously things can change…). Despite being prosperous cities, both Winchester and Chichester high streets suffer from shop turnover/empty units.

Southampton and Portsmouth both have some amazing areas and facilities, coupled with less desirable areas, as you’d expect from any major city.

If you can pinpoint what you are really looking for, we may be able to help you more. Would you consider villages near to these cities? And what other areas do you frequently travel to? Chichester and Southampton are not really that close (M27 can be horrendous) so whether you’re driving to New Forest/Devon or Sussex/Brighton frequently might impact your decision.

Chichester, of the three. Winchester has some of the highest house prices in the country. You can get to Brighton, London, or Southampton (for shopping) relatively easily from Chichester and there’s the coast and South Downs close by.

Schools are generally ok in the area and there are plenty of restaurants to choose from , as well as the theatre. The Mayflower theatre in Southampton is good too and there are others in the opposite direction. There’s reasonable public transport (usually) to all the places you’d want.

Towards the New Forest gets very expensive.

For schools don't do Southampton or Portsmouth. better schools are above Southampton IE chandler's ford, Romsey, Winchester etc.
chandler's ford is an affluent suburb and the top school Thornden has a catchment area that reflects that ( absolutely no council estate in sight). So be warned when comparing schools! It's a middle class only children sort of place whereas the Eastleigh schools have more mixed intake including children from more deprived backgrounds .
For towns Winchester is lovely but very expensive. Eastleigh is much cheaper but known as Beastly Eastleigh by Winchester locals!
Southampton and Portsmouth can both be a bit rough.

Winchester property is ££££. It has terrible traffic, expensive parking and many previously independents shops are now cafes for students. Lots of students, also a lot of druggies. It’s not as nice as people think.

The north part of Portsmouth is fine, look around Drayton, Farlington, Purbrook. You could also head a bit further up the A3 to Clanfield, Petersfield. I'd avoid Portsea island, Paulsgrove, Cosham, Havant. Hayling is nice but only one road on an off.

Southampton is soulless. To me there is no where with an atmosphere, just chain restaurants and retail parks. The shops are good for the chain places.

Chichester is expensive (but then I'm not sure where you are coming from) Winchester even more so. Nice small cities but when I Winchester had to go shopping in Basingstoke or Southampton to get stuff.

Portsmouth- yep parts are rough as arseholes like most cities. However Southsea, old Portsmouth and to a lesser extent Milton and Baffins are nice and your money for a nice house will go far compared to other places on the south (Lawson rose estate agents is a good benchmark) Southsea is hipster, nice vibes, good places to eat, lots of students etc

No idea on schools in any- sorry!

Where is your DH work going to be?

I don’t recognise a lot of the comments here re: Southampton, a place we have recently left after many happy years. DH and I are from two major UK cities and we were expecting to be disappointed by it. We were in fact pleasantly surprised! The city centre itself isn’t going to win any prizes for beauty (heavily bombed in the war and rebuilt in the 60s/70s), but it is really well stocked for shopping, entertainment and eating out. There are lots of nice areas to live within the city limits - anywhere on the 4 sides of the Common or over the river in Bitterne Park are very popular and family friendly, with many good primary schools (can’t comment on secondary schools, which I know are more variable). There is lots going on for families and we never struggled to entertain toddler DS. I’d disagree with the PP that said about the city parks being run down - the facilities in the Common are outstanding, as are Itchen Valley Park and Royal Victoria Park…all 3 have some of the best play areas I’ve seen. Southampton is well placed for lots of gorgeous countryside and coast, without paying the silly prices needed to live in these areas. I miss being a 20 minute drive from the new forest! If you can afford the right areas in Southampton (because there are some rough areas, as in any city) I’d actually highly recommend it as a place to have a family.

Wow! Such hate for two incredible cities! Southampton is definitely not run down at all. It’s a fabulous historic city with all of the lovely and not so lovely bits of every large city in UK I should imagine! And yes I’ve lived in several, including London & Leicester so I can compare from experience.
Portsmouth is also a fantastic historic city with incredible places to visit. Again it has all of the lovely and not so lovely parts.
I’ve lived outskirts of Southampton (Warsash, Locks Heath, Sarisbury) for 30 years and they are wonderful places to live and bring up children - the schools are very good here. My two now adult children have thrived here. We love it and would not live anywhere else.
I’m actually a bit horrified that so many people are saying it’s not a nice place to live!

Chichester is pretty dire, if you want a city vibe I'd avoid it.