Brighton vs Norwich, make the decision for me?!

[Lovelyhousepig]

AIBU to ask mumsnetters to make the decision of living in Brighton or Norwich for me? Been going round and round and driving ourselves mad! We are quite an alternative family living in Brighton but we can't really afford to live here! Cramped in a small flat, no garden and soon to be 4 children (pregnant with twins). We love everything Brighton has to offer, the overall feeling of the city is brilliant. However, we love Norwich and think we could be happy there. We could afford an actual house and garden, schools seem good and we could both get work there. Is it a no brainer? Any thoughts?! And thank you for any input, can't think straight anymore!

Thank you. We have considered Eastbourne and Worthing etc but you still pay a premium compared to say Norwich but less going on. Just not quite what we want. Yes. I know. We are irritating!

Isleep - you just worded how we feel....

I love Norwich. I have to go there a lot (other side of the country) because my eldest is in hospital in Norfolk at the moment - but although we’re visiting for the worst reasons (have been doing it for 9 months now) we really like it. It has a lovely vibe. Looks affordable and that side of the city, around the university (& unthank rd) is a favourite. Has quite an Oxford vibe about it.

I’m from a very green, hilly, lots of surf part of the county & find myself mesmerised by Norfolk skies.

I live on the outskirts of Norwich and love it. It's a great city and there is always stuff going on.

Oh yes, Norfolk skies, I had forgotten that! There also seems to be tons to do with little ones like Bewilderwood, Africa Alive, Banham zoo and all sorts!

I would stay in Brighton. We had to move back to my hometown last year (redundancy) and although we’ve bought a house with no mortgage, I really regret leaving the SE.

From the replies I can undertand the area being recommended is known as the golden triangle. Can anyone sum it up for me? Hippy? Middle class? Dull? Exciting? Organic?! Trying to imagine what it is like, who lives there etc, all students, bankers.... who knows?!

MissCharley - sorry to hear that. Can I ask did you move to Norwich? Or was it just a regret in general re moving from the SE. Hope you are happier there now

Norwich is beautiful. I'm jealous. Enjoy it!

Stay in Brighton! I Lived here for 9 years now and love raising a family here.
You can def afford a house for 450 if you move out of the central area...there's one on the market down my road for 425 right now!

Look into Hollingbury, Hollingdean, Portslade, Hangleton

Golden triangle is the area roughly between the Unthank and Earlham roads pointing towards the city centre. Lots of students and young professionals. It's liberal and as a same sex couple you wouldn't be a big deal (although Norfolk itself does tend towards conservatism).

I don't know Norwich but all
I can say is I have a very cool friend there who is very "Brighton" and he loves it! Good luck!

Technically is the Golden Triangle yes, but properties marketed as being in the GT may well be in more student heavy areas (not that this is necessarily a bad thing but can be noisy!). It really is a very divided area so far as class goes - with the associated impact on hippiness and organicness!

I would say well off hippy/middle class/intelligentsia/organic. It reminds me of north oxford but without the prices or the cut throat competitive vibe you get there.

Outside Norfolk it’s very quickly very rural, so a different vibe again.

I love where I live (Devon) & have always said I would never live anywhere else again (have lived all over the UK & abroad). But I would live in Norwich/Norfolk. It’s the first place I’ve felt like that. And I should hate it as we’re visiting for all the wrong reasons.

The parts of hollingdean near Ditchling rd have The Vibe going on, and the schools are good. I know what you mean about the really outlying areas not having it though.

If your stuck on just staying in Brighton proper, I don’t think you can. afford to do that and buy the house you want within your budget. You could get a decent sized flat for that..... I guess it really depends on your priorities.

I think a pp made a good point, leaving the SE tends to be a one way street so be very sure before you decide to do it.

Golden triangle is students, well off but cool type people veering towards well off in a little bubble type people. It's a lovely area with a lot for children. All of Norwich is good for children. Nr3, that's maybe more up and coming in places. Not as pricey, but some really great streets you could live on and good infant schools too. It's also close to town and has brilliant parks and places for kids.
There's a lot of tolerance for all mixes of families here. There's festivals, events and street type things that happen increasingly more often and pride is getting bigger every year.
Good luck. Hope you make a decision that suits you. For 450k you could get an amazing house here.

I'd say Unthank rd is bohemian. It's fab but Norwich is tiny! I live on the other side and work at the hospital. It takes me 30 mins in rush hour to get there. You could live anywhere in the city. You could probably afford a lovely house in GT through!

Could you buy a slightly bigger house near/in the centre but forego a garden. For example this is Gardner Street (only a patio but 3 beds)
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64016098.html
or a modern house in Hanover:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72671270.html
or Kinglsey Road (off Preston Circus)
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64697644.html

What area do you want to be in? Kemptown?Queens Garden?North Laine?

Ruthlessly declutter and stay. I agree that Patcham/|Hollingbury?Peacehaven etc don't have the same vibe.

Fiveways is fantastic for schools/parks/ access to the Downs and walkable to town but prices have gone a bit crazy for a 2 up 2 down with a loft room and garden around Sandgate and Ashford Roads that used to be very affordable for families. Sometimes a 2 bed that hasn't had the 3rd bed done comes up for your budget - you could do something like that and then do the extension when finances allow.

I live in the golden triangle area of Norwich (NR2 postcode) and absolutely love it. I also lived in Brighton for a number of years (pre-kids), but would never have been able to afford to buy there. The golden triangle is a relaxed, friendly, open community. The primary schools are fantastic, the parks are lovely, and you could definitely afford something decent for £450k. When we moved here with our 1 year old (we now have 3!) I was amazed at how friendly and welcoming people were. My only word of warning is that the primary schools are over-subscribed so you need to live in catchment for the school that you want your DC to go to, and also best not to move mid-year but go before school allocation applications open. Good luck with your decision!

Thank you so much everyone, I am so grateful for the responses, honestly so helpful for us. We currently live in Fiveways area and this is really the only area we truly love. A garden is an absolute priority so rules out areas like poets corner, hove and Hanover, also parking is a nightmare in hanover. Our only choice is to wait for a 1 or 2 bed to come on in fiveways for around 430 -450 which we would then extend out and up but they NEVER come up and when they do are snapped up so fast. Thanks again for all the help!

Norwich is lovely, affordable and diverse

It's not at all diverse: BAME populatio is 2/3 of the English national average.

Lovelyhousepig no, it wasn’t Norwich, my hometown is in NW England. FWIW, I used to work in Norwich a lot with my old company and thought it was a lovely city, never spent more than a night there though. I’m a little happier and having no housing costs is a big plus! It’s just, I miss the variety of London - I lived in various places: Herts, Kent coast and Beds so would just jump on a train and take myself for a day out. I miss places like Borough Market, Greenwich, Liberty, Fortnum & Mason, Peckham, Richmond, even my nearest cities are really just big shopping centres, public transport isn’t great (local train service doesn’t exist after 1900 and no Sunday service), we’re not far (about 1 1/2 miles) from the main town though. I’m not keen on having to drive everywhere as buses are expensive and to go somewhere quite local, you’d need to get 2 different ones. My parents live 10 minutes drive away, ditto my gym but on public transport would be the best part of an hour! There are some lovely areas; we’re not far from the Lake District and some coastal places. I’ve been out of work since August though (apart from a Xmas retail job for 8 weeks) as unemployment is really high, my previous job doesn’t exist here and most work here is minimum wage retail or care work, which isn’t something I’m interested in doing. Sorry that was long!

Norwich is amazingly diverse compared to almost entire rest of the county.

Have a look at Hollingdean as although it's the wrong side of the hill, it's 5 min walk to Fiveways and you can still get into Downs/Balfour/Varndean/Stringer schools. PM me if you want more details but there's 2 sides to Hollingdean - the western side of the hill is lovely with big gardens on some roads too.

Brighton and Norwich are night and day. My DH took me to Norwich for a few days, to visit his old stomping ground ( its where he went to uni). Many years later DH used to wonder about returning there to live. After our visit, he realised it had changed. It’s a bit of a dump, and neither one of us have any interest in visiting there again. Brighton is lovely ( I can imagine, a busy place to live, due to being a tourist area). I find it to be very upmarket. I’d pick Brighton over Norwich in a heartbeat.