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!

Norwich a bit of a dump? I've heard it all now!

I live in Norwich and love it here. Excellent family friendly city, lots going on, lively arts scene and easy reach to wonderful countryside/coast. Only two hours by train to London. Agree that golden triangle/Eaton/Cringleford areas are good options, within easy reach of university and hospital.

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

Norfolk's BAME population is about half the national average.
Norwich's is about 2/3.
Neither can be described as amazingly diverse. You'll very much notice how white is is compared to other English cities.

@EastMidsMummy the people I know in Norwich are Dutch, French and German. White yes but none the less diverse I would say!

Worthing OP 'all' Brighton families come to lovely Worthing ...great 'vibe', good schools, beach, parks etc and so easy to get to Brighton .

I should qualify that with they are part of a very European culture with masses of extended family in the city and partly there to get to the easy ferry links to Europe.

the people I know in Norwich are Dutch, French and German. White yes but none the less diverse I would say!

Your three friends aren't representative of Norwich.

"84.8% of people living in Norwich were born in England. Other top answers for country of birth were 1.3% Scotland, 0.9% India, 0.8% China, 0.6% Wales, 0.5% Ireland, 0.5% Philippines, 0.4% United States, 0.4% Northern Ireland, 0.3% South Africa."

It's no use trying to pretend Norwich is a thriving example of multi-culturalism. It isn't. It's very monocultural, atypically so for an English city.

Sounds like you want to move to Norwich.
I would choose Brighton though, The sea, the downs, the festival, the tolerance, the restaurants and pubs, the shops, the schools, the people......

@EastMidsMummy more than three but thanks for the in-depth analysis!

I just don't get the love affair with Brighton. It's overrated and so busy all the time.

I would go somewhere where you could get some more space. Hastings has some fab areas with a Brighton feel - although it has some very deprived pockets.

I’d say Brighton purely on the fact I live near Brighton. It’s an amazing place and it’s cheaper than london. Although I’m originally born and bred london I’d vote Brighton better anyday

You could even move to some of the towns outside of Brighton
Peacehaven, saltdean, rottingdean etc... just not newhaven ... it’s a shithole IMO, they all have buses running regularly and it’s most of the time only a 20 minute bus ride.

If you aren't renting where you live now you could rent it out and rent in Norwich - give it a year and see if you like it. It would also give you a chance to scout out the area better. You would have a foothold in Brighton to come back to if need be so wouldn't be out of the property game.

Brighton over Norwich hands down!! No context imo. They are very different from each other and as people have said, Norwich is not very diverse at all.

Yes @kikashi Norwich is a little more confined in its ways of life to Brighton, lovely, but a little isolated culturally.

I have lived and taught primary in both; chose Norwich and absolutely made the right choice. I actually think Norwich is more diverse and genuinely more tolerant of different families etc. I would struggle to live in smaller Norfolk towns villages because I am used to plenty of shops, amenities etc not because we are a mixed family.

What about ethnic origin though? Funnily enough, black and Asian people have been UK born for a few generations now. I am Asian and we are a mixed family, but I was UK born and so were many of the bame families I know in Norwich. I don't ' stick out' in Norwich at all. I can get all sorts of Asian spices etc from the many diverse shops here. There is quite a large gay community and a pride festival each year. Nowhere near as big a community as Brighton, but it's not the backwater Londoners seem to think!

What about ethnic origin? We’ve already established that Norwich is less ethnically diverse than the English average, let alone the average for English cities. Why are so many people trying to convince themselves that Norwich is diverse, when it isn’t?!

Love Brighton I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. It's amazing for kids too.

Eastmids for a fair comparison you need to give the equivalent stats for Brighton. Property prices are significant in this situation; I think OP could afford a decent place, central Norwich, good schools plus the most diverse / inclusive; most are Schools of Sanctuary etc. Price wise this equates more to outer Brighton or places like Portslade etc which is not the 'Brighton' OP is so fond of I assume.

Brighton is absolutely not ethnically diverse btw.

The only way its "diverse" is the large gay community.

Other than that its guardianista types, a dwindling and ageing hippie community (sadly), the down from Londons, EU students and young workers, and then the white working class generally pushed out to portslade whitehawk etc.

Norwich isn’t a dump 😂 Of course there’s less delightful areas, but it’s the same with any city.

I’m in the NR3 area, which is lovely and more importantly, cheap! Although NR2 is probably my favourite place, just because of the food there. But you can live anywhere in Norwich and get to the other side on foot in half an hour, so it doesn’t really matter where you go. I love living here, wouldn’t go back to Brighton if I was paid to.

Norwich is lovely and I would consider it quite an 'arty' city. I like Brighton but it does feel a bit like you have to be a bit different/wacky to justify being there (that isn't meant as a slight!). I can't comment more on living in Norwich (I live elsewhere in county) but Norfolk has loads for families and beautiful (sandy, not stony!) beaches. Plus, the moment your living costs are decreased your ability to have/do other things increases.

Downside of Norwich is if you are into travelling around the country/ visiting London (especially by train) then it's that bit more isolated.

I completely agree with Brighton not being ethnicity diverse. I'd also say the same as parts of London. Ethnic minorities often live in 'enclaves'. I used to live in Enfield. I'd sometimes work in Ponders End and see no white people apart from the teachers at the school who'd drive in from elsewhere. Its the same in many areas of London.

Like others have said renting first to get an idea of area would seem important with this sort of move. We moved without really knowing our area and lucked out but in hindsight, it was a gamble that could have been costly if we’d have got it wrong.

I’d hope you wouldn’t face discrimination but you have been living in a place that is known for its tolerance and it would be horrible if you bought somewhere and then missed the feel of Brighton. You see lots of threads of here about ex Londoners that hate their move to the country as an example (obviously lots do it and love it too). Brighton is just such a particular type of place that you might struggle to replicate.