Margate, Whistable, Hastings, Other?

[moumoute]

Which town would be good for a creative european couple with a kid? Not too far from London. Thanks for your input Aibu team!

Good for what? Weekend away, beach holiday or moving there...?

To live there!

Assuming you want to move, Hastings is best for being slightly more arty/non conformist but has worse transport links in terms of trains and journey times. Margate is getting much more exciting with Turner Contemporary etc. Whitstable is lovely but has got very expensive. Not been to Folkestone. Anything on the HS1 train line from St Pancras would be great in terms of distance from London. Good luck!

Margate is run down - wouldn't touch with a barge pole; its a dumping ground for London Boroughs to outsource their homeless.

Up coast from Hastings, like Bexhill, St Leonards or Cooden is lovely - we're looking at moving to those areas.

Whitstable is lovely BUT not a lot for teens. Again its an area we would retire to but it wouldn't offer anything like a career for our youngest child who is still with us

Margate massive investment boom. Homelessness being displaced.
Deal is great, creative, mix of well-heeled and normal. People living there can’t believe their luck. On the HS1. Period properties, good schools....

Folkestone's pretty arty these days.

I'd chose Folkestone over Margate.

Brighton or Folkestone.

Have you been to these places? I have been to Hastings, wouldn’t want to live there, needs an awful lot of regeneration IMHO.

Ramsgate or Broadstairs are nicer than Margate.

My in-laws retired close to Margate (most of the population of Margate appears to be of retirement age). It's lovely for us to visit when the weather is nice but the rest of the time there's not a lot to do.
Folkstone has a bit more going on x

My grandparents used to live in Whitstable. Lovely town but very boring as a teen when I’d visit them in the holidays. I see it as more of a retirement town

Thanks all for your great input (opposite point of views though!)
I have only been to Brighton. I want to target which town to visit next. Maybe Margate has more potential in the end.

Does it have to be on the coast? Lots more choice if not.

Brighton hands down, but very expensive and please correct me if wrong but the southern rail isn't the greatest?

Hastings seemed pretty run down when I last went but house prices are good

Whitstable expensive, not much to do for teenagers more young families or retirement

Margate is quite run down in most places but the old town has had a revamp might be worth it in the future

Folkestone is similar to Margate in the fact it's run down in places but improving

Hastings is awful. Margate is only slightly better. I've never been to Whitstable but I've heard good things.

Whitstable is very trendy atm. Easy access to Folkestone and Broadstairs. Definitely not Hastings. Depends on budget too.

(Watching thread with interest as I plan to move to somewhere like this in a few years' time).

Its odd area - lovely and not lovely cheek by jowl. Lots of deprivation and lots of dfl (down from London) type achingly ‘cute’ areas. Eg whitstable can empty out at certain times of year/week. Visit friends in Herne bay/tanker ton/whitstable area - odd mix of obvious deprivation, dfl, lots of St. George’s flags and UKIP window posters around referendum period and still.
I would not rule out living there but would never do so without Knowing it pretty well first.

Broadstairs! Shoreditch on sea, apparently. It's lovely, with great beach and Morelli's. Margate's really run down still, Hastings the same. Brighton is nice but pricey and very grotty in places, and there are so many students.

Whitstable is pretty enough but there's not much to it. Canterbury is a great town to live in. I'd move there if I could afford it!

Kent has 11+ remember

they're all fairly hip but that doesn't mean they're nice places to live. Margate can get suffused with the most revolting smell, and the hoards of Kent and Sussex descend on Hastings and Margate every time there's a ray of sunshine. Lots of deprivation.

Whitstable's just wanky with a crap shingle beach.

My favourite spot down that way is Hythe.

Oh yes, Kent is Tory/Ukip/Brexit-tastic.

I’d go for Margate. Definitely on the up.

Another vote for broadstairs.
Stayed in ramsgate recently was more interesting than I expected.
Some great bakery/cafes in Margate but I don’t know it well.
Some lovely villages between ramsgate and Margate and around Canterbury.