To ask is there a better version of Brighton

[Wondergirl100]

Sorry a bit cheeky to put on AIBU - but - it's an important question!!

Brighton - great vibes, creativity, open mindedness good schools - but overpriced and the countryside isn't amazing and there are no gardens.

So what is the alternative! Where else is open minded and fun and has sea air and countryside but is not ruined by hen dos and property prices. And needs to have good schools.

Sadly, I have to write off the whole of Kent as I don't approve of grammar system. Unless there is somewhere in Kent with good secondary moderns.

This is an interesting thread. I grew up in Brighton and think it was a great place to grow up. My parents bought a house in the centre of Brighton for about £40k in the early eighties - I don’t think people doing the same jobs as them would be able to afford it now.

I would describe it as “alternative” - there were times when I felt as though I had to be alternative to fit in, which isn’t really what being alternative is about.

The thing about growing somewhere like that is it spoils other places a bit. From about 14 I would go up to London for the day with a friend, visit shops and go on the tubes and buses. The idea of living somewhere where I would have to rely on someone else to give me lifts was a bit alien (and still is).

The schools have changed quite a lot since I lived there. Friends who still live there experience quite a lot of anxiety about getting into certain schools. Some surprising people (not all that rich) choose private schools for secondary because they aren’t pleased with the secondary school their child was allocated. The way that Brighton is laid out means that often secondary children get two buses to and from school (a bus into the centre and then out again).

Some people have mentioned Lewes. There’s a lot to like. However it can be cliquey - I know there are people who much prefer to sell family houses to old Lewes families and people get letters from people explaining why they should be the ones they sell to. Driving is not a lot of fun in the centre.

@Youdose

‘ London is the better version of Brighton.’ Ahahahahah hahahah hahahahah . Good one. The truth is, unlike many places, Brighton really is unique. So if you want Btighton and Hove then you move to Brighton and Hove and live with the fact that you may not have a huge garden but you can learn to paddleboard or wild swim instead.

I've lived in both. I ended up moving back to London. honestly, liking the sea isn't enough of a reason to move there. (and if she loves the sea, there are much nicer beaches to live near).

Rye? Along a bit from Hastings, it’s on train line, seaside at camber, country park at fairlight, nice shops and cafes.

@Weeedonkey

Most of the UK is "very white" though, apart from a small number of areas which aren't.

Yes this!

There’s a reason for this 🤣 Just like Africa is very black. I don’t understand the hate for areas being ‘too white’ would you go to Turkey and say, this is a bit too Middle Eastern, not much diversity. 🤣🤣🤣

(I’m mixed race before anyone takes offence)

You jest but there are people who go on holiday and moan about there being "too many foreigners".

Portobello in Edinburgh?

Whitley Bay, Newcastle?

AnyFucker

Morecambe grin”

Morecambe is (could be) fabulous. Beautiful scenery, incredibly cheap Victorian and Edwardian properties. Not sure about the schools?

It’s been run down for a long time but if the Eden Project gets the go ahead, it will transform the area as it did in Cornwall. The clays were a pretty grim part of the county but were lifted by the investment and tourism.
If I had money to spare, I’d buy a house in Morecambe now, it would be a brilliant investment.

I did a term at Sussex and dropped out. Largely because I really didn't like Brighton. This was in 1978. I had honestly never seen such poverty as I saw on bus routes between the town and the Campus. The route between my Kent village and Canterbury was incomparable. I also found it rather seedy in the centre and felt it was a huge sprawling mass unlike London which seemed to me to be a collection of villages. Whilst London was bigger, Fulham, Clapham, Chelsea, Pimlico, Wandsworth Town all had individual hearts.

Out of date I know.

Ramsgate. Much prettier, lovely marina, lots of quirky shops, great architecture, sandy beach and less rough than Margate

Or...Aberystwyth.

Withernsea, no one ever mentions it. My friend and I like it because we are always the slimest people there. And only 40 mins from Hull! It also has a lighthouse.

Your criteria are a bit odd OP but I was just coming on to say I absolutely hate Brighton

CruCru yes its a bit cliquey here. If you belong to a bonfire society you tend to hang out with others in the society. Then there is the DFLs many of whom don't approve of bonfire, and you have also a huge golf in terms of inequality. Here you either have money, or you don't, there is nothing much in the middle. Very poor areas with horrendous social housing which is left to ruin, whilst a lot of the housing especially in the town is grade 2 listed and ridiculously priced. Whilst Lewes does make individuals very welcome there is quite a lot of angst around London incomers and house prices pricing old Lewes families out of the town. The families that have lived here for generations are either forced to move, or they are now living in cramped poorly maintained social housing on the periphery. The other issue seems to be that many here feel that the DFLs are trying to impose new ethics and new liberal values and apply their critique to old customs and traditions that old Lewes people feel are distinctly Lewes. Many feel that DFLs are trying to change the culture and in so doing are not respecting the history of Lewes as one of the most radical towns with a history of insubordination and rebellion.

Another suggestion of southsea from me. Good food and drink scene, great beach, decent shopping, lots of history. Close enough to Southampton for the bigger stuff and not far from London. Property is good value too.

RosesAndHellebores I don't remember it this way in the 70s. I remember going shopping with my mother for dresses for me from two very children's clothes shops. I do remember around 1989 there were so many homeless people on the streets between the station and the university buildings near the Pavilion that you had to step over them. There was a sort of seedy side to it too with the drug culture around some of the clubs. I loved the Escape and The Gloucester, that's where a lot of students went, probably not your thing though. Oh, and the Jazz rooms were so tiny it was smaller than your average sitting room and so much smoke from weed you got stoned for free. I preferred how it was, to how it is now except for the homelessness issues. There was a period under the last labour government where it was possible to visit without tripping over sleeping bags.

Some of the suggestions on here Stirchley and Chatham 😂

Maybe have a look at the Brexit voting map OP? That tells you quite a lot.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/oxford-and-brexit/brexit-analysis/mapping-brexit-vote

@MiniTheMinx

CruCru yes its a bit cliquey here. If you belong to a bonfire society you tend to hang out with others in the society. Then there is the DFLs many of whom don't approve of bonfire, and you have also a huge golf in terms of inequality. Here you either have money, or you don't, there is nothing much in the middle. Very poor areas with horrendous social housing which is left to ruin, whilst a lot of the housing especially in the town is grade 2 listed and ridiculously priced. Whilst Lewes does make individuals very welcome there is quite a lot of angst around London incomers and house prices pricing old Lewes families out of the town. The families that have lived here for generations are either forced to move, or they are now living in cramped poorly maintained social housing on the periphery. The other issue seems to be that many here feel that the DFLs are trying to impose new ethics and new liberal values and apply their critique to old customs and traditions that old Lewes people feel are distinctly Lewes. Many feel that DFLs are trying to change the culture and in so doing are not respecting the history of Lewes as one of the most radical towns with a history of insubordination and rebellion.

Yes, I do see your point.

Realistically the Brighton I grew up in doesn’t exist any more. Many of the people I went to school with now live in Worthing as they can’t afford Brighton.

OP if you have a decent size house in South East London then you should be able to afford something reasonable in Brighton? I'd have thought Hanover cheaper than most of SE London.

Brighton truly unique

Yes the only place with more people from Croydon is Croydon

Liverpool.
There you go. Sorted.

Alternatives to (the perfection that is Liverpool)
Ulverston
Durham
Aberystwyth
Cardiff
Fort William
Glasgow.
St Andrews.
Isle of Wight (not sure about schools tho).
Cambridge

Cardiff?

I’m a brighton girl so I prefer brighton, but in a middle class garden way I guess.

I know several have already been on the thread to slag off Hastings, but I live here and love it!

It's relatively quick into London - 1 hour 30 - 1hour 45 mins. I often pop up for the day, it's very do able.

Reasonably diverse and has a real punk spirit which I like. Old town is lovely. St Leonard's also nice.

Yes areas of poverty (ore/Hollington areas) and obvious drug problems but isn't that most seaside towns?

Amazing park - Alexandra park. Super countryside and walks - the west/east hill and country park. Lively music scene in normal times. Great long sea front promenade.

Surprise that someone selling a London house or flat can’t afford Brighton. It’s deffo more space down here for the money compared to London.

Whitehaven or Workington ? you can bag yourself a lovely period house near the sea for not very much money

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77486841#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/106026167#/