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.

I'm a bit bemused at the term "community" at all, tbh, when we're talking about major cities? Do people think all city inhabitants are one homogenous mass who don't have any differing opinions?

@Wondergirl100 just to go back to your point about the grammar system...we moved from SE London where once upon a time I was actually a private tutor. The grammar system in Folkestone is totally different to how it was in SE London. It is not crazy hothousing from age four. It is all very laid back. They actually reportedly sometimes struggle to fill all the grammar places (possibly because half the catchment is in the Channel 😂) so they devised their own test so children have two opportunities. I also would have been perfectly happy for my children to go to either the selective or non selective options (as it happened they all passed with not a single hour of tutoring and one sat it on the day after we relocated from another country!) not least because there is so much amazing extra curricular stuff that goes on down here so school is just actually a small aspect of life here and the postives of seaside/countryside living, but also because Turner and Brockhill are decent alternatives (plus plenty go to the faith schools in Canterbury if that is something you might consider). Hope that might help you a little, as I was actually very anti selection (it was one of the reasons we moved overseas and then as we lived abroad for years I was worried my children would be disadvantaged), but it was not like I had imagined from past experience at all...

@HoegaardenHappiness

That was at the student accommodation comment - doh

Plus it means the students bug each other and not their next door neighbors

Trust me, it isn't just each other that the students bug.

I bought a lovely little terraced house in Brighton some years ago. Turned out it was next door to a student house.

At least four times a week I would be woken at around 4.20 am - the time at which they always seem to come back from whichever club they'd been to - by screaming and shouting and thumping drum and bass as they held yet another party for about 30 of their friends.

The overwhelming stench of skunk was a permanent background to my life at that time as well.

Appealing to their better natures to turn the noise down didn't work, as they appeared not to have a better nature, so I gave up in the end and left.

Plus it means the students bug each other and not their next door neighbors
This doesn't even make any sense? How would that work?

Bridlington

Christchurch, Dorset

Whitley Bay ?

Stroud is nice but if you don’t like the grammar school system, steer well clear. Totnes in Devon has a similar vibe I have heard and is near the sea (though not coastal)not sure what schools are like though.

Stroud and Bristol would fit the brief

St Leonards on sea is becoming very popular, properties similar to Brighton but entire houses rather than carved up flats, great beach and close to the countryside. We have been here for nearly 3 years and we are loving it.

I'm from Brighton but I don't live there anymore, I think it's shit, so dirty and over crowded.

Oh oh I forgot Portsmouth/southsea...Down at the sea front in the summer is lovely and lots of indie shops, restaurants and cafes. It’ll be cheaper than Brighton and less pretentious plus you can take day trips to the Isle of Wight for some old fashioned sea side fun.

Was coming inn to say Tunbridge Wells is great but it's Kent so you won't like the grammar system. Plus it's a good hour to the sea by car

We're overwhelmed with down from London's right now though so..how about Portsmouth?

Tunbridge Wells is in Kent....... it’s also not by the sea.

Hastings is nice, as is Rye. Not sure how good the schools are.......

We are in Kent, we moved from London 9 years ago and live it. I don’t have a problem with the Grammar system though, it was a bonus tbh.

As others have posted YABU to think Brighton houses don’t have gardens and there’s no countryside here. I live in Coldean, the suburbs, 20 mins to town on the bus (still BN1 postcode) and have a lovely garden and surrounding views of Stanmer and Wild Park, which are both great parks.
Good luck with whatever you decide though 😃

Lewes? Lovely countryside, good schools, not far from sea & gardens

Wirral or Frome

Worthing! Near Brighton but loads cheaper, lots of lovely cafes, bars, shops. Slightly fewer street drinkers and crack heads.

Not read all replies but I have two suggestions
Chichester- great town and via love feel, countryside, easy hop to beaches of Witterings and Selsey. Selsey in particular is good value.

West Sussex around Horsham and Dorking. Lovely areas and plenty of places that are town but you can literally walk right into the countryside from the local Sainsbury's!

Both of above have great transport links and great schools, also great sporting teams and activities as well as outdoor sports from beach and river sports to horsey stuff and hiking etc.

There have been some unpleasant comments about people’s choice of where to live. I think it will be difficult to get everything you would like OP, but then, much of life is compromise.

You probably need to spend some time driving down to the south coast and looking around the coastal areas there. What suits one person, doesn’t suit another, as has been very apparent from comments on here, but you’ll have a better idea if you’re able to go and look around.

The countryside around Brighton is amazing - South Downs - but schools are a bit hit and miss and house prices are too high. It's a great place to live if you can (as is Hove) and it's good for teenagers as so much going on.

@StayingHere

...Except the property is inexpensive for the SE and maybe it’s an up-and-coming town? I’m fairly local and Littlehampton has often been touted as ‘up and coming’ but I’ve yet to see it happen really

they've been saying this for a long time haven't they! Lancing is also a consideration op. It isn't Brighton by any stretch, but it's the next place along from Shoreham which has become very 'du jour' lately and will soon be too expensive for many so Lancing will be next! It has a train station, a nice beach and there is a huge new housing development on the way (and an IKEA!). No Brighton vibe yet but I reckon it'll be up and coming before Littlehampton...

That new housing development is being built for the DFL crowd as 1 as although touted as affordable housing the first wave of released new builds are £450k so outside of locals means to buy. 2 it is being built on a flood plain. Everyone local knows it is a flood plain and even today parts of it are flooded. The developers are relying on out of towners not knowing its history and only finding out when their insurance won’t cover flood damage. 3 the IKEA will mean the roads are gridlocked all weekend.it is already bad for traffic jams but with traffic for 600 homes and an IKEA then you might as well give up trying to get anywhere east of lancing.

Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Belfast. All great port cities, with sea air, friendly people, beautiful countryside nearby and reasonable property prices.

@jpm129

God listen to yourself. Just cut all the blurb and ask.. 'Hey guys, where is the best town for smug metropolitan types to push up housing prices?'

This.