Lancaster or brighton?

[BrightonOrLancaster]

For a woman in her 30s moving alone with her cat!
Brighton: very good friends, warmer sea, more fun, livelier, but all family in north and expensive, closer to London and handy for getting away
Lancaster: very close family, much cheaper, less bullshitty, but no friends to start with, more isolated

No need to talk to me about schools etc as irrelevant to me! I work freelance in something creative. I'm really torn!

Vote:
YABU: Brighton
YANBU: Lancaster

I live in Brighton and I’m a freelance marketing consultant and would vote Brighton all day everyday and twice on Sunday. Love living here and I say that as an ex Northerner…however you need to make peace with the cost.

Gosh, Brighton. No contest.

@NeedChoos
Do you rent your own place? I lived there back in the day and was in houseshares. Now I'd be looking to rent a flat of my own and my cat needs a garden (🙈), its eye watering! I could do it but as you say would meed to make peace with it. I wouldn't mind getting a bike and moving further along to somewhere like saltdean

Brighton. I used to live fairly close.

You would be better off going west from Brighton rather than east if you want some excitement, Worthing/Shoreham way

Sorry, I mean instead of Saltdean

I adore Brighton. I lived there as a student and go back at least once a year to visit, but most of my friends have been priced out of living there now. As one of my friends put it, what's the point of living somewhere with so much to offer when you can't make the most of it because your entire salary is being eaten up by rent on a tiny flat? But it really depends on your individual circumstances and priorities.

@neverbeenskiing
I sympathise. The pricing out does definitely impact on the feel of the place too.

Grew up in Brighton, never understood it's attraction. There's genuinely nice bits of seaside down there and people gravitate to that place

I've never been to Lancaster though

Liverpool, fairly close to Lancaster. Thriving city. Loads to do. And also on the coast.

The vote currently stands at 52% to 48%. Where have I seen those % before? 🤣

@Toddlerteaplease
I don't know why but I'm scared Liverpool would be too dressy and out on the towny! I would be open to Liverpool later but I'm actually moving back to the UK after time abroad so I want a "soft" landing where I know people to ease myself back in for a year or two and then will think about moving elsewhere possibly

Oooh yes Liverpool is a good suggestion!
A good friend has moved from Lancaster tor Brighton recently. The only thing she is not keen on is house prices.
I think Lancaster can feel a bit isolated and also how buzzy it feels can fluctuate according to when students are there or not. And I say that as someone who loved living there and goes back quite a bit to visit friends.

@LadyWithLapdog
The vote is very evenly split! But so far the Lancaster crew have stayed quiet 🤔

Brighton

Lancaster. More affordable, close to the coast if you want the sea, very close to the glorious Lakes, Yorkshire, best parts of Lancashire, near enough to Scotland to make trips there quite easy (Dumfries and Galloway is just fabulous).

Did my first degree at Lancaster and am still very fond of the city and all areas named above.

If you're creative brighyon without a doubt. Do make sure you've done your sums tho as it is ridiculously expensive.

There’s not an awful lot to Lancaster to be honest. It’s getting very awful in the city centre with drunks/stoneheads lying and shouting everywhere. It’s not a particularly nice place and soooo noisy with sirens constantly heard due to it being so small. Awful one way system constantly closing due to accidents which clogs up the whole place. It’s got a decent student feel but with that there’s not much to actually do unless you like a million coffee shops. It’s a bit “meh” on a good day and “argggh” on a bad day.
Brighton on the other hand is warmer!

I grew up in Brighton. It’s a lovely place but it is expensive. Lots of the houses are made of bungaroush.

@HairyFeline

There’s not an awful lot to Lancaster to be honest. It’s getting very awful in the city centre with drunks/stoneheads lying and shouting everywhere. It’s not a particularly nice place and soooo noisy with sirens constantly heard due to it being so small. Awful one way system constantly closing due to accidents which clogs up the whole place. It’s got a decent student feel but with that there’s not much to actually do unless you like a million coffee shops. It’s a bit “meh” on a good day and “argggh” on a bad day. Brighton on the other hand is warmer!

Most of what you've written in the above post HairyFeline describes Brighton exactly.

Yes, it is warmer but it's also incredibly overpriced.

Lancaster is one of the coldest, wettest cities imaginable. Dreary all year round. I went to uni there. Still get the shivers going back to visit friends.

I’ve never experienced driving rain quite like it.

Brighton is more buzzy and probably easier to get to know people but very expensive!
Lancaster is lovely with the Lake District on your doorstep and cheaper. Found it very friendly when my son at Uni there but not sure how easy it would be to get to know people unless you are a student.

WTF is bungaroush?

@FateHasRedesignedMost has a point. I have lived in various bits of Northern England and Scotland and Lancaster wins the "rain most likely to soak through even full goretex gear" award.

It still has a special place in my heart but I can;t deny the traffic and weather are dire!

I've actually lived temporarily in both, and although my views may be distorted by the reasons I was in each place I'd chose Lancaster every time.

Admittedly it was twenty years ago, but Brighton for me was near-London prices without London incomes, some very pretentious people, a lot of bullshit as you point out, big enough to be impersonal but too small to have the big-city distractions. And when I was there the city centre had a monumental garbage problem because the refuse collection consisted of putting black bags out on the pavement, which the seagulls attacked. I rented in Preston Park and commuted into the centre, but I found living there a grind.

It's also fine if you want to fly from Gatwick, but less so for other south eastern airports.

Lancaster has the look and feel of a large provincial town and is under no illusions about what it is. Lots of independent shops, great food scene, and I found the people simply much more genuine and friendly. It's also under an hour from not one, but two national parks. If you're set on beach access that's in Morecambe, which is not the nicest place on Earth or even in the North West. The town centre has been prone to flooding, so have a think about this when choosing where to live or buy, and it also has a hideous one way system which backs up badly at rush hour.

Lancaster is counterintuitively warmer in winter because it's wet and doesn't get affected by continental weather systems like Brighton does. It's also much less windy. Summers are hit and miss, usually miss.

The only other thing I'd point out is that whilst it is feasible to live in Lancaster without a car, going out of town without one is not for the faint hearted and you will want to get out for a variety of reasons (not least because the Lune valley has some incredible pubs!). For non-drivers Brighton is probably the more sensible.

You'll know what's best for your career, but I was in Brighton to work in marketing and found it has a couple of good creative agencies and something of a 'scene' for it. Never had to look in Lancaster, but I'm not really aware of anything similar up there.