To ask your views on Hartlepool?

[HartlepoolMover]

Please do not judge firstly.
I am 41 and still live at home. I am Surrey based and single.
I work but don't earn enough to live independently in this area.
A few months back I visited Hartlepool for a wedding and really liked the area. Of course many would say it is run down but I love the beach, the marina and they have a shopping centre.
I have 70K which is my life's worth savings so could definitely be in a position to buy a 1 bed flat there. I have health issues and they have a hospital nearby also. I do a job which will never be made redundant (sorry to be cryptic but don't want to be outed) so no worries with finding work.
I would be alone but I need that. Family issues and being the scapegoat in the family has made me see I need a clean break and to rebuild my confidence.
Just wondered if anyone could provide any feedback.
Thanks in advance.

OP - I’d spend a few days in Hartlepool, few days in Redcar, a few days in Saltburn and some of the other suggestions that folk have said on here.

Did you mean to be so dismissive when I've taken the energy and time to share my experience?

Just because it isn't in your town doesn't mean it isn't common or true.

The fact is Southerners up here in the vast majority of areas will have a hard time adapting, because it's so different.

I found it easier as an Irish person adapting to life in the North East than my middle-class Southern ex, as the difference in culture and mentality is more extreme between the South and the North in England than it is between Ireland and the North, in my experience. My ex moved back less than 2 years later as he really couldn't handle the differences.

"Did you mean to be so dismissive when I've taken the energy and time to share my experience?"

What kind of energy and effort did it take really? 😂
Her opinion and experience is equally valid to yours.

"The fact is Southerners up here in the vast majority of areas will have a hard time adapting, because it's so different."

This is an opinion and not fact. I know lots of 'Southerners' who have fit in brilliantly up here. Everybody is different.

NRTWT but you'd get nothing in Whitley Bay for £70k. It's expensive there now.

I actually quite like Hartlepool. It has good areas and bad areas.

I like the historic dockyard

I don't know about Hartlepool specifically but I get the impression there's not as much pressure on services as in the South so it's easier to get doctors appointments, etc

You couldn't be more wrong. The situation in the North East is absolutely dire, probably the worst in the country.

OP Hartlepool is a tough, tough town and can be incredibly hostile to outsiders as evidence by the recent riots. Your money would be much better spent in Saltburn, or one of the North Yorkshire market towns if you're open to going in land a bit.

i recently went to seaton carew for the first time in over 20 years and i was very impressed. main street seriously pulled its socks up, beach was lovely, community events going on but still a hint of old school seaside resort.
saltburn is my favourite but may be out of budget.
seaham is another place that has really turned itself around. whitley bay is the same, much improved.
hartlepool itself i would likely avoid but if all does depend what you are used to and what you are looking for.
james cook and the rvi/freeman are not unattainable living anywhere on the cleveland, co durham and tyneside coast. depending on your health need you may find that james cook is the regional centre and for others the rvi. the freeman is the main regional centre for all things cardiothoracic but then there are cardiologists at james cook.
if you drive they are all manageable.
how exciting to be able to live near the sea! i'd love to but i can't leave where i am as children settled in schools. but i'm lucky that i'm no more than 20 mins drive from some kind of coast north and south.

I live in Hartlepool.
One bed flats start below £20k in rough areas.
If you do move here,look at nicer areas - "behind the park" so near Ward Jackson Park.
Marina blocks are shoddy built and overpriced and outside the actual Marina is close to some dodgy areas, so avoid.
The Headland or "Old Hartlepool" is hit and miss.
For Park Road/Grange Road/Elwick Road, you want to be at the top end (high numbers)
The hospital is gradually being whittled away department by department so check if they actually can treat your needs. They're all limped together with James Cook, North Tees, and even Northallerton so you could have to travel.
What else? Public transport is shit. Nightlife is shit. Public services are shit (council are useless)
Most people are lovely, but there's an "underclass" for want of a better word who are dragging the whole town down to their level slowly but surely.
With your budget you could go somewhere much nicer quite honestly.

🤣

just seen that you have cited hartlepool hospital as an advantage. it's part of north tees trust in stockton which has the majority of services. hartlepool is a much downgraded facility now so i'd suggest research carefully where will be able to manage your chronic health condition as it may well need to be north tees, james cook, rvi or potentially darlington/durham.

I came on to say about the hospital, there’s no A&E there now is there. I’d personally choose to live nearer to James Cook or the RVI.
We aren’t moving out of the area as DH has a chronic condition that is managed by both and he’s had great care from them. I’ve never been impressed by North Tees which is perhaps where you would be sent from Hartlepool? I think that’s worth finding out.

One thing I always hated about Hartlepool was how much of a trek it was from the a19 to get in and out.
Personally if you want seaside I would probably say somewhere like Saltburn.

You don’t say what you like to do etc. I used to work in Hartlepool and I know colleagues were a bit limited socially there.

I live in Hartlepool and obviously biased but I think it’s a good option! Huge sandy beach at seaton, nice marina with plenty of restaurants and bars, reasonable number of shops between shopping centre/teesbay retail centre/marina. Recently refurbished train station with regular direct trains to Newcastle and Middlesbrough and less frequent to Cumbria/n Yorkshire/York/London. There are some horrendous areas (as most towns) but avoid these and think you could be happy here

The hospital has been sadly gradually closed though so I wouldn’t base a move on that 😓