To think I can find somewhere like London outside London?

[Cheezywotsitforbrekkie]

We are considering a move outside London for the bigger house. Would have to be commutable, and not TOO far. As a result, a city like Birmingham is out of the question.

But I love London. I know I won’t get the big city feel if we aren’t in a city, but I’d at least like to feel like I’m living in a vibrant suburb that’s just a bit further from London.

currently thinking somewhere with a Brixton/ Herne Hill vibe.

its also the people, so want to move somewhere that attracts a fair number of quite arty types. ( we also aren’t loaded so don’t think we’d be able to go anywhere that attracts the banker crowd)

we aren’t particularly edgy ourselves ( like to think we are 😁) but friends who moved to Tonbridge wells came back with their tail between their legs…it was too dull for them and they aren’t wild!

so looking for places that are cheaper than London, a bit arty, community feel and with the obligatory nice coffee shop. Any ideas?

Edited quote fail! I give up

Brighton is the obvious one - plenty of people commute to London from there (although an hour might still be a bit far for you).

Hastings is very up-and-coming, too. It’s becoming more like Brighton and it’s a really fun vibe. There are lots of events throughout the year, and the Old Town is honestly gorgeous.

If you were able to move jobs and relocate entirely, my first suggestion would be Glasgow. You’d be in a MUCH bigger home, the people are great and it’s a really arty place with great restaurants, nightlife, travel connections, and proper countryside right next door.

Edinburgh is also only an hour and a half away on a relatively cheap train, so you’d nearly get both cities for the price of one.

There is life outside of London - take the plunge!

We live in Herne Hill. Friends have previously moved to Brighton, Margate, Bristol, Faversham - so nothing hugely surprising vibe wise. We also know people who have moved much further afield but it doesn't suit your criteria!

It's very gentrified now, almost ridiculously so. There is a blackbird bakery next to a Gails, and about 5 posh gift shops. Back when we lived in Brixton, it seemed on the rougher side but it's defo not now, we've been here 10 years and never come across anything remotely like that

Reading or Bristol?

Hertford was designed with you in mind. Edgy, arty, connected, lovely community, nice independent cafes etc, good pubs, good transport. If you don't mind being say a 20 minute walk from the town/station, you can get a spacious house with garden for around 500K. Houses are smaller and more expensive further in.

There's no where like London.
We wanted to live there when we moved back to the UK but sacrificed that dream to be able to afford to buy a house together.
We live near (ish) Bristol and used to really like it but unless you can afford to live central or are able to rely on public transport that is no where near as good as London's then its a nightmare to get into, trains consistently delayed/cancelled, traffic is a complete shit show.
We stopped bothering going to Bristol at all and travel to London for long weekends instead.
My husband commutes into London but once a week max, you can get the train quite quickly (depending on where in London you work) but its cheaper to drive.
We live in a small town but it's got independent coffee shops & restaurants, shops etc I like that its walkable in the absence of public transport & like I said, we budget in weekends away in London to get our 'fix' of city life.

Southampton? lots going on, commutable by train but the season ticket is an arm and a leg.

OP stated commutable distance .

Bristol or Brighton. Tunbridge Wells is very different from Tonbridge!

its also the people, so want to move somewhere that attracts a fair number of quite arty types.

When people say this it feels like what they’re really saying is ‘attracts middle class Londoners’.

I’ve lived in several of the places suggested and 95% of the ‘arty types’ are DFLs who set up galleries and boujee cafés. Do you actually care about the local people and their communities?

Leigh on sea.
definitely not like London but has a few arty types, nice to be near sea and the City of london is about 40 mins on the train.
full of ex londoners!

Lewes or 7 dials Hove or fiveways Brighton.

Folkestone? It’s as dull as anything in winter.

Arty types?

WTF is an arty type?

Brighton is a your only option given your criteria

I do wonder how Londoners actually find Bristol. 50% of my neighbours are from London and they're so bright eyed when they arrive, full of plans to walk everywhere and by month 3 they're driving the five mins walk to the shop and never go anywhere 🤣

I’m in Tonbridge, I didn’t understand the dislike from her friends about Tunbridge Wells. Like you say lots of independent places to eat and there’s some beautiful art shops in the pantiles.

I think it’s definitely worth checking out places yourself OP rather than ticking them off because your friends didn’t like them. Tonbridge is lovely and very popular with commuters. I think you’ll struggle to find somewhere that ticks every box

Norwich.

https://www.tsl.ac.uk/working-at-tsl/support-for-researchers/living-working-in-norwich

If you need any further encouragement, seemingly thronging with London "refugees" at the moment.

Cambridge? If you can afford to live around bohemian Mill Road/Romsey Town area, it's very handy for the station and has lots of independent cafes, shops, eateries etc. Quite a bit going on culturally for a small city, too. It's also 45 minutes by train to King's Cross, so actually commutable, as opposed to some of these suggestions!

Yes, so I’m told! I no longer live in the UK, but sometimes I’m back in London I have to nip down to HH and be boggled by the gentrification.

To join in to the subconversation about an ‘arty vibe’, I agree that it’s code for ‘arty cafés which might hang exhibitions, or a gallery run by someone with a man bun’. The presence of actual artists isn’t generally going to add to this vibe at all because they’ll be living somewhere cheap and scuzzy and either invisibly indoors working, or working several jobs to support themselves, so seldom visible at all.

I suspect there are pockets of such places everywhere but they are not cheap so the answer depends very much on your budget and costs of commuting.

Lewes, Brighton, Winchester. All lovely places, with the arty vibe and lots to see and do, independent shops etc and a buzzing cultural heritage to boot. Commutable also

Bristol

Agree, Brighton is London-by-Sea. Shocking house prices and council tax though which ruled it out for me.

The only London you'll find is London. Nowhere else is like it. I have visited other British cities and whilst they have their plus points they are all very different from the capital. I think you are looking for a unicorn.