Bristol or Brighton?

[HurryUpHarriet]

We're currently in South London but keen to move before DCs (hopefully) come along. DH might have a v.good job opportunity coming up in Bristol. We're also considering a move to Brighton (DH would have to commute to London if he stays in the same job).

Can anyone shed any light on the relative merits and drawbacks of both places, preferably in comparison to each other? I've got a bit of a list of Pros and Cons gleaned mainly from the internet, and it would be great to get some first-hand perspectives.

I grew up near Brighton and loved the social aspect, the bars, restaurants, cool clothes shops etc also beach and pier. Have to say this was twenty years ago now though! When ever I visit now I can't wait to leave as its become soooo touristy!

Depending on where the job is based in Bristol you could consider living in an adjoining area. E.g. if job is based near Bristol Parkway it would be easy to access from Bath, or the South Cotswolds - both great places to live IMO.

I can't see it with Bath tbh, unless you are in a village nearby and happy to drive - it's a very small town, and very hilly! nightmare to walk about on daily basis even without small kids, and buses to north of centre not frequent. Have to rely on the car a lot, also gets v.touristy in the centre over summer where ALL the nice shops and cafes are (so can't avoid them).
It's a pity that no one actually living in Bristol is responding to OP, would be interesting.

ahem, I live in Bristol..

Gladys, yes, saw your post - so nothing positive there for you? which part of B?

Another in Bristol

Agree with what Passion said about Bath. I used to live there but moved to Bristol (S Glos actually, but Bristol post code) for those reasons.

Education system in Bristol can be very poor - one of worst rated in the country. S Glos is better.

Don't like the Bristol shopping areas of Cabots Circus or Cribbs Causeway. if I want a full day's shopping I take the train to Cardiff.

Good transport links with rail to Paddington and the M4 and M5.

Unfortunately Bristol traffic crawls at a snail's pace.

2 good Unis in the area - Bath and Bristol (Cardiff would be 'do-able' too)

2 lower league Unis - UWE and Bath Spa.

MOD is one of Bristol's biggest employers.

Getting to the Filton area in the morning by road is a nightmare.

I'm in Bristol - grew up here, moved away for 20 years, came back 5 years ago. What I like about it is that it has all the big-city stuff, like theatres and arts cinemas and museums, two universities, quirky little areas with interesting shops plus all the obvious big-names shops and mainstream cinema chains. But it is also small enough that you don't feel you're as anonymous as you are in a huge city like London or Tokyo. You can be out in woodland and countryside in about a ten or fifteen minute drive. Bath is a 12-minute hop on the train from Temple Meads, so you have all the theatres/festivals/shops etc there as well.

Yes, peak-time traffic can be bad (but certainly no worse than London, from what I remember of living there 20 years ago), and public transport is pretty dreadful, but depending on where you live, there is a huge amount you can do on foot (or by bike if that way inclined). I'm in Redland, and I can walk to local shops on Gloucester Road and Whiteladies Road within 10-15 minutes, get to Queens Road/Park St in 15-20 minutes, and walk down to Cabot Circus or the harbourside in less than 30 minutes.

And things are pretty quick by car as long as it's not rush hour. Eg, on Saturday mornings I drop DS at climbing lessons in one area, take DD to drama somewhere else a couple of miles away, walk the dog on the Downs, pick DS up, and pick DD up, all between 9.30 and 1pm, and I still have time in between to pop home, walk to the local shops to pick up bread and and a newspaper, and sit around drinking coffee and reading the paper in one of the half-dozen cafes within ten minutes' walk of my house. I don't think I could fit all that in if I were living in London.

Schooling is an issue, though things have been improving over the past few years, apart from the overcrowding issue in the early years of primary school. There are various new schools/new buildings/extra classes being brought in to deal with that, but obviously more still needs to be done. But I think Brighton also has a problem with horrendous competition for the popular schools? And from what I've heard from friends in south London, it's not any better there.

Thanks for all the replies everyone - this is really helpful.

The comments from Gladys and exexpat back up what I've already gleaned from my interweb researches - traffic / transport and schools seem to be top of the pile when people list Bristol's negative points.

I don't drive so I'd be interested to know more about why Bristol's public transport system is considered to be so crap. I've been looking at timetables and ticket prices ( yes I know it's trainspottery) for both Bristol and Brighton, and they seem pretty comparable pricewise and in terms of frequency of services from the 'burbs into the centre. Are Bristol's buses just unreliable or something?

passionsrunhigh - you're right, there's nowhere with as many "layers" as London and wherever we move there will always be things I miss about living in a capital city, but I'm resigned to that. Good idea to think about priorities - my 'Pros' and 'Cons' lists could do with some sort of filter.

Westcountrywife - know what you mean about about the seedier side of Brighton and not just the drugs / dealing - I've been intimidated in the past by street-drinkers who seem to be allowed to congregate in rather large numbers in certain parts of Brighton. But maybe this is more of a city centre problem as you suggest?

Re considering Bath / outlying villages - Bath might be an option, but I suspect living in a proper village (as opposed to an "urban village" like, say, Clifton) would be too much of a culture shock coming straight from London. Also, I should think transport would almost certainly be an issue in the sticks.

WetAugust - re shopping, I'm not a massive shopper but I am slightly swayed by the fact that Bristol has both a John Lewis and an IKEA - Brighton has neither (as far as I can make out the biggest dept store is Debenhams, which is a bit meh in my book).

exexpat - thanks for your post, that's all really good to know, especially on the getting around / transport front. The "big-city" stuff is what's giving Bristol the edge over Brighton for me so far. I know Brighton has the Festival (which is great) but there seems to be a lot more going on in Bristol culture-wise.

On schools - we've no DC yet (just started ttc) and I don't want to count my chickens, but lack of primary places seems to be a big issue in both Bristol and Brighton (more over Hove way I think). A midwife friend told me there was a "baby bulge" nationally in 2006-7 and a lot of local authorities are having problems accommodating the extra numbers of children who are now coming through into reception.

Brighton apparently has some sort of lottery system for the better secondary schools, but as DCs are still a twinkle in my eye at this stage I haven't done much research into secondaries as it feels a bit previous iykwim!

Lots to think about - thanks again everyone for responding. Any further info on why Bristol's public transport is rubbish would be much appreciated.

Hove, actually.

The problem with Bristol's public transport is that in most areas it is a bus monopoly run by the First group, and tends to be overpriced and unreliable.

Pricing is particularly bad if you are an occasional user for shortish distances - I think if you commute by bus there are more reasonable season tickets - and timetables often seem to be a work of fiction, in my experience. Routes can be a bit odd, getting from one non-central area to another non-central area is convoluted, and of course it doesn't help that much of central Bristol is heavily parked-up Victorian streets not designed for modern traffic, so just one badly parked car or scaffolding lorry can cause miles of tailbacks.

There is talk of reviving some of the defunct railway lines (there are only one or two suburban type train lines, with very infrequent services) and bringing in trams/light rail/bendy buses etc, but frankly I'll believe that when I seem them.

If you don't drive, I would recommend living in as central an area of Bristol as possible, as it's easier to get out of the centre than get in, iyswim, and you would really be stuck without a car in many of the suburbs. Eg, where my parents live, the nearest bus stop is nearly a mile away and there are no local shops.

OP, it all depends where are you planning to travel on daily basis. Would you need access to rail, or just around town? I find that railway IS reliable (I don't live in Bristil yet but been going often over the last 6months, looking to buy). The little train that goes from redland/clifton down to Temple Meads is hardly ever delayed, it's frequent (two an hour?) and cheap (about 1.50). Strangely the bus fron same areas to Temple Meads or the centre is something lile 3 pounds! (shock), and there is no Oyster (will miss that about london)!! I also want to know how much bus-savers cost.
The buses aer not so frequent (every 20 min on average) - they are reasonable quick in the day, but vrey slow in rush hour and go round the houses. It's still fine to get to the centre by bus in non-rush hour (15 min). If you aer going to John Lewis/IKEA that's not incentre, but about 25-30min on bus to the north, or I think very near Parkway rail.
I hope no trams aer coming - the noise will be bad and they will take a lot of space on already not so wide roads!
When aer you thinking of moving, and to which area of Bristol? try to chose an area, where it's easy to walk everywhere, like exexpat describes!
exexpat, it's great to read your positive post! I'm moving to redland too! hopefully quite soon. Could you tell me about parks in Bristol (haven't had time to see them on my day trips) - aer the Downs just basically a big green/field? Are there any parks of a city type, i.e. landscaped, with paths flowers etc.? maybe not in centre.

p.s. John Lewis/ikea swayed it some more for me too!

Thank you , kind shodatin at" I've slept since then" , you are very generous . madmouse and kizzie are of course often to be found resting in the summerhouse , just too busy to post as exhaustively as in earlier times < waves and cheers on mousling >. Agree other cybergardeners might have ideas on how things might develop

Hope Upward is not too stressed and that Nilgiri isn't frustrated by circumstances < unrealistic hob > World - changing people have to live with a lot of frustration

Hope that if you did have chance to discuss drugs this morning Upward, you haven't had too much cause you to worry . Apologies if that too is very unrealistic and hope you get chance to talk through concerns with staff and friends .

Am hoping no message about a meeting arrives on my much- ignored phone , as have many tasks to do here & can't be bothered with chatting with RL people

How are you feeling at the moment , 8shodatin ? I notice you having a nap in the evening and hope it's not an indication of extra fatigue . Has your medication increased been of any help with pain issues ? Am too nosey , sorry
Upward*'s all round

Umm, think cityhobgoglin might have posted on the wrong thread there...

Passionsrunhigh - I suppose 'frequent' depends on your expectations. I live close to the Clifton/Redland/Temple Meads line, and I do use it, particularly if I'm taking an onward train from TM to Bath or London. But they run once or twice an hour, which to me seems very infrequent (OK, I used to live in Tokyo so maybe I have higher expectations than most). And I was recently over an hour late to a dinner in Bath because of one of those trains being cancelled, and several buses also mysteriously failing to turn up.

Parks around Redland - not many with much in the way of flowers, but there are Cotham Gardens (right next to Redland station) with a nice small playground; Redland Green with better playground and more green space; St Andrew's park (other side of Gloucester Road) - lovely park with grass, flowers, natural areas, great playground, paddling pool, caravan serving as teashop, but rather ruined on summer weekends by large numbers of students having barbecues and getting drunk on the grassy areas (smoke, litter etc). Also Brandon Hill, which is walking distance from Redland, at the top of Park Street - it's the one with Cabot Tower in it. The Downs are basically acres of green space, so great for sports/running/kite-flying/dog-walking/picnics etc, and with great views of the Avon Gorge on one side.

I have lived & worked in both. Bristol is becoming more interesting imo, and urban. Brighton has always been more boho, but I like the fact it's v handy for London. I would opt for Brighton every time. Schools I gather can be a real hit and miss in Bristol, so choose your area carefully if opting for there.

I live in a village about 10 miles outside of Bath and Bristol. Not a huge fan of Bristol. I too grew up in Manchester and it beats Bristol hands down. I find that Bristol seems to lack a proper city centre (although admittedly it has undergone extensive redevelopment in recent years).

Love Bath though - would always go to Bath to shop rather than Bristol.

Love the village I live in too. No other city will ever be quite like London so we decided to make a complete change. Think you have to be ready for that shift in pace though - its great with small children.

Also commute to London - expensive but fairly fast.

I live in Bristol, and have friends in Brighton (who commute into London, and hate it!)

We live on the edge of St Pauls and have children in local schools. Tbh, I don't know what half the fuss is about. We have great local shops/parks/pubs etc. The boys' school is entirely adequate and we have a super house.

In 10 years, we've seen the neighbourhood improve from 'a bit edgy' to 'really not that edgy'. I'm not some crazy urban guerilla, but a Nice Professional Mummy (with borderline hippy tendencies) but I do get a bit annoyed with people saying you take your life in your own hands to step out of the car / house around where we live.

And another thing, the 'lower league' uni in Bristol, UWE, is a leading centre for lots of things. It's just not Russell Group.

exexpat - possibly evening trains are less reliable, but I never seen delays/cancellations, and they are definetely twice an hour (possibly weekend eves just once an hour). Of course there is no comparison to london transport, but in London there aer crowds and big distances to cover which makes it stressful (and horrible when hot in the summer). To compare with other cities like Cheltrenham, York, I don't think Bristol is bad. manchester is like marmite it seems.
Thank you for parks info. I wouldn't mind going by bus/car to a big park - is Ashton estate(spelling?) worth going to?

We looked at a Bristol move a few years ago and eventually dismissed it on the grounds that housing costs were just as high as S London, so we'd be swapping like for like, with wose employment prospects and a comparable level of 'inner city'-ness.

I was in Brighton at the weekend, and door to door was back home inside 90 mins.

I just don't think the two are comparable, except in that they both begin with 'Bri'.

lots of issues re lack of school places in bristol - just worth considering if you're planning to have dcs - don't know what brighton is like

x-posts with whimsical - it was probably 6-7 years ago we were thinking of this, so perhaps the 'inner city' factor has reduced. Bet the house prices haven't though.

Ashton Court is very nice. Deer Park, lovely views, farm shop. Cafe is closed down at the mo which is a shame.

Another big park is Blaise Castle. That is very popular with dog walkers. Has a little (free) museum, cafe (also closed down at the mo, but with adequate kiosk) and 2 really good play areas. Hengrove Park has amazing play facilities, but gets very busy with bigger kids.

Leigh Woods, just over the suspension bridge is also nice, in a woody sort of way.

LadyWellian, I think I like bits of the 'inner city' factor, when it means good amenities. And house prices definitely differ across the city. Clifton etc clearly comparable to London prices. St Pauls / St Werburghs much less so.

thank you whimsical! and Ashton court is open all winter? Do you know if there is direct bus from redland/clifton to Ashton? Leigh woods sounds good too, is it a safe place though (in daytime)?