Hastings vs Folkestone, DH needs to commute, which would you chose...

[SarfEasticatedMumma]

DH will need to commute to work at Vauxhall, I will work locally. DD is nearly 8. I like Hastings, I find it interesting, quirky with lots of nice countryside around and art galleries too - plus the lovely Alexandra Park. Commuting time is 1hr 40 mins. Folkestone is near where I grew up, so am a bit put off by teenage memories, but better to commute to the smoke at 55 mins.
There are plans for a high speed rail link to Hastings but it's not a done deal and won't be for ages.
We have a budget of about ??360k

[SarfEast1cated]

Hi there Salty thanks for the interest. We have given up on the plan to move out of London now. DH got a new job with quite fixed work hours so we thought that a long commute would be hard for him, and would also mean he wouldn't see DD. Also I seemed to be the only member of my family who actually wanted to go! I got offered a place a London uni which is a great opportunity, and I feel that in my new career I will get better opportunities here. We also live close enough to the coast that we can get down there in an hour or so for weekends. Good luck with your move.

[QOD]

Ooooh another new MNer near me

[saltyann]

hi there
just wondering if SarfEasticatedMumma managed to find a house and how the move went? we are considering something similar.... nice village with easy commute to either ashford of folkestone for the hs1. 1 four year old and 1 baby. Feels daunting moving from London but also looking forward to open spaces and the outdoors there....

[SarfEast1cated]

Hi everyone we're staying at Camber Sands this week to get an idea of the area, and I must say, I'm really rather liking Rye!
Do any of you commute from Rye to London and if so, what is the quickest you have managed to get to London in?
National Rail is saying 1hr 43 to Vauxhall, but Rome2rio is saying 1hr 14
any real life experiences?

[somethingerudite]

Thanks QOD, that's helpful to have some specific streets and areas to stay clear of. We are hoping to be much closer to either of the stations (Folkestone, Folkestone West) than the streets you're flagging up.

Lovely house Sarf and you can always paint it a different colour at some later date if you want (don't actually mind the idea of a pink house, myself). We have friends in SLoS who seem very happy having relocated from London. But it does feel like much more of a complete relocation, rather than somewhere that could be a viable daily commute. I currently have an hour 15 mins commute each way, and I think any longer would wear me down / cut into family time too much. That's just me though.

[SarfEast1cated]

I know QOD a floorplan is soooo important. I have stared at the pics for so long I think I know how it works inside... Wonder how much it costs to paint the outside of a house...

[QOD]

Ah see i couldn't buy it - no.floor plan

[laundryeverywhere]

I like Horsham, W.Sussex. Not exactly in your area, but very nice place.

[SarfEast1cated]

Do you want to see my new house crush? you are probably a bit bored by this already, thanks for helping me so much I really appreciate it.

It is over budget, and it is pink! But I luff it. I have even started picking out wallpaper!

[QOD]

ratonastick I'm sure it was lovely back in the day
unfortunately it's now a maze of flats and bedsits and multi occupancy houses
dh and I left home at 18, near 30 yrs ago. Had a flat in town and then decided we wanted a garden. Got a flat in Marshall St. Yeah big mistake, I grew up in Seabrook and him in The Golden Valley- culture shock!!

[BrendaFlange]

Thank you OP, I am flattered. Brenda Flange is a character from a rather splendid novel.

I LOVE Pett / Pett Level, the change from marsh to the cliffs from Fairlight etc. just wouldn't choose to raise kids there . Though to be fair the bus service to Hastings could be a lot worse. Hastings I like , but I agree about the train times. Sandwich? I think the trains are probably a pain.

[RatOnnaStick]

My dad grew up in Sidney Street

[QOD]

I love Pett Bottom. But only cos of the name.

[SarfEast1cated]

BrendaFlange what a pretty name , surely a bit of boredom is creative for a child? She'll be leaving home in 10 years anyway, off to lead her own life somewhere fun, while I devote myself to lawn bowls, dog walking and sturdy tweed skirts. TBH Pett would never work because of commuting for DH, but I just really like it.

[QOD]

Stack is a fucking nightmare BUT not to train commuters.
getting to Dover is dreadful but as I go there perhaps 5 times a decade it doesn't matter ..
getting from Ashford to FIlkeston on the M20 cam be awful too but meh, I just use the A20
if you are living IN F stone you just avoid going to Ashford or Dover when it's on

I live off jct 11 so it can be a.pia for me to get onto the A20 as people are gits and won't let you onto it

If your budget is less than £265 000 be careful!
Downs Road, Dolphins Road, Those in that side of Blackbull are OK. Mostly. RUSSELL Rd has had horrendous metre Hugh flooding a decade ago but anything the other side of BlackbI'll ...no.
well, we you get out to Wear bay and those roads it's nice again
ffs NO NO NO to Hill Road, George Gurr and.Wood Avenue. Joyes road is on the edge
no to Marshall st, Sidney st, Athelstan, Ethelbert
soz if I offend anyone.

[Callmecordelia]

Folkestone has the advantage that the M2 isn't far. It's slightly better for us than Ashford or Maidstone.

It depends where you are commuting to/from. DH works in Maidstone, and that's a nightmare, because he needs to use the M20 to get home, and the most common phase of operation stack is between Maidstone and Ashford. It's not on too often. Mostly when the French strike.

This is of course normal Operation Stack. This summer was not normal, and it went on for weeks, and all phases were in place. It was awful. However the M2 option meant I could get home from where I work at least. I didn't go anywhere near Ashford or Maidstone for weeks though. DH was not so lucky. We barely saw him.

[BrendaFlange]

What effect does Operation Stack have on Folkestone? At least Hastings has the A21 as an escape route!
A teen or rising-teen would go mad in Pett, unless very horsey, and you would spend your life as a taxi driver.

[Callmecordelia]

Hi Sarf, they're pretty cheap because they're on the edge of a not so nice area. Also there are parking issues. As you go down Radnor Park Road, and it becomes Pavilion Road etc, you'll see the area change if you drive it. As a general rule, the further east in Folkestone you go, the worse the area.

[SarfEast1cated]

There seem to be quite a lot of big houses near Radnor Park erudite they looks great to me, but they're pretty cheap. We'll wave to you from the other side of Dungeness!

[somethingerudite]

We've been back down to Folkestone a couple of times since I last posted on this thread and have our hearts set on it. There is just so much that it offers compared to the other places on our shortlist: Creativity and the arts, lots of architectural interest, The Leas and sunny sands, proximity to France, shortest coast-to-London commute, and the promise of further regeneration if / when the harbour redevelopment goes ahead. I STILL can't figure out why it's so cheap!

If I had the money, time, talent, and a whole stack of Living Etcs, I'd be making a beeline for the auction of this house - The windows! The panelling! The fact that the only stick of furniture left in it would appear to be a piano!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55219193.html

I love it. But I can't afford it. Not even if it goes for the guide price of precisely peanuts (by London standards).

[SarfEast1cated]

I am actually very partial to a spot of Hastings stardust, but the train journey is longer that the journey from Folkestone to London, so we are weighing up the pros and cons. I think in a way because I grew up close(ish) to Folkestone (Margate) Hastings seems like more of an adventure! We have another weekend booked in Folkestone in November and we are visiting Hastings quite often too. If DH didn't need to commute I'd move to Pett like a shot :)

[Stardustshaper]

Sarf, please keep us updated on your explorations and decisions. We too are from Lewisham and yearning for a coastal life. Can't quite understand the negativity around living in Hastings, and haven't explored folkestone and surrounds. Have you ruled out Whitstable?

[Callmecordelia]

You don't get to St Pancras from Sandling or Westenhanger without changing at Ashford. That's the big downside of Hythe if you need the High Speed. For DH commuting from Folkestone West and being able to walk there was so much better than driving to Folkestone Central from Hythe (they hadn't put in the parking restrictions then), or changing at Ashford.

Personally, I don't get too hung up on whether I live in Folkestone or Hythe - I've lived in both, and they are 10 minutes drive apart. They both have amenities I use, and I have friends all along the entire strip of coast line. I appreciate that everyone is different, and still being able to walk to Hythe High Street would be good, but parking in Waitrose is free, next to the canal and close to the High Street, so it doesn't feel too difficult to get my Hythe fix.

Hythe is very nice. Sandgate is also very nice. Lots of bits of Folkestone are very nice. I feel very lucky to live where I do. Lots of variety for days out and when the sun is shining (like today) it is just spectacular. However, I am stuck indoors, tidying up for guests arriving later.

[QOD]

It's sandling but I get on at Westenhanger and go to Charing cross as I'm not a commuter. Lol. I like the slow train

[SarfEast1cated]

What's the commuting time from Hythe ladies? Is it Sandling? And do you get to St P?