Arty/ liberal/ Bohemian (not stuffy materialist ones)places to live in the SE

[Buzzybee1983]

Sorry can't think of the right word?
We live in the South East and need remain here for work & family reasons
I love the actual area we live in, as in its beautiful,sweet and Safe and lots of great amenities
However I just feel like we don't fit in with community. It's affecting my self esteem. We are not super wealthy, we are creative, we like deeper conversations and feel very isolated here like the square pegs on the stock brokers bent
What areas would you say are still safe & affluent but have more of a open minded, arty vibe in the South?

Brighton, surely?

I would prefer more of countryside place I think as I'm a county bumpkin!

I was thinking Brighton too.Not cheap tho!

Yes, Brighton.

Forest Row

I was going to say Forest Row !!! My dm lives there it's and so do I sometimes, it's friendly, organics and local food friendly. Closeish to E.Grinsted witch has good rail link to London.

Hastings and surrounding areas, Westfield, Battle, Herstmonceux

Sorry about the typos

Loving the generalisations....

You'll find like minded people about somewhere, you just need to join the right groups with mutual interests. An arts group?

OP I know exactly what you mean.

I spent about 30 years living in a lefty / arty place and now live in a lovely but very conservative (small c!) place. I do miss the vibe and the like minded people.

We've met some lovely people here but it's just not the same. I know just what you mean about not fitting in and I would move to Brighton if I could afford it (not a hope in hell right now!). So I'm watching this thread with interest to see if there is anywhere else down south!

Maybe have a look at where there are green / labour MPs / Councillors?

Do you have DC?

Much as I love visiting Hastings, "safe and affluent" aren't exactly the first words the spring to mind!

What's Forest Row like?

Lewes! Or Forest Row - would love to send kids to the Steiner School there if lived nearer and could afford it

Well Forest Row is not particularly attractive, it has almost 2 streets for shopping, good independent coffee shops\restaurants. It's on the old coaching route to Brighton.

But I like it because it's unpretentious and friendly, there's alway something cultural going on, if not in the village itself in E. Grinstead or Tunbridge wells and Brighton of course, there are regular buses to each town ,not on Sundays though The surrounding countryside is lovely .

Lewes is gorgeous bur much more expensive than FR.

Hasting is very mixed. There are some nasty parts of redevelopment, also some lovely ancient areas.

Does Forest Row = Steiner, generally?

Dunno about the OP but that's not the kind of liberal / arty I'm looking for!

(Have you read the threads about Steiner on here?!)

Yes, but it's not OTT with it. I didn't realise until I popped into a little craft shop there for the 2nd time. Ds wasn't happy at a Steiner school in London (we weren't particularly happy either but it was one teacher) they're all different.

I hope I'm not going to open up a Steiner can of worms here, only to say before I read the mumsnet threads here I had no idea Steiner was based on anthrosophy. I thought it was just a generally creative approach or similar to Montessori.

Especially as we are atheists a religious school / one based on woo is not for us. Plus I was surprised to find a lot of their methods are prescriptive, the opposite of creative!

But if we're going to discuss Steiner maybe we should take it to another thread instead of derailing this one?! I'll start one if anyone's up for it?

Yes go on I like a good bitch

Margate is getting there

Steiner thread here

Lewes is the place you are seeking. Property in the town itself is expensive (due to low supply and high demand) and often houses are small with little outdoor space (small courtyard gardens, etc). But if you venture slightly out of town into the nearby surrounding villages you get more for your money.

I've also heard good things about FR, but the Steiner and Scientology associations would make me wary

Sorry was out all day. Will check these places out! Whats the issue with Steiner?

The issue with Steiner is basically that most people think it's a creative alternative to school similar to Montessori or a Scandinavian education when in reality it's based on a religion called Anthrosophy and some ideas that most people would consider very woo indeed. The schools don't seem to publicise this in the same way that say a Catholic school would be very obvious about its religious roots, and it seems people often don't learn this stuff until their DC have been at Steiner for a while.

However if you start a discussion of Steiner it can open a whole can of worms which is why I suggested we discuss it over here so this thread doesn't get derailed!

Closet I haven't heard about scientology in FR. I 'm more than bit about that.