What are Southend and Clacton like to live in?

[katymac]

Is it busy or quiet?

How are the gps/dentists etc?

What about jobs? Easy to get?

I don't know Clacton but I do know Southend. They're both in Essex but a long way from one another!

Is Southend busy? Yes, fairly but depends on your starting point. Compared to London, no, it's calm.

GPs/dentists are fine, same as anywhere I would think!

Jobs - Southend is commutable to London (Clacton isn't), which totally changes things. Commute is on the long side & costs a fair bit but London pay is significantly higher than locally so it usually is more than worthwhile.

I live in Southend. There are nice areas and awful areas and the price difference is huge. There is also a huge premium to live in the catchment for the better schools. Schools are great or awful, there's no middle ground. I live in an area that most people wouldn't choose, but it's affordable and not as bad as it's reputation. There is a lot of regeneration going on so the town will hopefully be transformed in the coming years. As pp said, it's a commuter town, and most people work in London, which pushes up house prices.

I'd rather not commute or at least not nearly as far as London esp when I am unlikely to get much more than Min wage plus 20% max

Where we are a non emergency GP appt is about 4 weeks and no Dentsts are taking on NHS patients

I think the GP/dentist situation is pretty commonplace.
You can get lists of dentists who are taking on NHS patients.
GP surgeries each have their own method of appointment making, it is not a town-wide thing. Whilst annoying, waiting for a non urgent appointment doesn't bother me that much, so long as it is possible to get an urgent one when needed.

Not sure I'd decide where to live based on that though? There's so much more to a town than health services!

xpost Kaneil

Interesting

The Airport is an advantage for DD I guess (rather than schools - as she is older)

No experience of Southend but I'd avoid Clacton like the plague!

There is some nice villages just outside of Clacton though.

I know Chewbacca - but both DH & I have long term health problems

My mum gets an appt for non urgent within 3 days - but I don't wanna live there!!

I don't like either (sorry) but out of the two Southend is better due to proximity of London (sort of).
Where do you currently live and what are your reasons for choosing those two towns?

Well we are moving closer in to London, from near Great Yarmouth

As always it's the toss up between the amount of space we think we need and the price we can afford to pay for it

Ipswich is favourite I think atm, then Colchester

But I was widening my search

I would go for Colchester if you can out of all the places you mentioned.

That's a 'piece of string' question really! Southend and Clayton are completely different and miles away from each other.

Southend is a lot more upmarket than Clacton, & even more so than Yarmouth.
Lots of footballers have holiday homes in S'd, the footballers bring money into the area.
Clacton is mostly old people, an economically depressed town, they voted in a UKIP MP.

Colchester is the naicest of the lot, Ipswich is rougher around the edges but not in a bad way. Southend is about on a par with Ipswich. Clacton is a dive compared to the others.

I know someone who commuted from Clacton to London for decades! But it's a long slog. People commute from deep rural suffolk or north Norfolk to London daily, Clacton is easier than those.

I agree with Ragged. In order of "naiceness" I would say

Colchester
Southend
Ipswich
Clacton

Would you consider somewhere like Witham or South Woodham Ferrers? These are a bit closer to London but possibly more expensive?

Definitely more expensive Whitham is anyway

We want a 3 bed bungalow but will end up with a 2 bed I guess

Well I am outside Yarmouth - almost Broads but we need to be closer to 'facilities' as we get older

Def no commuting to London - I wanna use my bike to commute!

ragged lots of footballers have holiday homes in Southend? Do they?!

I'd agree with users list.

But am not sure what you're looking for, how important is 'nice'?

What are your other criteria are what is your budget.

I live in Clacton, wouldn't recommend it if you can afford elsewhere tbh! There are very few jobs, mostly zero hour contracts, the schools are not that great, it's run down and quite rough in places.

Easy access to healthcare - walking distance idelly as we are dropping to one car

Halfway between London & just north of Yarmouth

Medium to small garden, lots of parking (motorhome)

No interest in schools as we are pre retirement

About 200-210 unless I get a great job (chicken/egg situation)

OP what's you budget? Have a look at areas such as Brightlingsea, Wivenhoe, Manningtree and Maldon. From the places mentioned above Colchester would be my first choice. It has a nice art gallery, a new cinema is being built, there's a lovely park and plenty of history associated with the town. If you ever need to get into London it's 50 mins on the train. Also there are many nice villages around Colchester but it depends on how far out you want to be.

Budget wise Brightlingsea would be fine for a decent sized house and garden, but there are no jobs there, closest would be Colchester and then you're relying on the buses (if not a car) , not sure how they are between Brightlingsea and Colchester these days though. You could do well in Clacton for that much but again, lack of jobs unless you're okay with zero hour contracts at a supermarket or in a care position, not much else going on here. I'm not sure about other places as we only looked at Clacton (just bought a home) and also bsea out of curiosity.
DH commutes to London, one train all the way, it's not bad but then he works near to the station at the other end and we live a 15min walk from the station.
Re healthcare in Clacton, there's only one doctors surgery taking on patients at the moment, appointments are weeks away but I can't complain about the doctors and nurses, they're all really good.
There are nicer areas of clacton that are within walking distance of town and that are in your budget too, but the area near the hospital and Seafront get very busy so you'd need to look at places with big driveways to accommodate your motor home and cars and they are a bit harder to find. They've started bringing in resident only parking in some areas though but I'm not sure where beyond the bits in my area. Further out of town there are nice places, I don't know how doable they are on bike though as I can't ride one so have to drive to those areas if it's too far to walk with (baby) DD.

This is all fab info - thanks everyone

I can do about 10 miles each way on my bike (I have an electric bike & I love it) I will use the car when it's wet as DH is retired

There are about half a dozen suitable in Ipswich & 1 which is on an odd auction thing in colchester (but the parking mightbe dodgy on that one)

Have you considered Frinton-on-Sea? It's a lovely old-fashioned place with a reasonable amount of shops and a pleasant high street. The sea is nearby but no amusement arcades (only one chip shop I believe)! It's unspoilt and a refreshing change. There are a lot of older people there as it is a favourite with retirees, with plenty of medical centres etc. There's even a railway station. Obviously the nearer the property is to the sea, the more expensive it becomes, but the link below gives you some idea what you could get on the outskirts - it does need work, but the price is good for the area. I'm seriously considering moving here once I retire!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65206616.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66045197.html