Cotswolds or Portsmouth

[wixked]

DH has take a new job and we could live in either place. I'm not a Brit and don't want to live somewhere it will take ages to make any friends at all. I feel like the Cotswolds might be insular? Portsmouth I'm struggling with schools (prep age). Where would you choose?

I don’t know about the cotswolds but I have family in Portsmouth and frankly it’s a bit of a shit hole. I haven’t been for a while though so it may have improved

Where is your DH's job based? I dont know either very well but they are very different areas. Do you want rural or city?

No advice on either places but I will say this.
We moved near the sea , having never lived near it before . It one day struck us that you really only have a 180° area to get to know , house hunt , visit etc because obvs , you have the sea next to you !

Wow. Big difference. Most people will say Cotswolds but I love Portsmouth. Love the sea and don’t mind the city. Living in Southsea would be brilliant.
Cotswolds is more insular and can be a bit snobby. It’s expensive (but southsea isn’t cheap) and nowhere near the sea but has beautiful countryside. There are lovely villages and towns. I like Cirencester.
I’d chose Portsmouth because the sea would swing it for me but I am missing it a lot at the moment in landlocked Wiltshire.

Don't go for Portsmouth town (grim and 1960s road arrangements).

But Southsea is lovely- and there is a lot to see in Portsmouth.

Don't know the Cotswolds well, but with the type of person living there (David Cameron etc) it could be snobbish, precious, and insufferable- the English at their very worst!

I wouldn’t fancy either

Cotswolds I love to visit but the crowds would drive me insane if I lived there permanently

Portsmouth has Portsmouth Grammar School, Portsmouth High School, St John's College, Mayville. All good pre- prep through to 18.
Southsea and Old Portsmouth are lovely. As with any city, there's no go areas. Pompey also has a uni, so lots of students. Shops aren't great - Covid hasn't helped at all. If you want to live in a seaside city, there are worse places.

Would you actually need to live right in Portsmouth?

Cotswolds is a huge area....Cheltenham is lovely and a good numer of expats live here...Portsmouth is ermmmm nit comparable

Could be anywhere in between the two as well. He will bounce between the two offices depending on which project needs support. I'd prefer rural with good walks but it's schools that will sway it.

Maybe look at some of the villages in Meon valley, Wickham , Medstead or Winchester is a doable commute to Portsmouth.

I live in Portsmouth, its a great city. Its fabulous in the summer and being on the seafront on a sunny evening is amazing. Its got a least three museums, two or three theatres, Portsmouth Grammar School, 5-10 minutes drive and you are in the countryside. Not far to the Witterings where there is a fabulous beach, the South Downs National Park is not far away. 1.5 hours to London, a bit longer to the airports but not much. Ferries to the Isle of Wight and France

Yes it can be a bit scummy, but so is every city.

Where in the Cotswolds? Its a huge area. I live just off the north edge and love the area - its very different to the Chipping Norton area with the Soho Farmhouse crowd

"Anywhere in between" changes everything! Don't live in Portsmouth especially if you're not white British OP, I have found it incredibly racist as have many others I know. It's a Naval town and not particularly nice. There are far nicer places by the sea if you want that - Chichester is a good suggestion.

If you want countryside Winchester could work well for schools - as could country areas outside of Reading, like Marlowe and also Wiltshire, or Oxford surrounds. Cotswolds is beautiful but properties inside the National Park have a huge premium. Oxfordshire might be better.

It all depends on your budget I think.

If you can afford private, Portsmouth has very good schools as other posters have mentioned (Portsmouth Grammar (mixed) and Portsmouth High (girls) in particular). Southsea is fine - not sure why people are being so down about it. I agree though, that if you have the budget, the preference would be to live out of Portsmouth in the surrounding areas. It’s pretty common for prep and senior school kids to bus into the schools from Chichester / meon valley and Southampton way. I may well have been one of those children growing up...!

I worked in Portsmouth and wouldn't recommend it - as some posters have said, very insular, issues with racism, state schools very poor. The local hospital isn't great either. You could live outside Portsmouth and commute in but with limited roads in and out the traffic can be a nightmare (more than usual for the south coast, its accurate to say the traffic everywhere is a nightmare at peak times). I wouldn't go for Portsmouth unless you have the budget to pay to live further away, private schools and healthcare and it will have flexible hours so you don't get stuck on the M27 every day.

@OxfordCat
The Cotswolds are not a national Park! It's an AONB ( area of natural beauty )

Dear Lord, not Portsmouth. It's an absolute shit hole. I live here

It completely depends on your budget but for anywhere in between I would suggest Oxford, the west side of Newbury and surrounding villages, or Winchester. Maybe even Southampton.