Kent - tell me about it should I move there

[sunshineoverthehill]

I'm looking at areas my family could move to in the U.K. we are a mixed race family, my dh white British and I am brown but only know British culture. Our dc is tanned. I think this may make a difference to where we live hence me mentioning it. I am happy for an all white area but not one that would exclude us.

I have put our budget in and 'England' into Zoopla, would ideally like to be fairly close to London ie max 2 hours away by any transport and Kent comes up with a lot of nice houses. However have noticed on statistics it has a very high crime rate as a county.
Is it nice or should I cross it off the list, any areas to 100% to avoid?

Unfortunately I only ever see it negatively on the news for all the channel crossings atm!

Maybe have a look at Canterbury OP. I went to university there and it was quite mixed and I wasn't aware of any non-white friends who had any issues at all.

I live in Kent and have done for years. It’s a really lovely larger village on the west side west Maidstone. It’s around 30 mins to Sevenoaks and 30 mins to Tunbridge Wells.
There aren’t many non white people here but there are some. However I have never known anyone or heard of anyone who has shown any hostility to any non white people maybe it’s just the bubble I’m in. There arnt really flags up or anything here.
Sevenoaks is lovely and many parts of tunbridge Wells are really lovely. Walking around TW there are plenty of non white people. With your budget you could afford TW and there are some fantastic schools there both grammar and private.
If I could choose to live anywhere and had the money it would be a nice part of TW.
Of course if you moved north to the Medway towns property is much cheaper and there is a far greater mix of skin colours in some areas there but I find it ultra grotty and depressing in many places up there.
Any questions do ask as I know many parts of kent well

I'm shocked by a lot of these responses. I'm from Ashford in Kent (moved here from London like a lot of others). My family is mixed race and we've never had a problem. The children go to a village primary that's very diverse. Black, Chinese, napalese, Asian. There is a strong Gurkha community here. I think Ashford is a great place to raise children and live.

Odd that people are dismayed by a county being mostly white. It suggests a very narrow, London-centric view. This is just what a lot of rural areas are like because of their particular patterns of migration. A lot of rural places in the world are ethnically and culturally homogeneous.

As others have said, Kent is a hugely varied place. Interested in whether others have a view on why the crime rate is high as I’m not sure.

We live in Tunbridge Wells and a quick glance at my youngest son's new Y7 (grammar) class tells me that a third of the boys are non white. When my eldest went to primary, he was in a minority as a white child as there are many different nationalities here due to the hospital and the proximity to London. We voted Remain here, have a lot of Londoners moving here and whilst I can't claim it isn't very white overall, it's hugely more diverse than when we moved here in 2007. £800k will get you less than it used to here (see previous comment about incoming Londoners ) but you should still get something decent. Although yes, there is a lot of traffic!

I wouldn't venture further east n Kent though. MIL lives in a sought after village on the E Kent coast and the casual racism I often hear is shocking......

Quick glance at his new class photo....I wish there was an edit button!!

Is Kent also at risk of becoming a lorry park again if cross channel traffic is impacted by rules and regulations changing post brexit

And I put a wink not a shocked face (my phone is showing a weird emoji)

I really wouldn’t. You have a healthy budget and Kent is notoriously racist - why bother? Essex would be a much better bet.

I’m really shocked to hear some of these views and a little bit sad. I live and work in south east Kent and find it quite diverse. I have friends from the school gates, friends from my old job and friends from my new job and we are all a mixed bunch of ethnicities. Went into Canterbury at the weekend and it’s massively mixed. I moved here 10 years ago from south east London.
Best advice I can offer you op is to go to the areas you are considering and look about and get a feel for the place. Good luck!

@sunshineoverthehill do you need access to London for work and if so how frequently, or is it just a preference?

I wouldn't say where I live was very culturally diverse in terms of numbers of different races, but it does seem well integrated, if that makes sense.

Are you making this enquiry from overseas and just looking on line, or are you able to visit and do some scouting around for yourselves?

I was the only brown person where I was raised and although I got lots of questions nothing was mean spirited so that bit doesn't bother me. I don't require a diverse area but I also don't want to end up somewhere people want me and my dc out which there are areas close to where I live that this exists. I'm in the U.K.
I don't work right now but would like to at some point when dc is older, hence the London distance, dh has the occasional meeting in London but mainly wfh so we're not restricted to Kent.

What it comes down to is it's an area 'close enough' to London that has lots of houses pop up on rightmove vs no similar properties in our area for £800k so we think we'd be better off moving now while dcs small and secondary schools can be thought about.

[quote snazzynamechangetime]@popkick there are flags, but not everywhere. But would you say that Tonbridge is a diverse community? I certainly wouldn't. It's 99.9 % white.

www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/regional-ethnic-diversity/latest[/quote]
No it's not very diverse, how many places outside of London are? I find that there is a great sense of community in Tonbridge, my children's school has a good feel of inclusivity. Tonbridge also voted green in the latest council elections although no doubt will remain blue in the general election as career politician Tom Tugendhat is our MP.

I don't know, I'm talking as a white person so I can't possibly reliably say how welcoming tonbridge is to non-whites but I find it sad how dismissive people can be of places based on stereotypes.

Have a look at Bromley.

What about East Sussex. Specifically Hastings? Trainline to London, beach, nice houses and some diversity.....

If you're used to a certain amount of prejudice then otherwise people might well be lovely once they get to know you, if you are similar in your manner and customs.

Lol is Hastings diverse??

@popkick well, it's a lot less diverse than Notting Hill, where we previously lived, but it's a lot more diverse than the rural areas in the north where the rest of my family live....

Come to Kent, it's a lovely county, so many things to do and see. Perfect for children
I would go nearer the coast though but my children are water babies

Agree about TW and Canterbury. I also second East Sussex (given you say up to 2 hours) but not Hastings itself. It may not be diverse in terms of % but people are friendly and I have not heard casual racism.

I don’t really recognise some of the cobblers on here.

We live in a village not far from Tunbridge Wells and I’m from an Asian background. Lots of diversity in most of the schools and the town has a rather London feel to it, as increasingly does Sevenoaks. Never had an issue in the 10 years we have been here.

I think if you go further east and into the North Kent Medway towns and in Thanet you might find it a bit different, but to be honest when we’ve been to other parts of Kent we’ve never given it a thought.

Sadly there are nobheads throughout the country and they seem no more abundant in Kent than elsewhere in the Home Counties.

@Panicmode1 I have family nearby in Tonbridge rather than Tunbridge wells so I'm surprised to hear it's so diverse. Would you say it's mainly Asian in terms of non white or do you mean there are lots of white Europeans like Polish ?

I haven't been to Canterbury for a few years but that had a big Chinese population when I last went.

I live in another county now in a military area but still 98% white. My Dc have one Asian in their class.

@snazzynamechangetiming a lovely mixture of Asian, black British, black African, some European, some HK expats...and of course all of us who are 'white' but a hotchpotch of everything too!

Thanks will take a look at the area. Does anyone know about schools? Are all the grammar schools equal. Are the independent schools generally selective as well? I keep seeing admissions tests everywhere I look for Kent!

Most of the secondary independents around the TW and Sevenoaks areas have an entrance test of some sort. Some of them are very selective, others less so - depends very much on the school.