Brighton or Cambridge?

[carolineofcanton]

Hi. I am a mum of two from Hong Kong. DH and I are planning to relocate the family to Britain. We are grateful to the BN(O) scheme for giving us this opportunity.

We've narrowed down to Brighton and Cambridge as likely locations and within our budget. DH knows Britain as he studied in the U.K. as an undergraduate and then again as a Master's student in the 1990s. He has warm feelings to the U.K. However, he is not familiar with Brighton or Cambridge.

We want our children to have a laid back upbringing and an escape from Hong Kong's competitive schooling system. While we have heard great things about Cambridge, we worry that the city might have an overabudance of an 'academic' atmosphere. That said, we also want decent state schools. We've heard great things about Brighton. Because it is near the seaside, my oldest might have an easier time adjusting as Hong Kong also has nice beaches :)

To me, Cambridge seems idyllic while Brighton has more going on. Can anyone give a broader overview of the two cities?

Also, sorry for my sub-par English :P

Your English is fine.

You might want to look at Hove. Very near Brighton but a but calmer, cleaner, more family-orientated. Brighton itself can be very touristy and druggy. The beaches are pebble.

Cambridge is pretty but freezing, quite cut off and probably quite academic due to demographic.

Brighton is liberal, open minded and great fun.

Cambridge is posh, overpriced and snobby.

If you want your kids to have careers as lawyers or doctors but aren't worried about how much fun they have, move to Cambridge.

Depending on your values, I hope my massive over simplification helps!

Yes, we want somewhere family oriented but laid back. We do not adjust easily to the cold

Don't want to leave hk only to put them back in the rat race

I wasn’t sure which side you would fall on. Being from HK is tough in terms of high family expectations. If that’s important to you, go for Cambridge.

Brighton is a very liberal place to live, it might be too much of an adjustment going from HK to Brighton. As PP said, Hove might be a good option. It’s a bit further out and far more family oriented but still has easy access to the fun of Brighton.

Brighton is laidback but the state schools are not good.

Cambridge doesn't sound like what you want either, for several reasons. It's not laid back at all.

Have you looked at Canterbury? Pretty relaxed, beautiful city and much better state schools than Brighton.

Your English is impeccable, BTW.

Some Cambridge state schools are outstanding. Great international demographic. Lots of green spaces. Music and drama. The Science Park. Addenbrookes Hospital. But it is very expensive to buy/rent and it can be cliquey.

I think as parents you may enjoy Cambridge more, a very pretty scenic town, Brighton might be preferred by your kids but both cities will have good state schools and both have good universities. Brighton is much more grungey as a town so more of an alternative scene there. Cambridge will probably have more Hong Kong Chinese if that matters to you and it may not but just because Cambridge has a very academic university does not mean it will be a hot house for your kids. As a middle aged person I would prefer Cambridge. Both are a train ride to London. You will get more space than you are used to in Hong Kong.

The state schools in Cambridge aren't brilliant and the county is very underfunded for education. There are a high number of students with SEND in the area and it affects the budgets of the schools. From my experience there will be no high pressure academic environment or high expectations on your kids going to school there. I think other posters are referring to the university rather than any knowledge of the city state system. The private schools though are good, but I suspect that is the case in Brighton too.

I don’t know Brighton very well but Cambridge can be very cold in the winter. Also expensive housing. But if you can adapt to those things it can be a great place to live.

I think the tricky thing is finding a good school that doesn't hot-house. It's very tempting for schools to push for excellent academic results.

Your English is great, I wouldn't have known that you weren't a native speaker.

I know you said you've narrowed it down to Cambridge or Brighton, but I wonder whether we can suggest some other places that might meet your wider criteria, as Cambridge and Brighton are quite different, for example, Bristol or Bath, both very expensive as far as English cities, go, but then so are Cambridge or Brighton.

I think that if you’re originally from Hong Kong, Cambridge is a far better option.

It is better located to the rest of the country and will give you all more opportunities.

Have you considered Oxford instead of Cambridge? As it’s in the South the weather is a bit nicer. Has lovely architecture and good shops/parks etc. I imagine schools are good but you would have to check that. Other lovely places are Henley or Bath.

I somehow don’t think Brighton will suit you. It’s a fun place to visit in the summer for a short trip but far less so in winter. Extremely cold wind from the sea and it is quite a druggy place with homeless people begging etc.

So many strange views on Brighton... we aren't all druggies or homeless (yet)

Firstly, there isn't really a distinction between Brighton and Hove. It's just two sides of the same city.

But yes Hove is the "quieter" side seafront wise.

No one said you were.

But visitors to Brighton cannot help but notice the homeless people there & it is known for having a drugs problem (as well as being a lively & liberal city).

Doesn’t bother me particularly as I’m from London so used to it. Not sure people moving from HK would feel comfortable around it though hence the warning.

Welcome. Just to say we have a tonne of HK families who have moved to twickenham and Kingston and have been welcomed with open arms. For the most part excellent state schools. Happy to give more info if needed

What jobs do you do? Cambridge employment is booming, very easy to find jobs especially in IT, science or tech. Lots of public sector roles too at the University and NHS.

Cambridge is great for families. The state schools are fine and nowhere near as competitive as London, but the private schools (particularly the Perse) are very competitive. Housing would be much of a muchness compared to Brighton, but the Cambridge villages are lovely.

Do you need to get somewhere for work?

Cambridge - beautiful, fairly compact city. Rubbish traffic. If you can live close enough to walk or cycle around that works well. If you live on the outskirts, you need to consider travelling around.

Brighton - I think you need to be quite careful around school catchments. I like it as a town to visit but don't know it well enough to comment more.

I grew up in Cambridge and it’s not somewhere I would choose to live. It’s very expensive to buy/ rent in the city and if you’re in a surrounding village you would need to check if there is decent public transport etc into town because driving and parking in the city is dire and expensive. The council are currently looking at a very expensive congestion charge for driving into the city too. As a tourist the city is pretty but as a local you don’t really notice much. Some nice places for day trips though. I didn’t find Cambridge cold in the winter but if you go a bit north into the fens that’s a different story!
I don’t know Brighton at all but I’d definitely go for a location nearer the beach. Look at Exeter, best city in the SW, it has everything but then I’m biased! Cambridge is no comparison if you want beaches and love outdoor activities as well as city life.

Brighton is so overcrowded, and there is such competition on school places that they run a lottery system for the popular secondary schools. There is no way of guaranteeing your DC a place at a good school.

This is very unusual. Most state schools give places on distance. (Or, you skip the queue in certain circumstances e.g. if you have a sibling already there).

Please can I ask, how did you narrow it down to Brighton and Cambridge? What were your criteria?

I think Cambridge would possibly suit you and your dh more than your children. I do not have first hand experience of Cambridge.

I don't dislike Brighton and sometimes go for the day but wouldn't want to live there. I do have some family from Brighton so fairly familiar with it.
There are other options which have Brighton in a reasonable commute like
Lewes
Eastbourne
Worthing
Horsham
Burgess Hill
And areas in between.

I’ve lived in Brighton and Cambridge. We moved to Cambridge when we had children. Brighton is fun and we did consider living there permanently but weekends are busy and full of stag and hen dos and can feel a bit run down. Hove is great but can feel a bit out of the way.

cambridge (we live central) is busy but fun, clean, plenty of green space and things going on, festivals, museums for the kids and plenty of pubs and bars for the adults. Great state schools, we’d have been happy with our top 3 choices. A lot of the parents are academics but they are very relaxed and I haven’t seen any pushy parenting.