I'm in Lewes, looking to move to Hackney 
It's very green here with beautiful views. The high street does indeed have independent shops. We have a lot of pubs and cafes. A good art scene, lots of classes, clubs, talks, studio space and open house Rt trails. We have a lot of cobbled streets, and there is a lot of tudor houses hiding behind georgian frontages. We have a choice of three supermarkets but also small independent food shops.
However, it's liberal to the point of lunacy. It's middle aged on its underbelly, and the local people dislike change. DFLs are always Dfls irrespective of how long they've lived here. We burn effigies and set light to stuff, wear costumes and march with burning torches....which is fab, but not for everyone. The 'liberals' have sought to stop bonfire.
We have a council that are loons who do little to maintain the fabric of the built environment, or invest in maintaining beautiful old lewes and its history. Instead they have created a new wet land for a horny snail, tarmacced the river Bank and let the weeds take over the paths, cobbles and bricks. Its scruffy.
The shops are useless unless you want knitted vegetables or yak hair brushes and organic turn-ups.
Lewes is also very cliquey, "which bonfire society are you joining" and there are two classes here, the middle class social worker who actually works in media in a "big job" eating the dwarf battle bread outside flint owl, or the rest of us who they give pittying looks too who wear weird clothing, actually do 'art' and do march about with burning torches. The former group think we are neanderthal idiots who don't know our own minds.
But, it is pretty and schools are quite good.