Moving to Worthing - anyone live there already and can advise on areas

[WhereWorthing]

We are considering moving to Worthing and wanted some advice about different areas. I know Worthing fairly well as a visitor and know about some of the downsides - traffic, town centre being a bit unloved - but I want somewhere less busy than Brighton where we have friends and family and near the sea with good rail links to London.

We don't need schools any more so that's not a consideration for us. Ideally I would like an area with a bit of community - shops and cafes, a pub - and walkable to the sea would be great. Where should I be looking?

Goring is nice, around the Goring parade of shops (the ones between George V Ave and Wallace ave), and deeper into Goring south of Goring Rd is lovely too. Tarring and Broardwater is nice albeit a longer walk to the seafront, and East Worthing area in the south of the train line has some nice roads. The general consensus is that some areas of Durrington are rough, Rowlands rd area in town is rough, and otherwise anything else south of the train line is nice.

East Worthing not far from Worthing Hospital is a good choice. Town is 10 min walk and Coast and the pier is lovely. Coast is a lovely pub along the seafront, next to it are some beach houses that are used by artists who sell their work. A nice arty vibe.

The south and west part of Goring sounds like it would fit the bill. Or Ferring is a lovely if you're not worried about being a bit further from the town centre.

In Goring still pretty much retirees or has it become a bit more mixed? Ferring is lovely - the beach is gorgeous but it's a bit too perfectly manicured for me 😀 Arty vibe in east worthing sounds promising. I don't really know broadwater and tarring very well but got the impression they were very suburb-y by which I mean lots of streets of houses and not a lot in terms of amenities? Are there particular bits to look at?

Goring is lovely, good mix of practical shops (ie not just nail bars, hairdressers and estate agents!), buses to town/train station or the 700 goes further along the coast in either direction, and very short walk to the beach.

The whole town is a lot younger than it used to be which has created a much more interesting atmosphere with pop up and mobile food and drink vans, loads of arts events, brilliant theatre and cinema choice. Not great shopping but no worse than most town centres these days!

Findon (Valley and village) has a nice community feel, as does High Salvington but they can be £££. Further from the sea but you have beautiful walking on the Downs.

I wouldn't live in the estates around Tesco in Durrington, or Durrington station area, but it's subjective and I have lots of friends who are happy around there.

Tarring village is lovely with a few pubs and cafes, it's got a big primary school there so lots of families in the area. And Broadwater has its parade of shops with cafes and pubs too, we viewed a few houses there although I don't know it well.
We live in Goring, the Elm Grove area where we live is all families and not retirees at all, and I like our local parade with Georgi Fin microbrewery, the Elephant in the Room mini pub, and Jonny's cafe bar. Not sure if deeper into Goring you get more retirees, in Ferring for sure, but the demographic of Worthing has changed a lot over the last 10 years, and especially the last 5 years and is changing still as younger people get priced out of Brighton and London and older people, well, presumably die off or keep on filling all the retirement homes that Worthing still has plenty of :)

i think Goring is your best bet. Has good local shops and close to the sea. Area round George V is nice. Can walk into Worthing along the seafront if you’re so inclined. Findon is nice but it’s a schlep into town for the station - good pubs though. If you like hiking and want to be close to the downs it’s ideal. High salvington has big houses but is v suburban and up a hill.

Can you give us a clue with budget? And housing needs.

I can comment well having lived all over London and Brighton too. Can confirm Worthing is a great place if you want:
-A lovely quiet beach
-Beautiful countryside and walking nearby
-Friendly community, quite diverse and queer friendly
-Very good restaurants and bars (both traditional and also natural wines bars and small plates etc, craft breweries for a bit of zhuz
-Good schools
-Leafy parks
-Decent town centre with walkable shops
-Three train stations(!) and an easy enough commute straight to Victoria/East Croydon/Clapham
Decent parking (especially compared to Brighton)
-And affordable homes! I bought my three bedroom house in a good area for only 30k more than my one bedroom flat in Brighton
-For us it's been a no brainer and we love it, we're in our 30s and lots of our friends are following suit.
Best areas: Check it out in person. Personally we're near the station on a leafy nice street, Tarring (West) is also desirable. But the best way to ascertain is to go and walk around.