tell me what you think of BRIGHTON please

[midnightexpress]

Here's the story. We live in Scotland, but we're both from the south of England (not Sussex), and both lived there until about 10 years ago.

There's no work up here for DP and our family and lots of our oldest friends are down south, with lots of our friends in Sussex (Brighton, Hastings, and rural). DP would have much more opportunity for work down there, and I am self-employed and can work anywhere.

So, what do you who know think of Brighton as a place to live? Honestly. We have two pre-schoolers.

Things I like about here: access to lovely countryside, cost of living, and a sense that eveyone is not on top of you. My impression of Brighton is that it is maybe a bit cheek-by-jowl.

Would be interested to hear opinions.

I loved living in Brighton. The bus service was great, you were a stones throw from the country and beach.

However i was surprised by the fact that a lot of houses didn't really have a back garden - they just went to beach or park. Also they have an interesting school admissions policy (unless they have revoked the lottery approach of allocation)

But if you move just outside the city there is more space between houses, and the atmosphere is different again.

I can from peak district and found the change of location a bit more of a change than had it been to a similar environment but was not so bad that i couldn't confortably adapt

Thanks. I think the lottery system is still in place DEM. That was one off-putting thing. Perhaps. You moved away again, I take it?

Why did you love it?

I love Brighton-best of everything really with nice countryside, beach and good shopping nearby. There are lovely parks and an abundance of nurseries, childminders and schools.

Public transport is great with good buses and regular rail services to London. Parking is a pain in some areas, that's the only downside I can think of!

Hope that helps a bit

I love it. We live in a village on the outskirts. The bus service is outstanding and we can be in town so easily, with all it's delights. Conversely, we live yards away from a bridlepath on the top of the Downs with spectacular views and I can drive to our local beach in 5 minutes.

'Tis truly fab, I tell ye

Also, we can easily do a day trip to France, if we so please and Gatwick is half an hour away for longer trips. London is less than an hour by train.

How convenient is that?

The downs brought a sense of the hills that i love and were easier for me to ramble in (I have bad knees).

I loved how easy it was to wander down to the beach to escape the studing (I studied at sussex uni just outside brighton). Beaches are kept in pretty good nick.

I loved the fact that for a city the atmosphere is very relaxed and take it as it comes rather then the shove as much as you can in that is previlant in a lot of cities.

People smile - most of the time

I moved due to circumstancees but had life been different would have very happily stayed.

Can't really sum it up but i enjoyed life in Brighton and it wasn't the circumstances but the environment that made a difference. I hated uni, so go figure.

Oooh thanks for all this people! PestoMonster, what are the villages like? I'm from Herts, and I know we'd be completely priced out of living there. Agree about the accessibility thing - that's one of the main attractions for me. I used to pop over to France occasionally when I lived in London, but it's just such a schlep from up here. When the DCs are a bit older, continental hols seem like much less palaver when you're starting just across the channel than they do with a whole day's journey bfore you even get to the south coast.

Am also interested in the school admissions thang. Is it as bad as people say?

Prices are similar to Hertfordshire I reckon (I'm from there too!) and the villages/suburbs can be pricey too, but you will find some are more reasonable for example, Saltdean, Woodingdean, Peacehaven, Telscombe Cliffs.

don't let the school admissions lottery put you off.
It only applies to secondary schools at the moment. The way it works is, each secondary school has a catchment area. Most catchment areas apply to 2 schools. The kids in that area will go to one or the other. If one is more popular, ie oversubscribed, then the decision of which kids from the catchment area will go to which school will be decided by 1) special need 2) sibling 3) lottery.

so wherever you live you should have a local-ish school. The reason why people got so fed up was that lots of people had spent money on houses close to the popular schools, and now they stand the same chance as anyone else in that particular area of getting in.

In a few specific areas, the local primary is oversubscribed. So there is talk of introducing the same system for primaries.

I went to Sussex Uni. I loved Brighton and would love to return. It is really very expensive and wages in Brighton are relativly low. DH and I moved back briefly before I was a teacher, the only work I could find at the time was as a chugger! Everything else was minimum wage.
A friend is in Uckfield and that is nice and much more reasonable than Brighton.

I should say, it is worth studying the primary admissions figures. In some areas (eg Elm Grove) you would have to live less than 500 metres from the school to get a place. For several schools you have to be closer than 800m. So it is true that primary admissions in the B&H area can be tricky.

Thanks for the information, especially explaining the school thing.

Anyone else?