letdown

Here is a question for you. Me and the Mrs have been living in Tokyo for the past 4 years and it looks like we are coming home.

Now my question is whats Brighton like to live in? I spent time there as a kid as my Grandparents lived there. I will be working in London (City) and am aware of the commute...about an hour right?

Im originally from Essex but the Mrs is not to keen on returning to my old stomping grounds so we settled on Brighton!

Any feed back would be nice

D70

Brighton rocks.

Cliches over it can offer you a very good quality of life if you have the funds. Property prices have also dropped by 10-15% on their peak so it's starting to look more affordable.

Other than the traffic and parking problems (NCP wardens from hell)it's hard to think of another place I'd rather live in the UK. Then again I don't relish the quiet life and enjoy clubs/bars etc. Perhaps your priorities will be different as you have children?

letdown

Thats good to know...cheers.

So its has lots of clubs/bars then?

D70

To say it has a lot of clubs and bars would be an understatement. Not many real boozers left (you can find them if you look hard enough though)but you'll never be short of things to do.

A sunny Sunday is a particularly fine thing, everyone at the beach bars, free bands on the beach and a buzzing atmosphere.

If you want to live quietly then you could always get a house in Hove and walk into town when you want a bit of excitement.

letdown

Well luckily one of my mates here has bought a place in Brighton cost 850K ...some warehouse style place that Im going to rent off him for "mates rates" right in the middle of it apparently. Cool ! Looking forward to it already.

D70

If it's one of the "Argus Loft" development then they are nice flats in a great location. Make sure it comes with off street parking though if you have a car.

Brendan Hughes

Brighton is the San Fransisco of England - or tries to be. With two universities, it won't be staid.

dpb

Brighton is tourist/seaside commuter(now) town swelled in population with uni students , foreign language students ( more japs than tokyo prolly.. )...the place stands for little in its own right people arrive to see and be seen..on the peeble beach.. (how long can that stay intresting.....)....as said you wont be short of clubs.House prices 2nd only to london...because people are commuting from here...Id be v.surprised if prices are coming down.
Oh and as said forget a car if you dont have a permit...everwhere with in a 5 mile radius will shortly be restricted parking -thats for sure.
....Not that any of this will bother you by the sounds of it. Not a good place for bringin up a family tho IMO.

PaulMc

My family moved there about years ago. My parents have just bought a new penthouse apartment there too, which will be finished in August House/Flat prices HAVE fallen in Brighton, so good time to move there.
I love the place and love to visit. When the weather is sunny and warm it's like being on your hols with fantastic street life. Good compact shopping too.

As mentioned above, parking is the REAL issue living in Brighton/Hove.

D70

DPB you're wrong in a way when you say it has no character of it's own. It's been a party town since "thicky George" built his pleasure palace there.

It remains true to that ethos. Other than London it's probably the most cosmopolitan place in the UK, which if you despise the "little englander" mentality that pervades the rest of the country is a plus point.

Oh and if I ever get bored of watching top class bikini babes on the pebble beach I'll shoot myself.

dpb

So theres people from everywhere agreed.. although most are not staying long...............but thats a true of most cities ( and a lot of cities have resident ethenic minorites ). I dont dispute the party bit.........the same 'image' remains to this day......But beyond it there is nnnnuuuuuthinnnng to the place.....

D70

Right so other than it's 24/7 party attitude, huge numbers of *fit* birds, interesting architecture, masses of bars, clubs and restaurants and myriad events happening throughout the year there is precious little to the place?
Apart from the beach, the downs and if you're a homo free ******** on demand of course.

D70

Did I mention the cheap, high quality drugs and close proximity to an international airport?

dpb

It has monstrous impersonnal georgian buildings ,yes, and a 'palace'...haha.....I presume this what you mean. Personally the homo scene i can more than happily do without,and the drugs thing to my mind is a problem ...- but whatever turns you on i suppose.Events wise its not bad - but certainly not great for music, theatre, cinema....But there not too many musuems , places of intrest ,otherwise in the city.

dpb

ps...I guess possibly it would be a step-up from a council flat in Basildon ,but lets face it, its not the South of France

D70

The 'monstrous' Georgian buildings are what makes it so interesting architecture wise, similarly to Bath.
Some people prefer new build houses and harvesters, they are welcome to them.

As for being better than the South of France I don't agree having lived in both. It's just different.

If you think there isn't much going on musically then I'd imagine that Phil Collins or similar is your thing. For those of us who like the modern music scene in the UK there isn't anywhere better except London.

As for the drugs much like the queer scene it isn't my bag but who am I to judge? The quality and opportunity are there

To recap if you are a boring old fart Brighton probably isn't for you.

D70

Just writing this has made me all homesick


Here's a pic of the crappy palace. When I first arrived in Brighton years ago a bunch of budhists were doing their thing outside it. As a 17yr old I thought I'd arrived on another planet.

dpb

Im suprised yer back to be honest , i guess you got bored with the jet-set lifestyle. I have a place down there myself , it can be a little quiet after a while i would admit also one can never quite forget the fact that ones in a foreign land.

D70

Back where? I'm in Spain as I type and live between there and France ATM.

I still have an interest in Brighton and Sussex though as I believe it's one of the few places in the UK that has anything to offer me.

The falling property market is also quite interesting as I sold my flats there early last year at the height of the boom.

If I was to go and buy the same places now I would have enough money left over to buy a secondhand 996 Turbo.
I presume you live in Brighton dpb? If so where? If you don't mind me asking.

I lived in Clifton Hill, slumming it with Brighton's intelligentsia. I'm currently thinking about buying a nice penthouse in Sussex Heights as a pied a terre for my return visits to the UK. Might go for Sussex Square though if the right property comes up.

dpb

...
Nothing so grand for me......I 'live' on me yacht in the marina , im hoping for a CRASH....so i can sink my dosh in to property here,however i think its unlikley to happen.Yep best mate lives in Vine place.

Jerome

I last went to Brighton about 10 years ago. The thing that struck me most was the London prices, but not the same level of buzz/entertainment. Nightclubs were more expensive to get in than West End clubs, yet were fairly poky inside with too many drunken youths in them.

There must also be some locals secret as to how to get a cab in brighton after 1-2.00pm. I ended up walking 5 miles having failed to get a cab for over an hour.

D70

Right so you once went there 10 yrs ago and went to the wrong nightclubs. On that basis you make your judgement.

I've lived in London and Brighton has the better scene IMHO because it's small enough to be personal but large enough to be diverse.

You do have a point about cabs but the trick is to actually treat the drivers like human beings.
You'd be amazed at what they can get you when you get to know them and how quickly you can have a cab day or night.

It's been compared to San Fran on this thread but I'd say it's more like NYC. You gotta know the right people.

D70

When I was younger and stupider an average weekend went something like this for me

Finish work Friday night- pubs, clubs, 'afters', house party, ********, beach, beach bars, club, free party, after party,********, full English on Sunday morning,********, beach bar + newspapers, Sunday night session, ********, sleep.

Did I mention the ********? I reckon if I got a map of the world I could cover the map of the world with as much pink as the British Empire with my liasons with girls from around the world.

Not much chance of that in *Slough* (NB insert name of any crap UK town here instead)

dpb

See where youre coming from..!....
....it does help to know someone on the door as far as cabs are concerned...

Jerome

I was just going to edit my post to say I actually like the place, just wasn't too impressed with a couple of aspects. Balanced feedback is valuable IMO.

And where did I say I went there once? I said last time I was there. I went there many times at the weekend and stayed at my uncle's place in Brighton numerous times. For the record, we went to a number of the clubs on the seafront, which was the place to be then. They were all charging the same to get in and there didn't seem to be much to differentiate them.

D70

Nothing wrong with living on the Marina, I love those little beach hut type things on stilts they have there for people to live on.

One day when I can retire I'll buy myself a little ship and have a mooring there.

DPB the crash has already happened, I had a few properties I bought in the mid 90's which sold for 200K+. Similar places are now down to 170K. If that isn't a crash what is?

D70

Jerome don't be so defensive, your 10 yr old input isn't pertinent I'm afraid. Nice history lesson though.

10 yrs ago I was attending free parties and going to the "warehouse"- we all thought the **** down at the seafront/west street were almost as bad as the no hopers that used to go to the ministry of sound.

That said the "Zap" wasn't too bad then if you picked the right night.

Jerome

Considering your reputation on here, can you blame me for being defensive?

I also wanted to make it clear I didn't just have a one-off weekend, and that my experience was over numerous occasions and wasn't just over a short period, but over many years leading up to 10 years ago. Maybe the nightclub input is no longer pertinent, but I thought it worthwhile mentioning in case it hadn't changed. Many places I visit haven't changed in 20 years, let alone 10.

My cab feedback does seem to still be current though, and potentially useful.

Just to reiterate, Brighton would be high on my list of places to live outside of London.

D70

LOL Jerome


You have a point, though I didn't realise "D70" was so well known.

As for Brighton I'd say it's changed for the worse in the 10 yrs since you visited. More of what dpb describes ie short termers and of course more people on the 'trendy' bandwagon.

It's still an awesome place to live though- a kind of 'mini London' without the hassle.

It's also well located for decent events like Goodwood etc. Also don't underestimate the importance of being able to drive to Gatwick in 20 odd minutes (in a foreign reg'd car@ 100mph+ ) and be in Amsterdam or similar 1.5hrs later.

Some people spend longer on their commute to work in the morning.

dpb

Those little beach-huts go up an down with the tide not on stilts and selllfor 45k each