Council services are pretty rubbish, and shopping/lifestyle options are becoming narrower rather than diversifying. Lots of twats live here.

But apart from that it really is a great place to live. Both the sea and the Downs are on the doorstep, there's loads of stuff to do if you look in the right places, and there's still a great deal more space to breathe - physically, spiritually whatever - than most cities.

Feel free to email me...

If i could just up sticks and move to Brighton i would but as Cambridge is so beautiful i would find it difficult, have you thought about the quieter areas around Brighton?

move to Lewes! it's even closer to London (convenience) and safe distance from Brighton to avoid the twats (who come from London). it has this bizarre quasi-medieval Wicker Man/Twin Peaks vibe going on, lots of secret societies and hidden passages and incest I wouldn't be surprised. it rocks.

plus i know someone who needs someone to move into her flat there :-)

There are only two downsides that cause me to hesitate. 1: No jobs except barwork - I know many people who have had to move out of Brighton just because they can't get any decent work. 2: It's a narrow cliquie scene down there where most of the people actually doing something interesting already know each other. Although on the face of it, that's not a bad thing, the coolster vibe can start to grate after extended exposure.

Still, Brighton is beautiful place to lurk and drift around and you will meet some dudes down there. You'll be able to find accomdation that doesn't mean you have to give up food, and there's enough happening down there to keep you smiling and distracted (if that's the way youwant it) or else you can just trip down to the beach and soak up the sea air.

Thinking about it now, I sometimes get the impression that Brighton seems like the kind of place you go to drop out for a while and do your thing, whatever that may be. Most of the people I know down there are artists, musicians, photgraphers et al... If London's weighing you down, just fucking do it man - start clearing a path to get down there and the pieces will fall into place - they always do.

I think the decider is quite simply that yes, it is clearly better than Streatham.

My dear friend Stuart lives there, so that's a plus.

The sea is fab, but lots of places have the sea. The Downs are good but there are better hills about. If I was forced to leave London I think I'd head for Bristol.

HOWEVER I am a massive fan of London and fully understand that London isn't the place for some people which seems entirely reasonable. Many people whose opinions I respect (and some ILXors) like Brighton very much. If you're not enjoying life in London then getting out to somewhere which will provide more / better work plus an environment you like more seems like a plan, to me, especially when London's so pricey. Sometimes (sometimes) a complete break and a change of scenery can help.

Do you want to stay within fairly easy striking distance of London / in the South?

Tim - have you been to any of the seaside towns in East Anglia - my god they are dire - yarmouth, lowestoft felixstowe - im crying with the pain of just writing those names

I was going to mention Lewes too; it certainly is lovely in a slightly insane way and much quieter than Brighton (about 15 mins on train away, direct trains to London too). I lived there as a teenager which is not recommended, but find myself liking it more and more as I get older.

You might find some of the links here useful. Ahem.

You've never been to Cleethorpes, then?

But then I live in Portsmouth.

James, I've never been to the East Anglian coast, no. Unless you count Southend, which I know you don't.

Yes, I suppose another consideration re. Brighton is that I wouldn't be in London but would still have London "on tap" so to speak. I'm not sure I would want to start the long-distance commuting to work thing again though - I think 17 years on the Oxford City Link/Oxford Tube rat run was more than enough of that sort of thing! Like I say, I'd prefer just to do a straightforward NHS admin/sec job and take things from there.

I do love London but, as the cliche goes, when times are tough London doesn't love you back... :-(

i love Brighton

this rocks

http://heavyharmonies.com/cdcovers/B/BRIGHTONROCK1.JPG

Archel was very helpful when we were thinking of moving to Brighton, but it sounds like the cost of living has gone up since then, or her general level of exasperation has increased. (She was also OTM about language schools, BTW).

I have lived in places with loads of arty people before and I didn't get in any paintings :-(

I quite fancy Norwich, Bath and Southwold myself.

Seriously though, do it! If you're after a quieter life then the relaxed attitude of many people will probably surprise you at first - and you'd better take that ingrained London scowl off your face. You can almost always be sure that the moody people barging into you in the street are from 'up north'. Don't this personally, I'm sure you're not like this.

I moved down here 2 years ago, and despite having to spend almost a third of my income on rent in a small sized houseshare with a couple of morons for the last year while my girlfriend is studying in Germany I can't think of anywhere else I'd like to live. I used to live in Ipswich and went to London almost weekly for my shopping and going out, but since moving down I've only felt the need twice and that was to see friends.

There are a number of great clubs, some great club nights and overall a much higher ratio of things to do than anywhere else (you can get almost anywhere by walking). And you know the 'townie' (horrible term, but can't think of anything better) atmosphere in most English towns and cities? You know how there is usually a small ghetto of decent places to go? This is reversed in Brighton, with almost everything awful packed into West Street (which even then has the redeeming features of The Joint nightlub, and until recently the majestic Quadrant pub)

I'm getting carried away, I'm a bit of a BrightonandHovephile, but there are downsides. Crap counci and high rent (your're looking at £400+ a studio flat, £500+ 1 bed flat, £280+ houseshare but this is probably cheaper than you are paying in London.)

PJ, you should know full well than most artist don't paint anything, well not normally canvases anyway.

What I'll probably do is make a trip down there sometime next week (maybe next weekend?) and check the place out properly with regard to house/flat prices, jobs, etc., just to ensure that this move, if it goes ahead, is actually do-able.

(btw, R & K, thanks for yr emails! much appreciated)

right - ms doom-e wanted to make a break from london and brightn was one of my first pit stops in this seething hell hole called engerland.

my impressions?

well, i'm going to give you straight on advice - sort out a job beforing moving. temping is tough in brighton. but this advice is going to be assuming that you have settled teh job issue....as it can be expensive and pricey (just as much as london but only with provincial wages - but you will do alright)....

o.k., for the advice:- rents are expensive. avoid living in brighton - if i were to move back, i would definitely move towards hove (older people - yes, but more comfortable ... with fab stretches of charity shopping that will keep you entertained for hours and hours (brighton - the undiscovered charity shopping paradise...).

avoid living near the core district - it *will* get you down. especially when i lived there - you see less of the beautiful people a\nd more of the people who end up in brighton - the divide is more or less in yer face - the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor...

it gets very very cold in winter months in brighton - probably some of the coldest days where spent in brighton (and this is coming from a canadian)....

but on the other hand - it's good if you want to get your head together and relax (this, again, is solely dependant on you getting a job first, because if you don't set that up - things can be very tough indeed .... temp jobs pay from 5.45 to 9.00 an hour ... ).

so, sum it up, this long and rambling advice:

don't live in brighton (it is incredibly dour - the sheer amount of homeles heroin addicts is a killer) ... i mean, i worked in a book shop there and had to watch people shooting up in the shop. and the entertaining needle park near my one temp job was a killer.

the charity shopping is good fun.

the sea is calming. walking along the sea front is incredibly relaxing...

hove has the best charity shopping ....

london is a half hour away.....

i say, yes - but remember, it can get lonely in brighton but if you want a place to chill out - it could be the thing, marcello.

the students i knew who lived nearer Hove did actually have nicer/bigger houses tho so doom-e is probably right in that it offers a somewhat higher quality what with being out of the limelight ore than Brighton itself (altho with Norm 'n Zoe and apparently Macca and Heather living there now that could change).

that is fun.

seeing that smug shit, norman cook is unfun.

Oh, Stevem, sorry, but when you suggested a FAP I assumed you live in Brighton. We'll still have to arrange something though.