where is the best place to live on the south coast?

Associate
Joined
30 Jan 2019
Posts
10
Hi

We are brits originally from NW UK and need help deciding on the best place to relocate to the south.
We have 2 small children and would like to live in a nice place close to a beach.
I really want to move to Helston in Cornwall but worried that its too isolated so was then thinking of a place close to Truro for more opportunities for work.
The other places i am going to look at are Weymouth and Exmouth for even more work opportunities but these places look a lot busier.
We have been in the holiday industry for almost 20 years and i am a gas and a/c engineer so i don't think finding work will be too much of a problem.
We are not looking to make a fortune but i want to live in a really nice place with a low crime rate.
I have looked at a few forums where people have scared off families looking to relocate to certain areas with their reports of 'chavs' terrorising the towns but that doesn't worry me as most places in the UK have chavs don't they?
I am going to visit these places before we relocate but would like your help to point me in the right direction please.
Thanks in advance
 
Associate
OP
Joined
30 Jan 2019
Posts
10
Thanks, i drove through Bournemouth and it looked nice but seemed really built up but surprisingly dead.When i got to Weymouth it seemed more of a working town even in the winter and there was a nice,cool vibe to it,Dorchester looked nice too.I got to Torquay but didn't like it as much but then ran out of time and had to head to the grim North.
The UK is that busy am i right in thinking that places like south Cornwall are not that quiet and isolated anymore with all the modernisation of transport,connections,major retailers moved in etc...?
 
Associate
Joined
15 Oct 2018
Posts
1,287
You have the whole A27 problem along a good stretch of the south coast from Brighton to Portsmouth (it's been labelled as the worst A-road in Britain, and plans on sorting it seem have been delayed indefinitely).

I went to an assessment centre in Portsmouth and they said there and then that you have to move to within extreme local distance (i.e. walking/local bus/train commuting distance) or your job will in extreme jeopardy if you rely on road connections (including the M27 as well as the A27).

If you want somewhere adjacent to nice sandy beaches, and not totally fallen off the map (though it is a bit), then the Essex beaches of Walton-on-the-naze/Frinton-on-sea would be a good places to consider (especially if you can't quite stomach Clacton). I think large stretches of the south coast are stony beaches too.

Other than that, then the closest you'll get to some sort of English sandy beach paradise on the south coast does indeed seem to be Devon/Cornwall.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
17 Nov 2003
Posts
5,286
Location
St Breward Cornwall
i think it has to be here in cornwall for a decent lifestyle change ,its unbelievably amazing down here but where i am it is isolated ,wadebridge nearny is very nice ,but i also have a softspot for parts of newquay especially by the gannel but obviously gets mad in season .
you cant beat your time off chilling on the beaches surfing ,walking ,stand up paddle boarding down a sunny gannel
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jun 2007
Posts
9,045
Location
extremes.spacious.indelible
You have the whole A27 problem along a good stretch of the south coast from Brighton to Portsmouth (it's been labelled as the worst A-road in Britain, and plans on sorting it seem have been delayed indefinitely).

I went to an assessment centre in Portsmouth and they said there and then that you have to move to within extreme local distance (i.e. walking/local bus/train commuting distance) or your job will in extreme jeopardy if you rely on road connections (including the M27 as well as the A27).

If you want somewhere adjacent to nice sandy beaches, and not totally fallen off the map (though it is a bit), then the Essex beaches of Walton-on-the-naze/Frinton-on-sea would be a good places to consider (especially if you can't quite stomach Clacton). I think large stretches of the south coast are stony beaches too.

Other than that, then the closest you'll get to some sort of English sandy beach paradise on the south coast does indeed seem to be Devon/Cornwall.

Avoid Clacton like the plauge.

Frinton is quite an affluent area with a lot of retirees, but I don't think it'll be the best area for schools etc.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Feb 2012
Posts
5,761
My grandparents used to live in Southbourne and I have many fond memories from there as a child, and I remember my visits to other local areas with them well. Christchurch, Bournemouth, Mudeford for some crab catching.

Obviously I have no clue on what the area is like now, some 22+ years later, or what the infrastructure was like for actual adult concerns (jobs, schools for children etc).
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2008
Posts
6,769
Brighton.
Easy access to London.

Wants low crime rate, you suggest Brighton, does not compute.

Have you seen Brighton lately? I was considering moving there with the other half, but after spending some time there we decided its just not a nice place at the moment, the homeless problem really has gotten out of hand, you'll see at least 5 homeless people smacked out of their heads just walking from the station to the shopping centre.
 
Back
Top Bottom