Portsmouth

Soldato
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OP to give context to the overcrowded nature of Portsea Island/Portsmouth, it is the third most populous Island in the British Isles, the first being Great Britain, the second being Ireland, do you really want to live somewhere with that much humanity crammed into it and very little room for cars, bikes and expansion of public transport?

I come from Portsmouth, I still love the place as it's where my heart is and it's my Football team but my God I would never live there again.
 
Soldato
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Portsmouth (Southsea)
Portsmouth isn't that bad, I lived in Southsea for a couple of years and the area had a nice feel to it by the commons and the sea.

However, I did grow up in Birmingham so perhaps my standards as to what constitutes a nice area are lower than average... haha.
 
Soldato
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South UK
Tell your misses it was a dream, and dreams aren't reality, old Portsmouth isn't all that but Southsea is still ok..

Chichester is getting overwhelmed because, partly, the massive overbuilding around Bognor - something like 12,000 homes with 1 extra road built for infrastructure, it's a joke. All services are massively over subscribed, it's 4+ weeks now for an apt at the local doctors, when they told me that I said "I'll either be dead or well by then", which I think they must hear a lot these days.

Houses/bungalows are massively over priced, well over £400k for what I would call a normal sized place to live. Coupled with every time you want to go anywhere you are stuck in traffic - the Chichester bypass needs a bypass and Bognor is just about coping.
 
Soldato
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Southampton
If it's within budget, I'd look inland of the coast between Portsmouth and Southampton, which could well mean one train change at Fareham.

Purely as an example, Botley to ECR is supposedly ~2hrs15mins including the Fareham change.

There are some nice areas to Southampton, but the roads are shocking during the rush hours and the nicer areas aren't cheap to buy. We rent in old Bitterne village, way out of our buying budget, but I'd love to be able to afford to live somewhere like Horton Heath or Bishop's Waltham (in terms of places near here that I'm familar with)... Away from mainstream suburbia, close to the South Downs, but not far from Eastleigh/Southampton/Portsmouth when we needed to grab groceries etc.
 
Soldato
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Lived here for many years and my kids get the trains out of the city everyday for college and school so like you we need to be a short walk from a station. Your options are.

Portsmouth Harbour - Gunwharf Quays to one side, over priced apartments and over crowded on the weekends. Portsea to the other side, an area best avoided even though a few nice blocks have gone up in recent years.

Portsmouth and Southsea - Next to the University, anything affordable already a buy-to-let with students, the rest is social housing. The main shopping centre (Commercial road), we only go there if we have no choice.

Fratton - This station is walking distance for homes in Southsea, Eastney, Fratton and Milton. However, the majority are terraced houses, roads are congested, difficult to park and lots of students as the areas are serviced by a free Uni bus.

Hilsea - Bigger and more affordable homes but too close to the motorway, noise and air pollution. And not all trains stop at Hilsea.

Cosham - Some nice homes towards Drayton, not too sure what the area is like now. It's close to Paulsgrove which doesn't have a good rep.

If you can find somewhere nice to live in Southsea close to the common then it's a nice place to bring up a family. Lots of free events on the common throughout the year, the sea front is a nice place for walk or run with nice clean and safe parks, play centres and cafes.

We're a short walk from what's considered the best primary school in Portsmouth and both of us have a 10 min walk to work. My wife doesn't drive and I rarely use the car. Shops, schools, work and pubs all a short walk but we'll need to move soon as we need a larger place and I'm not paying stupid money to live next to students. Just waiting for the youngest to finish primary school and we'll move out, somewhere between the A3 and M3.
 
Soldato
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Fareham
Cosham - Some nice homes towards Drayton, not too sure what the area is like now. It's close to Paulsgrove which doesn't have a good rep.

I live in Drayton, can vouch for it being decent enough despite being near Paulsgrove :D Luckily it's not too near, probably a good couple of miles or so. It's nearish to both Cosham and Havant stations which is good as Havant is where you need to go if you want a fast train to Waterloo (rather than Cosham). Like I said before, I personally couldn't be bothered with anywhere south of the motorway. When I move from here it'll likely be a bit further out, perhaps Waterlooville/Denmead/Southwick kind of way.
 
Soldato
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Do you get a bus or drive to Havant station?

I start a new job next month which will be home-based but will involve travel to London and elsewhere. I work at the Uni so being down in Southsea works for us but will start looking next year and I've always liked Drayton.
 
Soldato
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Fareham
I drive to Havant because I don't need to head up to London all that often. Just under 10 minutes from my house which is ideal but I think the bus is about 25 minutes or so.
 
Soldato
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My sister lives in Eastney which is a like a little suburb and next door to Southsea, it's a nice area imo but you'd need to bike or bus or taxi to get to a train station in good time. If I had to live on Portsea island I'd pick Eastney or Hilsea. I used to work in Hilsea which is next too the A27 and that little bit of the Eastern Road I travelled would take 10-15 minutes going home to Havant, about 300-400 yards I reckon, in 15mins. The traffic is crazy in Portsmouth.
 
Associate
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Lymington
Portsmouth is a horrible area. I would not recommend anyone move there. Sure there are some areas that are not quite as bad but certainly not an area I would choose to move to. Southampton is an okay area but you want to live in the suburbs not in the city centre.
 
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