Brighton

[Icehaven]

I've spent a total of about 4 days and 3 nights in Brighton, really liked it, like drinking on the beach, everyone has very small dogs, the large bins on the seafront have signs telling people not to try and sleep in them, don't go when there's a political party conference on.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Aye, The Hope & Ruin is good. Never been to The Pipeline.

Used to be The Northern Lights. Preferred it then tbf.

[mothman]

Churchill Square was so much better in it's 1970's heyday.

Oh my god holy shit the Solarium! I remember it well. No idea when/ if it closed. Loved the old Churchill Square, the cavernous plazas between the tiers of shops.

[Kishi the Bad Lampshade]

There's a pub called Hobgoblin with a food stall selling something called Doughbos in the back. They're dough balls with tiny flavours in them. Excellent work.

[jobotic]

I like the Barley Mow in Brighton where my brother took me when he lived in Kemptown. So there.

[Neomod]

Oh my god holy shit the Solarium! I remember it well. No idea when/ if it closed. Loved the old Churchill Square, the cavernous plazas between the tiers of shops.

It's a sad tale.

The Multi-level development of the Square opened in 1971. By the early 80's the leaseholders (as the council owned it) were becoming concerned with the decline in trading in the shops on the lower levels. In 1987 the Argus made the famous damning verdict on the square in its opinion column. By the start of the 1990s several key names had moved out of the lower levels. In 1991 Standard Life bought out partner Taylor Woodrow and announced plans to revitalise and modernise the square. The Spirit of Brighton sculpture was demolished and replaced with a bandstand in 1992, and new signs put up. This year saw the last supermarket, Tescos, leave the square. Another Standard Life idea was a market on the lower levels, this only lasted a few weeks however as complaints from the office blocks were too high. In late 1993 the final shop on the lower level closed. By this time the square was in a dilipadated state. In 1995 the council sold up to Standard Life for 17million and plans were announced for a new look covered shopping centre. Demolition began in January 1996 and construction work started in August of that year, with the new centre opening in September 1998

[Lost Oliver]

An old thread I know but I didn't want to create a new one as it's reasonably recent.

It's looking likely that I'll be moving to Brighton this summer so I'm looking for advice, places to live, things to do, what's the commute to London like? Is there anyway of not paying 120 quid for a train back up north? Is the beach boss?

[Brundle-Fly]

The commute to London is pretty quick but make sure you invest in a Network Rail card and book your tickests in advance to save a shitload of fare money. The only way not to pay anything like 120 quid back up north is to book one of those cheap coaches. It will be a long haul but fuck it, you can watch movies on your phone, podcasts, music, read a book, play a game and you'll be there in no time. Beats the days of staring out the window covered in condensation. No alcohol allowed though so be warned.

And get this.
http://www.cheekyguides.co.uk/books/cheeky-guide-to-brighton/

[Sin Agog]

Don't forget the Downs.  There's a 100-mile trail between Eastbourne and (near) Portsmouth called the South Down's Way which I practically live on when I'm not swimming in the sea. Best way to get into it from Brighton is at the top of the hill with the race track. I like to pretend in my mind that concrete was never invented.  Concrete and pseudy new age bourgies.

[Lost Oliver]

Thanks for this - very useful. I'm really excited but also terrified because it'll mean finding a whole new circle of friends. It's one of those life experiences that will hopefully push me to be a little more confident. Either that or I'll spend two years inside a flat, only coming out at 5 am to shout at the seagulls.

[Kishi the Bad Lampshade]

It's a fairly good place to find new friends; lots of people moving there without previous links, small enough to get to know quickly, quite a lot of meetup/hobby groups and the like.

[Emma Raducanu]

Looks like I too will be moving there. I'm the least hip person I know so not sure I'll exactly fit in. I have small child and baby so am utterly dreading finding a place for us to live. I literally found out last night we'll be moving there and have spent the time since, staring at a map trying to find an affordable area nearby.
We don't need to be near a train station but my partner will lecture at the university of Sussex so guess that needs to be reachable. Anyone know a nice area for a young family where houses don't cost a million pound?

[jobotic]

My siblings both live in Brighton (as they are cooler than me). I'll ask them for some tips. Lost Oliver - are you into gigging? My brother goes to them all the time, small scale ones, and has made a few friends through that.

[PJN]

Looks like I too will be moving there. I'm the least hip person I know so not sure I'll exactly fit in. I have small child and baby so am utterly dreading finding a place for us to live. I literally found out last night we'll be moving there and have spent the time since, staring at a map trying to find an affordable area nearby.
We don't need to be near a train station but my partner will lecture at the university of Sussex so guess that needs to be reachable. Anyone know a nice area for a young family where houses don't cost a million pound?

Hangleton. It's cultural desert and it has it's pockets of scum but they are relatively manageable scum. The houses are big and expandable and they have big old gardens. The little schools are fine and you then get a choice of two secondaries that are marvellous. The prices of the houses are fucking stupid but not as fucking stupid as the rest of Brighton. There's a bus that gets you to Sussex Uni in about 40 minutes. It calls itself an express. You're a 10 minute walk away from two train stations. Brighton's literally the size of a London borough so wherever you are you're not that far away from the rest of it. You can see the sea from most of it (Hangleton). If you went mental and started chucking your shit out the window with enough mad-man-strength you could get it on the south downs. It's the sort of place a friendly electrician who you like but you suspect votes Tory lives. Don't go in the Grenadier. The Hangleton Manor has the best beer garden in Brighton and Hove. Middle class families are slowly driving out the indigenous electricians but not at a pace you'd call gentrification. You occasionally see these weird hummingbird moths. People who moved to Portslade will try and tell you it's better than Hangleton. Portslade is a fucking scumhole.

EDIT:  Kate fucking Tempest keeps turning up at our local community centre to do poetry. We she "curated" the festival about three years ago she made a fucking point of coming up here to do her utterly shit poetry. To widen participation. She keeps coming back. It's an actual problem.

[H-O-W-L]

Live not far but I fucking hate the city because I hate crowds and have anxiety around large amounts of people. Went to a pub called Three Jolly Butchers once and it was decent, though pricey (as you'd expect for Brighton). I can really reccommend the Lanes though. Some places can be fleecing bastards but the sheer broadness of the shops there and the kind of specialized stuff you'll see is a treat. Really do suggest Snooper's Paradise too. It's sort-of come down from its former glory but it's basically an odds and ends and "whatever ye fuck you wanna sell us" kinda curio shop. Fucking big and easy to get lost in, and absolutely great to. I honestly haven't bought much from there, but I always go for a potter around in there on a weekend in Brighton because it's just nice to look around.

Best way I can describe Snooper's Paradise is like walking into that shop from Mr. Benn combined with what would happen if you turned Pink Floyd's seminal album Meddle into a living, breathing location.

. Portslade is a fucking scumhole.

Aye, Portslade, Fishersgate, and Hove are all the kinds of places I'd rather not get stuck in after the last train's been.

Most trains won't stop at Fishersgate station, and rightly so. Getting off there feels like you're about to walk into the fucking Ministry of Love and every time I've had the misfortune of doing so there has been human shite on the platform.

[Twit 2]

Is there still that really good bagel place?

[PJN]

Aye, Portslade, Fishersgate, and Hove are all the kinds of places I'd rather not get stuck in after the last train's been.

.

HOVE?! I'm with you on the others but I could definitely beat everyone in Hove in a fight. And I've never had a fight in my life.

[jobotic]

Yeah, my brother lives in Hove now - having come from the mean streets of Medway he doesn't exactly cack himself when walking home at night.

[H-O-W-L]

Hove ain't like Mogadishu like the other three but it's just a quite depressing place to be, at least in my opinion.

[popcorn]

I've just moved back from Tokyo and was turned down for a job in Brighton that I was massively qualified for so I've decided Brighton is for cunts.

[flotemysost]

Is there still that really good bagel place?

Bagelman? Yeah there's 2 or 3 branches now I think, love that place.

Second the Hope & Ruin as a decent pub and the all-seitan menu is good, but really you're pretty spoilt for veg/vegan options in Brighton, if that's your thing.

The Pav Tav is due to become flats soon from what I've heard, but it's ridiculously cheap compared to everywhere else, if you don't mind the risk of getting a snakebite sloshed down you.

Literally everyone I've ever had a conversation about Brighton with has mentioned a Japanese restaurant called Pompoko. I've never actually been (despite having visited Brighton many many times as a bunch of my mates used to live there) but I assume it must be great.

The seagulls are big cunts.