Considering a move to Southampton, Cardiff, Portsmouth, or London. Would like to live on coast but would like to be close to entertainment.?
Cost of living--especially housing/residential--is a factor. Are any of these places struggling more than any of the others in terms of economics, crime, or otherwise?
2019-01-06T21:10:11Z
Please recommend one or list in order of what would be best. I will need to commute, probably by train, to Oxford several times a year and would like to be less than two hours from there. For this reason, I could even live in Scotland or Ireland, if favorable.
pmt8532019-03-07T12:28:21Z
Cardiff is small enough not to get lost in but big enough to have all that most people need. It has good rail and road links, Norman and more recent castles, a wealth of industrial heritage, the biggest John Lewis outside their head office, the excellent Wales Millennium Centre, a Premier league football team (for the moment), Cardiff Bay, cinemas, theatres, pubs and clubs. It's also just a few minutes drive to get out into the countryside.
London housing is the most expensive in the UK in general. Try also Brighton for entertainment, or Bournemouth. And it would be good to specify what sort of "entertainment". Classical concerts? Rock stars? Cinema? Nightclubs?
London is the most convenient with world class entertainment on tap. However, it is by far the most expensive. Unless you are paid a lot of money, you would have to live in a grim area or flat-share.
Southampton is the UK's premier Cruise terminal. It has a range of areas to live. It has very good facilities and has direct communications with London and the West Country by road and rail. it also has a regional airport. It's next to very nice countryside, including the New Forest and The Isle of Wight. There are plenty of entertainment venues.
Portsmouth is Southampton's rival. It's a Royal Navy town. It has similar facilities and communications to Southampton but it's more cramped, being on an island. It is generally a bit rougher than Southampton. There are plenty of entertainment venues.
I can't really comment on Cardiff, having only visited briefly. However, from what I hear, it's a thriving city.
Another suggestion might be Bournemouth. It's no longer a retirement town, it is now thriving with a lot of large offices. It's much more relaxed than Southampton or Portsmouth.
It has excellent communications and shares about 7 miles of superb beaches with Poole. It's a holiday resort, so there is plenty of entertainment.
London would be the most convenient for Oxford as it is only 57 minutes from London Paddington by train, but housing is very expensive in London. Southampton has direct trains to Oxford taking under 2 hours. Southampton is a large city with lots of entertainment although not as much as in London