Britain's happiest people live in Brighton (From The Argus)

funky feet says...
8:21am Thu 12 Jan 12

another silly poll in a long list claiming this town or that city is the happiest place to live. Does anyone believe them?

Pitviper says...
8:48am Thu 12 Jan 12

Really???

Vigilia says...
8:50am Thu 12 Jan 12

Did they only interview travellers and kerb-squatting vagrants?

inadaptado says...
9:03am Thu 12 Jan 12

I bet they did not interview any reader of this paper. Listening to them you would believe apocalypse is here and Brighton is hell on earth.

Morpheus says...
9:28am Thu 12 Jan 12

So all the reports about child poverty, poor health and so on don't seem to make people unhappy!? Who do we believe?

Spanners says...
9:38am Thu 12 Jan 12

inadaptado wrote:
I bet they did not interview any reader of this paper. Listening to them you would believe apocalypse is here and Brighton is hell on earth.

my thoughts exactly !

OP8 says...
9:39am Thu 12 Jan 12

2,000 people? Well that probably equates to about 5 people per large town, hardly representative. And yes, judging by the usual comments on here, Brighton certainly isn't the happiest place!

Angryoldman says...
9:45am Thu 12 Jan 12

Oh how happy Brighton and Hove people are (NOT). People living in doorways with mental health problems just waiting for a cold night to kill them. Tens of thousands in misery with debt and no chance of getting a job. The drug death capital of the UK. The record for child poverty. But hey according to the ministry of misinformation they are all happy. What a load of Bull!

s&k says...
9:48am Thu 12 Jan 12

Brighton is a great place to live but could be so much better. We need to tackle: litter and grafitti, dog mess, anti-social behaviour, parking, street drinking, abandoned vehicles, London Road, student housing... gulp I'm beginning to wish I hadn't started this list. Oh, and can we have a permanent skating rink please?

Dirk Gently says...
9:54am Thu 12 Jan 12

The headline is an incorrect interpretation of the data. The survey doesn't, and cannot, show that Britain's happiest people live in Brighton. At best, it shows that, of the people sampled, those from Brighton averaged higher than those from elsewhere. No survey can tell you where Britain's happiest people do live, unless it samples every single person in Britain.

jagiwatch says...
10:05am Thu 12 Jan 12

I wonder who they interviewed......... If the Council stopped increasing council tax and permit parking (Hove town centre) I would be Happy, as it stands they are pushing the long standing residents out.

Angryoldman says...
10:08am Thu 12 Jan 12

jagiwatch wrote:
I wonder who they interviewed......... If the Council stopped increasing council tax and permit parking (Hove town centre) I would be Happy, as it stands they are pushing the long standing residents out.

They should triple or even quadruple the charges as we are all just too happy.

UppityPrimate says...
10:08am Thu 12 Jan 12

i live in brighton and i absolutely love it.

AngelicaDemon says...
10:12am Thu 12 Jan 12

As usual the doom and gloomers, the naysayers and misery guts are the only people commenting on the Argus. Granted the data on this survey is somewhat flawed as Dirk Gently rightly points out, however the commentators on these articles are hardly representative of most of Brightonians. Well, I am bucking the trend. I am proud to live in Brighton, it has it's problems as everywhere in Britain does, but I'd rather live here than sterile Surrey or lonely London. We have a great mix of different people who for 99% of the time are tolerant and open-minded to one another. For a city our size with a demographic with such disparities in wealth and background, we have a low crime rate. You can walk down the street wearing a pinstripe suit, hemp fishermen trousers, looking like a 1940's screen siren or just in your pajamas; chances are hardly anyone would bat an eyelid. We have great independent shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs and regardless of whether you like jazz music, hot yoga, lindy hop or drum and bass music, there is something to keep you occupied.
Why not embrace your home town instead of focussing on it's flaws, and if it's flaws are so large you can't look past them then move somewhere else, there are plenty who would love to take your place!

Ballroom Blitz says...
10:32am Thu 12 Jan 12

As with all 'surveys' - the result depends on who you ask.
As someone else so rightly pointed out, with a total number of 2000 questioned over THE WHOLE COUNTRY, the number of people questioned in Brighton, or indeed any other city cannot possibly be representative, and thus the whole poll is meaningless.
I live in Brighton but it's not out of choice. I think it's an awful place to live, and if I could move I would.
But they didn't ask me, did they?

charlie smirke says...
10:35am Thu 12 Jan 12

Spanners wrote:

inadaptado wrote:
I bet they did not interview any reader of this paper. Listening to them you would believe apocalypse is here and Brighton is hell on earth.
my thoughts exactly !

Mine too!

jagiwatch says...
10:56am Thu 12 Jan 12

Angryoldman wrote:

jagiwatch wrote: I wonder who they interviewed......... If the Council stopped increasing council tax and permit parking (Hove town centre) I would be Happy, as it stands they are pushing the long standing residents out.
They should triple or even quadruple the charges as we are all just too happy.

Please explain your comment!

Pitviper says...
11:05am Thu 12 Jan 12

UppityPrimate wrote:
i live in brighton and i absolutely love it.

Yes but are you really truly happy, just loving a place doesn't mean you're happy!

Lystellion says...
11:28am Thu 12 Jan 12

AngelicaDemon.

You are right. And awesome.

This is not absolute, it's relative. I've lived across the South coast. Nothing compares to Brighton. It's not perfect, but it's a damned site better than somewhere like Hastings!

Falhawk66 says...
11:32am Thu 12 Jan 12

I'm as happy as a Sand Boy, in spite of the weather

Timtrue says...
12:24pm Thu 12 Jan 12

I'm with AngelicaDemon. Ignore the moaning minnies! Brighton is unique and if everyone on this comments list hates it so much why don't they go and live somewhere else then? Leave the town to those of us that really appreciate it!

Timothy McGee says...
12:31pm Thu 12 Jan 12

AngelicaDemon is spot on. Although I live in Hove, I'm still happy and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

cancelaccount says...
12:36pm Thu 12 Jan 12

Happy about what?

Happywith the over inflated property prices, Rents,localised costs (Parking permits et al).
Happy with the vast amount of sainsbury's in the town,Brighotn is becoming rather a homogenised town ( i know its a city but only for status and funding!)
Happy about the out of towners who preliferate the city and offer nothingin contibuting to a bette community/society..
Happy about pretend to be political parties running our council
Happy about the mannerin which the localcouncilis selling out to the corporate greedmongers..
Happyabout the daft wheel onthe sea frontwhich if your intersetd offers great views into the rooms of buildings on Marine drive, some views of whitehawk, the new Amex debacles (the footy ground and business site on edward street!,the south downs on a clear day, Whooh!!

I couldgo on but I dont have the time as my tea break is over!
Happy, No I am not happy and the quicker I can find work (hahahaha) elsewhere I will be moving..
Born and Bred in sussex

thelaird says...
12:39pm Thu 12 Jan 12

There is a word which means 'happy' and relates directly to just how happy people in Brighton are.

The poll must be correct on that basis alone.

Amnyway, as my dear old Gran used to say; if you don't like it, MOVE!!

cancelaccount says...
1:04pm Thu 12 Jan 12

toangelicademon,hmmm
mm..Hasting is only bad due to Brighton outsourcing its travelling community,drug addicts and such like to there in the great purge of the late 90's. Also Hastings became a relocation/receiving
town for the overcrowded areas of South London. Due to this, it developed a terrible rep' for alcohol, drug related offences as the pepolewhomwere relocated werethe p[roblem families,people that South London councils/authorities could wait to get rid of.. Hastings can and will be beautiful again but only with funding and committed localised services, which isn't likely now the condems are removing much funding for renovation/rejuvenat
ion.

cancelaccount says...
1:06pm Thu 12 Jan 12

i should be working not writing this.. and I should only write when my litracy skills improve..terrible english and bad grammar add nothing to a debate!

satan'sister says...
1:14pm Thu 12 Jan 12

I'm a true brightonion born and bred. It seems very rare to speak to anyone who was born and bred in brighton?! This town was a great place to live once but not now. No offence to anyone but to many invaders.

Number Six says...
1:23pm Thu 12 Jan 12

satan'sister wrote:
I'm a true brightonion born and bred. It seems very rare to speak to anyone who was born and bred in brighton?! This town was a great place to live once but not now. No offence to anyone but to many invaders.

I was born in Brighton and lived there for 49 years. Don't regret moving out for a second. Now it just seems like a grimy little place fit for druggies and alkies.

As for happy, you shouldn't mistake the smile of happiness for the vacant grin of the village idiot.

Bubs says...
1:25pm Thu 12 Jan 12

Brighton is ok but I feel that collectively Brighton has an inflated view of itself.

VoodooGangbanger says...
1:25pm Thu 12 Jan 12

Must be all the drugs.

Sweepster says...
1:35pm Thu 12 Jan 12

funky feet wrote:
another silly poll in a long list claiming this town or that city is the happiest place to live. Does anyone believe them?

Yep!

I moved to Brighton from one large city and lived in Brighton/Hove for 6 years. I'm currently living away but plan to return to Brighton. I feel there is nowhere in the UK that is a better place to live.

Those that complain about the city, if you dont like it - live somewhere else. Simple.

auser says...
1:37pm Thu 12 Jan 12

A lot of people moaning on here (but then, this IS the Argus). I would be interested to hear those people suggest an alternative to Brighton? A better, happier place? (In this country obviously).

ShorehamBeachcomber says...
1:39pm Thu 12 Jan 12

Pathetic pedants, the survey is prob 40 largest towns x 50 people so only 4 were unhappy in Brighton compared to 11 Cardiff which is enough to rank accordingly...double the survey or x10 the result would be little or no different so just work with it

lordenglandofsussex says...
1:50pm Thu 12 Jan 12

s&k wrote:
Brighton is a great place to live but could be so much better. We need to tackle: litter and grafitti, dog mess, anti-social behaviour, parking, street drinking, abandoned vehicles, London Road, student housing... gulp I'm beginning to wish I hadn't started this list. Oh, and can we have a permanent skating rink please?

You left out a murder a month on average, street mugging, rape, serious drug infestation, too many immigrants and terrible traffic congestion.

whereisthe...? says...
2:13pm Thu 12 Jan 12

It's a typo. Headline should read...

'Britain's STUPIDEST people live in Brighton'

(Too dumb to notice reality...)

Alternatively...

'Britain's WEALTHIEST people live in Brighton'

(Too rich to be affected in their ivory towers...)

Other alternatives... 'APATHETIC' / 'BAD AT UNDERSTANDING SURVEY QUESTIONS'...

Have a nice day!

Jacobdog says...
2:25pm Thu 12 Jan 12

In response to the doom and gloom about crime posted above, crime in Brighton has dropped by about 10% in the last 3 years so maybe a more objective look at the bigger picture could explain why people are happy.

GreggWallace says...
2:26pm Thu 12 Jan 12

Is there any source for this poll or is this one of 73% of articles that never quote a source where we can look further at the findings?

lordenglandofsussex says...
2:30pm Thu 12 Jan 12

satan'sister wrote:
I'm a true brightonion born and bred. It seems very rare to speak to anyone who was born and bred in brighton?! This town was a great place to live once but not now. No offence to anyone but to many invaders.

I am a Brightonian but left before it became a city and headed 20 miles out to rural East Sussex.

If Brighton was the same place it was around 35 years ago I wouldn't have left but it isn't and is now only a shadow of its former self. For me the rot set in during the late 1980's with traffic congestion and a rise in crime.

Walking alone in the center late at night is no longer safe for man or woman. It has become just another British city and has lost its Regency charm and naughty seaside postcard cheerful self.

A once wonderful town has been reduced to a grimy, crime ridden hole and nothing can bring it back to its former glory.

Dirk Gently says...
2:37pm Thu 12 Jan 12

I'm happy to live here, I just don't like it when statistics are abused.

SpoookaaySpooon says...
2:59pm Thu 12 Jan 12

satan'sister wrote:
I'm a true brightonion born and bred. It seems very rare to speak to anyone who was born and bred in brighton?! This town was a great place to live once but not now. No offence to anyone but to many invaders.

Too many invaders is right, this place was once a nice place to be. Now it has become a haven for druggies and drunks who most I may add, where nether born nor bred in Brighton.

sandalman says...
3:51pm Thu 12 Jan 12

The palace pier represents life, the West pier represents death,there is nothing inbetween,I am happy now.

Angryoldman says...
5:00pm Thu 12 Jan 12

GreggWallace wrote:
Is there any source for this poll or is this one of 73% of articles that never quote a source where we can look further at the findings?

The ministry of lies and misinformation. Any government department will do.

localboy78 says...
5:10pm Thu 12 Jan 12

Erm is this survey recording those from just the town of Brighton or the city of Brighton & Hove? I don't live in Brighton, I live in Hove and I love living here. I wouldn't live in Brighton though as I can't stand the place so if I lived there I would vote for being unhappy, whereas in Hove I would be happy.

And I absolutely agree with a previous post that Brighton (as in the town) has complete and utter delusions of grandeur. There is nothing special about it at all. It's just another shabby, dirty, rough seaside town.

george smith says...
6:04pm Thu 12 Jan 12

whereisthe...? wrote:
It's a typo. Headline should read... 'Britain's STUPIDEST people live in Brighton' (Too dumb to notice reality...) Alternatively... 'Britain's WEALTHIEST people live in Brighton' (Too rich to be affected in their ivory towers...) Other alternatives... 'APATHETIC' / 'BAD AT UNDERSTANDING SURVEY QUESTIONS'... Have a nice day!

I thought the problem was that the wealthiest don't live in Brighton, they usually have properties in both rural areas and London. Brighton has a load of incomers who couldn't make it to the wealthier areas of london so came down here

Hovite says...
6:07pm Thu 12 Jan 12

What was the old word we used to use for happy?

p a t r i c k says...
7:44pm Thu 12 Jan 12

AngelicaDemon wrote:
As usual the doom and gloomers, the naysayers and misery guts are the only people commenting on the Argus. Granted the data on this survey is somewhat flawed as Dirk Gently rightly points out, however the commentators on these articles are hardly representative of most of Brightonians. Well, I am bucking the trend. I am proud to live in Brighton, it has it's problems as everywhere in Britain does, but I'd rather live here than sterile Surrey or lonely London. We have a great mix of different people who for 99% of the time are tolerant and open-minded to one another. For a city our size with a demographic with such disparities in wealth and background, we have a low crime rate. You can walk down the street wearing a pinstripe suit, hemp fishermen trousers, looking like a 1940's screen siren or just in your pajamas; chances are hardly anyone would bat an eyelid. We have great independent shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs and regardless of whether you like jazz music, hot yoga, lindy hop or drum and bass music, there is something to keep you occupied.
Why not embrace your home town instead of focussing on it's flaws, and if it's flaws are so large you can't look past them then move somewhere else, there are plenty who would love to take your place!

I do agree with AngelicaDemon !

Brighton (and Hove) is a great place to live in so many ways.

People are so accepting here no matter how you dress or how you live your life.

Tolerance is a valuable thing.

I originally grew up in a city which was not tolerant at all, and now I value this greatly.

hubby says...
7:55pm Thu 12 Jan 12

Gay!
Brighton is certainly that.
I was born in 1960,loved growing up there in the 60's and 70's.
In the 80's Brighton hav a great vibe with the fantastic music coming out of the place and BHA in the old first division.
Sometime in the 90's it started to get seedy and dangerous.Too many drugs.Too many nutters.By the early 2000's I'd had enough.My kids were young enough to get out so we moved to the South East of Spain.It isn't perfect by a long shot,but it is safer,the health care is better and the weather is a big bonus.
It reminds me of the Brighton of my youth.

Bladesboy Returns says...
8:43pm Thu 12 Jan 12

satan'sister wrote:
I'm a true brightonion born and bred. It seems very rare to speak to anyone who was born and bred in brighton?! This town was a great place to live once but not now. No offence to anyone but to many invaders.

More like the last of the born and bred whingers need to move on if the 'happy survey' results are to improve.
p.s. I am born and bred and am passionate about the town, just fed up with the scrounging mobs who contribute nothing e.g. the occupy miscreants, Wasters!

Mr A Citizen says...
4:22pm Fri 13 Jan 12

I'm a twenty-odd-year-old - and full-time employed but not very well off - bloke who moved down to Brighton from the north to live with my doctoral student fiancee, also northern, two years ago. We're happy about our lives in general but we're both extremely pleased to finally be moving away in a few months time. Brighton & Hove would be a great place without the people - Brits priviliged and blind to the concerns of the rest of the country outside the south east, opportunistic globetrotters cramming the streets and taking jobs, or dossers you can only feel sorry for who've no interest in anything except screaming obscenities at passersby and where their next fix is coming from. If you're happy then you're either one of the large number of unfortunate mental health cases or someone who can't see that the UK, and the rest of the world, is fast turning sour in front of us all. Brighton is the capital of the "I'm alright Jack, bugger you" attitude. Don't mistake self-involvement and lack of social conscience for tolerance.

Beethoven says...
12:29pm Sat 14 Jan 12

I had to move away for my job.....how I would love to move back.....(yes really!)

But this survey, uncredited to any source, talks of pubs, shopping, music...all good things but who did they poll? 18 - 25's by the look of it..

Beethoven says...
12:29pm Sat 14 Jan 12

I had to move away for my job.....how I would love to move back.....(yes really!)

But this survey, uncredited to any source, talks of pubs, shopping, music...all good things but who did they poll? 18 - 25's by the look of it..

bigfella777 says...
5:52pm Sat 14 Jan 12

I love it here, I can get all the hunky men I want, Hello boys xx

pebble counter says...
6:39pm Sat 14 Jan 12

Brighton does have something about it that draws people to it, and it is these people who arrive, typically London media types who think they have discovered it, that drive many people who were happy before these people got there, away. Seaford is the place to live.

NickBrt says...
6:39pm Sat 14 Jan 12

Who would NOT be happy in Brighton? Thanks to Caroline Lucas, Bill Randall and Jason Milky-Way our lives have been transformed up to Heavenly.

sick of whingers says...
6:24am Sun 15 Jan 12

One who certainly is not happy is The Whitehawker. Why does he/she have to regardless of what subject they are passing comment on have to include some form of homophobic rant? Maybe he/she would be happier if they just came out of that closet, me thinks they protest too much!

sick of whingers says...
6:25am Sun 15 Jan 12

One who certainly is not happy is The Whitehawker. Why does he/she have to regardless of what subject they are passing comment on have to include some form of homophobic rant? Maybe he/she would be happier if they just came out of that closet, me thinks they protest too much!

StyleCop says...
10:59pm Mon 16 Jan 12

UppityPrimate wrote:
i live in brighton and i absolutely love it.

Dittto

Cash Cow says...
2:11am Tue 17 Jan 12

I was born in Brighton, and my family tree as far back as I have traced it is Brighton. However I think the place is disgusting and the best thing I ever did was to move out. I am not proud or even pleased to say this, though I am being honest. In my opinion Brighton is a boil on the backside of Britain, a playground for everything bad in society, with an idiot council elected by idiots.

steveP2009 says...
1:19pm Wed 18 Jan 12

Love Brighton. Wouldn't want to move out ever. For those who 'are so happy I moved away', why are still reading the local paper?

In the late 1990's Brighton became a dump, houses were incredibly cheap. It is the 'invaders' that have moved here who are responsible for some redevelopment and modernisation (although slow coming).

For those who hate living here please move out and let Brighton evolve to be the best city in the UK (which in my opinion it already is)

Cash Cow says...
3:10pm Wed 18 Jan 12

steveP2009 wrote:
Love Brighton. Wouldn't want to move out ever. For those who 'are so happy I moved away', why are still reading the local paper?

In the late 1990's Brighton became a dump, houses were incredibly cheap. It is the 'invaders' that have moved here who are responsible for some redevelopment and modernisation (although slow coming).

For those who hate living here please move out and let Brighton evolve to be the best city in the UK (which in my opinion it already is)

The "local paper" as you descibe it covers the whole of the Sussex area, not just Brighton, being such a well travelled fellow as you obviously are I thought you would realise this. Also house prices were at a peak in the late 1990's following the recession of the early part of the decade. It is perfectly acceptable for those of you who have moved to Brighton from some inner city somewhere, to lower your hoody, pull up your trousers, open your eyes and have a look around!

steveP2009 says...
5:55pm Wed 18 Jan 12

I was waiting for someone to remind about the Argus and its location cover.

But regarding your last point what a judgemental, stereotypical person you are. Thankgoodness you moved away.

Argus News

Britain's happiest people live in Brighton

About cookies