Your thoughts: Is Chichester the best place to live in the South East?

The announcement came alongside the publication of This Year’s Best Places to Live guide, which praises Chichester for its history, culture, excellent schools, strong transport links and diverse high street.

For some residents, this assessment was spot on. Sarah and her partner, from nearby Tangmere, said Chichester is a great place to raise children.

"It’s definitely one of the best places in the South East for us,” she said. “It’s very family-friendly, very pedestrianised, which makes it safe for little ones. Plus you’ve got strong connections to nice places nearby. Chichester itself is nice, but you’ve also got trains to London, Portsmouth is only 25 minutes away, you’ve got access to The Witterings and other beaches. It’s great to live here, because you have that access to other places.”

Others felt that Chichester, though not bad by any means, has lost its way over the last few years. Westhampnett resident Francoise said the city has only just started to find itself again after the trials of the pandemic.

"It’s started to come back to alive since Covid, but you look around and there are still so many empty shops. It just doesn't feel very vibrant or exciting. If I have a free day, I don’t think ‘oh I can’t wait to go into the city centre.’”

Opinions on Facebook were similarly mixed. One reader, Matt Horstead, was full of praise for our city. “A beautiful city centre, endless food & drinking options with a superb variety of high class establishment,” he said.

"Plus we are 15 minutes away from the Witterings, have Goodwood and all of its world renowned events on our doorstep , countryside all around us and a train into London is just 1hr 30 mins away.”

Dawn Jamieson, however, felt differently, pointing out local problems with traffic. “All the congestion on our roads, especially when people visit The Witterings in the summer,” she said. "Chaos!”

The Times named another Sussex town, Wadhurst, in East Sussex, the best place to live in the country. To see the full results, click here.

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