NO Costa Coffee!! Totnes is not a hot-bed of activity in terms of clubs and theatres, instead offering outdoor stuff and pub/restaurant/cafe hang-outs but is only half an hour by rail from either Plymouth or Exeter if the need presents itself.

An honest question here. What is IN Torquay?

a whole lot more than in Totnes..restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, beaches various attractions, theaters, a football team of sorts oh and Costa Coffee

Totnes has rowing and an off-road centre.

and a Sunday food market and Seeds Baker and Riverford Organics is up the road and is a transition town:

http://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/

All very sedate stuff, admittedly, except the rowing and off-road.

Would you pay to see Torquay United these days?

I'd take Totnes over Torquay/Torbay but I'd pick Exeter over either of them.

Could you list why?

Thank you very much for all of the links, interesting reading and good things to know!

If someone had to choose between the southwest of England (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset) or somewhere in the Manchester region (Lancashire, Manchester, Cheshire) what would you pick and why? And where specifically would you choose?

I'll try! To give some context, I did my last four years of school in Exeter, plus part of a gap year, uni holidays and about 10 months before I emigrated. I studied for a month in Paignton shortly before we emigrated.

Exeter would be top of my list for a few reasons. I like cities; Torbay and Totnes are far too small to keep me occupied for long. Exeter has the uni which brings a certain number of music/comedy/other arts acts plus Exeter has some other good arts venues. I also like food and Exeter has some nice cafes and restaurants along with decent delis plus the food and drink festival which I believe is on this weekend. Tranport and other amenities including shopping are better in Exeter.

Totnes: I like the feel and empathise with some of the ethos in Totnes, although to some extent I also feel some of 'them' need to get over themselves a little bit. It's a pretty town and also has some decent food options. It's too small, and too isolated for me though and the things I like about it are easily satisfied by a day trip from Exeter.

Torbay/Torquay: The tourists would drive me mental in the summer as would the fact that so much is geared towards them. When I was younger (quite some time ago, to be fair!) I went out a couple of times in Torquay and didn't like the vibe at all. It felt edgy and there were a fair few fights. In fairness, I went for friends' birthdays and they were not the type of nights out I would normally have chosen so this probably contributed to my sense of unease. If it means anything to anyone I am far more a Timepiece girl than a Quay girl in terms of Exeter clubs. There is little to hold my interest in Torquay/Torbay and it's too small for me, as is Totnes. Totnes is prettier than Torquay and I've found that such things do make a difference to your mood.

All of this is my own personal opinion, of course and obviously reflects my own likes and dislikes. I know there is at least one poster on here who lives in Torquay and it's not my intention to offend anyone or make them defensive about their town. There are far worse places to live than any of these options.

For me, I would always choose South over North for the milder weather.

Of those southern counties, I would choose to be as far east as possible for two reasons - drier climate and I find the extreme west country to be a little too remote for my taste.

I also like to be near nice coastal areas which probably rules out some areas of Somerset.

East Dorset would suit fine - which is lucky as that's where I live..

Of course, these are only my views - your priorities are likely very different

I live in Torquay, it is my home town, and many of the comments made on this forum are both true and false, depending on where you live in the town, where you go, the people you mix with, and the time of the year.

I certainly agree that many areas of the town are run-down, and after living out of the country for more than 50 years I can see the difference from times gone by. I was born near Cockington which is inside the boundaries of Torquay, a pretty and generally tranquil place to visit, one of Torquay's tourist attractions. There are lovely real Devonshire cream teas in Cockington Court. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=co...w=1029&bih=719

I now live in the Wellswood area which, although only minutes walk from the touristy harbour area, is unaffected by the noisy activities there. These are some of the properties close to where I live.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...Wellswood.html

Exeter is a university city and better for shopping and working opportunities, and Totnes is quaint for a market town, but for beauty, Torquay which is built on seven hills and has a spectacular coastline, would be hard to beat. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=to...w=1029&bih=719

Pistolpete2 asks . . . "An honest question here. What is IN Torquay?"

A good question, but what would you look for in a seaside resort? There are many activities for tourists in and around the town, or are you thinking about activities when living in the town?

Again it depends on your interests. I researched for table tennis before I came back here, and am playing in the club I found which is organised by a town councillor. In fact next week he and I will be playing in a doubles against Torbay's mayor and his partner. I believe it will be here, a local tourist attraction also used by Torbay Council. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldway_Mansion A place you can afford when making Singer sewing machines!

Yesterday I walked around the harbour and along the seafront and didn't experience anything untoward, and rarely do, but of course I don't wander around late at night when drinkers are pouring out of pubs and clubs.

I will soon think about taking a boat across to Brixham, or around the coast to Dartmouth which has a beautiful setting (the River Dart also flowing through Totnes), but it has become an expensive place to live. However it is a town worth considering. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=da...w=1023&bih=719

Does anyone remember the TV series The Onedin Line in the 1970s? This was filmed at Dartmouth, and at Port Adelaide some years ago I was fortunate enough to explore one of the sailing vessels used. http://www.theonedinline.com/The_Onedin_theme_music.htm

If anyone would like more information about Torquay, please feel free to contact me by PM.

Aries, you were the poster I was thinking of. It sounds like you are very much building a life for yourself back in your home town and I'm glad you sound so happy.

The problem for anyone when giving advice is that it is all so subjective. I have learned, after moving back, that I am really an urban girl at heart. By urban I mean cities of millions of people, and I like to live right in the heart of them. I don't live in such a location, as it happens, but that's for another thread. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that when giving feedback, I'm influenced by my own likes and dislikes, as is everyone else.

Beccarose, I so empathise with your situation. It's hard when you can choose pretty much everywhere, it really is. We were lead by OH getting a job, in the end, but that only happened just before we moved back. Literally just. Had that not happened, we planned to check out Manchester and Leeds after arrival and make a decision on the spot, although we were leaning towards Leeds.

I would also prefer to live in the heart of a big metropolis, in comparison Torquay has only a quiet buzz even in the summer. A flat overlooking the Thames would be marvellous, but there aren't any at the prices I can afford. In the 1970s I rented a flat for 6 months or more in Bayswater which was lively and enjoyable. I've read in London's Evening Standard that the average price for a flat in Central London has now reached £1 million. I would need to win the lottery to afford this! http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londo...r-8589490.html

I agree with all of this. For many of us Brits there is a subtlety in our interest in the West Country too. As a family we went there every year from year dot and North Cornwall is kind of in my blood and was for the longest while a place I would want to own something and settle in. Daphne du Maurier and her books on the wreckers (Jamaica Inn etc.) have a lot to answer for too. This all in spite of the rain and damp. Being a Brummie (from Birmingham) I would be one of the herd who so flocked to Devon and Cornwall every year - they still flock to Weymouth it seems.

The English are usually biased either way between North or South so it is not typical for a southerner to switch their "allegiance" to places north of Stoke-on-Trent and vice versa.

The South (English) Coast is retirement country and the English typically tend to migrate there from their down-shift in London, the Midlands, North or wherever and this distorts prices and the atmosphere which, as has been discussed, is more aged.

Some of us are looking for jobs and schools while others are beyond or well beyond that while others can work from home. This will all have a bearing upon where we settle as there is no point paying higher property prices due to the proximity of good high-paying employment or excellent schools (these definitely drive up property prices) if there is in fact no need.

This Torquay discussion has highlighted another issue which is that in spite of a general downer on an area or township there are in fact some excellent havens of more ideal village settings close in to the sprawl where one can merrily insulate oneself from the lack-lustre elements but this too can often come at a price premium. This stuff too is terribly subjective meaning that it is extremely hard for us to advise upon what is really just a matter of taste. It is hard to find a northerner, even from the western rainier reaches, who will admit they would rather live in the south due to the better general climate. If I had the money of Janet Street-Porter, I would like to emulate her residential arrangements to the extent they call for a flat in trendy Clerkenwell in London, a house in Seasalter near Whitstable in Kent and a house in the Yorkshire Dales.

Further to taste, there is a certain hostility to outsiders in certain areas, made worse by the cost of housing being driven up by those outsiders who own second homes which they only occupy for small parts of the year. This can be an issue in parts of Devon and Cornwall as well as West Wales in particular. Evidence of this in Cornwall is one reason that it is dismissed by many as being a non-starter as a place to settle. It is not likely to be much of an issue in a city like Truro.

Further to what rebs has said, along with the urban rural slant on things from Almo, there is a big difference between the general setting - if that's the word - in the southwest as compared with most of Lancashire, Manchester and Cheshire.

The southwest is a mixture of agricultural land/farming with retirement areas and vacation centres where the indigenous population are not particularly well-off and often have to go outside the region to find well-paying work.

Plymouth is the UK's largest naval base and is a university city which was badly bombed in WW2 and is generally rather scruffy but is benefiting from some urban regeneration of some former naval facilities. This leaves just Exeter as a major urban centre with a university. Aside from Torbay, there is not much in terms of development until one reaches Bournemouth/Poole well up the coast.

The Lancashire Manchester Cheshire area has some agriculture as well but is far more urban and developed in spite of decline from formerly being the manufacturing heart of the UK, along with Birmingham. So there is far more traditional money and some very serious money sloshing around in the multiple urban centres of Chester, most of the Wirral, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and St Helens to say nothing of the multiple other centres to the north, east and northeast of there.

The most expensive real estate outside of the London area is to be had near Poole in Dorset but there is not much pace to things in most areas of the rest of the southwest.

I am not a big city fan so if I were to compile a short-list of places I might be inclined to settle if I had kids at school age with no biases for their needs, they would be:

Truro, Totnes*, Topsham**, Wyke Regis (Weymouth).

I'm looking for decent state schools & colleges, more sedate town atmosphere (south of the marina in Weymouth) and good residential areas at moderate price, reasonable access to the sea and walks, good public transport, plenty of variety, pubs restaurants coffee shops and good food markets/fish. No particular yob culture in evidence. Access to air travel - Weymouth doesn't do well on this score but has a summer fast ferry across the Channel.

*college is in Torbay
**college is in Exeter

I would also consider living in Hoylake in the North for quality of residential areas, shops, pubs, country, transport.

From my observations, most of the tourists who come to Torbay are from the Midlands, the North, Scotland and Wales, and it is surprising how many "locals" are from Up North, including my neighbours. Londoners are not so noticeable, but perhaps they go to more immediate resorts, or more likely abroad.

As a southerner it would not occur to me to live further up country, I think of harsher winters and strange accents. In fact since returning from Australia I've found some northern accents more difficult to understand than before, and at times thought they were foreign!

Well we do see many Eastern Europeans working in the many hotels, and of course there are English language schools attracting thousands of students from many European countries. This aspect alone adds an international flavour to the resort.

The milder Torbay climate attracts northerners here to live, but for older people the hilly terrain can be a real bugbear. There is certainly some very real money in the area, but this doesn't appear to filter through to where it is needed.