Brighton began to attract more visitors following improved road transport to London and becoming a boarding point for boats travelling to France.

[note 1] Brighton's location has made it a popular destination for tourists, renowned for its diverse communities, shopping areas, large and vibrant cultural, music and arts scene, and its large LGBT population, leading to its recognition as the "unofficial gay capital of the UK" and as of the 2021 census, 10.7% of the population of Brighton and Hove over the age of 18 identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, the highest percentage in the entire UK.

[11] Writing in 1950, historian Antony Dale noted that unnamed antiquaries had suggested an Old English word "brist" or "briz", meaning "divided", could have contributed the first part of the historic name Brighthelmstone.

"London-by-the-Sea" is well-known, reflecting Brighton's popularity with Londoners as a day-trip resort, a commuter dormitory and a desirable destination for those wanting to move out of the metropolis.

[16] From the 1st century AD, the Romans built a number of villas in Brighton and Romano-British Brythonic Celts formed farming settlements in the area.

They were attracted by the easy access for boats, sheltered areas of raised land for building and better conditions compared to the damp, cold and misty Weald to the north.

[23] Sacked and burnt by French invaders in the early 16th century—the earliest depiction of Brighton, a painting of c. 1520, shows Admiral Pregent de Bidoux's attack of June 1514—the town recovered strongly based on a thriving mackerel-fishing industry.

[24] By 1708 other parishes in Sussex were charged rates to alleviate poverty in Brighton, and Daniel Defoe wrote that the expected £8,000 cost of providing sea defences was "more than the whole town was worth".

The contemporary fad for drinking and bathing in seawater as a purported cure for illnesses was enthusiastically encouraged by Richard Russell from nearby Lewes.

[49][50] A 2015 government statistic showed that the area around Brighton's Palace Pier roundabout and to the east towards St James's Street in Kemptown is the seventh-worst living environment in England.

The Wellesbourne occasionally reappears during times of prolonged heavy rain; author Mark Antony Lower referred to an early 19th-century drawing of the Royal Pavilion showing "quite a pool of water across the Steyne".

Changes in sea level affected the foreshore several times: 40 acres (16 ha) disappeared in the first half of the 14th century,[66] and the Great Storm of 1703 caused widespread destruction.

[83] The presence of a British subsidiary of the United States arms company EDO Corporation on the Home Farm Industrial Estate in Moulsecoomb has been the cause of protests since 2004.

Common beliefs were that most of the working population commuted to London every day; that tourism provided most of Brighton's jobs and income; or that the borough's residents were "composed entirely of wealthy theatricals and retired business people" rather than workers.

Examples of statistics include: Brighton and Hove's tourism industry contributes £380m to the economy and employs 20,000 people directly or indirectly; the city has 9,600 registered companies; and a 2001 report identified it as one of five "supercities for the future".

Most of the large factories closed during the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s, employment fell to 1,000, and structural changes started in the mid-1980s with a move towards small-scale industrial units (the Enterprise Estate was finished in October 1985) and then retail warehouses.

[98] The Gamer Network, whose portfolio of websites relating to computer gaming (including Eurogamer) and creative industries was founded in 1999, is based in Brighton.

[100] Exion 27 (built in 2001), a high-tech, energy-efficient office development at Hollingbury, remained empty for several years and is still not in commercial use: it houses some administrative departments of the University of Brighton.

The Lanes which is characterised by a labyrinth of narrow alleyways form a retail, leisure and residential area near the seafront, following the street pattern of the original fishing village.

It was primarily intended as a landing stage for packet boats to Dieppe, France, but it also featured a small number of attractions including a camera obscura.

Since the demolition in 1978 of the Black Rock open-air lido at the eastern end of Brighton's seafront, the area has been developed and now features one of Europe's largest marinas.

[147] An inaugural White Nights (Nuit Blanche) all-night arts festival took place in October 2008 and continued for four years until it was postponed in 2012 due to a lack of European funding.

This includes processions such as the Children's Parade, outdoor spectaculars often involving pyrotechnics, and theatre, music and visual arts in venues throughout the city, some brought into this use exclusively for the festival.

[citation needed] Groups of mods and rockers still bring their scooters and motorbikes to the city, but their gatherings are now much more sedate than the violent 1960s confrontations depicted in Quadrophenia.

Brighton has many night-life hotspots[189] and is associated with popular musicians including Fatboy Slim, Omar, Kirk Brandon, Tim Booth, Nick Cave, Lovejoy, David Van Day from Dollar, James Marriott, Adam Freeland, Orbital, and Robert Smith.

Brighton has produced several successful bands and music artists including Beats International, Norman Cook, Carl Cox, Dave Clarke, Krafty Kuts, Ed Solo, Evil Nine, Electrelane, James Marriott, Frazier Chorus, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, the Levellers, The Maccabees, Electric Soft Parade, British Sea Power, the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, The Xcerts, Architects, The Go!

The 2017–18 football season saw Brighton's debut in the Premier League after a win against Wigan Athletic guaranteed automatic promotion to the top flight.

[234] A wider range of long-distance destinations was served until 2007–08 when rationalisation caused the ending of InterCity services via Kensington Olympia and Reading to Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.

[238] The 20-year City Plan released in January 2013 ruled out an official park-and-ride facility, stating it would be an "inefficient use of public money, particularly in an era of declining car use".

[239] Shoreham Airport, which offers chartered and scheduled flights using light aircraft,[240] is 9 mi (14 km) west of Brighton near the town of Shoreham-by-Sea.