There are small, stable towns where it is possible to know everyone of any significance and almost everything that is happening.

A good example is Shoreham here in Sussex.

The Argus used to have an office in the town centre inhabited by Harry Treadwell, an astute reporter who also had good connections with national newspapers.

Harry covered the council and knew the Coastguards. He was friendly with those who ran the port and airport. It was hard to do anything without Harry knowing.

There were people in Portslade such as the old magistrate Harry Parker, the former council chairman Peter Gladwin and Labour stalwart Les Hamilton who understood how the town ticked.

The current councillors are probably known to a majority of the 18,000 souls. I should think it would also be possible to get a grip on other towns such as Midhurst, Battle, Selsey and Rye.

People say to me that I must similarly know all about Brighton on account of my being here a long time and meeting many people. But it simply isn't so.

I can pop out of the city centre where I work and saunter around Churchill Square. During that time, thousands can pass by and the chances are I will not know any of them.

What makes Brighton and Hove hard to pin down is its huge mobility. The city and its people are constantly changing.

Almost no one who was in charge of a major company, institution, union or voluntary organisation even 20 years ago is there today.

It's in the city centre that change is greatest. Brighton has thousands of flatlets, which tend to be close to the Clock Tower, Old Steine or Western Road. For various reasons, people do not stay in them for long.

The shops and restaurants alter with bewildering rapidity too.

Hanningtons, Vokins, Hills of Hove and Plummer Roddis have all gone. Few restaurants last longer than 15 years and the survivors, such as the Regency and the Melrose on the seafront, have become institutions.

There are changes to the city's communities, too.

The actors, once led by Lord Olivier and Dame Flora Robson, were a grand, portentous lot. Now they tend to be hip and flip. Gay people have emerged from their closets to add sparkle to the community.

The police have become much more approachable and the councillors less pompous.

The two universities have settled down to become respectable rather than radical and the revolutionaries are still goading the establishment but often about environmental rather than political issues.

The football fans are often much more middle than working class.

Areas of the city have altered. North Laine is alternative rather than archaic. Hanover is radical rather than restrained and Fiveways has been colonised by the public services.

The least change has occurred in the suburbs, whether they be in Patcham, Hangleton, Westdene or Woodingdean.

But even they are not immune from the invigorating bustle of Brighton.

I would not wish it to be any other way. My lack of knowledge means there is something new around some corners and fresh discoveries to be made every day.

The city just keeps on reinventing itself. The unending, exciting, struggle for any reporter is trying to convey the changing scene in these pages.