Nice places to live around Edinburgh
Discussion
carparkno1 said:
OP, the thread you have been referred to was started by me, so I can chime in here. I've lived in Edinburgh before, and now we are relocating as a family from the south east of England back up there.
Reasons: New baby, teenager, Labrador, sick of London.
I have friends all over Edinburgh, with different lives and requirements. Your side of things sounds similar to mine - need a decent sized house, decent greenery for dogs, not impossible to commute into the city.
We're about to offer on a house in Eskbank, and if it doesn't get accepted we have one lined up in Bonnyrigg. To be honest, neither are towns we will really "use" that much - there's big retail parks and shopping centres on the outskirts, and I need the bypass / borders railway for transport depending on which company I am working for as a contractor. I never fail to smile when people complain about commuting around Edinburgh, they know not the horrors of the home counties into London.
Places like Colinton, Baberton, Currie, Juniper Green are probably more villagey/homely, and there is a premium for that, but anything on the south of the bypass is going to be cheaper than inside (which is crazy considering the benefits of peace, space & room to breathe).
If I could afford a 4 bed period house near Braid Hills I would, but the premium on something like that is crazy, and you arguably get less house/garage/parking, albeit a property with much more character.
Don't rule out maybe Sth Queensferry/Dalmeny/Musselburgh for the trains in. I wouldn't go further out as it would feel alien for my family but may be acceptable for you.
Any info you want/advice feel free to PM.
Thanks for posting. I'm in Edinburgh on Wednesday evening until Thursday afternoon so might have a drive around to check out a few areas. As has been said, closer to the city appeals to be able to enjoy what it has to offer but a bit further out isn't much of a problem, you can get a lot of taxis for the £120k you save on property prices!Reasons: New baby, teenager, Labrador, sick of London.
I have friends all over Edinburgh, with different lives and requirements. Your side of things sounds similar to mine - need a decent sized house, decent greenery for dogs, not impossible to commute into the city.
We're about to offer on a house in Eskbank, and if it doesn't get accepted we have one lined up in Bonnyrigg. To be honest, neither are towns we will really "use" that much - there's big retail parks and shopping centres on the outskirts, and I need the bypass / borders railway for transport depending on which company I am working for as a contractor. I never fail to smile when people complain about commuting around Edinburgh, they know not the horrors of the home counties into London.
Places like Colinton, Baberton, Currie, Juniper Green are probably more villagey/homely, and there is a premium for that, but anything on the south of the bypass is going to be cheaper than inside (which is crazy considering the benefits of peace, space & room to breathe).
If I could afford a 4 bed period house near Braid Hills I would, but the premium on something like that is crazy, and you arguably get less house/garage/parking, albeit a property with much more character.
Don't rule out maybe Sth Queensferry/Dalmeny/Musselburgh for the trains in. I wouldn't go further out as it would feel alien for my family but may be acceptable for you.
Any info you want/advice feel free to PM.
My wife would be one doing the daily commute to the city centre as I can effectively live anywhere in the UK and still do my job. The kids are effectively off our hands, youngest is at Uni so is soon to be gone - hopefully.
Edinburgh traffic shouldn't be a shock to us, my wife currently leaves at 7 to go to work and rarely leaves before 6 so the worst of the it should be avoided. The wild card at the moment are the really modern houses in Rosewell. The alternatives are new builds in Liberton or Eskbank.
carparkno1 said:
Don't rule out maybe Sth Queensferry/Dalmeny/Musselburgh for the trains in. I wouldn't go further out as it would feel alien for my family but may be acceptable for you.
Any info you want/advice feel free to PM.
Actually, that is one good point. If you're happy to live further out, you could half the prices by living in East Lothian, and it's quite a nice area to live. If you stick to Musselburgh/Prestonpans/Longniddry, you'll have a train station that's only 20-30 minutes into the city. And for driving the kids to school it won't matter too much; the roads don't get busy until Sherrifhall so you'd only be adding maybe 10 mins tops by car. Not to mention, since this is PH afterall, that the coast roads are quite nice for driving... Any info you want/advice feel free to PM.
Only thing is, they're building houses by the thousands out here, so whether it remains nice and quiet will remain to be seen.
Something else that hasn't been mentioned here, and is more than likely an obvious thing to those that live there.
CEC is introducing a wide ranging 20mph limit to the city's roads: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20243/20mph_for_e...
That'll affect a lot of private commuting times. The bus lanes may allow buses to function better, but Edinburgh isn't devoid of snarl ups involving buses / junctions. As other have said, avoid Sheriffhall roundabout if you can.
CEC is introducing a wide ranging 20mph limit to the city's roads: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20243/20mph_for_e...
That'll affect a lot of private commuting times. The bus lanes may allow buses to function better, but Edinburgh isn't devoid of snarl ups involving buses / junctions. As other have said, avoid Sheriffhall roundabout if you can.
Dr_Rick said:
Something else that hasn't been mentioned here, and is more than likely an obvious thing to those that live there.
CEC is introducing a wide ranging 20mph limit to the city's roads: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20243/20mph_for_e...
That'll affect a lot of private commuting times. The bus lanes may allow buses to function better, but Edinburgh isn't devoid of snarl ups involving buses / junctions. As other have said, avoid Sheriffhall roundabout if you can.
Like you say, the problem is that even though there are plenty of bus lanes, there are choke points that ruin them. I used to commute to Semple Street (just of Lothian Road) from the east side of the city - you'd easily be 15 minutes going from Waterloo Place to Shandwick place on a bad day. Sometimes I was sure you could walk it quicker.CEC is introducing a wide ranging 20mph limit to the city's roads: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20243/20mph_for_e...
That'll affect a lot of private commuting times. The bus lanes may allow buses to function better, but Edinburgh isn't devoid of snarl ups involving buses / junctions. As other have said, avoid Sheriffhall roundabout if you can.
The 20 limits, coupled with dreadful road surfaces (the cobbles on Calton Road are the bane of my existence) are two of the reasons I take this to work rather than this. The fact that the bike's usually quicker final nail in the coffin.
ad13 said:
The 20 limits, coupled with dreadful road surfaces (the cobbles on Calton Road are the bane of my existence) are two of the reasons I take this to work rather than this. The fact that the bike's usually quicker final nail in the coffin.
Thankfully, my commute between Port Seton and Haddington allows me to use my 'stang - it's made the journey far more pleasurable!Son moved from London last year to job in Edinburgh. Bought a house in Muireston area of Livingston which I had never heard of but is very nice. 10min walk to Livingston South Station and frequent, fast trains into Edinburgh. Plenty of nice walks and countryside but not so sure about restaurants.
cambuscat said:
Son moved from London last year to job in Edinburgh. Bought a house in Muireston area of Livingston which I had never heard of but is very nice. 10min walk to Livingston South Station and frequent, fast trains into Edinburgh. Plenty of nice walks and countryside but not so sure about restaurants.
Until 3yrs ago we lived in the sticks south of Murieston (effectively Haburn was our nearest village), and I did the train commute from Livi South to Edinburgh (for reference to our southern brethren, £1400 for an annual season ticket for about 30mins train into Waverley). Then I changed job and drove from Livi to just outside Glasgow.Main problem: senior schools are 'not that great'. So we had our two signed up for schools in Edinburgh, and at an early age this meant my wife part time worked and had a 1.5hr commute to do drop off, then a couple of hours free and then commute back. Not a sustainable model, so we moved into town.
Nice walks is possible, but that bit of the world is a hotspot for windfarms, which I don't agree with from a visual sense.
Restaurant, you're certainly limited as it's a new town. Much better to get the train into town and do it properly.
That being said, houses are cheaper, just properly research your area beforehand.
Linlithgow would offer similar benefits to Murieston if you wanted to go that way: train station <30 mins to town, but with the added advantage of a cultured high street and good academy. Maybe an option to consider. Heriots is a fair walk from a train station though so it would probably mean a 7 o'clockish train to get to work by 8?
Ok, so after having a good look around on Wednesday and Thursday I can almost certainly rule out anywhere outside of the bypass. The only possibility would be something within 5 minutes walk of Eskbank Station.
The majority of places outside the bypass might work for a young family but not for us as there is a dearth of good restaurants etc. Nearer the city centre there are plenty of green spaces to walk the dogs and a decent social life is a reasonable possibility.
If everything works out we will be moving in the summer, probably to one of the new build estates within 4 miles of the city centre.
The majority of places outside the bypass might work for a young family but not for us as there is a dearth of good restaurants etc. Nearer the city centre there are plenty of green spaces to walk the dogs and a decent social life is a reasonable possibility.
If everything works out we will be moving in the summer, probably to one of the new build estates within 4 miles of the city centre.
BubblesNW said:
Ok, so after having a good look around on Wednesday and Thursday I can almost certainly rule out anywhere outside of the bypass. The only possibility would be something within 5 minutes walk of Eskbank Station.
The majority of places outside the bypass might work for a young family but not for us as there is a dearth of good restaurants etc. Nearer the city centre there are plenty of green spaces to walk the dogs and a decent social life is a reasonable possibility.
If everything works out we will be moving in the summer, probably to one of the new build estates within 4 miles of the city centre.
What about Juniper Green? It's just outside the bypass, but it's quite nice. Has a nice mixture of little shops up its high street. Feels a little bit like a scaled-down Morningside Road. But maybe it's a bit close to Currie. Avoid Currie.The majority of places outside the bypass might work for a young family but not for us as there is a dearth of good restaurants etc. Nearer the city centre there are plenty of green spaces to walk the dogs and a decent social life is a reasonable possibility.
If everything works out we will be moving in the summer, probably to one of the new build estates within 4 miles of the city centre.
BubblesNW said:
Potentially moving to Edinburgh and looking for guidance on where to live and where to avoid. Looking for a 4 bed detached with separate garage or something similar in a nice area. Not fussed on schools etc just want somewhere with good restaurants and nice places to walk the dogs. Only used the internet to search so far and Liberton, Dalkeith, Straiton, Loanhead, Fairmiliehead and Colinton look possibilities. Any views on these or other areas within an area up to 3 miles outside the ring Road with approx 30 minute max commute to the city centre for an 8 to 6 working day. Thanks in advance.
Avoid Dalkeith, some would say that the council estates of Mayfield and Easthouses are full of wee chavs and junkies - who come into the nice bits to break into cars and houses. The main issue however, is all the new build properties being thrown together slightly further afield which makes travelling into/from town a total nightmare, as Sheriffhall roundabout and it's approaches are becoming beyond a joke at rush hour. Same goes for Straiton and Loanhead, but to a lesser extent.....Straiton, has Ikea, so the road is crowded at weekends too.pcvdriver said:
BubblesNW said:
Potentially moving to Edinburgh and looking for guidance on where to live and where to avoid. Looking for a 4 bed detached with separate garage or something similar in a nice area. Not fussed on schools etc just want somewhere with good restaurants and nice places to walk the dogs. Only used the internet to search so far and Liberton, Dalkeith, Straiton, Loanhead, Fairmiliehead and Colinton look possibilities. Any views on these or other areas within an area up to 3 miles outside the ring Road with approx 30 minute max commute to the city centre for an 8 to 6 working day. Thanks in advance.
Avoid Dalkeith, some would say that the council estates of Mayfield and Easthouses are full of wee chavs and junkies - who come into the nice bits to break into cars and houses. The main issue however, is all the new build properties being thrown together slightly further afield which makes travelling into/from town a total nightmare, as Sheriffhall roundabout and it's approaches are becoming beyond a joke at rush hour. Same goes for Straiton and Loanhead, but to a lesser extent.....Straiton, has Ikea, so the road is crowded at weekends too.I wouls day bonnyrigg/eskbank/lasswade suffer far less from those issues, and things like school catchments are better, plus eskbank train station & the 31 bus.
Just my view, I drove from the centre of Edinburgh straight out to Bonnyrigg inside half an hour at varying times of the day as a test when we last house hunted. It' not perfect, but vs a London commute it's heaven
ps agree on Straiton, the retail park/ikea/car dealers are expanding more and more and traffic is getting to be a real issue that way.
Edited by carparkno1 on Monday 13th February 13:27
carparkno1 said:
I would say East & South of Dalkeith is to be avoided, the woodburn, Mayfield type estates for sure.
Woodburn Miners Club was a real eye opener when i was under-age drinking. Never have i seen a womans fight like it since. Woman knocking ten shades of s
t out each other, with blood and hair everywhere. Then it cleared like nothing happened and the bingo fires up. It summed up the area perfectly. Gassing Station | Scotland | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff