Nice places to live around Edinburgh

[BubblesNW]

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.

[BubblesNW]

Planning to drive to the city centre near to George Heriots school. How bad is the traffic?

[BubblesNW]

Traffic apart, what are your thoughts on the various areas I mentioned in my first post? Thanks.

[BubblesNW]

Thanks, the link above covers pretty much what I was looking for.

[BubblesNW]

Patch1875 said:

If possible I would try to get somewhere in Edinburgh, lots of green space, walkways etc and easy access to all the restaurants.

Bus to get you to work.

We moved back in this year to Murrayfield from 10 years in East Lothian loving it even though some of the places mentioned are close you still feel a bit remote and can be a pain having to use the car more often.

I have done a bit of research and found identical houses - one in Liberton (3.2 miles from the city centre) at £575k and the other 5 minutes walk from Eskbank railway station (7.2 miles from the city centre) for £460k. Does moving 4 miles closer really justify a 25% or £115k increase?

[BubblesNW]

brrapp said:

BubblesNW said:

Does moving 4 miles closer really justify a 25% or £115k increase?

Try asking that of someone who lives in Kensington or St Johns Wood or similar.

You can't seriously compare the London and Edinburgh property markets. For a start there are at least one extra zeros on the price. I would put Edinburgh on a par with somewhere like Bristol, a small city with mainly nice places and some not so nice.

[BubblesNW]

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!

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.

[BubblesNW]

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.