[Mel]

Hi all 

I have not been on for a while, been so busy! Last year I was facing having to give everything up, then things changed so we decided to stay, however, my companions parents moved to Edinburgh late last year, unfortunately his father just passed away, with this in mind he would like to move closer to his mum.

However, I need reassurance regards the move, I have been looking at some places, some have been on the borders, some further towards Edinburgh, if any of you live in the Edinburgh area, please advise, what is it like to live there? Are there benefits to moving to Scotland?-as opposed to living where I am- nr Peterbrough.

I had noticed that properties are lower in price, and there are quite a few which look appealing, we are looking at renting for the time being- long term, bit of land and so forth- oh, if you know of anywhere going, please do let me know.

Thanks for any input!
 

[shygirl]

edinburgh is lovely, both the city and outskirts. beautiful hills. i spent many summers there as a kid, mainly at east lothian. happy memories of tower farm riding school. my friend had her pony at livery at a lovely yard. it was so windy it took 2 to open the field gates 

[Min]

I live there and I hate it. It has got very run down over the past few years, the council only care about spending all our council tax on more parties for the tourists and the entire centre has been completely dug up for the past few years while money is thrown into the hole and burnt. People who have lived there and subsequently moved out to the surrounding areas cannot believe the difference in the way they are treated by the local authorities. I cannot wait to get out.

Apart from that it's fine... 

[Min]

PS, wanna buy a house in Edinburgh at a hugely inflated price? 

[mojocafa]

Think very carefully.  There is a lot of uncertainty around Scotland's future at the moment.

[goosepimple]

Hi Mel, we live half an hour from Edinburgh near to Lauder and lived in Edinburgh for 13 years prior to that.
 
In a nutshell, Edinburgh is a beautiful city with all that a city has to offer and is brilliant around festival time in August.  Don't think you'd find a more cultural beautiful city.  But it is a city and getting in to it in the morning during rush hour is like any other city. 
 
East Lothian is pricey but nice, west of Edinburgh is full of commuter type places for people to Edin and Glasgow and not so nice.
 
Going south to Borders - Borders is beautiful and very safe if you are bringing up kids.  Less pricey than East Lothian and easier to get in to Edinburgh.  Around Pebbleshire is really lovely and you would find enough incomers there.  We moved to Jedburgh first of all - it was too far for an everyday commute and although a pretty town, we felt like incomers and remained so and it just wasn't for us, we eventually moved to where we are now which is nearer Edinburgh and has more incomers and people we feel more a connection with.
 
I do know people who have moved out of Edinburgh to the country and then moved back in again - I think you have to keep livestock and find a connection with the countryside otherwise you just become a commuter and spend too much time in the car, even if you have a bigger house.
 
People are land rich here where we are, most people in the borders keep horses and have a paddock at least and there are some good deals just now, not a lot is moving.  I wouldn't go any further south than St Boswells (a very nice conservation village) as commuting would be a drag any further than there.  The A68 is and easier commute than the A7 which is a real zig zag.
 
Think it's important to make friends on some level or at least find a connection with the people who live around you.  Everywhere is nice for a couple of years and then you start to analyse it.
 
You wouldn't go wrong in Edinburgh unless you want to keep livestock in which case I'd go either Borders or East Lothian  but not west. 
 
If you need any thoughts on anywhere you're looking at I'd be glad to throw an unbiased opinion.  Rettie, Hastings, CKDGalbriath, Edwin Thompson, are all the bigwigs here for property or there's the BSPC (Borders Solicitors Propery Centre) which is good but doesn't have a lot of the properties.  Not sure what you're looking for though 
 
 

[Rosemary]

Think very carefully.  There is a lot of uncertainty around Scotland's future at the moment.

Yes, do. There is a referendum on Scottish independence in September 2014 - if we get a much needed "Yes" vote, Scotland will become a fairer, greener and more equal country than it is at the moment. Not overnight - but it will come. The naysayers of the "No" campaign are operating a "Project Fear" full of doom and gloom but they are running out of steam.

Rest assured that the only way is up - there won't be border posts (regardless of what Ms May might say) and we'll make you welcome 

Edinburgh is a beautiful city - I was at University there. Like all cities, it has its good and bad areas and cutbacks in local government spending has had a detrimental effect. However, if you are looking for somewhere with land, then you won't be looking at living in the city itself. There are lots of lovely areas within easy travelling distance.

Angus is a bit far away maybe - about an hour and a half from Edinburgh (closer than Peterborough though  ) - happy to show you round here though.

[doganjo]

Think very carefully.  There is a lot of uncertainty around Scotland's future at the moment.

There is NO uncertainty at all.  Life will go on after the referendum just as it did before.  It will hardly affect any of us except that we will have more control over our own destiny.

Edinburgh is NOT a dump, it is a beautiful city, as are ALL our cities.  Like anywhere in teh world they are busy places, as big businesses are run from them. But you wouldn't be living in the city centre anyway.  I live half an hour from Edinburgh, and 45 minutes from Glasgow, 50 minutes from Dundee, 20 minutes from Stirling - we have a good railway and bus infrastructure,a s well as Park and Ride; so they can all be reached easily and quickly. 

Do not hesitate, Scotland is a wonderful place to live.

[happygolucky]

I moved from Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire, a beauty spot. ...Yet...no way would I want to go back there, I used to commute a lot to London, and as much as I enjoyed the buzz, everything else was tense and fake...now here, although there are some anti English...and please no one argue with that, but it's usually drunks or narrow minded people but it certainly makes life slightly different, saying that, me and my husband get loads of work offers and have made some genuine and wonderful Scottish friends who will do anything for you, in general, I find the Scots are much more welcoming, maybe due to the country not being so highly populated, in fact, the most racist experience I have had was in Glasgow from a high up worker.......if he had said what he said in Leicester, he would have been sacked......anyway, those type of people exist and always will pick on some one.


I work sometimes in Edinburgh and love it, it's a wonderful historic place crammed with culture, as is Glasgow, however, not a fan of city living but I would move and my move to the small places around in Midlothian etc.






I worry how things will change but cannot do much about that, even so...I want to end my days in his beautiful and friendly country....hope not for many many years..........anyway, our house is a bargain....

[Fleecewife]

I live south west of Edinburgh, within commuting distance.  The roads in are either the Lang Whang which is beautiful and takes you to the west of the city, or the A702 which is also beautiful but a bit busier and takes you in past the ski slope to the south of the city.
The landscape here is broad open rolling  hills, more grazing than cereal and other crops, so mixed farming
 
The soil hereabouts is volcanic and wonderful, but as goosepimple says, more to the west of Edinburgh, and of us, the soil is more acidic and boggy or heath.  To the east and all the way to the coast the soil is good.   Here we have no tourists, but as soon as you get towards Peebles tourist numbers increase.
 
Neighbours were very welcoming when we first arrived, but we have now been here so long that we are accepted as always having lived here, and in our turn we are welcoming to new arrivals.   Towards Glasgow is arguably a bit friendlier than Edinburgh, but the whole of Scotland seems a very friendly and welcoming place, especially if you can tone down a very English accent 
 
Prices are of course lower the further from the cities you go - we are equidistant from Edinburgh and Glasgow.   We are 13 miles from Lanark which has a train service to Glasgow, and further east the Borders Railway is on its way to being re-opened as a commuter service to Edinburgh.
The airport is to the west of Edinburgh, with connections to just about anywhere you want to go, and Glasgow has a major airport too, just to the north of that city.   Both have railway connections to England, with very fast services, down the east coast mainline from Edinburgh, and the west coast from Glasgow.   There is also a very frequent train service between the two cities.
 
The local climate varies greatly across the region, with the east being warmer and drier, the west wet - hence the more acid land.   We live right in the middle, so sometimes get it all from every side but just occasionally we have an island of sunshine when everywhere else has bad weather.
Being further north than England, of course the nights are a bit longer in winter, but shorter in summer than further south.   We tend to get more snow at higher altitudes, but closer to Edinburgh isn't quite so bad.
 
We lived in Edinburgh for many years before moving out, in fact we both went to Uni there.  Educationwise, Edinburgh has it all with two Universities, colleges, schools both posh and ordinary, loads of nurseries for working parents.  The Scottish education system is a bit different to down south but very good.
 
There are plenty of good areas to live but Edinburgh itself does, like any city, have some very poor and run-down areas which are best to avoid.  I don't want to name any on here in case someone on TAS lives there and I offend them 
 
North of the city quickly becomes the Forth.  It is possible to commute across the bridge (with a second crossing under construction), with house prices lower there.
 
We looked for two years for a suitable property, as most back then were sold either to prospecting builders or to people wanting grazing for horses, with prices above what we could afford.  We have had to do a lot to the house, but our little place is compact and cosy, with a beautiful view, mostly lovely neighbours and a couple of local towns where we do all our shopping.   We rarely go into the city centre since the tramline construction started, but it should soon be over.
 
Edinburgh and the surrounding area is a wonderful place to live 

[oor wullie]

I was brought up in Edinburgh and didn't really like it but that is because I am a teuchter at heart who likes quiet open spaces and was brought up right in the center of a busy city.  I can, however, see why so many people think the place is brilliant.
It is a very cosmopolitan city (sometimes thought of as the furthest North English city).  The surrounding areas have everything, depending on where you look - overpopulated industrial awfulness, pretty villages, seaside, hills, big arable areas, hill farming areas, commuter towns........

There is no more uncertainty as the the future in Scotland as there is anywhere else.  We might or might not be a member of the EU (either as an independent country or as part of the UK ( after their 2017 referendum)).  We might or might not have a AAA credit status (already lost by the UK).  Yes there are uncertainties about the future but on balance there are a lot more potential upsides than there are downsides in our future (if we can make the most of them).

[happygolucky]

I forgot to add, traffic is amazingly less, health service much much better, scenery is stunning even in run down areas, yes and that new train link on its way making commuting easier, I picked my daughter up from Edinburgh airport and was there in about half an our, the down side to living too near any city is house prices and living in and commuting to the it's...parking, there appears to be a high population of traffic wardens, I found it hard to pullover to look at my map without one appearing........the minus bits are midges, cooler damper weather and distance to Cornwall....I also miss the market's and of course family but people in general have made me and my husband welcome.....we are selling up but love the area we live in, again same distance from Edinburgh and Glasgow & Perth around. 32 mikes to the airports, then 9 to Stirling, Falkirk and Dunfermline........space, beauty and good living

[WhiteHorses]

I was persuaded by my partner to move to Edinburgh from rural North Oxfordshire last summer. I rented in Edinburgh itself initially and I really like the city, although there are bad estates/areas as with anywhere and the road surfaces are shocking. East Lothian the Pentlands and the Borders are lovely.

We now live in West Lothian about 30 mins drive outside. The land is not so good or pretty as east or south but we could afford to buy a house and 6 acres. I work in Edinburgh by could also commute to Glasgow.

If I'm honest I'm still homesick for the home counties and my family, but apart from more reasonable land prices, another up side is that generally people are very friendly, helpful and courteous up here. Plus open access makes for great walking and horse riding. My experience is very much as happygolucky says.

[ellied]

Scotland, with or without independence, offers free prescriptions, care for the elderly and a green agenda plus stunning scenery and fabulous company.  I have always found Glasgow folk friendlier than Edinburgh folk but in recent years I've been into Edinburgh more and got more from it, any city is a dump in places and horrific for traffic at peak times, but in any direction you can find land and affordable housing, not necessarily together but sometimes that too. 

I'm in the north of Fife and can drive to Edinburgh airport in 45 minutes, get a train to Waverley in an hour and only truly avoid the town in August during the festival which is amazing but truly horrendously packed.  You also have superb agricultural shows all over the area and the Highland Showground a great venue all year for farming related events.  Don't know if you have or plan kids but the education system is way better in my opinion, had far higher university attendance in Scotland than anywhere in UK for years (I worked in higher education here for 15 years) and there are plenty of native breeds that are still viable on smallholdings.

A friend of mine is selling a large house with 5 acres near West Calder (west of Edinburgh easy access to both Ed and Glasgow) and says that other than traffic making for difficult hacking with a novice pony, there are Oatridge Agricultural College nearby and fab vets at Lanark.  She's next door to a livery yard and is only moving because she's bought and bred too much and has ended up paying to keep her animals next door so might as well invest in somewhere bigger!  She's looking at Fife and Selkirk as within her OH's commute zone, but needs rail links as driving in with the tramworks and tourists takes some patience as in any city.

I've friends living in the city in tenement (flats) and nothing to do with smallholding, a mix of "normal" and "alternate" cultures co-exist and always loads to do.  Living in town would do my head in but I believe them when they say the social life is great.

Personally I think devolution has worked well, independence or no we have a great place to live, work, raise animals, kids, small businesses and friendships.  Every kind of stunning is within a day trip and flights to the south are still within day trip reach too - I used to fly from Edinburgh to East Midlands once a month for the weekend and then for odd days too for many years and rarely any hassle or inconvenience, so you won't lose touch with folk from your past unless you want to!

[happygolucky]

Ellie's, I lived  nearer to East Midlands than I do to Edinburgh and the drive to Edinburgh is lovely even in peak times, to East [size=78%]Midlands not great.....I fancy West Calder too, good train links and pretty rural.......rush hour up here is nothing to rush hour in England, that's the first thing I noticed and yes, the right to roam is wonderful.....I used to suffer with some sort of hay fever but hardly get it here........my only regret is not moving when my girls were young......[/size]