moving to Edinburgh - need advice on where to live

allezoops

I'm moving to Edinburgh in the new year with my wife and 1 year old son and I need some advice on where to live.

Ideally we want to rent somewhere close to the new Royal Infirmary in Little France as that's where the wife will be working. We're looking for a 2+ bed property for as close to £800pcm as possible.

Our other option is to buy straight away, it looks like there's some bargains to be had in Newtongrange, Gorebridge etc, what are these places like to live in, does anything happen, is there a nice community feel?

All advice is welcome

Allezoops

Cleat Eastwood

try Stoneybridge

from 3:28 in.

Stellite

I live in Bonnyrigg, near Gorebridge and Dalkeith.
Has good bus links to the town via a number of routes.
Houses are cheaper.
I also have a flat in Leith and its the same price as my house,
There are a few gyms and swimming pools etc, and plenty parks and country side.
I ride a lot from my house around the Borders, a Peebles loop is around 50 miles

nwallace

Lochgelly is Cheap, but I wouldn't recommend it.

daviesee

Lots of nice areas around Edinburgh but Newtongrange and Gorebridge are not two of them.

Cheap for a reason.

I have not looked at the market for a very long time so I couldn't advise on specific locations but do yourself a favour. Do not, even upon pain of death, fall for the "Try Fife, it's just across the water" nonsense. That route is a total bottleneck. I live in Ffie and would rather travel to Aberdeen than commute to Edinburgh. Look at East Lothian, Mid Lothian and south Edinburgh. The bypass is considered to be busy but not by down south standards.

Penicuik?

nwallace

daviesee wrote:

Lots of nice areas around Edinburgh but Newtongrange and Gorebridge are not two of them.

Cheap for a reason.

I have not looked at the market for a very long time so I couldn't advise on specific locations but do yourself a favour. Do not, even upon pain of death, fall for the "Try Fife, it's just across the water" nonsense. That route is a total bottleneck. I live in Ffie and would rather travel to Aberdeen than commute to Edinburgh.

at least the M9 spur is finally in place... Just in time for it to be made redundant my a whole new set of roads for the new bridge which is definitley... Probably... Maybe... Being built.

For fife, forget the fife circle area, theres trains that start at dundee, fill up at leuchars and then don't stop until haymarket. but you're still 1hr and a bit from waverly up here. (amd the same to aberdeen)

Mad Roadie

allezoops
Surrey, and commute weekends - that way you keep in touch with civilisation - there was a reason the Roman's built a wall

neilo23

There's a nice place on top of Arthur's Seat

holmeboy

Musselburgh? You can cycle into Town from there.

holmeboy

Prestonpans, reachable by bike too. There a number of new estates in East Lothain, above mentioned, Tranent Haddington Dunbar East Linton all close to the A1 for access into Auld Reekie!

holmeboy

Wallyford on outskirts has a park and ride.

andyrr

How close to the hospital is 'close' ?
On the outskirts of Edinburgh East Lothian tends to be more expensive than Midlothian, we moved from Musselburgh to just South of Dalkeith a few years ago and could not have afforded the same size house in East Lothian as we got then.
Bonnyrigg / Penicuik / Longniddry are worth a look.
The road through Wallyford is like the surface of the moon - shocking state, not the prettiest town around - wouldn't be my personal choice of place to live. Tranent and Prestonpans - similar small towns.
If places like Gorebridge and Newtongrange themselves are not to your liking then looking at the edges of places like these is maybe worth a shot - 2 fairly new estates at the South-end of Bonnyrigg, new houses just built / and being built at the West side of Gorebridge.
Easy bus link to Edinburgh centre along the A7, under 10 miles for cycle-commute. Easy access to borders and East Lothian roads for riding.
Penicuik is on the West side, in experience it tends to get pretty cold wintery weather - guess as it's sides on to the Pentland Hills, maybe also a busier route in to the city than the A7..

allezoops

thanks everyone!

The reason for proximity to the hospital is that my wife can't drive (yet) so is reliant on public transport and we want to minimise the amount of time our wee boy spends in childcare. We both have fairly demanding jobs and I may be working away during the week in future.

Mad Roadie, I'm afraid I came from the wrong side of that particular wall 10 years ago so it's got slightly more of a draw than Surrey...

I'm up this weekend so will have a drive around some of these places...

My wife is leaning more towards a flat on the southside of town Morningside/Marchmont/Meadows/Newington etc.

andyrr

Flats in those areas are fairly sought after as there are loads of students taking these, there are some nice ones though and the obvious advantages of plentiful buses, probably a choice of nurseries, schools etc
Heading out of the centre has it's advantages (the space, house size) but the obvious disadvantages of distance from the centre/place of work too.

daviesee

allezoops wrote:

The reason for proximity to the hospital is that my wife can't drive (yet) so is reliant on public transport and we want to minimise the amount of time our wee boy spends in childcare. We both have fairly demanding jobs and I may be working away during the week in future.

That will narrow it down significantly.
Simply check out the bus routes.
Although given the hospital staff car parking fees :evil: , these areas may well be at inflated prices.

upperoilcan

Dont rule out Muirhouse.............It's a lovely part of town. :shock:

godin

My wife is leaning more towards a flat on the southside of town Morningside/Marchmont/Meadows/Newington etc.

Just leaving the Meadows side of Marchmont, and I can really recommend the area. If you like good food and cycling, you can't beat it.

Places to check out:

The Bicycle Works
Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative
The veg stores around Argyle Place / Warrender Park Road
Eddies (fish)
Saundersons (butcher - Tollcross)
Cloisters (pub - Tollcross)
The Cask and Barrel (pub)
Peters Yard (bakery, quality coffee, great ice cream)
Peter Green (Wine)

There are also some nice stores up in Bruntsfield, which is close by.

You also have easy access to the union canal, which takes you out to the Pentlands (via the Water of Leith). Great mountain biking.

The flats in the tenament buildings south of the Meadows should be within your budget. The area has a reputation for being just students, but that has changed.

There is also at least one direct bus to Little France nearby, and the whole city center is within walking distance,



Jonas

thegreatdivide

Edinburgh also has Ronde which is the best bike shop I've ever seen

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ronde-Bic ... 04?sk=info

Redhog14

Edinbugrh is in no more than a small city and provded you don't have a car is easy to get around.
The Fife circle is not the big bad thing suggested here by nwallace - I use it everyday via Dunfermline and have encountered no real issues (apart from Fifers obviously!) but if the Hospital is your focus then it is on the other side of town from the main stations.

You might consider going East Lothian - Haddington N Berwicketc, nice little towns or maybe the borders towns, certainly Penicuik or even Peebles. A bit closer in is Musselburgh or Joppa - which I like just cause of the name.

Got to laugh at MadRoadie thinking that the Zoo that is the SE of England is somehow more civilized than any decent part of Scotland, if he has not experienced our great hospitality it is only because our genetic programming of being able to sniff out twats of any nation overrides.
Welcome back brother!

bompington

Edinburgh isn't immune to modern day social ills, you know

blim

I used to live in Newtongrange. It has a nice community feel, being an old mining village, but we got fed up with neds throwing things at our doors and windows :x

We're now in Eskbank, five minutes down the road. Much nicer. But pricier too, obviously. Both are a 30 minute bus trip or cycle to central Edinburgh, Eskbank (being part of Dalkeith) better served by buses than Newtongrange was. Park & Ride at Sherrifhall is handy.

Plus, from a cycling point of view, just a few miles and you're into lovely countryside: Lammermuirs, Moorfoots, etc.

allezoops

Thanks again everyone, this is all good food for thought.

I'm gonna go for a wee tour on Saturday and check these places out

greenbogey

if your after edinburgh with style then you will be moving to glasgow. Scotland's most boho and friendly city.[/b]

nwallace

greenbogey wrote:

if your after edinburgh with style then you will be moving to glasgow. Scotland's most boho and friendly city.[/b]

Awa an dinnae tak pish.


:P

cyclopath

nwallace wrote:

greenbogey wrote:

if your after edinburgh with style then you will be moving to glasgow. Scotland's most boho and friendly city.[/b]

Awa an dinnae tak pish, ken.


Crying out for an edit.



:P

nwallace

I'm a Fifer/Dundonian.
So more likely Awa an dinnae tak pish, yahoor... EH!

THere's something about Glasgow I don't like, the central area is actually really nice, but then there's miles and miles of schemes until you get to the nice bits again.

sumosprintstar

Just live in Falkirk and you are central for everything and have access to great cycling country.

fnb1

Ayei f you are moving to Embra, best place by far to find somewhere to live is a small fishing village slightly west of there named Glasgow! .

The Sots only really built Edninburgh for the Tourists to keep them away from the rest of the country