I may have to live in Scotland for an extended period of time with work, perhaps perm. The job is mobile but is mainly in the central areas from kilmarnock up as far as Dundee. Where would be a recommended area to start looking for rental houses with a view to buying if things work out. I would prefer to live outside of the large cities but be close to a decent sized town at the same time.

Edinburgh,

want a hand moving in?

Which side of the Forth do you need to be working – and then live there.

'Burgh seems obvious.

But how about Dollar?

I wouldn't live in a small town in the central belt if my life depended on it.

Glasgow all the way. Edinburgh at a push.

what bob said.

Edinburgh all the way. Glasgow at a push though. 8)

Stirling, or some of the surrounding areas. ie Dunblane, Larbert, Gargunnock, Bridge of Allan. Handy for Carron Valley etc. Depends on how urban or otherwise you want.

Loads of nice stuff around Stirling.

Edinburgh – but its expensive. Its the best place in the UK to live IMO

Many folk like Stirling and it does have good transport links and decent local riding. I am not so keen on it tho. Neither fish nor fowl as it were

Avoid the towns between Glasgow and Edinburgh – all rather nasty IME / IMO

Is peebles to far south? – right next to Glentress and a nice wee town that is still a real town with a real high street. No train or motorways near tho

I remember Dollar and maybe Alva being indeed quite nice, with Stirling being close-by as your local town, and decent MTBing on your doorstep, but lived in Edinburgh myself and would go again.

I have lived in both Edinburgh and Peebles and can vouch that they are both fine places for different reasons.

Edinburgh and Glasgow aside, as a rule anywhere within 15 miles of the M8 is to be avoided. Although I am sure there are some perfectly nice people that live in those places.

I really like Edinburgh but I reckon it will probably be too expensive from my brief look at rental sites. Location wise Stirling and around would be quite handy. BurnBob I'll check out those places you mentioned. I think Peebles is a little too far south.

Is it worth looking around Falkirk area?

Falkirk (shudder).

Linlithgow is nice, and on a train line.

Edinbrugh – if you want your own flat its £450+ a month rental. I rent out a very nice studio flat for £500 including bills

I wouldn't look around falkirk. Stirling would be better. IMO

Blindmelon, no probs. There are so many different parts of Stirling and surrounding towns which all differ slightly price wise, and of course some to avoid. Again with Falkirk there are some nice parts. Let me know if I can help any further. cheers.

>I wouldn't live in a small town in the central belt if my life depended on it.

Glasgow all the way. Edinburgh at a push. <

Dont be such an arse…

How am I an arse for not wanting to live in a dismal town full of knuckle dragging inbreds?

Unless you are of course one of the knuckle dragging inbreds I laugh at on a daily basis?

Central belt is fine if you want the option of being in either Edinburgh or Glasgow in 40mins max. Avoid anywhere largely populated by arseholes, there's a large nature reserve just south of the Forth that's used to keep them all in one place.

I'd also avoid moving back to Glasgow, the over inflated property prices as all the adopted weegies move to the newest hot spot make the property market very tough to judge.

You'll get much more bang for your buck in the central region and have the benefit of getting into either city as and when required.

[/quote]How am I an arse for not wanting to live in a dismal town full of knuckle dragging inbreds?

Unless you are of course one of the knuckle dragging inbreds I laugh at on a daily basis?

I spent my first 30 years in Renfrew,Paisley and Erskine(all places you could easily get a kicking for minding your own business), I have spent the last 10 in Falkirk and it is by far the better place.where have you stayed bob

If Falkirk is a better place, I'd hate to live in Renfrew/Paisley/Erskine…

Use to visit Falkirk when I worked for Alcan, it was miserable then – I can't imagine its improved that much?

>How am I an arse for not wanting to live in a dismal town full of knuckle dragging inbreds?

Unless you are of course one of the knuckle dragging inbreds I laugh at on a daily basis? <

Naw you're right Bob, you're a bigger arse than two arses…

There are a few decent places in the central belt other than Edinburgh and (at a push) Glasgow. Linlithgow is very nice indeed, Stirling and several of the surrounding areas are good, Biggar is nice and some bits of Falkirk are ok. Dollar has a good school and some nice surroundings.

Where I am (on the western edge of Edinburgh at the base of the Pentlands) is the best place to live in Central Scotland IMHO. I'd still like to move up to the north west of Scotland at some point thoigh.

As in Alcan at Bainsford, its hardly surprising you don't rate it 😆

Bainsford isn't one of the bits of Falkirk I'd regard as ok. Many years ago I used to play for Bainsford Juniors football team though!

What about Fife, lovely towards St Andrews/ East Neuk? Good links both road and rail.

Crook of Devon (but it's not on Google Streetview, so maybe not)

Contrary to the predictable, chippy, provincial comments from the good Burghers of both Glesga and Embra there are actually good places within Central Scotland within which to live…

My mid week work flat is in Falkirk and it aint that bad, the only pain is when you get onto the train and suffer the snobs from Edinburgh or Glasgow (mind you I'm from Dundee and my main home is Dumfries so what do I know).

There are plenty holes in the central belt but plenty nice spots as well.

You will pay for staying in the nicer parts such as linlithgow, Dunblane etc. But if you are looking for a base from which to travel and bike then there is plenty to choose from – Falkirk, Stirling etc.

Killin is a teeming metropolis at the heart of a huge, wild and varied riding, boating, walking and climbing area.*
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*some of this statement is correct.

Fife is great. Have a look at Burntisland, Kirkcaldy. 15 minutes to the Forth Road Bridge. M90 & M8

Heather Bash – Member
Contrary to the predictable, chippy, provincial comments from the good Burghers of both Glesga and Embra there are actually good places within Central Scotland within which to live…

And contrary to the above, I live in Edinburgh and recommended Stirling. 🙄

Still working on that inferiority complex?

Kingdom of Fife.

Lots of good riding within easy reach, both north and south, as well as on the doorstep.

Pretty cheap compared to Edinburgh or Glasgow and very easy to get to the bright lights of the big city to stare slack-jawed at all the big buildings and the shops and the motor cars and…

Killin certainly stretches the Central Belt theme somewhat… 😉

Returning to the OP:

> I would prefer to live outside of the large cities <

Depends how much of your work is South of Glesga – getting through it on the M8 is taxing.

>And contrary to the above, I live in Edinburgh and recommended Stirling,

Awwwww, thats soooo big of you…

>Still working on that inferiority complex?<

Not at all but you conform nicely to the Edb stereotype..

Contrary to the predictable, chippy, provincial comments from the good Burghers of both Glesga and Embra there are actually good places within Central Scotland within which to live…

But clearly not any which you are volunteering to recommend, but I'm sure you will now, now that I've egged you on…

I live and primarily work in Edinburgh, but we are involved in sites from Inverkip, Kilmarnock, Dumbarton in the west, through the central belt, Fife and Dundee, and down into the Borders (Peebles, Kelso, Galashiels etc.). There are very few places outside East of Scotland which I'd choose to live in, having visited many through work! Around Stirling is nice, Falkirk and surrounding area is not too bad, some bits of Fife are nice (I laughed at someone suggesting Kirkcaldy 😆 )

If you avoid the M8 corridor then you'll probably be alright – depends where you already live and what you're comparing to! Edinburgh or Stirling are probably the sweet-spots though…

Naw you're right Bob, you're a bigger arse than two arses…

Night night.

Enjoy pumping your sister.

I live in a small town between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Bo'ness. It's a weird dump of a Place but I like it. Pubs are mostly rubbish. There's nowt to do. There's loads of bampots. But it's my hometown and it's full of my family and pals and i wouldn't live anywhere else. Difficult to be objective about other places but I spend a lot of time all over central belt andnid say the stirling area has about the most to offer. Keep out of Lanarkshire IME and fife, while nice, is full of weirdos. But then that's what people from outside my area probably says about us.

and fife, while nice, is full of weirdos

That's just me. It has a fairly proportional bampot demographic too.

Algarvebairn I always assumed you were in Portugal 😆

Linlithgow worth a look. 5 minutes from the M9 and 20 minutes from the M8, trains every 30 minutes to Edinburgh and Glasgow.