Me + OH currently live in Dunfermline, but both work in central Edinburgh. We’re both fed up of the commute and are hoping to move somewhere closer, preferably with a decent LRT bus service into the city. My OH loves the city, but I’d be glad of peace and quiet and countryside.

There’s only two of us, so are looking for a cottage, rather than a large family home. We reckon some of the towns south of Edinburgh, like Gorebridge, etc might be a good compromise, but don’t know the area particularly well. So aren’t too familiar with where’s nice or not.

Portugal.

We’re currently looking for somewhere in that neck of the woods too, think we’re settling on Penicuik. Buses from there and Bonnyrigg way seem decent plus the borders railway will be opening relatively soon and will certainly run through Gorebridge (not sure on stations though). If you are considering a new build have a look at Mansell Homes’ site on Lady Brae, some decent houses and good build build quality (I’ve worked on the site a bit).

How about Musselburgh? Good transport links and close to the open country of East Lothian. Probably a bit nicer than Gorebridge?

Portugal.

Too hot 😉

We haven’t ruled out a new build yet, but most seem to be family homes, we only really need two bedrooms [current house has 3], but don’t want a flat either. Thanks for the Borders railway tip, definitely something to take into account.

There are a lot of nice spots to the east of Gorebridge, over towards Pathhead, (Dewarton, Crighton area) depends how rural you want to go I suppose. Bits of Penicuik are nice although much of it consists of souless housing estates, a bit further out you have West Linton which is nice, but I’d imagine pretty expensive due to its desirability.

Peebles would be an obvious place for someone with an interest in mtb to move to but might be a bit far out, lovely place though.

Borders Rail Link very unlikely to be finished on time btw (dec 2014), if that would be a factor in your decision. Will be a muckle white elephant when finished as well.

further along coast?

E Lothian, e.g. Dunbar would give you rail access right into town centre. And easy access to head south, too.

Haddington? East of the city on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills, about a 30 minute commute in on the A1. Maybe not much difference from Dunfermline but you avoid the bridge.

Or even in places like Colinton, Balerno you get a village feel but pretty close to the city. Water of Leith takes you right out to the Pentlands too.

I was gonna suggest Balerno but cottages are hard to come by and over-priced. Nice area though, with good bus link and easy access to trails.

‘Village feel’ is a good description of what we’d like I think. As nice as Peebles, North Berwick, Dunbar, etc are, I think they’re probably a bit far out for us. I guess we’re looking for somewhere on the edge of the city. What are Currie/Balerno like?

My OH doesn’t drive, but is much more sociable than I am :), with lots of friends in the city, hence the bus/rail requirement. My plan is to be out riding whilst she’s doing her thing, the area seems pretty well catered for in that regard.

OP – can’t really suggest anywhere south of Edinburgh as it’s not an area I have lived in. I would be interested though in the difficulties you have with the commute into the city. Do you currently take the train in, drive or cycle in?

I have been doing a mixture of cycling, driving and getting the train from Dunfermline Town station for the last 5 years and with the exception with times of bad weather and accidents, I’ve never really had any issues. I took me 30 minutes to drive in this morning from near East End Park, but then again I don’t work 9-5 and tend to work 8-4 or 10-6. Is there the opportunity to amend your working hours to make the commute less painful?

Further to my post above, I’ve definitely found trying to have a decent night out in Edinburgh and using public transport from Fife is a total pain in the aris. The last train to the Fife circle is way too early.

I used to live in the Pentlands near Penicuik and either rode into town to work or took the 15A from the Bush Estate, the bus is slow, no getting around it, though the little white bus (Macewans) is good and serves several towns south of Edinburgh – I used to get that one home and get off on the A702. Taxis home after a night out were a bit of a pain and the drivers hated taking you out that far, they’d grumble about additional charges and so on. We’d end up taking turns to drive and having arguments about who did it last time etc!

Not sure I would want to live in Penicuik itself though.

There are some amazing little places in East Lothian that aren’t too much of a commute in to town.

Borders Railway is worth bearing in mind long term, though last I heard is they couldn’t find anyone willing to build it so it is a bit behind schedule now.

Mr Grim. We car share, which means we have less flexibility in when we can leave in the morning/night, etc. We do a mixture of car/bus ATM. The OH used to get the train, but it’s unreliable and expensive. It seems at the moment that between rush hour traffic/tram work/bridge/bus timetables it’s one thing after another. Coupled with the fact that the OH works across town from me, it’s makes for a long day.

How long is the cycle commute in your experience?

The cycle commute is faster on the way in than back. About 60-70 minutes going in usually and that’s taking my time. I work in the centre, near Haymarket. I can imagine the car share combined with different work places would be a pain. At least I only need to think about myself.

suppose it depends on budget, and your preferences, but Bonnyrigg might fit the bill? or Lasswade if you’re feeling flush!

No, not feeling flush. 😉

Our budget is probably up to around £250k max.

What are Currie/Balerno like?

Both very pleasant in the right streets, and you can should be able to get 2 bed cottages for your budget just outside both. We looked at a 3 bed cottage last year for your budget although decided not to go for it, as it had other issues. Bus service from there is excellent and a good distance for cycle commuting too.

Currie / Balerno / Juniper Green / Colinton / Bonaly all worth a look for “village feel” (all used to be separate villages before being swept up by the expanding city), although the majority of houses in those would not be described as “in the country”.

This is all good stuff, thanks all.
Anyone got a spare £25k for a deposit? 😉