Sell it to me!
(I don't think it needs much selling tbh)
Various things. Housing, transport (can I get away without using the car) Town v outskirts, cost of living, stuff like nice restaurants. Areas to completely avoid, areas that are just silly money. What is the traffic like at 8am compared to the m25.
And of course, the riding.
Is there a job waiting, and roughly where is it?
Traffic.
The bypass can be a big car park but more folk live in London than Scotland. It's only two lanes.
Loads of decent areas. Pentlands to the south, Forth to the north.
Glentress about 30 mins from the city bypass.
Loads of inner city riding (MTB) that stretches out to the rest of the Lothians.
Road riding round East Lothian can be very quiet.
Decent bus network, trams, a few train lines.
There's a potential and I'm not sure exactly will find out
Apparently near the uni.
Are you a fair weather person or can you cope with being cold? The further north you get, the colder it gets. I wanted South Edinburgh as well but I'm nesh so we went for Lancashire/Cumbria instead and very glad I did whenever I go further north, about 5 degrees colder in the Caingorms than it was at home a few weeks ago.
Well I'm from Fife and today at 930am there was slow traffic coming down hill queue started as I crossed the river almond all the way to Clermiston rd 2 maybe 3 miles took ficking ages all due to a lane closed for 50 yards to repair tarmac at a bus stop, why can't they do it overnight?
I like Edinburgh but hate driving there
As someone from the south east that now lives much closer to Edinburgh I can definitely say it would be a good move, can't help on where in Edinburgh mind!
so we went for Lancashire/Cumbria instead and very glad I did whenever I go further north, about 5 degrees colder in the Caingorms than it was at home a few weeks ago.
TBH it's about 5 degrees colder in the Cairngorms than it is in Inverness.
Fife and west Lothian are generally cheaper than Edinburgh but the traffic into town from out with can be a pain. I could commute across town by bike quicker than by car via either town or the bypass.
There are campuses all over town as well
Someone who did this recently told me: don't buy more land than you want to be responsible for. Land is work. Nice problem he had with the money from selling up in the south east though!
Is most of Heriot Watt based at the main campus outside the ring road? Still only a couple of miles from the nearest station.
I’m nesh so we went for Lancashire/Cumbria instead and very glad I did whenever I go further north, about 5 degrees colder in the Caingorms
where you get twice as many rainy days. Edinburgh is on average 2 degrees colder than london - but that is a lot
Edinburgh. Its a very dry climate - the only part of the UK that is drier is Kent. Its cold tho when you get the easterlies - they come straight from Siberia. Housing and living is expensive. traffic is awful. cycling is good so long as you can ride assertively on the urban roads. Its a beautiful city and very compact. I can be in countryside in any direction in 40 mins on my bike - much less in some directions
Pentlands are decent natural riding
For me - and I chose to live here- its the best city in the UK to live in and many surveys agree. Its ( for Scotland) cosmopolitan. It has everything you need in a city but its small enough to get out of when needed. It also so easy on the eye and wherever you are you get vistas and views
the suburbs like all suburbs are awful. If you are going to do it live in the city FFS. I have 25 pubs and restaurants withing 400mof my door - and 3 of them have michelin stars. Good bike shops as well. I get 30 buses an hour past my door. I have easy access to trains.
I love it. 30 odd years I have been here. I lived in London and Manchester as well - and Edinburgh is so much better its not funny
Where in Edinburgh? How much money do you have? Can you afford a house not a flat? Most of Edinburgh is old flats. Where there are houses they are expensive unless you want a 30s bungalow
If you can afford a house then Trinity ( cheapest nice houses in the city). If you want to be right close to the centre them southside / bruntsfeild / morningside. But Leith where I live is where its at. flats only tho.
You need to find a house in Boswall. It’s the buffer zone between the Bourgeoisie and the Hoi Polloi. Joking aside, Edinburgh is easy to move around it’s just a nightmare to get in and out of ( take it from someone who has driven in it every day for 20 years) What campus are you heading to as there is ones all over the city. If Herriot Watt then Currie, Balerno. If QMU then Musselburgh and Portobello would be ideal
A little unfair on the suburbs, there, TJ, especially as OP sounds like they don't live in London itself (so probably a suburb). To be fair, a lot depends on how much cash you have.
It's not exactly that the weather is much worse. It's more that it is much gloomier for longer, and you don't get the bright sunny summer says you get in colder climes.
The road traffic is awful. Do whatever you can to walk, ride or train to work.
The cost of living isn't very different to the southeast. It's a great place to live if you're very sporty and/or you can live in a seaside town or suburb.
its near the airport if that helps.
been looking at houses the same as my mid terraced in a town in essex 35 miles from london and i can get a detached place with a garage. i dont necessarily want one though. so you have ulez? i like to keep cars going for decades ideally, so mine is quite old. is commuting on a rev and go scooter realistic if its a bit further out? its a no no in london you will get stabbed for it. and of course just run over by an suv.
politecameraaction - nah - not really. All suburbs are awful places. Edinburgh particularly so. 🙂 Jeepers - they are nearly as bad as dutch suburbs and they are truly frightening. Want to live in the city then do so and enjoy it. Or else live in a town or a village or out in the sticks.
Its also a very sunny city. Yes winters are dark for longer but the summers more than make up for it
To be sensible for a moment - I think the key thing for the OP is where he is going to be working.
Near the airport? then you certainly want to be that side of town and as much as I hate to say it Balerno / Currie / Juniper Green maybe? Getting in and out of the city that side can be and often does get really jammed up - tho going against the main traffic ie out of the city in the morning is not so bad. Depending on where you end up a nice cycle commute could be a possibility. The water of leith walkway and the canal both make good options
Edit: ULEZ might well be coming - and in the city Boswell is a good call.at least one STWer lives there
Edit2: A scooter would be fine. You are unlikely to get stabbed for it but SUVs are the same plague here. But remember winters and traffic!
The LEZ will only really bother you if driving through the centre and you can find the map on the council website. I wouldn't want to travel from the east to Heriot Watt which I'm guessing is the Uni in question. Wester Hailes and Shitehill are two of the less attractive parts of the city. Because Edinburgh is so small the really nice parts are next door to some of the roughest areas. Fettes is literally within spitting distance of Pilton. Same in TJ's beloved Leith. Although a true spoon burner will tell you Leith isn't part of Edinburgh.
We live in Colinton (south west). Can't think of anywhere in the UK I'd rather be.
We can walk to the city centre in an hour and a quarter, or take a regular bus in 20 minutes. A 30 second bike ride or 5 minute walk has us in the Pentlands, with a huge amount of scope for walking, riding, running, swimming, paddle boarding, skiing etc.
A 2 minute drive and we are on the bypass, 15 minutes more to the airport and 2 or 3 hours later up in the Highlands. Glentress is 40 minutes away. Likewise East Lothian with tons of great beaches.
You can eat in a different restaurant in Edinburgh every night of the year and not get bored. If culture is your thing you have loads all year round as well as the world's biggest arts festival. Bypass traffic can get busy but nothing even close to the M25. Edinburgh city centre is beautiful, and everywhere can be walked to.
Yes it's a bit colder than London, but no big deal and given the way the climate is changing Edinburgh is only going to improve. And if anyone from the Edinburgh Tourist Board is reading this I'll expect a cheque in the post thank you.
Oh and ignore the guff about the suburbs, they are fine places to live. Edinburgh is small enough that the suburbs are close enough to the centre.
I'm going to stick up for the suburbs. Much more space for your money and generally quicker and easier to get to places further afield for biking. Depends how much you want the city life of pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants, theatres, events etc and how often you use them.
It probably takes TJ at least 30mins more travel time to get to Glentress than for someone living outside the bypass.
If you're near the airport then have a look at South Queensferry, Kirkliston, Dalmeny maybe out as far as Winchburgh / Linlithgow.
Oh and ignore the guff about the suburbs, they are fine places to live. And Edinburgh is small enough that the suburbs are close enough to the centre.
he is right really - and Colington is not a bad choice choice with a job that side if you can afford it, Still not leith tho 😉
It probably takes TJ at least 30mins more travel time to get to Glentress than for someone living outside the bypass.
significantly more as I don't own a car 🙂
My son ran The Boundary pub on Leith Walk for a couple of years before some lunatic bought it and re-named it The Beer Hoos. The boundary between Edinburgh and Leith splits the pub in half, rumour has it they're turning it back to its origins. He rents in Leith, one bedroom 4th floor flat costs him 700 per month; nothing flash either. He loves it, as do we. Massive change in vibe over the last 5yrs in Leith, for the better imo.
Op, what is it about Berwickshire that makes you want to leave and move to Edinburgh?
If you are working out the airport side then maybe barnton/braepark or corstorphine areas might be worth a look, there was a load of new builds going up near the barnton roundabout (when I was last there in the summer). I used to live in Liberton (but you get Gilmerton as your neighbour), it was handy for the bypass but wouldn’t want to be driving the buy pass everyday and on the right side of the city for the Pentlands. A lot depends on what lifestyle you want, my mates lived in the city (cannonmills/leithwalk areas) and had a different lifestyle (as TJ said cafes pubs etc all in walking distance) I relied more on cabs/buses to get into town and shops etc and did feel more out the way but got a much nicer place for my money being that wee bit further out. No idea about house prices now, I just remember I sold my wee flat for £96k in 2001( and a nice profit at the time) It’s now worth around £250k!!
Edinburgh is great, truly. Lived in leith 8 years, it rocks. Downside is entering and exiting as you have to go across the city one way or another. Getting out to east Lothian is the easiest route. You can walk or bike into the heart of the city in no time.
However.
Traffic around the bypass sucks the big one.
Air quality is a concern
Traffic is ghastly across town. Bikes are essential, there are good cycle networks although not necessarily on roads
Personally if it wasn't leith then next stop would be fife, although as my neighbour used to inform me, "they'd have the sugar out of your tea"
Tldr:I now live in the Highlands 😀
edit - crap link
search on here to get an idea of house prices
Seriously I would look for a nice house with a nice cycle route within 5 miles of work - you will get plenty of nice choices.
I live in south Edinburgh in a suburb called Buckstone (sorry TJ 🤣). I've lived in Leith and the city centre too. Edinburgh is a great place to live, especially if you like riding bikes. As mentioned Colinton's nice, as is near by Bonaly. Other nice, but expensive, areas are Stockbridge, Morningside and Marchmont/Bruntsfield. Crammond is nice too but further out to the west, but if you're working near the airport that works. South Queensferry might be worth a look too. Just outside of Edinburgh Rosslyn would be my pick. From where I live I can be riding trails in under 5 minutes from the door. The Morton hall estate, Braid and Blackford hills are covered in trails and there's more urban singletrack on Costorphine and Craigmillar hills. As mentioned the Pentlands are great for old school mtbing and the Tweed Valley isn't far. As far as restaurants and night life go it's pretty well catered for.
I moved from Buckinghamshire to Edinburgh in 1999 for 12 months. I ended up staying for 6 years and then moved to the Scottish Borders. I absolutely love Edinburgh and think it’s the best city in the UK to live in. I would never move back down south.
Porter_jamie - your location is a bit vague near the Uni and near the airport sounds like it’s maybe on the research park at Heriot Watt (Riccarton) but it could be something near Napier’s sighthill campus or you are measuring “near” on London scales and it’s one of about four other campuses!
Edinburgh and the surrounds have a lot going for them but exactly where is optimal for you depends on what you do when not at work (presumably at least partly ride bikes). Are there kids or a partner to consider? Is going out for food or drinks a two/three times a week event or a Saturday night only, or special occasions. Do you want to get out the city and into real mountains (TJs beloved Leith becomes a pita for that), every weekend or a handful of times a year? Is a nice house important or a cheap house? Is the job 5 days in an office or weird shifts when busses might not run or hybrid? Etc
I also think the traffic isn't anything like as bad as it was before the pandemic. You can always use Google maps to get an idea of travel times.
Poly, yes sorry not exactly sure I the address details to follow but I believe on that park.
Missus and dog, not straight away. Probably rent or house share to start with. Being able to walk dog from front door ideal, same with MTB. Being able to cycle to work traffic free would be perfect. Going out occasionally nice. I would have to come and look re houses ideally off-road parking for 2 and a garage to store my junk.
Traffic is and will forever be totally horrific. I've lived in Edinburgh for nearly 17 years and I can't remember one part of that time when some critical part of the city isn't being dug up, traffic re-routed etc. etc. Nightmare. I grew up in central London and I think Edinburgh is worse.
Lots else going for it but it is DARK in the winter. Much much darker than down south. That gets me much more than the weather.
Do you have to take into account things like kids and schools? Free uni for Scottish residents could be a big plus, Edinburgh’s overwhelming fee paying primary/high schools might be a minus.
TJs balerno, curry, juniper green are your easiest nice areas that allow easy access to town, work and pentlands.
It does sound like Heriot Watt.
There's not many cities I think I could live in. Edinburgh is one.
We too moved from England to Scotland - and I'm never going back. There's something different about attitudes and society up here, people are incredibly friendly, the proximity to nature and access to 'wilds' is just amazing.
Balerno weather is different from the city weather X2 the amount of rain
Matt +1
We've been in Colinton now for 13 years and wouldn't be anywhere else in the city. The kids have an awesome school, we've got a great community and overall it's a great place to live. We can get out the city fast for riding, walking, driving or flying, whatever.
Only place I'd move to now is a family place in Polin. Because it's quieter.
Mleh, Edinburgh's just like any other small UK city (see Newcastle, Bristol, Sheffield etc etc) Poor traffic. ill-thought out public transport, and bus company war. Bad air, same shops pubs and restaurants, same weather. Only with the added bonus of 'hoards of Touristica' - Hairy Coo/Pick your own Tartan shops and random bagpipe* surprise around every other corner and toy-town Monopoly money
*surely comes under some UN agreement about cruel and unusual punishment