Advice on where to move to in Edinburgh with a baby :)

[kat2016]

Can anyone recommend a nice, leafy, affordable area in Edinburgh where we could find a 2 bed flat with a garden (max. £230k), with a strong community feel, good schools, near parks/green spaces and nice area to bring up our baby? On a good cycle route would be a bonus, but not essential, we enjoy being able to get out and about on foot as much as possible too.

We're completely new to the area and renting in Fife currently, so it's tricky getting across to Edinburgh with a baby to check areas out.

We've mainly been looking at places on ESPC/Rightmove etc in Portobello so far, as we really like the slightly alternative, hip, family, community feel to it.

We've also been recommended Bruntsfield & Joppa (thinking they may be too expensive for us though?) and then Leith Links as an up and coming area - we don't know it at all, but have been told parts of Leith can be a bit shady, so not so sure whether it'd be such a good place for children? Stockbridge looks amazing, but I think it'd be totally out of our budget!!

I'd really appreciate any advice/top tips anyone has. We're also weighing up whether we'd be better looking for a house further out, so any advice on interesting areas a bit further afield where we might find something in our budget would be much appreciated.

[Lones80]

I live in Portobello and think it ticks most if not all of your boxes. The local community is really active both politically and socially. The beach is amazing, and there are lots of nice parks and cafes.
Porty really comes into it's own when you have babies and young children. There are loads of groups and activities where you can meet up with other parents. Prices for two bed flats have recently shot up for that very reason.
You also mention Joppa. It's really just an extension of Portobello, do meets the same criteria. It tends to be more houses and less flats though, which makes it seem more expensive.

[badguider]

You could afford bruntsfield down towards polwarth. Search polwarth on espc and you'll find flats in your price range. I'd highly recommend the area between bruntsfield and harrison park which is on the canal for great walks and bike rides.

[kat2016]

Ah thanks both of you, that's really helpful!

[Heatherbell1978]

I moved out of Leith Links area a year ago with our baby. I would say it ticks all your boxes but schools aren't great so perhaps not a longer term move. There were loads of parks to walk baby, 10 mins from the trendy shore and loads of mum and baby groups on the door step. Lots of nurseries too. I now live just outside the city in an area which definitely would tick all your boxes aside from it's Midlothian rather than Edinburgh.

[3nationedinburgh]

The danger with Brutsfield is that you could have lots of students as neighbours in your block with all the noise, parties etc that comes with that. This is what triggered us to move when baby number two was on the way - got fed up of the main door banging at all hours of the night.

[pollyblack]

Leith is great, very family friendly, trendy and handy for green space and town and good for accessing cycle paths. Some well dodgy areas but they are obvious and not a huge issue. My kids are at school here, I'd initially been wary but are doing well and you can definitely see the gentrification happening at the school gates. That said if i was choosing again I would probably choose portobello, its lovely.

[kat2016]

Thanks so much everyone, great tips & advice, all really, really helpful! :)

I'm wondering if we may have missed the boat with Portobello now prices seem to be rising so much & the only places on at the moment seem to be 3rd floor with terrible parking (we share a car & don't drive much & I imagine we will even less in Edinburgh, but still). Also there seems to be a high demand & limited no. of places coming on the market, so I fear we'd be up against some stiff competition. Still worth a shot, but is there anywhere else that's maybe a bit less pricey, but has a similar feel? Someone suggested Trinity - anyone else have any thoughts? We'll definitely check Leith out properly too.

[Lones80]

Check out Duddingston. It's next door to Portobello so still close to the beach, parks etc.

[kat2016]

Any tips on specific areas of Leith to look at? Street names etc? Hoping to do some exploring on foot in the next few days. Having a quick look online most places for sale there at the mo. seem to be v.modern flats. We were hoping for a character property, but I guess we might need to be a bit more open minded.

[Heatherbell1978]

I had a character property in Leith Links (the streets around the park). Leith Walk is the main road from Leith to the city and all the streets off there are tenements but vary in size. The colonies are nice but not much room for parking (off Lochend Road) but definitely have character. Most of the properties around the nicer Shore area will be modern. EH6 postcode is Leith area so maybe start your search with that.

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

From the Shore out to Newhaven is all nice. Leith walk itself not great but some of the streets off it are fine - mostly period tenement flats.

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

always loved this development

another cute conversion

do have a wander round 'the colonies' too

[kat2016]

Wow, thanks so much, really, really helpful stuff! Excited about checking all these places out. x

[Andgetyourshoeson]

Shandon. Everything on your list, easy to get everywhere yet like living in a village. We've lived here now for 11 years and I wouldn't move anywhere else.

[Gyderlily]

Trinity is next to leith and everything you describe.. Fantastic primary schools (trinity and wardie) on the junctions of a huge network of cycle paths, near the sea and river walks and still very close to town!

[Gyderlily]

Agree EH6 area is a great start (nicer parts of leith and cheaper but still lovely parts of trinity including the primary school and Victoria park area)

[leithmum2012]

Have you considered ratho village

[leithmum2012]

Primary would be ratho primary school and the high school would be bareno high school

[leithmum2012]

I live in eh6 and it still pretty grim

[Gyderlily]

I'm EH6 and definitely no grimness here, surrounded by parks lots of green, walk ways and very pleasant housing ... Guess it might cover quite a large area!

[Lackofinspiration]

I live in Leith and we love it. My partner walks to work. You can cycle from our house to the beach in portobello almost completely on the cycle path. There is a large park (Leith links) with a community croft and council owned tennis courts. Every Saturday there's a market down the shore. Lots of nice pubs and coffee shops/cafes. Leith walk may not be the prettiest but it has Chinese grocery stores, a Portuguese cafe, Italian delis.... Lots of great independent places. Our street has a street party every year and loads of kids. But I am biased

[kat2016]

Thanks everyone, more really useful stuff! Lackofinspiration - I don't suppose you mind telling me where some of these places are & where your street is? Totally understand if not, or if you'd prefer to PM me any other info.

I went to Leith on Friday & parked up at Leith Links which's lovely, but made the mistake of asking a stranger advice on anywhere nice & baby friendly to go for lunch & they directed me to the Royal Yacht Britannia & I spent ages walking down that main busy road, only to find there's just a big modern shopping centre there, nice views & everything & interesting if I wanted to be a tourist for the day looking round that area, but not really what I had in mind. Then the heavens opened & the buggy got a puncture so I ended up limping back to the car not much the wiser & then the SatNav broke! It was useful for general context & I was keen to see the waterfront, but it didn't help me really understand Leith as a neighbourhood.

So many people I've spoken to keep saying how up and coming Leith is, great for families with a really cool sense of identity etc, but I didn't really get much of a vibe, other than liking the green space at Leith Links. I walked past the back of all the posh places to eat like the Kitchin, but I was wondering where all the interesting cafes/shops etc are & where's good to go exploring to really get a feel for Leith as a place to live?

Any tips would be much appreciated, especially anywhere to stop off so my baby can have a crawl around/break from being in the buggy/carrier. I find it so much harder to go exploring with a teething baby who's not a massive fan of being in her pushchair too long than I used to when I could go & pound the streets flat hunting all day on my own, especially as we've got a fair journey into Edinburgh from Fife to begin with.

[kat2016]

Somehow completely missed the Shore too, which's more the kind of thing I was aiming for. As you can see I wasn't very well prepared at all & didn't really know the best way to get to it, where to park up & walk from etc.

I did however manage to check out some of the houses people recommended, just driving by to see if I'd like to do viewings, so thanks for the tips on those, they looked lovely!

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

So The Shore itself is a pretty tiny area and most of the properties are modern (that's why I didn't link to any up thread but I totally can if you are interested). Ocean Terminal - which is where you ended up today - is a big shopping centre where lots of people go with their kids, but it's hardly a destination, as you've found! Leith Walk is a really long street, it's over a mile. Busy, urban and not pretty, but extremely vibrant in terms of shops, etc
What I think you should do (on a nice day!) is get the train to Waverley and walk all the way down leith walk. It'll take about an hour. Then continue down Constitiution Street and take a left to Bernard Street - this is the start of The Shore proper. Walk along Commercial Street (to where the shopping centre is) then take a left up North Junction St to connect with Ferry Road. Walk up a bit - the streets that come off the right hand side of lower Ferry Rd are the start of Trinity. Keep walking till you hit Newhaven Rd and turn left - the next few blocks are mainly housing and not much to see, but keep going till you hit pilrig street where there are some lovely streets. This will bring you back to exactly (!) half way up Leith walk (it's a 'thing' - the old boundary between Edinburgh and Leith) from there you can walk back up to Waverley. Whole walk will take 2 hours max, obviously longer if you take a wander down the odd side street. This will orient you and you'll be able to 'place' properties from there.

Plenty places to stop for food/coffee in Leith walk/shore - make pit stops before you get to Ocean Terminal.

I might also look for a flat in the shore for you if you'll look at modern 😆

[kat2016]

Fab, thank you! That sounds exactly like the kind of walk I'd really enjoy & a great way to explore the area & surroundings properly & much better to take it all in on foot.

Aye, I was just interested to see the Shore as everyone mentions it & I've never been. Keeping an open mind about different styles of property. We love the old character places, but if there's a modern flat in a good location that's more practical we'd be interested to have a look.

I fell in love with a top floor flat in an old tenement with amazing views, period features & light etc today, but thoroughly impractical with a baby!