Moving to south west Edinburgh with teenagers

[Lovetunnocks]

Can anyone in southwest edinburgh reassure my dh. We've lived in central Edinburgh for thirty years. I'm fed up of tenement living and want fresh air, a garden and access to the Pentlands. I'm thinking Juniper Green, Currie-ish but DH thinks I'm mad because we've got two teens (15 and 16) and we both hate driving. I'm telling DH that we'd only be half an hour max (on the bus) out of town. The 44 is regular as, and goes through the night. It would take DCs 30 minutes to get to school in the morning, both are very confident on public transport. It's hardly the bloody sticks is it? I've spent more time traveling from one bit of central London to another bit of central London.

Am I 'mad' to be moving 'out of town' with two teens?
Is there a sense of community in Juniper Green/Currie?
Is there anything going on locally that would help us develop local links? (We live in a very close knit area at the moment and would miss that if we couldn't recreate it).

Any advice much appreciated.

[Fadingmemory]

Traffic from Juniper Green and Currie into Edinburgh is congested and slow. How many bedrooms do you need (guess at least three), what is your budget and will you consider a modern house? You could look at areas inside the bypass eg Buckstone or Swanston but I don't know about community spirit there.

[3nationsfamily]

We live on the 44 route and it is great during the day but drops to once every half hour in the evening. At commuting time you are better with the 44x otherwise it would take upwards of 45 minutes from juniper green to St Andrew square. It sounds like your teens are not contemplating moving school to (excellent) Currie high which is where most locals go. The access to the water of Leith and the Pentlands is great if you are into walking or mountain biking. My teens have managed fine on the buses in and out to town / fountain park for friends and entertainment and there are good local football ( currie star) and rugby (Currie roc) clubs as well as scouts , tennis golf local to either currie or Juniper green.

[Horses4]

I live in, and love, Currie, albeit not in the main body of. There are regular community events and fairly good community spirit. The local FB groups are becoming good for info sharing and weeding out trouble. There are good sports clubs etc, but there have been spates of trouble with teens, attributed to boredom.

The stretch of the Lanark Road between the Railway Inn and Gillespie Crossroads is appallingly slow in morning rush hour. This won't improve due to several new build developments.

We are literally at the foot of the Pentlands, and I love it, and the accessibility to town.

[tillymint21]

We moved for the exact same reason. We're now in Liberton, in a house we love, adjacent to the Braid Hills, with beautiful views across Edinburgh to Fife and 15-20mins on a bus to town. Would never have imagined being here but it's been the best move. We had 3 teenagers at the time and, although they grumbled initially as we had been so central, it really hasn't been a problem for their social lives at all. There are many buses day and night. 2 are now at uni and are quite happy to come home to where we are now, and meet up with friends easily in town. 1 still at school so now has a bus journey but is fine with it.

[Lovetunnocks]

Thanks so much for the replies - sorry not to have been back sooner but I'm working strange shifts at the minute and didn't expect so many replies to such a specific question.

Fading and Horses , good points about the slowness of the traffic. DH and teens need to be into town by 8.30 in mornings so they'll probably hit the worst of it! Fading I'm not familiar with Buckstone or Swanston but will look into them both, thank you.

Thank you 3nations for the tip about the 44x - I didn't realise there was one so that's v useful. The teens are in exam years so I don't want them to move schools at the minute, though I have heard very good things about Currie High so might possibly consider a move for youngest at the start of S5.

horses , glad to hear about the community events and that you love the area. Are there any specific FB groups you would recommend, I can only find groups advertising local businesses but I'm probably looking in the wrong place.

Tillymint I hadn't thought of Liberton, it's not an area I know massively well but might have a look, thank you. Very interesting to hear that you moved at the same point and that it worked out well for your teens - it's very encouraging!!

[lovelycuppateas]

Second the idea that places around the Braids - Greenbank, Liberton, Blackford can feel really country-side ish but are closer to town. I'm in Blackford and walk in to work (South city centre) - takes about 30mins.

[Lushmetender]

My two dogs that were - the black one dies yesterday 😢. Best dogs ever

[Lovetunnocks]

Oh Lush - I think you might have posted on the wrong thread but your dogs are lovely and I'm so sorry about the black one dying. What was your dog's name? You must miss him/her terribly.

[WhereIsThisGoing]

We just moved to Winton (next to Swanston). Very regular busses (11 & 4), active parish church (in case that matters) but a bit devoid of shops until you get to Morningside. Great walks though as it's 15 minutes on foot to the Pentlands and right next to Mortonhall. Very friendly in terms of neighbors, we're loving it.

You'll get a lot more house for your money in Liberton though and more shops etc, if you are looking for a bit of a livelier area. We would have moved there if it wasn't for the schools (they really are pretty terrible, which is what I suspect keeps prices down for now), but it sounds like that is not a concern. It's further from the Pentlands though.

[OttersPocket]

WhereIsThisGoing May I ask what you base your comment on Liberton schools as really being pretty terrible on? I've heard nothing but praise and good reports for Liberton Primary and I know that Liberton HS doesn't perform that well when you look at number of Highers achieved but could I ask what else you think is terrible about it?

I'm genuinely interested as I have a 2 year old DC, live in Liberton and am considering schooling options.

[WhereIsThisGoing]

Hi Otterspocket

Sorry, should have been more clear. As the OP mentioned teenagers, I was referring to the high school options. Both Liberton and Gracemount do not perform well based on school statistics and I have two separate sets of friends who had to pull a kid from Liberton High because of serious bullying issues (both beeing bullied for being too "studious"), which is a worse problem than an underperforming school I think.

Of course we only know what we've heard from the parents, so maybe they both got unlucky (entirely possible with a school that size) but I think it's one thing to have a child go to an underperforming school, it's another to have a child go to a school where the culture actively discourages performing well.

I agree with the primary though, that one was on our "green" list.