Where to base young family within easy commute to East Kilbride

[cttontail]

Hi,

Possibly moving for my husband's work. We don't know anything about the local area at all. Where would you advise living near East Kilbride if you could pick anywhere ? I'm thinking within about 30 minutes commute. We have a toddler, so we'd like somewhere with a good community feel (groups, parks, cafes) for young families (i'll be a SAHM to start with). Also thinking about good primary schools. We currently live in a large market/spa town and like that. We like walking and the politics and countryside are big pulls to Scotland. I wouldn't want to be isolated though and appreciate good public transport. Any ideas for areas to target? An additional complication is if I did get a job it would likely be at Glasgow University (the other side of Glasgow, right?).

[JustCallMeKate]

I have a friend who lives in Newton Mearns. It always seems lovely when I visit a few times a month. She's a SAHM just now but has joined a few groups and seems to have a good social life with the children. Her DH works at the Uni (I think it's around 8 miles away). There's good transport and she pops in and out to Glasgow for lunch/shopping etc quite a lot. We often meet in Glasgow as it's easy for both of us to get to with good shopping and restaurants.

[RJnomore1]

Rough budget would be useful, there's a big variety in price around the 30 mile radius of EK.

There are three universities in Glasgow (a good few colleges too) so obviously I don't know what you do but you may have more options than you think.

[FannyTrollopes]

East Renfrewshire - Clarkston would be a good bet.

5-10 minutes to EK, some of the best schools in Scotland there, and there's a bus that goes from there right to Glasgow University

[dancemom]

All depends on your budget

[StylishDuck]

Very much depends on your budget. Houses in South Lanarkshire (EK, Rutherglen etc) are a good bit cheaper than East Renfrewshire (Newton Mearns, Clarkston etc) Schools generally have an excellent rep in East Ren and Glasgow Uni is an easy commute from the south side. 30-40 mins depending on where you are.

[cttontail]

It would depend what we could get for our house down here, but possibly around £350k for a 4 bed (so we could have family to stay). From what I've seen things are a bit cheaper there than where we are now.

[cttontail]

Thanks for the suggestions of Newton Mearns and Clarkston. There seem to be a few new developments round Newton Mearns. Do they have community centres etc? I know some massive new estates near here with no shops/ community centres and people don't mix and I wouldn't want somewhere like that!

[StylishDuck]

Clarkston is probably more of a social place than newton mearns. For that kind of money you could get somewhere really lovely in Giffnock too.

[SauvignonPlonker]

Agree with Clarkston, Giffnock, Busby, Newton Mearns, Whitecraigs - all suburban. The East Ren schools really are good - no need to go private. Out of all these, I'd choose Giffnock as there's a bit more life there. Watch the school catchments though - a street in the wrong direction & you're out of East Ren catchments & schools.

Eaglesham for a more village-y feel, Strathaven if you don't mind being further out. Not much in Waterfoot.

Bothwell is nice, also consider Stewartfield in EK itself. Jackton used to be a little village but has now been absorbed by EK, some large new builds there.

You could also consider North Ayrshire e.g. Stewarton - although the schools are not quite so good.

[cttontail]

Thanks for your advice. We went and looked around a few places. It was all very different from what I'm used to. Giffnock/Clarkston/Newton Mearns all felt very suburban and the West End was nice, but We're not so much looking for city living. We live in a beautiful spa town at the moment. Strathaven seemed really small and isolated. Would somewhere like Troon be any good? Are the schools there OK? How would it be driving to East Kilbride from there? We didn't make it to the North side of Glasgow, but I fear it wouldn't really be what we're looking for. I like to be able to walk everywhere (within 2 miles) and have a focal point of the community.

[SauvignonPlonker]

Troon to EK is commutable; I'd guess 45mins. Don't know much about the schools there, but there is certainly a town centre & community feel. You could also consider Stewarton, Neilston, Eaglesham & Dunlop - all villages off the M77 from Troon to EK. Maybe Neilston/Uplawmoor (not so sure about them).

For a bit more of a commute, maybe think about Peebles in the borders; travelling up the m74 & cutting across to EK. More of a villagey feel & quite pretty.

I'm afraid Scottish villages are nowhere near so quaint & pretty as English country villages.

[prettybird]

I used to commute from the South Side of Glasgow to South Ayr. Even before the M77, it was commutable - but the other direction is busier. You'd be turning off to cut across to EK before the busiest bit though (the approach to the M8)

Have you looked at Eaglesham? It's more of a village. Northside, Killearn and Balfron are nice villages with good walking and good schools - but I think the commute would be too long as you'd be traversing the city.

Shawlands and Pollokshields (South side Glasgow) have some lovely houses, a good secondary (Shawlands Academy), easy access into Glasgow (by car or train) and lots of beautiful parks (Maxwell Park, Queens Park and Pollok Park).

I'd have mentioned the Burrell Collection - a lovely museum in Pollok Park (built in the woods to house 20% of the collection) - but it's just shut for 3 years for a major refurbishment and to fix the leaky roof

It's not a spa town - but it does have rows of beautiful stone houses! As Pollokshields was the first planned suburb in the UK; it's neither suburbia like Giffnock not built up inner city. It's very green and leafy.

Shawlands Primary, Langside Primary and Glendale Primary all have good reputations (although with Glendale you'd need to do a placing request for Shawlands) but you'd have to make sure to live in their catchments. If you want private, there is Hutcheson's Grammar School.

[WankersHacksandThieves]

I've driven Peebles to EK, it's a long drive and not something I would look to do daily.

What about the west side of Edinburgh - Kirknewton maybe? That's about 45 mins to EK.

You could also look at Dunblane/Bridge of Allan, a similar distance and I know people that do daily to Stirling from Hamilton and Uddingston though it's a bit of pain with the work at the Baillieston interchange at the moment.

[OnlyEatsToast]

Bothwell/uddingston. Stewarton. Troon would be amazing but a fair distance - 45mins? Strathaven/elderslie too

[OnlyEatsToast]

Sorry meant eaglesham rather than elderalie

[trixymalixy]

Thorntonhall has some lovely houses and is very close to EK. Very expensive though. Carmunnock is also a lovely village.

[OllyBJolly]

No - do not do Stirling or - even worse- Dunblane to EK. Even without the raith roadworks it's a nightmare at rush hour.

Don't write off Strathaven. It's a wonderful place for young kids with great schools. It's a small town but has a lot going on. Lots of clubs for adults and kids. Stewarton is quite child friendly too.

[WankersHacksandThieves]

Not sure why you would say Dunblane is worse than Stirling as it's closer to the motorway so time wise it really makes no odds. A colleague does Stirling to Glasgow city centre and it takes around 35-40 minutes most days. Colleague in Uddingston takes 35 minutes commute to stirling on average. Like most places though when there is an accident or other issues it can be nightmare - the closer you are to somewhere the less likely you are to hit these issues, so all things being equal you should live as close as you can to work.

I used to commute Penicuik to Stirling in 45-50 minutes but I was able to travel early (7am) and come home early (4pm) and the city bypass was the only real bottleneck.

The time you are able to travel will make a big difference.

[prettybird]

I agree about not writing off Strathaven. I have a friend who I met via MN who lives there and gave met her for coffee down there. I was pleasantly surprised at a) how nice the town centre was (we had coffee on a wee art gallery/coffee shop had lovely cakes ) and b) how quick the trip to and from Glasgow was this was before the Raith Interchange roadworks.

[OllyBJolly]

Dunblane is at least 12 minutes further than Torbrex or Kings park in Stirling- often more if you hit the Craigforrh traffic at Kier.

I travel Stirling to EK (Kelvin or the NEL) once a week and on a good day it's 50 minutes- but can be 1hr 15. On a Saturday it takes 35 minutes.

[WankersHacksandThieves]

But from Torbrex etc you still have to get the Motorway and you are only one Junction further down the road or two if you travel through up to Pirnhall. At peak times I can travel from Dunblane to Craigforth junction in about 5/6 minutes (after school drop off, done it for 5 years), about the same time as it would take you to get there from Torbrex - I live north of the river and it takes me the same time to get to Junction 10 from home. - anyway I still think OP would be better of closer to EK or finding another job but I'm not sure she is going to get what she is looking for that close. I've looked at the map and dismissed most of it :o Like all these things, when traffic is with you and it's a nice day, all is well, in poor weather and in the dark and on bad traffic days it a 'mare. Doing ot for a few months is fine, a year or two is okay, beyond that you need to have the right attitude and character to do it long term.

[OllyBJolly]

But if I was going to EK or Glasgow I wouldn't go to J10. I'd go to J9 via Cultenhove (cutting out St Ninians and Borestone). 5 minutes tops.

But too much hassle to do EK every day.

[CocoaX]

I personally would not commute Troon to EK or from Dunblane/Stirling. 45 mins is on a good day and you would be doing it five days a week. I don't know the south side very well but I am not sure you are going to really get a spa/market town vibe. Lots of lovely areas, but Glasgow is a city with suburbs.

[AssembleTheMinions]

Another vote for not writing off Strathaven. It's 15mins from EK with a lovely village atmosphere. They have a great gala day, balloon festival, beer festival and music festival. 3 good primary schools and an excellent secondary.

It's less than 30 mins to Glasgow and under an hour to Edinburgh as well

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

What about East Kilbride Village? You have good rail transport links, it's quite nice, has it's own theatre, restaurants, arts centre etc.

The good thing about East Kilbride is that you're never far away from a woodland walk. Some parts of St Leonards in East Kilbride back onto the woodland trails for the country park and it's particularly lovely.

Stoneymeadow is also nice between east kilbride and blantyre. Semi-rural.