Preston Vs Edinburgh

[PrestonVsEdinburgh]

Hi NC as potentially outing. Looking for advice. I currently work in Edinburgh and absolutely love it here, trying to buy at the moment but the housing market is very active and it seems almost impossible to get anything without significant additional savings when flats are going for 20k over the home report I work in a job that I love but it is very stressful and i’m Struggling at the moment due to leadership/management problems.

I’ve been approached by another employer based in Preston and am considering a move there to improve my overall quality of life. Now I know nothing about Preston except that it rains a lot (hate wet weather). I’m going there to visit in a couple of weeks but would like your thoughts on Edinburgh vs Preston as a place to live. I have dogs so good walks/green space is important (brilliant in Edinburgh) I like beautiful architecture, big open skies, and easy access to countryside. Plus city comforts - bars, cinemas etc. I’m also quite active so a decent climbing wall, running club etc would be good.

so wise MNetters if you know Preston/Edinburgh at all can you tell me what you think? And which bits of Preston are nice?

If you are pretty young OP and looking for a first rung on the property ladder then Preston docks might be a good starting point to rent/buy. Great little starter homes. It’s what I did when I was in my early twenties before moving up the property ladder into a south ribble village.
But honestly if you have friends family in Edinburgh and you would be moving here on your own don’t do it.
As someone who has lived in multiple towns in the uk (I lived in a lot of towns down in south England as well) you start to realise they are all the same. It’s where your friends and family are that really matters.

Sashh doubt anyone is saying it's THE place to be but if OPs job options are limited to Preston then it fits her criteria

The criteria in the OP were
' I have dogs so good walks/green space is important (brilliant in Edinburgh) I like beautiful architecture, big open skies, and easy access to countryside. Plus city comforts - bars, cinemas etc. I’m also quite active so a decent climbing wall, running club etc would be good. '

Dog walking and green space, very good in and around both Preston and Lancaster. (Manchester, the centre anyway, is almost entirely devoid of green. )

Beautiful architecture - no, not anywhere in Lancashire tbh. Both cities have some ok parts.

Big open skies - you can have any sort of sky you want in this area. Hills, coastal plain - on a clear day, climb a hill and the sweep round Morecambe bay, towards the lakes and then the dales.

City comforts - I don't know about bars. There are cinemas, Lancaster has a good (and not hideously expensive) theatre.

Climbing and running certainly available.

We moved to the area for DHs work - for many people that really is the most important thing, what you do 8 hours 5 days a week, salary, career progression. Now we're here, and at a point In our work where we could move anywhere with decent broadband, we've no particular desire to move. Everywhere has pros and cons, we've found more of the pros over the years.

Beautiful architecture not in Lancaster?

Apart from the castle, the cathedral, the maritime museum, the judges lodgings, the Ashton memorial, the town hall, dalton square and the city museum....

Architectural beauty is, of course, subjective - I'd rate most of those buildings as mostly fine but not gems. I must confess I'd forgotten about the Ashton memorial.

DH claims to like the listed bus station in Preston, I'm not sure if he's pulling my leg or not.

I lived near Preston for a year. The wettest place I ever encountered.

Think he might be winding you up about the bus station

I actually love the bus station. And I have fond memories of the guild hall.

@ErrolTheDragon I've been away from Preston for 25 years but I just this year bought posters of the bus station and Forton services. An ode to concrete!!

This is where I walk my dog nearly every day. I live just to the north of Preston near the Lancaster canal. It’s lovely in Lancashire.