Living somewhere between Edinburgh and Glasgow

[MegoLego]

Where would you live?

DH wants to move to Scotland in the next few years once DC have finished school. Don't really want to live in a city, but don't want to live in a little village. His job is transferable, I can get a job when we move. The plan is to sell up and rent until we are settled in an area then buy.

I'm familiar with Borders on the East, Edinburgh and Glasgow, so would be happy to live around there. Both of us drive, so commuting hopefully won't be a problem.

I think the OP is planning on moving once her children have finished school.

I'm coming on to say Chryston or Uddingston. Lovely villages on outskirts of Glasgow with links to m80/m8 and train stations providing good access to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

So many areas have pros and cons, I have family who live in Motherwell; it has good train links & you can be in Glasgow in 20 minutes or you can be in Edinburgh in 40 (if you get a cross country train). However, there are many parts of motherwell that are not “desirable” and the town centre is truly awful. It’s post industrial & the signs of it are clear, but it does have a few pockets that are decent. It does have Dalziel High School which is, I’m told, a very good school.

Bothwell & Uddingston are pretty nice too, but you will pay more here. Bothwell does not have a train station so you would need to use Uddingston where you can get trains to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

I lived in Bathgate for a bit with an ex before moving back to Glasgow. It had good train links, a good sized Tesco & Morrisons and a fairly typical high street. It is in Close proximity to Livingston & is pretty much in the middle of the M8. Some good areas but again some bad too. I personally find Bathgate’s house prices to be OTT for the area.

My personal recommendation would be the west end of Glasgow trumps anywhere but I’m biased ....

Good luck with your move OP!

Have you looked at Fife? It's coastal and has many villages/towns to chose from. You get more house for your money than you do in Edinburgh and Glasgow too.

@Mawbags why not Dunfermline? Some parts are undesirable a bit like Glasgow (were husband is from) but loads of beautiful areas.

I’m in Lenzie. 10mins to Glasgow on train-40 mins to Edinburgh. 5 mins to drive to m74. Great for access.
In the borders Peebles is nice and you can drive to Edinburgh in under an hour.

Gartcosh is lovely, train station as well which takes you to Glasgow in jig time or Edinburgh on the other side. Direct access to the M73 which takes you down south, close to Glasgow fort. Very flat no high rises etc. Local amenities such as doctors, church, pharmacy etc and everything else either a park and ride at the train station away or a short car journey

It's quite a slog up to Edinburgh from Peebles and the by-pass is invariably clogged. And as a PP said, where the heck do you park in the city when you get there without paying a fortune?

Lanark and the surrounding villages are lovely, lots of nice walks and the town is very nice.

they are all tiny places without much going on and you’d be reliant on public transport if you needed to commute to Edinburgh as you can’t park if you drive in.

There are park and rides at Musselburgh and fort kinnaird plus lots of people park at ocean terminal or along Leith links which is easily accessible - free parking and a quick journey on bus in to town (people do park further in to Leith too but that can be a bit of pita for the locals so won't recommend that) . I think any town or small village has a similar amount going on. Also presumably the same goes re parking if you work in Edinburgh wherever you are actually living/driving from. To add - being reliant on public transport in any area served by Lothian or Lothian country busses isn't the worst thing. The bridge would put me off Dunfermline if I needed access to Edinburgh.

If the OP can't afford Edinburgh, then there's no danger she can afford North Berwick!!

@eatsleepread tbf close friends of mine just sold their 2 bed tenement flat in Edinburgh and bought a 4 bed detached new build in NB for little more.

Alyth (Perth)
Dunblane / Bridge of Allan / Menstrie / Tillicoultry (near Stirling - although Stirling isn't that big - saying that as a Highlander!)

Another vote for Linlithgow or Bridge of Allan here.

I live in Larbert just outside Falkirk , I don’t like it. It’s ugly and boring . Although getting in Glasgow and Edinburgh is easy on trains and road.
Stirling , bridge of Allan , dunblane and Linlithgow are all lovely .

You’ve got a massive choice there, OP. A lot depends what you and your DH like doing in your free time. Particular sports, other interests, hobbies? Also meeting the needs of your special needs child. Trains are good in most of central Scotland but they can have lots of cancellations, esp in the winter.you say you can’t afford Edinburgh, lots of us in that boat. . That might mean the Borders are out of your range too. Lots of nice areas in West Lothian - between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Reasonable public transport. Areas around Croy and Cumbernauld is quite popular and cheaper. Lots going on there too. I have family living around there and they’re happy enough. One worked in Glasgow, now retired. Used buses there and back. Another works in Stirling.

Now something I’d check out carefully is services for young adults with ADLs. Additional Support Needs. Adult services vary A LOT from one area to another. Also remember that council areas carry different names from health boards. If any of you have specific health needs, I’d check location of services for that too. Once you’re out of the cities and bigger towns services can vary though IMO the NHS in Scotland is doing an okay job. eg We’re in Tayside health board area but in the far west of the area. That means some specialist clinics are at Ninewells in Dundee and that’s a heck of a distance. Our local authority is Perth and Kinross but we don’t live in Perth. Obviously more happens in Perth for young adults with SNs than in the smaller places. We have two youngsters with SNs living with us - one is on the autism spectrum and there’s a group for autistic adults in Perth. Obviously at present everything’s gone virtual or has paused. The other has LDs - he’s done courses at Perth College UHI, has a group in the small town we live in but that doesn’t suit his brother’s needs. The various council websites have pages about adult services for SN which will give you an idea. Places like Stirling have good enough services - that’s Forth Valley health board and Stirling Council.

If you want to ask questions about things related to SN adults I’m happy to answer PMs etc. I’m not on Mumsnet often these days so best to use PM.

Bothwell is lovely but I'm biased

Yes, lots of options and opinions on areas, just what I was looking for, thank you everyone.

Budget is roughly £200,000 for a house, three beds minimum. That's why we ruled Edinburgh out. Not much for you money there.

@UnholyStramash thank you for the advice re SN and areas. Was one of the things we need to look at, once we have an idea of areas to look at.

It'll be a long process I think, something we are not going to jump into blindly. DH more keen than me, but then I've lived in a few countries, he's only ever lived within the same three mile radius.