Is Scotland a nicer place to live?

[Mrsemcgregor]

I think I’ve had it with England. The whining and moaning, the selfishness the entitlement.

I don’t want to live here anymore, is Scotland any better? Or is there a corner of England where things aren’t as horrible as where I live (middle class up it’s own arse town in the southwest)?

I’m so sad

@Mrsemcgregor Clarkston! Not Clarkson

[quote GallusAlice79]@Mrsemcgregor

Get on Rightmove and check out places like Newton Mearns, Giffnock, Clarkson, Eaglesham...[/quote]
Thank you, I will!

@BoxAndKnife yes, you’ve put it just how I feel. I don’t know if I’ve changed with age or the country has, but either way I feel like I need a change.

If I ever move back, East Renfrewshire is somewhere I would consider.

You need to move to Wales! Like a pp said, less class division on the whole (of course there is some like everywhere), more space which helps people be more friendly on the whole (again there are miserable sods everywhere) and strangely even though it is a complete stereotype a massively higher %ge of people can sing in tune (taught better in school maybe?)

@Sadik I do love Wales, my DH went to uni in Aberystwyth! Any recommendations on places to look at?

Why not Aber, lovely town, got the uni so lots of life going on, decent connections. Otherwise I guess it depends what you want and what work you do. Of course a lot of jobs are concentrated around Cardiff, I've never lived there but friends who do like it (though I think housing expensive, at least rental).

I have been wondering if a lot of people might realise that they can work from home and consider living out here in the rural west. Quality of life is amazing (of course assuming you enjoy outdoorsy stuff!), the downside being the lack of jobs unless you're self employed or have a professional training like nursing / teaching etc. Small towns like Narberth, Cardigan, Emlyn etc have great community feel & teens growing up round here seem to retain a fondness for the place with a lot of them coming back once they get a bit older themselves. Bit different to Glasgow though so of course it depends on what you want out of life!

I agree very much with what tara said in her first post. In many places - especially Glasgow - there really is a spirit of equality or resilience often combined with (good Scots word) 'gallusness'. I have almost never waited at a bus stop in Glasgow without being drawn into a conversation started by others. Whoever I might be, whatever I look like, it's the expected norm that people in a similar situation will communicate and share.

I often visit a relative in a poor east-end part of Glasgow. Wherever I have lived in the past, I have truly never found nicer, more considerate, more humane neighbours than theirs.

I live in a town around 9 miles south of Glasgow and have lived throughout central Scotland my whole life.
I cant comment on what it's like compare to England and I've never lived anywhere else and I may be biased, but we are a very tolerant and forward thinking wee country.
There are lots of villages were community spirit is still apparent, there are town galas, everyone helps their neighbours and people are probably more liberal than down south. My friend is originally from Leeds and has commented that she isn't faced with the same prejudices because of her race up here than she was in england (she is mixed race with a dark complexion)
I know you get idiots everywhere but think alot of us scots have the "we are the underdogs" mentality so we tend too look out for each other, dont tolerate bullying and stand up to anything we see that isnt right. I know that was certainly the case with the london riots, some idots trying to start it in glasgow were quickly put in their place by the general public.
I'm pro independence but certainly not "anti English", infact I welcome anyone who wants to visit or move up here.
We are just beginning to come out of lockdown and get back to normality so I would suggest even coming up for a few visits and get a feel for some Scottish towns before you decide. You are most welcome if you do decide to move up here.

Another vote for Glasgow, I am on the outskirts and love it. 12 mins on the train to the city centre, great university, lots of beautiful parks, theatres, shops cinemas etc in abundance. If you stop anywhere for more than a couple of minutes someone will always start a conversation with you.

I've lived all over the UK and several other countries which were all different in their own way. I liked England but found it tricky to fit in...many people were lovely and I didn't experience any obvious racism but there was always something missing, it was like my face didn't quite "fit".

Have now lived in Scotland for 8 years and love it. Obviously there are all kinds of people and some will be moaners/not very nice but as a whole I find people to be open and friendly, with a good sense of humour and don't take themselves too seriously. I sometimes forget I'm not from here - even if I'm the only "foreigner" in a room of Scots I don't feel like the odd one out.
I find that the Scottish don't stand for bullshit, but they'll always help you out if you need it. Where I live there's a good sense of community despite being a city. There's less of a class divide than in England.

Other pluses: affordable house prices (other than Edinburgh), good work-life balance, amazing scenery and variety (we have big cities, hills, mountains, forests and beaches within an hour's drive), better healthcare than I've experienced elsewhere (recently gave birth and was treated like a queen both antenatally, during labour and postnatally), and generally I find it's a more "forgiving" place to live than other parts of the UK/other countries. There's a sort of cosiness about Scotland.
In saying that, it's not utopia, nowhere is.

Cons:
The winters are long and dreary.
There are areas where drug use is rife. I know that's the case in other places too but I've found it to be more visible here than anywhere else I've been.
Outside of the big cities and pretty tourist areas many of the smaller towns are neglected and dated.

Overall the good outweighs the bad.

I’m from Edinburgh. Live & work in central London.

I am proudly Scottish but I don’t often miss living there (Brexit night send me back north though).

The Scotland of my childhood was a bigoted place (think of all the sectarianism) and that lies just beneath the surface.

My life is richer in London - people want to go for a drink after work! But my access to the countryside is definitely poorer. The attached picture is within 10mins walk of my childhood home in Edinburgh.

This makes me think of the old yarn.

There's an old man sitting on a bench on the edge of his village. A couple come along and ask him if he lives there. Learning that he does they tell him that they are thinking of moving there and what is it like. He asks them what it's like where they are now. They reply that it's lovely, everyone is friendly and they'll miss it. He says "You'll find it's pretty much like that here".

In due course another couple come along, same question. But when he asks what it's like where there are now they reply that it's not nice at all, unfriendly and snobbish, they can't wait to get away. He says "You'll find it's pretty much like that here".

Re Anti-English feeling.

I just want to put on record that I was born in England. I sound 'English' - (apparently middle-class southern). I have lived in Scotland for 30 years. (Haven't been south of the Border for at least 5 years and don't feel like I've missed anything.)

In all that time I have only ONCE had any anti-English sentiment directed at me. He was drunk. My (Scottish) friends told him to fuck off. He fucked off.

Yes, I'm sure there are bigoted idiots who treat 'FEB's with disdain and there are certainly sectarian bigots on the Unionist side too - don't EVER try and cross the road when a Orange march are waving their red, white, and blue Unionist willies around - but in my experience most people don't give a shit where you come from. It's how you behave that matters.

What’s your budgets @Mrsemcgregor? I can look at a few possibilities for you

I grew up in England - moved to Scotland for Uni and never left.

I've never ever had any anti English sentiment except possibly in jest during the six nations!

I personally like the relative cohesion of Scotland - it's noticeable to me that there are so many fewer people here than in England.

As others have said there are good and bad areas but I raise my kids here and I chose to do that. I wouldn't move them away from Scotland unless I really really had to.

I live 20 mins drive from Glasgow, 30 mins to the coast, about an hour to Loch lomond.
20 minutes walk to 3 of the 4 top secondary schools in Scotland. 3 bed house less than 200k.
Friendly people. Top unis, nightlife, arty stuff, brilliant shopping.
I love it. Weather wet a lot so bring your brolly.

And no one I know, including me, dislikes England or the English. But we look in horror at the mixed messages the government are giving out to England and we pity the poor buggers living there.

And no one I know, including me, dislikes England or the English.

Before lockdown a couple of friends of mine were at a funeral. At the wake, a local man gave them a tirade of abuse about fucking English coming up here stealing out jobs, go back where you came from etc etc - and he wasn't even drunk -as if that excuses it--

So it's still alive and kicking

I personally like the relative cohesion of Scotland - it's noticeable to me that there are so many fewer people here than in England.

I was once on tour in the Highlands. One of our group was a local born and bred. He was in his 20s. In just about EVERY town we played in, Thurso, Wick, Inverness, Elgin, Nairn, Dingwall, Ullapool... etc. he bumped into someone he knew on the street. He didn't seek them out lurking in specialist cliquey hideouts we'd just be walking down the street an "Oh Hello!...". People of all ages - and they were all pleased to see him.

Although I was born in Scotland to Scottish parents I lived a lot of my life in England so speak with an English accent. I experienced anti-English comments at work. These ranged from jokes (which were ok but tiresome) to banter with a nasty edge to downright rude comments blaming people like me causing high house prices in Edinburgh. I used to dread international football matches because that would be a reason to have a go. I hate football!

As a family, we used to go to Scotland every year to visit relatives so I never thought it would be a problem. It floored me to begin with. Then I realised it was mostly a few men from a certain type of background. Most of my colleagues were lovely. I learnt just to not respond. They eventually gave up.

I lived in a small town outside Edinburgh. It was lovely. I always felt accepted. We lived there for many years and I was sad to leave. As I said in a previous post I would love to move back. Yes there can be as much moaning as down south but the sense of community and friendliness were great.

DH is Scottish. I have experience a lot of anti-English comments. However, mostly from his family, it’s that they think being English must be awful for me and wouldn’t I prefer to be Scottish etc. They also have some frankly bizarre views on what it’s like to live in England like it really is some massively different foreign country. I can say I feel very much looked down on. Most of them have never been here. It has always put me off living there.
I do have a friend who left Glasgow during the independence campaign. She was verbally abused and spat at. She is from Penrith so not exactly ‘southern’.
I’ve other English friends who’ve never had a problem, the all have professional jobs though.
DH has never experienced any anti Scottish feeing in England.

like it really is some massively different foreign country.

It is.

I was born there and grew up there. It is a different country. The longer I've been out of it the more different it seems.

Read Motherwell by Deborah Orr, very familiar to me and from the area my dad grew up in. I guess it may vary according to area / time/ wealth but my experience of it was also quite bigoted / prejudiced.