Moving from london to Glasgow (HELP!)

[Bwith3]

Hi everyone! We are moving from London to Glasgow in March I have two children (3 and 15 months) and am 6 months pregnant (HELP) LOL. we are leaning towards southside; polakshields has been recommended, but has anyone else got suggestions. I am desperate to find a nursery for my son... Pref with council funding... But I just need him in a good nursery so I would sacrifice the funding... Any advice would be amazing!!!! Please help.

Sinclair nursery in Langside was very good when we lived there. Don't move to King's Park purely because my in-laws live there and I wouldn't wish them on anyone! As long as you avoid Govanhill you should be fine however I highly recommend the ice cream from the Queens Cafe (is that what it's called? The one up by the park) on Victoria Road. However I hate Glasgow and would never live there again if you paid me!

I’m not English so I have no comment to make on that score. It’s a great city but Glasgow has as just many arseholes as anywhere else.

I was brought up in Bearsden/Milngavie and went to Bearsden Academy (a looooooong time ago ) and had a happy childhood so have nothing against those suburbs.

However, I am now a total concert to the Southside. I love the access to parks, the good transport links and the vibrancy.

Schools are good - in fact I would argue that ds' secondary (Shawlands Academy) is a better school than my old school: it might not get the same percentage of top marks, but that is more to do with its extremely mixed demographic. It provides tremendous added value, is very caring and gets good marks, with plenty of kids getting 5 x A at Higher and going on to study medicine, law, vet science etc and some going to Oxbridge (not that I'm saying that that's the only judge of a good school)

The tenements in Shawlands are fine, and East Pollokshields is not as bad as some people are making out (although I'd want to be in the catchment for Glendale Primary, not Pollokshields Primary).

The tenements between Nithsdale Road and Titwood Road are also more "upmarket".

If you can find houses for rent near Crossmyloof (close to Tittwood), they might be in your price range. They'd also be in the catchment for Shawlands Primary, which is a good primary. Weegiemum used to live there (although her kids go to the Gaelic School)

Newlands, Strathbungo, parts of Battlefield, parts of Mount Florida are all areas worth considering and with good transport links.

Nithsdale Road has quite a few nice coffee shops, delis (and a great greengrocers), Albert Drive is more ethnic but great for Asian shops and greengrocers. Shawlands (Kilmarnock Road) is turning into quite a vibrant centre. Not quite the West End, but only 10-15 minutes into the centre of town by (very regular) train.

I wouldn't consider Govanhill - its SIMD (Scottish Indicator of Multiple Deprivation) has just been corrected from 3 to 1 which is good for its catchment schools as they'll get more money and can prove increased "value add"

However, like any area, there will be pockets that are an exception. The area up by Victoria Park are good, with some lovely upmarket tenement flats.

Clarkston, Giffnock and Newton Mearns are all nice areas as well (with good schools) but personally I now prefer living closer in to town with all the transport links, ability to walk into the centre of town (if you like walking ) and all the parks.

And there are lots of Glaswegians who on the one hand are proud of its old school No Mean City image and on the other hand are appalled when anyone from outside of Glasgow implies it might be a rough city.

I don’t find it particularly rough by the way.

I was brought up in Govanhill. It was fine then, poor certainly but ok. It looks pretty grim now and there are a lot of racial tensions. I have never have felt safe since that poor woman was murdered in Queens Park.

What kind of commute are you looking for? Quality of life etc? There are lots of train stations with nurseries near by or there are nurseries in the city centre. Most are in partnership with the local authority so have funding for 3+ places.

www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15894

www.travelinescotland.com/lts/#/travelInfo

Well said Squoosh

I feel the same way about East Renfrewshire and I live there! All those bloody unremarkable bungalows that go for silly prices!!

mortgaged

My bungalow is in fact quite remarkable! 🙂

Polockshields is stunningly beautiful, 10 mins drive from centre, huge parks, huge houses.

As an aside, dh was responsible for a "No Mean City" advertising campaign, successfully promoting Glasgow as an inward investment location (playing on the alternate meaning of a great city, and iirc, a picture of people enjoying coffee outside the Italian Centre).

He did however get overuled/decided against the "Another night of violins" (We have the proof for that framed upstairs).

If you move to the West End you'll get to see a hipster numpty cycling about on a penny fathing. Surely laughing at him would be worth the higher rental costs!

I'm English, I live on the Southside (Strathbungo) and I absolutely love it. Never had any issues with my accent (Londony) I live in a tenement which suits me at the mo but would like to move to a house once I start a family (TTC at the mo) iI'd love to stay in the Southside if I could afford to but will probably have to move further out. I'm less than 5 mins from a station which is 6 mins into the city centre about 4-5 trains an hour.

Although there is a bit of crime, it's no worse than anywhere else I've lived and I have never felt anymore unsafe here than anywhere else either, I'm obviously not a fan of walking from the night bus to my front door but actually I've never had the slightest bit of trouble.

Glasgow is an amazing city, I'll probably never move back to England.

I like the West End but a decent size house or flat would be very expensive and I would be worried about student neighbours.

If your main consideration are nurseries and the best state schools in Scotland I would look at East Renfrewshire. This area borders the south side of Glasgow and as long as you make sure your in the catchment for East Ren schools you can still have good access to parks, amenities and easy travel in to Central Glasgow.

If you are looking for lots of access to parks, amenities and schools within walking distance I would look at Langside, Battlefield and Shawlands.

You will not get anything decent for your budget in the West End or the Southside tbh. Would you consider moving a little further out and your DH commuting?

Milngavie and Bearsden are lovely and a reasonable commute (15/20min).

DH and I lived in the West End pre children and moved to Milngavie when DS was 2. We then re-located to Ayr when we were expecting DD (50/55min on the train from Central Glasgow) for better value housing, great community feel and fab nursery's/schools, moments from the beach and good transport links.
DH still commutes many years later and we love it here.

If you move to the West End you'll get to see a hipster numpty cycling about on a penny fathing. Surely laughing at him would be worth the higher rental costs!
West end here I come.
Op, with your budget you could get something really nice just outside Glasgow, try googling Bothwell, Strathaven, Giffnock, Eaglesham. I would love to live in the West End but its expensive. And full of them darn hipsters

weegiemum, you surely meant to say you live in Château Lait...

@itsnoteasybeingdifferent I have never experienced any xenophobic reaction to my very English accent, I have lived all over Glasgow. I am astonished you feel this way.

I live and work in the west end but we're looking to move to the southside, mainly because of more bang for your buck with regard to houses (we currently live in a flat). We're looking at Langside, Newlands and Giffnock. The main thing for me is proximity to a train station as i'll be doing train+subway into work and, growing up in Pollokshaws (southside), I could be on the bus for an hour each day (one way) if I had to get to the city centre.

Honestly, do not worry about the anti-English thing. There are English people everywhere in Glasgow. At the swimming baths I go to there are quite often only English people there (it's v posh) That's not to diminish the experience of any English person who has encountered abuse, though nobody I'm friends with has everything told me they have, but I think the city is far more tolerant and open than it's given credit for. Anyone who has encountered racist abuse here, I'm truly sorry, the vast majority of us are not like that and are happy to have you here.

DH is English and has had a few xenophobic incidents. They do happen and there has definitely been an increase in ill feeling towards the English since the referendum, even though some sections of society will deny til they are blue in the face that they ever happen.

However you shouldn't let that put you off as the vast majority are very friendly.

Some bloke in a car once called me a stupid hun. I didn’t cross the road quick enough or something. Huns must be renowned for their cautiousness when crossing a road.

I just shouted back ‘IF WE’RE GOING TO USE SECTARIAN SLURS I THINK YOU’LL FIND I’M WHAT YOU’D PROBABLY DESCRIBE AS A TIM. YOU STUPID KNOB’

I'm so classy.

But that’s been the extent of the aggro I’ve experienced here.

Re: Maryhill and pyjamas, you want to come down to Pollokshaws for the real action. There's a guy who goes for a wee sleep in the cereal box display in Lidl. He's not homeless or anything, it's just his way. I love the Shaws, though, best Lidl and Home Bargains in town, glad my mum and dad still stay around there.

This thread's funny. Racists abuse? I have lived in glasgow with my English accent for 18 years and never experienced racist abuse. The west end and (bloody) Bearsden are certainly not all it's cracked up to be, there are some lovely areas around Cathcart, Clarkeston. Giffnock is great too, some peropls are just very west end focussed. I lived in the west end for 10 years but it's very much about bars/restaurants etc and less about family life in my opinion. My friends with kids in the west end have really struggled to get nursery places.

I now live in dullest Cambuslang which is the height of suburbia, but actually the nurseries are fantastic, there is loads of kid-friendly stuff to do (the non-Glasgow local authorities often have more money for family stuff so a lot is free) and it's 12 minutes on the train into town. If i could choose I would live in Giffnock though, it's lovely.

There's a guy who goes for a wee sleep in the cereal box display in Lidl. He's not homeless or anything, it's just his way.

Funniest comment on this thread, there are bams like that all over Glasgow.

Bam - best word ever.