OH NO they are closing 22 schools in Edinburgh

[nailpolish]

not dds school thank GOD

You obviously haven't bee around much, robin .

But hey, I'll give you this much: it's a looking a lot better now than, say, Jamaica or the Yucatan Penninsula.

you are right expat! was just being wildly patriotic for a mo. however all looks better under a (partially) ble sky. and as we are talking about southerners, PLEASE can i moan about the festival wanks ie comedy promoter rats with ridiculous hair, mobile phones glued to their ears and 'more importnat than thou' attitude. Please is it all right for me to LOATHE them????

Tell me about it! I'm afraid to go out for being accosted by people handing out flyers. I've noticed the whole thing has also attracted some aggressive 'chuggers'.

DH is Edinburgh born and bred, and he stays away from 'toon' at all costs during the Festival. FIL says it makes him dizzy.

We tried to take DD1 once, when she was a baby, and she wailed away in her buggy till we left.

OK I agree it's sad if people can't afford a home anywhere they want, and especially where they grew up. But that's because of complex economics, house price inflation due to housebuilding policy nd many other factors. I think it's dodgy to blame whoever moves in (unless of course they're buying a second home and not living in it, I can understand that that's bad). Because if you do that then you're basically saying it's not OK to move from somewhere to somewhere else because you want to and can afford to. I don't think Scots would like it if they were banned from moving to England - or even if they were freely slagged off when they did.

There can be a racist element in this debate and it is one of the last vestiges of racism that people seem to find acceptable. Replace some of the uses of the word "English" with "Black" on this thread, and you might see what I mean.

Well, folk sell their house to the highest bidder and they don't care who it is.

This happens lots of places. When I first moved to Denver, there was huge and often open hostility to Californians who were selling their properties for huge profits and then buying a place in CO for cash.

But I thought, Hey, some Coloradan sold it to them! If they wanted to keep Colorado for Coloradans, then why did they sell their place to a Californian in the first place?

I'm not Californian, either .

how about we replace it with 'Polish'? i am sure if this was a discussion board for students or other people looking for rental flats you'd find similar sentiments about the eastern european influx. if locals are threatened by 'incomers' whilst it might not be right or pleasant,there perhaps should be some sympathy forthem, if there are valid reasons for it, ie not getting to live where you belong. its not about the scots v the english, as i said it happens all over the country.

What so you agree it's not nice to be racist against black people, but English and Poles are fair game? Oh I see...

And, if it's not about Scots v English, why did you mention the English?

oh GOD snow, it's not racist, it's circumstance - if it were blimming martians pushing up house prices people would be cross. and it was you who mentioned replacing english with blacks. but if it makes you happy to see me as a small minded ignorant, english hating scottish racist, by all means feel free.

Not really a good analogy, snow, because most of the Poles who are coming are NOT buying.

In fact, many are being taken advantage of by rogue landlords violating HMO laws by packing them into tiny flats and charging them all rent.

And working jobs like cleaners, security personel, tills, etc.

They're not here to be buy-to-let landlords, but to help support family back home.

And no, I don't buy this whole racist-against-the-English thingy.

Ridiculous, IMO.

anyway my english MIL has arrived, had better go and be horrid to her. (hahah joke)

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Expat hope you have stocked up on rainwear for the move to the wet west. But we are all so lovely warm and friendly you won't mind the rain.

For you, of course, mellow .

Can't have all those Edinbuggers taking over the place after the sasenachs push them out, though .

DH is already taking light-hearted grief from his new work colleagues. He just quips back, 'Donnae blame me! I'm a victim of the Lowland Clearances' .

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I don't think I actually mentioned 'English' people in my post.
And I have nothing against the English or the Welsh or Polish or any other nationality.
What I do have problems with is 'colonisers' ie wealthy people (of whatever nationality) who move into Edinburgh (and other areas too I'm sure) outbidding and outpricing the locals so that they can no longer afford to live there (if that's what they want to do) and then having very little to do with the local community.
Dh works in a university in Edinburgh and a lot of the people he works with (of all nationalities) never meet or mix with anyone who is actually from Edinburgh. Sometimes he feels like a 'token-Jock'. They travel (usually by car) from their homes where they are surrounded by people like themselves to their work where they work with people like themselves and probably never drink in local pubs or shop in local shops and often educated their children in private schools.

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my dh works in the uni and he has tons of mates who are born and bred edinburgh
go to watch hibs etc
AND they live in edinburgh! amazing isnt it

bogwobbit i am a "coloniser" but i didnt outprice any "local" person
i got the house valued and paid what it ws valued at

i am extremely offended

I had a grandfather whose family were actually Spanish colonialists to Mexico! It's true!

They lived on a great, big hacienda with tons of servants and had got their land grant from Spain centuries before. But they didn't mix with the locals - at least not be marriage. Keep the line pure. And white.

Then people got really pissed off about this and so staged a revolution.

The rebels would visit these haciendas, and take everything, and all the sons who were of age were forced to fight with them or die.

So my grand-dad escaped with his three eldest brothers hidden under bushels of corn in a burro-drawn cart.

Then he was an 'incomer' to America, but my dad would always take the mick out of him and call him an Imperialist.

so am i the only person on this thread who was born in edinburgh and still lives here?? i win!! i am obviously then the only person who is entitled to an opinion (would do grin emotion but can't find square brackets)

and course everyone is very welcome here - the mix of people is what makes it such a vibrant culture, and i am very glad that you all want to live in this beautiful city, (apart from expat obv!!!) and of course pay your council tax!

lets not fight.

I believe so, robin.

DH is born and bred Edinburgh, but we're offski. We like the hill life.

Like I said, horses for courses!

It's a good thing we don't all want the same thing!

It's a beautiful city allright, but it's a city .

meant to say have always lived here apart from when i was off colonising london!