Moving to Aberdeen - Clueless

[LoosingBattle]

Found out today that Dh has got promotion, great! Only it is in Aberdeen (Portlethen). There is no real reason to stop us going, I am studying (Open University) and work a few hours part time. Salary difference for DH would more than make up for the loss of my wage. We moved out of Glasgow last year after selling our house to live in the country, we couldn't find a house to buy so are still renting - no ties there.

Anyway - what is Aberdeen like? Where would be best to look for houses? The more rural the better but no idea how feasible that is? DH commutes 30 miles each way at the moment so anything less than that would be a bonus.

DD goes to nursery at the moment while I work but I would be a SAHM in Aberdeen, she is 3 in Feb so Primary Schools would be a consideration also. Where we live at the moment she would get a bus the 9 miles to school from P1 so anything better/closer than that would be great!

Cove bay is really nice (I lived there for 3 years) its not far into aberdeen Loriston Primary/Nursery is only about a 10 minute walk from the furtherest point and is a lovely school. There is a huge park about a 10 minute bus ride away as well. They have playgroups at the 2 community centres too.

Id reccomend Stonehaven, which coincidentally is where I live too. Its a small village about 5 miles away, South, from Portlethen, has its own town centre, lots of things to do - eg parks, swimming, sports centre, town hall etc. It has good train links to Aberdeen. It has a number of nurseries and a high school. Info on Stonehaven www.stonehavenguide.net/

Have a look on ASPC www.aspc.co.uk for houses etc

Aberdeen is 5 miles north of Portlethen (Portlethen is in the middle of Aberdeen and Sonehaven) and is a bigger city.

Hope that is of some help.

There are lots of new houses being built in Portlethen so the commute would be minutes. You could try Muchalls which is between Porthlethen and Stonehaven but could also recommend Stonehaven as there is lots to do.

Aberdeen housing itself? Very pricey. Bust city, lots to do, shops good, traffic pretty bad due to bottlenecks over the rivers. Stonehaven fairly expensive too but lovely town. If hubby working south sidee ie portlethen you could live there, or move further south, depends how much you want to commute for rural or small village/towns to the south or west try Durris, Drumoak, Banchory, netherley, Auchenblae, johnshaven, inverbervie, drumlithie, kinneff, Laurencekirk.

we live in Montrose, small town lots of amenities, great rail link, i commute to Aberdeen 40 mins as its on dual carriage way (36) miles. Welcome to the northeast of Scotland!!

Sorry, BUSY! City

Stonehaven if you want a town with amenities within easy travel (bus/train) to Aberdeen.

Laurencekirk for further out.

Hello I was just wondering if you moved and what advice you can give now

My husband to be has been offered a job in aberdeen. We currently live near York. Not sure i would want to live in a huge city but would want somewhere that had good facilities.
We also have a 6 year old daughter so would need a good school for her.
Help please lol
Kirsty

kirsty1983
I think you said your OH's job was at the airport? Would he be travelling there in rush hour at all? The A90 route Portlethen - Stonehaven is good for access to the Harbour and industrial estates and it doesn't take long to get to the airport(other side) but in rush hour could take ages, so might be better to live so that you avoid crossing town unnecessarily. The problem is the narrow bridges to cross the rivers.

You cannot get performance figures for junior schools in Scotland and the Ofsted equivalent reports tend to be very old.
So I chose by researching senior school results (the Scotsman newspaper publishes league tables for these every December) and then choosing feeder junior schools.
You can research areas really effectively by looking at streetview on Google maps.
Stonehaven has good schools with old buildings, Portlethen has lots of new housing which doesn't show on Google maps much yet and a newer Academy but the Junior Schools are a bit overcrowded as they were supposed to build a 3rd school for the new housing but didn't.

The nearest area to the airport is Dyce so you may want to research in that direction more - Westhill has good Senior and Junior schools and also some new housing.

I agree with the post above on the areas to avoid and would suggest you bear in mind the catchment areas for senior schools when choosing even though your child is only 6 since time flies. Cove isn't in the zone of a fantastic senior school I don't think but also has newbuild housing.
In Scotland if you live in the catchment you should get into the school. To go outside catchment you have to make a special request which will only be honoured if they have space.
Good luck. That ASPC website is also your friend.

I have taken a job in Amberdeen with EnerMech , my daughter and myself will be relocating from Missouri. My daughter is 10 years old. Looking for a school for her.