Gossip on Edinburgh commuter locations

[ImposterJen]

My OH has just got a job at the University of Edinburgh and we’re relocating from England. I’m after gossip and sociological insight into who lives in different areas around Edinburgh.

About us: we’re an academic and disability activist, middle middle class (have lived in working class and posher-than-us areas previously), a bit arty, don’t like bigotry, but can also get annoyed by extreme fluffiness or community inclusion pressures (for health reasons I don’t want to need to do lots of community activities to fit in). Main activity would be dog walks. We like period properties with character and a view in a quiet location, but we’re not millionaires.

Do any areas spring to mind for us to feel right at home?

We’ll probably buy somewhere outside of Edinburgh (up to 45min commute) but we’re also interested in insight into Edinburgh neighbourhoods.

Places we think we’d like in preference order: Dunbar, Musselburgh, Aberdour, other East Lothian locations, other commutable Fife locations, Rosewell

Would we fit in in these places?

We’re intrigued that we can get more house for our money in places like Bo’ness, Bathgate, Inverkeithing. Why? Please be honest and specific.

BTW I have to confess I’m an imposter on this site - for health reasons I haven’t been able to have children. However, I’ve noticed that MumsNet is the best place online for getting honest feedback from women in my age group. This also means we can ignore school catchment issues - where would you move if you didn’t have to think about schools?

Ps I don't know if local fb sites always give an accurate view of the feel of an area. I'm on ours and it's a different vibe than I experience in real life (a lot of complaining which I haven't experienced in real life!)

I’m a bit coy about saying exact budget @luckygreeneyes as I think I’m fairly identifiable from this thread (English silliness?! )

In Bo’ness we can afford posh places, in Dunbar we’re fairly unrestricted, North Berwick is generally beyond our budget. We can’t afford what we want in middle class Edinburgh neighbourhoods.

We’d prefer a bigger house because I might need a live in carer. Something like 4 bedrooms but flexible if eg a garage could become an annexe.

I’ve noticed Portobello has a few recommendations. My partner likes the look of Portobello. From searches I’ve done we can’t afford the space we want there, but it will come up on our alerts as an area.

@Defaultuser yes it’s just a bit of a proxy. I’m not well enough to visit Edinburgh before we move up for good beginning of January (initially we’re going into an Airbnb in central Edinburgh) so I’m desperately trying to pick up what I can online.

@Gingerkittykat “ very middle class but I would say pretty conservative socially and exceptionally dull.” - yes this is what I want to know. I can tell from deprivation data maps the class of an area but can’t tell attitudes

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow “couple, no kids, dogs, broad minded, arty, want an ok commute to Edinburgh?”

Yes that would have been a quicker description

Yes 4 bedrooms would be quite expensive especially if you need a decent garden for the dog/s. Joppa/craigentinny are on either side of Porty and have bigger houses but I think they still come up if you search Portobello. Keep looking though because big houses don't come up often and there are sometimes bargains, especially if school catchment areas aren't an issue!

@LittleCandle “you are never allowed to forget that you are an incomer”

That’s good to know. Would that be particularly the case for English newcomers? With independence tensions, are there some places people would be wary of English people moving in? Or does the wider debate not get applied to specific people (unlike the immigrant issue in England)?

Though in an ethnicity sense I’m majority Scottish, so won’t stand out until I open my mouth, it would come across as ridiculous to claim I’m Scottish (thinking of some Americans who claim to be Scottish because their great great grandfather was). I expect that would be a way to alienate people, rather than simply owning English/British identity.

No one cares if you’re English. If they do they’re not worth knowing.
Edinburgh is full of “foreigners”, please don’t worry about that.
We’ll even let you stay after independence 😁.
You’re bang on about the Americans and their lineage though...that bugs me!

Borderers consider that they were born in God's Own Country and nobody else measures up. It really doesn't matter where you come from - if you weren't born in the Borders, you are not good enough. I lived there for decades, never by choice, and never felt welcome. I haven't had that problem since moving to East Lothian.

I think your wish-list has pretty much described Portobello to a T. As an area though, it has become expensive in recent years and I can fully understand if it doesn't fit your needs and budget - not a lot of big houses there either which pushes up market value when they do become available.

The outlying areas/"Greater Porty" are worth a look though - Edinburgh is so small and compact that if you were to look around Duddingston, some parts of Craigentinny, Joppa and Musselburgh - you would pretty much have the benefits of Portobello on your doorstep. Similarly, Cramond might also appeal to you but Silverknowes is very close by without the hefty price tag.

One thing I would say from my experience of working at the University is that most academic staff tend to live in the city - Marchmont, Stockbridge, Morningside etc are very popular spots and I've found (at least in my department and I can well believe it is different elsewhere) that there is almost a reverse snobbery about colleagues who live in the suburbs. That said, Portobello is definitely the exception here - it's crawling with academics . Some people will be more bothered by that than others and some will actively want to get out of the academic bubble outside of working hours so this won't be an issue but I thought I should mention it anyway.

My partner has booked in a Duddingston bungalow viewing this evening now. It’s one I’m not so keen on though. To get space in that type of area we’re going to need to buy houses which require redecoration/modernisation, but that’s one of the potential compromises as our search continues.

“Marchmont, Stockbridge, Morningside” @TakeYourCanvasBags I don’t think we can afford our criteria in these areas.

There seems to be quite a few academics in Dunbar (or a relatively high proportion of people in the Dunbar Facebook group said they work at the university, it’s probably not a high proportion of the university staff overall).

I dashed that last email off rather quickly, what I meant to say was that I agree, your criteria would not really fit with the "usual" academic areas of Marchmont etc - the accommodation in these areas tends be flats rather than houses and probably not disability friendly. Also, as I said, it might only be in my department that this kind of attitude prevails (I don't want to say where I live as I feel it could be outing but suffice to say it is residential/suburban and my colleagues regard this with a constant sense of bemusement). I did think the potential attitude was worth mentioning though, even if it's a non-issue for you. FWIW, I choose to live outside of the academic bubble because I want to separate my work and home life and can't think of anything worse than bumping into colleagues at the shops or in the park.

Outside of the city, I personally think East Lothian suits your criteria more than Bo'ness, Linlithgow etc. Although both are actually nice areas and don;t really deserve some of the comments here (IMO).

If I was you - I would do portobello or maybe even trinity.

I have heard similar about the Borders except perhaps Peebles. East Lothian is very welcoming - full of English folk. I’m just not sure if there will be enough going on for you both. But as I said, fantastic for walks/nice welcoming feel/culture.

There are lots of academics in Liberton as it’s close to the uni. Good value for money compared to morningside and great dog walks. Or newington way - check out Priestfield. Colinton is nice - quite a rural feel and village-y but quite white/middle class/work in finance.

I do think you would love portobello but budget may be an issue.

West Lothian is ok but except for perhaps Linlithgow, it’s probably not as diverse as you want. South queensferry would be the exception there.

I should set myself up as a house finder.

Is your budget between £250k and £500k?!

I was thinking of Brunstane - it's at the Joppa end

Train station that is

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow you could be a house finder, you outed our exact budget range

I assume you have hit up edict/zoopla/rightmove/I the market.. I’m not much more help I’m afraid as most of my local knowledge is in Edinburgh city. Hope you get somewhere great though and welcome to Scotland when you come. I have not experienced any racism or anti gay mentality personally,, I hope you and your partner will be happy here, and make good friends

Carriden, Bo'ness, Stirlingshire, EH51
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65739318.html

Ha - I only worked it out due to your angst about affordability!
If you want a garden then try the 1930s bungalows in coillesdene area near portobello. It’s a bit further out.

You could also buy a gorgeous cottage somewhere like innerwick (village outside dunbar) but i think harder to meet people than Edinburgh.

Or even north edinburgh - don’t rule out the fringes of now cosmopolitan Leith - 20 years ago you wouldn’t even have considered it. If you went for the trinity side, you would be near enough leith but a bit quieter.

Do you like late nights out in bars and concerts? Or dog walks and nice pubs?

espc.com/property/the-old-stables-hoprig-road-cockburnspath-td13-5yg/35589147?sid=753740
(Example of a wee place commutable you dunbar. Lovely village but nothing there by way of pubs)