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Original poster

Calling Scottish Mums- Would Love your Opinions

237 replies

colette · 08/12/2006 15:56

We have been considering moving out of Glasgow- at present we live in a flat in the southside and would quite like to upgrade to a house but cannot do that here without moving to a grim area iykwim. Also we are a bit dissillusioned with Glasgow generally.
We have been considering Stranraer , see my other thread - sorry have not managed to do a link. It is in travel/ general advice. The replies have backed up what I was worried about.
Also have considered Stirling and the surrounding area, but the problem is the best areas are too expensive for us and Cambusbarron looked like a great contender until we looked at the primary school hmi report! Also there seemed to be a lot of wild kids hanging about on the street- really like the location otherwise. Dh lived in Stirling for about 7 years and we used to visit it a lot when we first met.
Anyway to cast the net wider I would really like your opinions on these and any other areas in Scotland that ;
1- have good schools but reasonable houseprices eg. 3 bedroomed under ?150,000
2- are semirural and have a good community feel iykwim
3 are commutable to a city or major town easily
4 have less drugs related problems, crime and violence than glasgow.
5 are good places for kids to grow up but have some things for adults too - sports centres, cinemas , good restaurants . Beautiful countryside
I know cheaper house prices usually means less desirable. So I know I am asking a lot .
I am hoping your insights will give me an insiders guide to living in different places- and this will help us to broaden our search. We are really stuck in a rut and are going round in circles and would really be grateful for your input

OP posts:
JennyLeevesmilkandcookiesforSa · 08/12/2006 20:44

No problem ! also sorry if I offend all fifers I know it is not all people in fife but I lived there from age 11 to age 17 and they were the worst years of my life and school was hell was called racist names and treated badly, also what I said about the town centre is true.

santasaltire · 08/12/2006 22:09

Fimbo, Fisher and Donaldson cakes are much better. They are also building a big Aldi in Cupar, i don't know if they have started on it yet. I don't like the place - sorry

santasaltire · 08/12/2006 22:10

I live in Fife, but not through choice, it's because of DH's job

JennyLeevesmilkandcookiesforSa · 08/12/2006 23:30

like I said I know it is not all people in fife. think I was a bit of an arse to say what i said.

Do you like it there? i think pittencrieff park is lively and the abbey ruins it is nice for a day out but not to live

expatinscotland · 08/12/2006 23:32

There's an Aldi in Dunfermline, IIRC.

santasaltire · 09/12/2006 09:51

Don't worry Jenny, i'm not at all offended. I have my own opinions of Fifer's.
I've never actually been to Dunfermline, or Glenrothes, which is a bit embarassing considering i've been here 4 years. If i go shopping i tend to go to Dundee, which is nearer.
Someone mentioned here the Borders. Hawick is quite cheap for housing, howeve there is I believe a chronic shortage of jobs, a lot of the mills have closed, but if the OPs DH is self employed it may not be a problem. I don't actually like Hawick, but that's just a southern thing!!

TinsellyRhino · 09/12/2006 09:57

All about Annan

tartanandtired · 09/12/2006 10:41

Hi Colette - Not sure where you are living at present but would you prefer to move somewhere far, far away or consider moving a shorter distance? What about some of the places in Lanarkshire?

Lilliput · 09/12/2006 11:10

I vote for Moffat. Just off the motorway, just under an hour to glasgow. Good school and a good sense of community. Really friendly mums, very little crime. Lovely local shops and good restaurants. The links to other cities are great. hour and half to edinburgh, 45 mins to carlisle, 30 mins to Dumfries.

batflump · 09/12/2006 11:52

We live in Galashiels in the Borders - DH commutes to Edinburgh every day, so it's not too far. We finally have decent supermarkets - new Asda and Tesco just opened. Believe local schools are OK but we don't have children so have no first hand knowledge. The area is beautiful - we can be right out in the country in 5 minutes drive. It is possible to buy 3 bed house for £150-£170K, and house prices are rumoured to be on the rise as it has been decided to re-open railway to Edinburgh over next few years. We live right in the centre of the town, so have the odd drunken yob careening up the street at 3 am, but I think Gala is no worse, and much better than most places as far as anti-social behaviour /drink / drugs goes (sad that you actually accept that this kind of thing goes on everywhere now......). We've been here less than a year, and like it very much,

santasweetdreamer · 09/12/2006 12:11

If your already on the southside why not move out a bit further?

I'm sure you'd get a house in Neilston/Barrhead?EK for less than your asking price.

how many kids do you have?

santasaltire · 09/12/2006 12:25

batflump, my IL's all live in Galashiels.

batflump · 09/12/2006 12:31

Santasaltire - good enough reason for avoiding at all costs! My in-laws are all in Australia and sometimes that doesn't seem far enough away

santasaltire · 09/12/2006 12:37

I don't like the place at all batflump. My PIL is always going about how great it is, the best of everything, and of course step MIL agrees with him. I am just hoping we don't end up living there! Breaking out in a cold sweat just thinking of it

batflump · 09/12/2006 12:57

Santasaltire - we were in Fife before........... anything seems great after that! No, only joking, think certain parts of Fife are lovely, especially the villages on the East Neuk, but think Dunfermline is expanding too much - when you look out at the eastern expansion it's like a sea of houses with no space between. I have 2 x Dnephews at school in Dunfermline - the junior schools seem OK, but the high schools are a bit hit and miss. Still prefer Gala!

Original poster
colette · 09/12/2006 13:17

tartanandtired We would rather not move much more than a few hours away . All the places that are quite near we just don't really like/ or are too expensive.

OP posts:
Original poster
colette · 09/12/2006 13:22

Lilliput - it sounds good but as it is near Beattock does it not rain a lot ?

OP posts:
Original poster
colette · 09/12/2006 13:25

Lilliput - it sounds good but as it is near Beattock does it not rain a lot ?
santasweetdreamer don't know Neilston , don't like e.k or Barrhead . My friend moved to ek and really likes it
Thanks for the replies

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 09/12/2006 13:37

Yikes, you aren't half asking a lot!!

Best to aim high though.

East renfrewshire schools are generally considered good.

My best suggestion is to do a search on any area on the GSPC website under £150k and this might throw up areas you hadn't thought of before.

trixymalixy · 09/12/2006 13:40

what about this?

Houston's supposed to be nice/have good schools

poinsettydog · 09/12/2006 14:10

You'll pay a fortune to live in Linlithgow. Not much better than Edinburgh. If you go for pretty places with very good schools, you'll pay for it. Fact everywhere.

"clackmannan is beautiful" jenny
Clackmannan is not beautiful. Maybe you meant Clackmannanshire? Some bits.

saltire - what parts of scotland do you like?!

poinsettydog · 09/12/2006 14:12

If you're looking for place with a guarantee that it doesn't rain a lot, give up

JennyLeevesmilkandcookiesforSa · 09/12/2006 14:31

yes I meant clackmannanashire lol the hills in the distance, near Stirling and all that historical stuff and shops and who could forget Sterling tillicoultry near stirling thats near also... oh and Stiling uni and that big spikey landmark sticking out the trees

JennyLeevesmilkandcookiesforSa · 09/12/2006 14:31

Clackmannanshire even

RockinAroundTheChrisammacTree · 09/12/2006 14:58

I know it's not as far away as some of the places, but some of the villages at the foot of the Campsies are nice. A quick search found this

Still close to Glasgow, but a bit more rural. Would then go a village school.