TL;DR: Would an Indian family with children be OK living in Troon or Ayrshire in general ? We can understand our children might stand out in schools but that's obvious and OK as long as there's no targeting or deliberate ostracism. In general we find Scotland extremely pleasant but understand certain places everywhere would insular and/or not open to diversity.
Longer version:
My DH works in the IT industry as a Software Developer/Engg. He lived in Troon and commuted to work for 4.5yr switched companies, came to England and we are currently in Cambridge since 1.5 yrs. He now has ILR and is free from immigration restrictions and doesn't need sponsorship anymore. He's getting a lot of remote/work-from-home job offers/contracts. We are therefore planning on buying a house and settling down elsewhere.
We are an Indian family and have 2 small babies now (7month twins). DH hates life in Cambridge. Reasons given: (1) Traffic and congestion - unable to enjoy driving. (2) dullness/flatness, no access to mountains or sea or forests (there's Thetford but he loved Galloway so...) all of which he says helps him unwind (3) House prices - his idea is that he has worked super hard to earn whatever he has so he doesn't want to take a huge mortgage and continue slogging under pressure to repay it over next 2 decades or more.
The positives here are (1) Lots of jobs (2) super-sunny (3) education - Don't know how much this matters - DH did not go to "good" schools/uni, but with sheer determination and hardwork, outdid a lot of them who probably did - after-all he came from a poor background that too in a developing country and got himself a very decent paying job in a tech giant in a 1st world country :) .
He loved Troon. I joined him late so only lived there a very short while. He is not crazy after socialising or being with "own kind"- just enjoys his work and nature and not a people-person. We don't go to pubs or care about it for instance (non-drinkers anyway).
But now we have me (who wants a bit more social life or at-least some job) and our babies :) . House prices in South Ayrshire are wayyy less than Cambridge. We want to spend a max of £260K (can go to £280K if really needed but would prefer not to) on 3 or more room detached. We are seeing we can buy this in following places:
- Ayrshire - Troon/Barassie (1st choice of DH), Irvine, Kilmarnock, Ayr - didn't find Prestwick appealing to live in.
- Glasgow surroundings - Paisley, Newton Mearns (might have to compromise for a semi-detached here), East Kilbride. Obvious reason - availability of jobs should we need to switch
- Livingston - commutable to both Glasgow and Edinburgh if needed
- Edinburgh and surroundings - Dunfermline, Edinburgh itself (access to beaches) though might have to compromise for a semi-detached, North Berwick, Dunbar (super expensive so unlikely)
We have been to Edinburgh (sightseeing) and loved it. Never been to surroundings though. We have been to Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Irvine (ASDA, A&E, beach) occasionally and liked them. Lived in Troon for a while but didn't have children then. Others (Livingston etc.) we have just heard about, never been to.
Any guidance would be helpful - any places to obviously avoid (reasons appreciated) or obviously choose. Thanks !