Is Alloa a safe place to live?

[Mounamari]

Hi everyone,
I'm in the process of buying a house in Alloa - the west side of the town (offer accepted) and wanted to get some honest opinions from people who know the area. Has anyone here lived/live in Alloa? What do you think about it in terms of community and safety, etc.

I was originally planning on moving to Stirling, but the house prices in Alloa seem a lot more reasonable, plus it has a train station with a direct train to Glasgow and this would be a big advantage to me given I don't drive. I’m curious to know whether people feel it’s a good place to live, I've been hearing mixed opinions but without enough clarity on "why" and being honest that gave me a lot of anxiety. I know Alloa has some rougher areas (I feel like this is the case for any town/city)

I would appreciate any thoughts or personal experiences that would give me some mind peace because I'm starting to panic, and I'm genuinely considering to not go for the house any more, especially after seeing the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 and can see half of Alloa is dark red.

Is this as bad as it looks??

Thank you!

It's a shithole. I definitely wouldn't want to live there.

60% crime clearance rate so not bad. But it’s not nice there, lots of drugs amongst the teenagers

It's mixed - not exactly a desirable place to live, but it's not the ghetto either. Some parts of Alloa and deprived which does bring the usual social problems and other parts are very standard commuter/ family areas.

If you can stretch the budget to Stirling or even neighbouring Alva or Dollar I would.

It would not be my choice. It’s not particularly rural OP.

I grew up not far from Alloa and it is quite deprived (as you know from the dark red on the SIMD mapping!), but there's also quite a lot of new-ish housing that is nice and affordable. One of my friends has lived there for 10 years or so with her family and she likes it and has made lots of friends, but she has struggled a bit with schools - they had to move primary schools because their catchment school was quite deprived, her eldest was bullied and her youngest didn't get adequate support with his health needs - but they were happy with the second primary school and both kids are both now settled into high school. I do have other friends who live outside of Alloa and drove their kids miles in the opposite direction to attend school in Perth & Kinross to avoid sending them to Alloa Academy too.

I've never heard of anyone saying they feel unsafe there and it does have good connections to Glasgow and Stirling by train (you need to change at Stirling to get to Edinburgh which is fine for a day out, but a bit of a pain for a regular commuter) It's worth being aware that there is no public swimming pool in the Clackmannashire Council area, the nearest ones are in Stirling and Falkirk but that not be a deal breaker for you.

Alloa, like the rest of the Hillfoots, is ex-mining and very mixed economy. As a place to live, having lived in some 'dodgier' parts of big cities there are worse places, but it is not a brilliant place IMO. I am not keen on Alloa itself - just has a run down air about the place too much for me. BUT, it has all the shops and services you need, good greenspace is only a short ride away to the Hillfoots proper, or back towards the Trossachs. I would say it is a 'practical' place, not a 'heart' place for me.

There is a reason that Stirling and area has higher house prices - because again it can be a mixed city, but on balance it is faster travel to Edinburgh and Glasgow, has some lovely parts to live it, and while has some downsides it is a really good place to live, better schools, closer to really quality greenspace, has big changes around the corner through the city deal for employment and something like 5000 new homes between the south Stirling Gateway and brand new Durieshill village. I would say there is more high quality employment there as well, from University through to some tech companies, Prudential etc.

I think @outdooryone has hit the nail on the head there. Living in Alloa would be ok, but I think if your budget can stretch to afford a house in Stirling then your quality of life would be much better because it's a more pleasant environment and has better facilities.