so if you were moving to edinburgh

[TheSteveMilliband]

...and most likely working at Royal infirmary, where would you suggest living with good schools, good links to city / bypass?

Penicuik.

I suppose I should elaborate really :) it's a few miles from the bypass, handy for straiton etc, decent schools, great bus service into town - including the night bus for those rare nights out and is great for walks and access to the Borders/peebles etc. All while being approximately 9 miles from Princes Street.

I don't like there now btw but when we did we lived in the catchment of Mauricewood primary. Nice selection of 1960s houses around there and also handy for the High School.

*live, not like :o

ooh, following this - there is a very outside chance that we might move to Edinburgh and I am wondering where we might live so I can look at rightmove and dream!

I have a brother near Stirling so thinking that direction....

Magni I'm now in Stirling if I can be of any help?

I'd look in the catchment of Boroughmuir/James Gillespie's ie Bruntsfield, Morningside, Buckstone, Greenbank, parts of Fairmilehead. Will cost ££££ though!

Or possibly Balerno or Colinton.

North Berwick if you don't mind the commute.

Must be my working class roots that I automatically dismissed all sauvignon's options as too expensive without considering that OP might be a consultant surgeon or something and well able to afford them. I was going by my budget :o

magnum needless to say I don't live in any of these areas either! Don't have a spare £500k tucked up my sleeve!

magnum needless to say I don't live in any of these areas either! Don't have a spare £500k tucked up my sleeve!

Thanks onemagnum - am only dreaming really - sort of looking to see if I can find a place that has views of the mountains/countryside and commutable to Edinburgh to wow OH with and say "hey, look where we could live if we moved to Scotland".

We have equity in our house (in Canada) and could possibly end up with a teeny mortgage...maybe...and a nice view.

tbh getting a nice view of some sort isn't generally too much of a premium, we had a view over the Moorfoot hills on one side and the Pentlands on the other in our house in Penicuik. Now I have the Ochils and the Wallace Monument and the Castle.

I'd have thought Canada would be amazing to live in no? Although clearly not in commuting distance of Edinburgh :o

personally I'd like a view of the sea but DH not having that either.

Canada is pretty good - we are in the city and no mountains...

It's just far away from family and stuff and OH reckons he will be changing job in the next 2-5 years and we both reckon that moving back that side of the Atlantic is desirable for lots of reasons. Neither of us fancy coping with old age AND a Canadian winter, even the "mild" version that we get in Toronto.

We have family in Toronto but have never been, we thought about emigrating to Canada at one point and we had enough points to do it but felt we'd miss immediate family too much.

£500k would get you a good bit more in Fairmilehead than in Morningside etc. If you're happy to live in a (not main door) flat then prices are a bit more "affordable" (for Edinburgh). Some of Newington is in the James Gillespie's catchment and can be a bit cheaper.

Dependant on budget, if you want a house and are happy to not be really close to the town centre then I'd go for Balerno, Currie or Juniper Green.
Out of town, I have a friend who moved to Penicuik for the reasons listed above though she doesn't love it and is regretting it a bit - she does love her big garden though!

Also Craiglockhart although the prices seem to have shot up in recent years. Still a lot cheaper than Morningside though!

All depends on what you are looking for and what your budget is. Edinburgh South will suit as would the areas around Dalkeith. That said RIE is well served by public transport from all of Edinburgh.

Thanks everyone, loads of great ideas. Magnum, I know Penicuik well, it's great - close to country but still near town. Am going to take a look at craiglockhart, balerno, curry. I lived in Liberton and it would be great location wise , but not sure about schools there?

If you don't mind being further out then Kirknewton might also be an option - kids bussed to Balerno High but primary in the village. bit further round the bypass for the hospital though.

Some amazing houses there magnum. Not sure i want to be so far out though, like to be able to stroll to shops / restaurants. Or at least bus / taxi without breaking the bank. Really would,like a decent size garden too, not huge but big enough to play football, have trampoline. So....in betweeny places probably best. Love old Victorian houses but sooo expensive and tiny gardens. Is bypass awful in mornings do you know? And are schools in south Edinburgh ok? (Outside of south morning side / sciences etc catchment)?

Budget is critical really. There is a massive difference in what's available in a fairly small area.

You'll pay for good schools either by your house price or by paying fees. Edinburgh has a high percentage of privately education children.

Thanks Sio, was thinking that. Seems to be a huge difference in cost of property depending on school catchment. Is it really the sciennes, broughton, gillespies, morningside or are there more good schools that just aren't talked about as much? Kids also been in small school with very English accents, do kids still get bullied for this? Feeling very out of touch, has been 25 years since lived there!

Budget wise reasonable as have been living down south. £500 000ish.

I wouldnt think anyone would get bullied for an accent in anything other than areas where there are few incomers. I dont think that applies even in the rougher areas of Edinburgh.

I grew up (in a council estate) in South Edinburgh and went to Firrhill. It was good then and i believe better now. It had a really mixed catchment which included colinton village.

By pass was always pretty bad even though i was able to travel off-peak times. Pinchpoints are either end iirc.

Most Edinburgh schools have a mixed catchment, some better than others. I would tend to focus on your High school catchment unless your children are really young and you have plans to move.