Commuting to Edinburgh - Stirling / Falkirk?

[aforestgrewandgrew]

Ideally we'd like to be in Edinburgh but on a budget of approx £180K I'm not sure we can afford it!

We've got family in Glasgow so I was thinking Stirling / Falkirk could be good. Plus although we're looking at working in Edinburgh now, I guess easy access to Glasgow for future jobs could be good too.

My other half is Scottish but not me, my only knowledge of Scotland is visiting not actually living there. DP is very easy going, happy to go with what I want (i.e. leaving me to do all the research!) so I'm hoping MN can help!

What are Stirling / Falkirk like? What are the schools like? Is the commute OK?

Are there other areas I should be considering?

Alternatively any tips on how to live in Edinburgh for £180K would be amazing!

[Kr1stina]

My advice is that you prioritise the things that will affect your quality of life most.

E.g. Best schools for your children , they go every day
Your commute to work - ditto
Type of house / area that you want

I'd not worry so much about travelling to see family, which you might do once a month and they might come to see you once a month . Being half an hour away from granny won't help you if you kids hate their schools and you are stressed out by your commnute .

Some people get very hung up on being near shops, when In fact we have the internet here in Scotland . But you can't send your kids to dancing lessson / Scouts / karate online .

If you live in the country ( I mean outside a town, not a remote area ) then you will spend the years between your children being 7 -17 driving them around for their social lives . This is hard to do if you both work long hours, so if you have FT demanding careers I'd recommend a city ( not suburbs ) so your young teens / pre teens can be more independent .

We live in a village with a train but no bus. Our kids can get to school and into the nearest town centre . But they need lifts to and from everything else, like visiting friends, extra curricular activities, sports etc .

We factored this is when we moved here but it's a big committment. Visiting granny once a month is nothing compared with the taxi runs every night.

[dementedma]

Dd2 and her BF have just bought their first flat together...in Bridge of Allan. Am jealous!!!

[dotdotdotmustdash]

This is a good link for quick school information
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/how-well-your-kids-school-5407127

[PuppetInParadize]

A good friend lives in M'burgh. No children though, so no idea about schools. They like it, being near the city and the country, places to walk the dog.

Trains from B of A are usually the slow/ stopping ones. Likewise Dunblane though not every time! Changing at Stirling and getting a faster one is a quicker way to reach Glasgow. The fast train to Glasgow is just Perth-Stirling- then to QS.
Many of the trains from Stirling to E'burgh stop often - serves places like Falkirk and Linlithgow every time but misses Edinburgh Park sometimes. Generally quite slow service. There's another Perth to Edinburgh route through Fife - takes about 1 1/2 hours. Great for reading/working as not that crowded.

I know a few ppl in Livingston. The primaries seem good. High schools a bit variable.Town itself has nice areas and others which are less so. Again good for country and city visits.

[cazzyg]

It's a short drive to Stirling from Falkirk - 20/25 mins along the A9 or motorway. Regular buses and trains too.

I didn't expect to like living here. I was born here but grew up in Linlithgow then went to uni in Glasgow and moved to London after that. However it's been a great place to bring up a family as there's so much on our doorstep.

It was the head decision for us definitely. At the time the alternative option was the west end of Glasgow but we looked at houses here and discovered we could afford a 4 bed detached for the same price as a 2 bed flat. It was a no brainier logically and the only sensible financial decision I've ever made .

There's a lot of families with young children where we are which means DD has plenty of friends to play with in the local area.

[celtiethree]

How old are your DC and what do they like to do?? Falkirk will definitely get you more house for your money and the point about the strange lack of decent eating places in Stirling is very true! I'd look closely at secondary schools if you will be staying for a while, even if your DC are primary age now secondary sneaks up really fast. There is some information in the form of tables but that won't provide the whole picture. You also want to look at how many national 5s are on offer, some schools offer specialisation in sport etc. It's very normal to send your DC to your catchment school, but you can put in placement requests. Some schools are very full because of new housing so not all placement requests are granted.

[aforestgrewandgrew]

Falkirk certainly makes more sense transport-wise. So much quicker into Edinburgh.

Stirling looks so pretty though! And DP has friends with young DC there which is a bonus. I know nothing about Falkirk apart from a brief touristy visit to the Kelpies & the Falkirk Wheel (a great day out! The kids loved the wheel especially, we spent ages in the water play area).

It's not as pretty as Stirling but we'd be able to afford a nice house so at least worth considering, think we need to do a Falkirk / Stirling visit when we're next up.

[cazzyg]

Actually Falkirk has quite a lot going for it, but it's not the prettiest of places.

House prices are good and for £180k you should be able to find a 3 bed detached or cottage style with a decent garden.

Transport links are really good with trains every 15 mins to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Motorway access to both too. DH is Glasgow based for work and I'm in Edinburgh and we both have a commute under 45 mins by car. There's even the odd train to London and it's 25 minutes to Edinburgh airport.

Things like the helix park and kelpies have been great for the town and brought in lots of visitors. It's a great place to visit with children.

Lots of activities too - football, rugby, tennis, dancing, acting/musical theatre, swimming, martial arts etc. Few nice bars and cafes have opened recently too.

[Blankiefan]

My typo-ridden plea for Falkirk was vs stirling!

[Blankiefan]

There's not a lot of love for poor old Falkirk here.

It's a good 20 mins closer to either Glasgow or Edinburgh which could save you 40 mins per day commuting. Also, the town has had a decent amount of investment; particularly From a leisure perspective. The Helix is a newish leisure space/park which is encouraging loss of new community activity. Shopping is at least as good too and there are plenty of ammenities (swimming pools, soft play, trampoline park, etc). Better eating out options too - Stirljng has an odd lack of decent places to eat out given the middle class population.

Dd is only 3 so not sure about schools yet. Great nurseries. The primary she'll go to is very well rated. I believe secondary is a bit questionable but it's a decade til she goes and much can change in that time. Unless your DC are already near secondary school I wouldn't chose your location based on current school ratings.

[aforestgrewandgrew]

FrancisCrawford I think maybe I need to give Musselburgh another look - people keep recommending it to me. I've only been a few times, and never really wandered about. 7 minutes is an amazing commute!

I think the Borders is out, realistically.

[aforestgrewandgrew]

No, that's wrong too - DP says it's "Tricks of the Trade".

(I should possibly look up from MN more often so I know what I'm watching )

[aforestgrewandgrew]

Oops sorry, it's "The House that 100K built - Trade Secrets" apparently.

[aforestgrewandgrew]

Haha DP is showing me old episodes of "the house that 100K built" on YouTube and suggesting we buy a plot and a pre-built kit home like one of these.

I like his lateral thinking but suspect the nice ones are out of our budget too!

Check out how quick they build the house in the link above though - astounding! They basically do the whole ground floor in a day!

[Pootle40]

Depending on where you get a job, Stirling will be a decent commute....in rush hour you will be over an hour driving just to get to the West side of Edinburgh. Linlithgow is much nearer and very nice but very expensive compared to other places. We live in Dunfermline and there are lots of nice places near here and commute not bad. Personally I leave the house at 750am, drop off at nursery and I'm at my desk 845 ( west side of Edinburgh) most days. Other people seem shocked but I know for a fact my commute seems better than Stirling based on a colleague doing same job and hours.

[aforestgrewandgrew]

Cross posts about the train!

I am typing slowly as distracted by a property show DP's put on! We've been talking about this move a lot today.

[aforestgrewandgrew]

SauvignonPlonker it's not the fastest, no. I must admit that's the only thing giving me pause right now.

But it looks like it's 30-40 minutes in to Glasgow (depending on the service) and that's a massive bonus for us. We've been assuming DP will work in Edinburgh as he has contacts there and his industry has more jobs there, but Glasgow's not totally impossible.

I do admin type stuff, I can work pretty much anywhere!

[WankersHacksandThieves]

it is great. It's not perfect of course, some of the pubs can be a bit rough and there are bits where people hang about the streets, but that's the same everywhere. I think the reason I feel at home is that it is very like a mini Edinburgh. i can see the castle out of one window and the Wallace monument out another :)

[WankersHacksandThieves]

train to Edinburgh from Stirling or Bofa is around an hour - it's just a few extra minutes up to BofA.

Train to Glasgow can be faster depending which station you get on as not all trains stop at all stations. So, there is a half hour service or a longer service. I'm sure the fast one still stops at BofA but I can't really remember.

Doesn't make any odds for Edinburgh though i think.

[aforestgrewandgrew]

WankersHacksandThieves I already have that one open in another tab

It's great isn't it.

I had a virtual wander round the streets of Stirling courtesy of Google Street view earlier and it's lovely, isn't it?! Certainly a place that would make my heart sing.

As a total aside, we were in Stirling Castle last year, it was ace! DS loved it. (Didn't visit the town though).

[SauvignonPlonker]

Isn't the train service from B of A to Edinburgh a bit slow? I have a few friends who do the commute & say so. I think dunblane might have a faster service? Prepared to stand corrected!

[WankersHacksandThieves]

agree oh fuds. That puts you in the catchment for Stirling High which would be good too.

[OhFuds]

BofA and Dunblane are lovely but I also like Torbrex or Cambusbarron if you are considering Stirling.

[WankersHacksandThieves]

Actually it wasn't the crescent, it was the Road.