Glasgow or Edinburgh v Birmingham UK

[UrsiHun]

Hey there, not sure it’s the right place to start a thread. I would like to find out about family life in Scotland. I’m British but have lived in Germany for 12 years and we want to go back next year. We have friends inn Birmingham but are thinking of moving somewhere quieter and greener an led yetnwith enough to offer children and parents.
Many thanks for any advice in advance.

Glasgow is a great city - I moved away many years ago but still have family there and would move back in a heartbeat. While we've had a good time in the NE we do think when we moved last time we should have gone to Glasgow.

Don't know Edinburgh well enough to comment but also have family there who love it.

Edinburgh is a brilliant but expensive city to live in. I’d recommend Scotland over England at the moment.

Thank you for your message. can you tell me why you find Glasgow so great?

Thanks, MaderiaCycle. Do you mean politically or also quality of life and society wise?

I'd also recommend Scotland over England. Free perscriptions and higher education plus our property prices are much more reasonable. You get more for your money just outside of Glasgow. There are a lot of areas near the city including South lanarkshire which is about 20 minutes with fantastic transport links. Houses are very reasonable and theres alot of greenery and country parks etc. Have a look at job opportunities that may be suitable for you in each area to help you decide. I work in education so can day schools in South Lanarkshire are very good but not quite as good as east refrewshire

There's only 5.5 million Scots compared to 66.5 million people in England so we have more space, opportunities and I may be biased but our government are much fairer than Westminsters x

If you have younger children, I believe there is less pressure and 'teaching to the test' (ie SATs, which Scotland doesn't have) in Scottish primary schools than English ones. I'm Scottish, with lots of Scottish teacher friends, but I currently teach in England. Glasgow and Edinburgh are both great. Glasgow feels like it has less green space in the city to me but it's surrounded by amazing countryside. Edinburgh is expensive as a pp said and very busy in the summer.

All your comments are incredibly helpful, thank you!

Since I am pretty convinced about Scotland and know a little bit about Edinburgh, I need to find out about desirable areas of Glasgow - glad to hear any suggestions where is good to lie with a family or which parts to avoid.

Also, is Stirling a good option? It seems to be within a reasonable commute, but is there enough for children in terms of a choice of schools and leisure centers?

Cheers xxx

Edinburgh is more expensive- if you're looking for an area with good schools & family homes, you won't get much for less than 400-500k. 25% of kids are privately educated.

In Glasgow itself, most good schools are in suburbs (East Ren or Bearsden/Milngavie) & you can get a reasonable house for 200+K.

Areas surrounding Stirling have good schools: Bridge of Allan, Dunblane. There's plenty of facilities eg leisure centres & things to do with good transport links.

Why not have a look on ESPC & Rightmove & see what you get for your money? (Bearing in mind the offers over system)

Thanks, ProseccoThyme!

Yes, Scotland has free prescriptions and HE, but at the cost of early years and FE!
There are many issues with Scotland's education too, this week it's a drop in the quality of languages education that has hit the headlines.
Please don't think that it's as simple as Scotland=better.
Depending which tier of schools your children have been in in Germany, an English school may suit more.
Do your friends in Birmingham use grammar schools, for instance?

That said, Edinburgh is nicest of the three, but £££££.

The fantastic thing about Glasgow is that it is a long narrow city , with a motorway running through the middle. It means that wherever you are, you are never far from the countryside.

So for example, you can live on the Southside of Glasgow, like me in Pollokshields, and still only be 20 minutes from the countryside to the North (and less to the South) and just over half an hour from Loch Lomond.

Glasgow also has a great suburban railway system and a dinky wee underground.

In addition to Bearsden, Milngavie, Newton Mearns and Giffnock, have a look at Pollokshields (one of the world's original garden suburbs, yet within a long walking distance of the city centre), Shawlands, Newlands, Langside and Strathbungo on the Southside and the West End on the North side (depending on your budget ) within the city boundary. There are good schools within Glasgow - ds has just finished at Shawlands Academy (and now away at Aberdeen Uni) and I couldn't be more impressed with the school (which, BTW, is recognised by the British Council as an "international school" the most international state school in the UK? with 55 languages spoken at the school and c50% with English as an Additional Language).

Lots of parks in Glasgow as well as excellent free museums like Kelvingrove Museum (although you have to pay for the Science Museum). Plenty of culture with Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and the RSNO all based in the city.

Thanks Ahola, of course Scotland is not perfect. In the end people's preferences will determine where they feel most comfortable. In Germany for instance, we have excellent healthcare (albeit we pay for it between 200-600€ per month depending on income), very affordable childcare from the age of 1 and very affordable tuition fees at uni. And yet I have never felt like at home in my 12 years here because people tend to be unfriendly, often rude and so direct that I find it difficult to be myself as my own politeness gets interpreted as weakness. Also there is little nice countryside in the north.
I would like my children to grow up with options as well as a sense of how beautiful nature is and how lovely it is to encounter friendly people on a daily basis. Also the job market is far more flexible. Here young adults need to decide what they are going to study or learn and do it for the rest of their lives. I dare say that nth England and Scotland are closer to what I find comfortable. Scotland is less populated and has fantastic culture as well as breathtaking history. I only hope my boys will find it easy to get used to the change.

Well I have lived in Edinburgh for 15 years but have just moved to Northern Ireland as I think it is a better place to bring up children (unless you are very well off). Great schools, lots of green spaces, super housing at affordable prices, everything is much cheaper, lovely places to go on days out and the people are the friendliest you will meet anywhere. It really is a great place to live.

Thanks for all the details prettybird! Do you think it might be hard for boys age 5 and 8 to be accepted in a school after a change from Germany? They both speak English very well but will have some issues with local colloquialisms at first. Do you think Stirling or Glasgow might be more open to a freeing family?

Don't know Stirling well enough to comment. It has good access to countryside and I know it has an excellent youth cycling club (Wallace Warriors) but that's about the extent of my knowledge. Been to a few cycling races up there when ds was still cycling competitively. There are a couple of areas to avoid in Stirling itself - but I don't think you'd look there anyway.

Glasgow is pretty multi-cultural now (especially the areas I mentioned) so I wouldn't see your kids having problems. At the junior section of the local rugby club, there are/have been kids of many nationalities: Dutch, Spanish, Georgian, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Pakistani, English, Irish and Welsh (), French and Polish. All the kids end up with Scottish accents, even if their parents don't Can't think of any recent Germans but I'm not so involved with the Minis (P1-P7) given that ds is now 18 and not even playing there any more (as he's away up in Aberdeen). But there again, not many Germans play rugby!

As an aside, ds "represented" Germany at the opening ceremony (ie cycled round the track with the German flag in German kit which the German team let him keep) when the Junior World Championships were held at Glasgow's velodrome a few years ago.

Thanks prettybird, how funny is that? The world is a village in the end. I hope I will manage to find a property and get the boys into schools without problems (catchment problems). That is my main concern. Are schools in east ren significantly better than in the areas you mentioned? I just looked up some properties and Icouldn't believe what you get for 425,000. In Hamburg you would get a small flat for that money.

Do you know by any chance whether there is a need for social workers in Scotland? I know they need many in England but I'd prefer to move up North (especially the thought of the boys speaking with a Scottish accent is alluring ;)

Best wishes from across the North Sea xx

If you are looking for greenery and space, I’d go for Edinburgh or Glasgow over Birmingham. Stirling might also be a good option for you as there’s easy access to the countryside and the other main cities. Schools are pretty good and lots for families and children to do. There’s also less pressure on catchment areas than in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The education system had its problems but on the whole it’s more flexible that south of the border and that can be particularly advantageous when transferring from a different education system.

Hi - as I said I grew up in Glasgow , not very far from where Prettybird now lives . Although I've not lived there for a long time I've visited regularly and still have family there.

I think Glasgow has a lot to offer - parks, museums, theatre, activities and yet is close to amazing countryside. We are seriously considering moving back to the city itself or to the surrounding area. I would certainly choose Glasgow or Edinburgh over Birmingham . My SIL lived in Dudley for a while and I spent the coldest New Year ever there !

Scottish education has it's flaws but as others have said I think the system is more flexible than south of the border - and was one of the reasons we moved back to Scotland from the SE of England - and I don't regret that at all.

I also would recommend myjobscotland.com for job hunting and would agree with checking the SSSC registration requirements.

user1471468296 Glasgow feels like it has less green space in the city to me

Not denying it might feel like that, because Edinburgh has Princes Street Gardens right in the centre of the city (which I love), but apparently, according to dh who used to have the job of encouraging inward investment to Glasgow Glasgow has more public green space/parks per head of population that any other city in the UK

Don't know if that calculation is made by excluding the suburbs outside the city boundary - but within the city there many, many large parks: off the top of my head, there is Kelvingrove Park, Maxwell Park (actually, it's only medium sized but still has a large pond which we like to go for walks around), Queens Park, Pollok Estate (with the Burrell Collection although that is closed at the moment for refurbishment), Tollcross Park, Glasgow Green, Victoria Park, the Botanic Gardens, King's Park, Bellahouston Park..... And numerous smaller green spaces and other parks that I don't know the names of Plus the Kelvin Walkway, which you can walk along the side of the river through busy parts of Glasgow and feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. Ditto with the canal paths.

Just have to say pb that's the best spin I've ever heard for having a motorway plow directly through the centre of a city I've ever heard... :o

I've given some info about Stirling on another thread of yours OP.

What's your budget? Do you want e.g. large house with a garden and driveway or something smaller? You could always rent to get your bearings again.

I live in Glasgow so I'm a bit biased (although not Scottish, I've lived her 10+ years), I'm a bit familiar with the demographics of Stirling and the areas around it but not knowledgable about Edinburgh.

In East Ren there's been a lot of houses built so school demand has massively increased. You used to be able to do placing requests easily but it's getting less likely each year.

As in your other thread, Dunblane and Bridge of Allan are the "naice" towns near Stirling.

It's definitely not lacking in green space here! I've lived in 4 different areas of Glasgow and have never been more than 5 mins from a huge park.

Check out Linlithgow. 20 mins on train to Edinburgh and 35mins to Glasgow. It's a lovely thriving town with lots of cafes and shops, really beautiful countryside with the palace, loch and canal and excellent schools. It's safe and friendly. Good luck with your move!

Thanks for all your messages! There is really no other way of finding out being so far away - cheers.

Our budget is approx. £500 000 and for that we'd like a generous living space (4bed), off street parking and of course a garden. Is that unrealistic?

I've looked at Pollockshields, which looks really great. Is that so close to the motorway that you'd hear it though? We'd like a quite street so that we can enjoy peace and quiet in the garden. Is that unrealistic in Glasgow?

We can vaguely hear the motorway depending on the wind direction - but are about 1/2 mile from the motorway (M77) - about 4 or 5 streets (but very large gardens) away. It is going through a cutting as it goes South beside the motorway (technically not through Pollokshields as the other side is Dumbreck ) so that also reduces noise. It sounds sort of like a distant sea, if we hear it at all.

In our (large) back gardens (conservation area so they're not built on ), all you can see is trees and we often comment on how peaceful it is when we're sitting out on the patio.

Picture is of dh and a friend taken this summer in the back garden looking along the back gardens, as we watched some tree butchers destroy a tall pine tree - to give you an idea of how "tree full" the area is.

Edited to say I can't post the picture at the moment (probably reached my limit on the app), so will try again tomorrow.