Help! I want to move to Edinburgh but know nothing!

[SandrainDurham]

Hello, me and my daughter are passionate about Edinburgh, which we consider the best place on Earth. We are both recent graduates and overcoming a very difficult life-changing health situation, so we had one of those 'moments' and want to start a new life there.
So, we need your help: we want to rent a house in an area with shops and close to a bus route that can take us to the city centre, but we cannot afford thousands of pounds per month!
We want a peaceful, friendly neighbourhood, have a garden, greet the neighbours and talk about the weather!
Which areas do you advise?
Please contribute as much as possible, we are grateful for any information.
Thanks!

Edinburgh is actually relatively dry because it's on the East Coast, it's cooler than the SE but not a lot wetter, it's easy to Google the stats.

There's a good rainfall map on the Met Office web- site, Edinburgh's rainfall is basically the same as London's, it is definitely colder in Winter though ( I've lived in both for 6 years each).

Thank you, chesterfuckingdraws and Veterinari :))))

ESPC is used more than Rightmove I think. Agree with all areas noted by Veterinari. There are also other small towns on the outskirts like Musselburgh and Dalkeith where you might get more for your money. Edinburgh has good bus services, and it's worth looking at the local train network as you might find it cheaper to go to a town in East Lothian or over the Firth of Forth, but still relatively quick into the centre of Edinburgh.

Good luck OP, I love Edinburgh! It's not that rainy, and while the winters might be cold and dark, it's light until gone 10pm in the summer.

My friend rents in EH8 - it's not a house, but a ground floor 2 bed flat, with its own front and back garden (she has dogs too). It's £800 a month - spacious and lovely on the inside, but inside an uninspiring 3 storey ex-council block. She's very happy and I was very envious when I visited.

ESPC seemed to have less on the rental side than rightmove - in the budget anyway. Always worth looking at everything in case you miss a gem :)

Hi Sandra, I can't tell from your posts if you've visited Edinburgh at all yet or if you are just planning a move?
I think definitely coming up and spending some time in the areas mentioned will help you get a feel for where you would like to live. My personal recommendations would be Leith or Portobello, but I don't know what they'd be like price wise.

Leith doesn't seem very communityish to me.. it's a good area and has a certain vibe to it but I had an ex who lived in one of the tenements and he knew none of his neighbours.. seems a kinda young professional area to me?

Portobello I'd say has more of a community feel but I think you'd struggle with your budget.

I'd say look outside/ outskirts of the city and if shops are important then fort kinnaird area? Danderhall/ Mussleburgh/ Newcraighall all still have a small town/ village feel and good links to the city. Further out would be Tranent, Port Seton, Prestonpans.. you'd get more for your budget but a slightly longer bus trip into the city (though still pretty well connected I think) also very community like- they're ex-mining towns so all that stuff.

Also you'll struggle to get a house in leith, 1 bed flats in tenements go for £700 there now.

I grew up in Chesser but it feels so busy now they have Asda and the retail park there. But I used to regularly walk in to town and bus services were handy.

Currently live in Corstorphine. Carrick Knowe and Broomhall have some reasonable rentals, near bus routes, parks and the tram.

I work in South Queensferry which I love working out that was as I am against the traffic both ways.