Moving to Edinburgh - best city areas for families

[HouseOfConkers]

Hi everyone,

We are looking to move to Edinburgh in the new year. It's something that 10 years ago when I first visited would have been something I could only imagine in my wildest dreams. A lot has changed since then, we have 2 children (boys, one aged 5 one aged 10 months). We've toyed with the idea of different areas but I suppose we always come back to the city centre (Stockbridge, new town, marchmont etc).

I must admit we are settled here now here in England (Leeds) we have a nice life, friends etc. Hubby works away a LOT so it does help to have a little bit of support here. (Although that's just friends as neither family live nearby). We moved here 5 years ago from Scotland (ex RAF) and told ourselves it was temporary and we would always go back.

I suppose I'm asking the following, I know you can't tell me if the grass is greener but has anybody else on here with children moved to any of these areas? How well did you settle in? Is it easy to make friends? Ive met the majority of my friends here through the boys. I'm scared to start again but can't shake the idea from my head and like I said, it's been YEARS now so surely something is calling me there... As del boy would say, he who dares, wins! (I hope)

Hubby (thankfully) v laid back and has said he will live anywhere (I do realise I'm hard work) and eldest boy is equally excited (although sometimes changes his mind) as he loves Edinburgh too.

We own our home here but would be renting initially. Budget would be around £450k. More than happy with a flat (which I know is all we will get).

Any answers welcome, thank you in advance xx

In those areas you mostly find flats, yes, but you could certainly get a nice house for that budget if you went slightly further out. I think those are areas where a lot of people are incomers so to speak, which can help with making friends, as can having dc at school. Marchmont I love but I strongly associate it with students and would not live there personally.
Think of the money in uni fees you could save...

Thank you @Iggi999, that's good to know. Yes I know what you mean about going further out, I'm open to all ideas really but would prefer to be more central as where we live in Leeds is around 15-20 mins out and I always wished we lived closer. Then again, there's nothing in walking distance from where we are at all (shops, cafes etc) so I suppose I'm yearning for what we don't have here. Ah so marchmont is studenty, I knew one of the areas was , wasn't sure if it was bruntsfield or merchiston, to be honest they all blur into one for me so if have to investigate a bit more! The free uni is a massive pull!

It's not ideal timing but we are coming up for Christmas and going to try and suss out a few of the areas then, (prob going to be hectic!) I've heard nice things about Cramond too even though it's further out... Is there anywhere particularly you would recommend? I guess I just want somewhere with a nice community feel and hustle bustle! Xx

area of deprivation

I had a thread awhile back about Edinburgh. This map was pointed out to me. Maybe helpful.

The travel links are great almost everywhere so that opens up a lot of areas like Costorphine, Gyle, Roseburn. There is a new train from Musselburgh which takes 6 mins to Waverley!

my earlier thread

A lot of slightly further out places have their own mini high street with shops and cafes - Corstorphine, Inverleith, Davidson's Mains, Morningside. D Mains is near Cramond. Portobello is always rated on here though I'm not that fond. If you are using state schools I think people moving in start from a choice of high schools and work back, as you nearly always need to live in catchment.
Being near a nice park is good too - the Botanics are always popular as are the Meadows.

have you looked at morningside? its a lovely area of edinburgh and popular with families.

Thank you @Loveislandaddict that's helpful, I'll definitely take a good look and I'll check out your thread too! X

@SiddaleeWalker thank you, I have looked over on that side as would be handy for the airport if hubby ever decides to permanently contract somewhere (aircraft engineer). In my head I suppose I just want to be within 20 mins walk of the centre but I know that will come at a few costs. I'll be on Rightmove all day now though looking at those areas in comparison! Thank you for sharing, didn't know about the mussleburgh line that's a great commute time! X

@Iggi999 yes the botanical gardens and that area in general appeals to me, the school is the main factor in everything though. I've been on the school boundaries council page and they are very tight boundaries from what I can see, not too dissimilar to the position we are in here for catchment. I like the look of the primary schools and the secondary's that fall either in Stockbridge (Broughton high) or bruntsfield area (James Gillespie's) although if I'm being perfectly honest that's just all I've seen ONLINE - I haven't actually visited and I know that's a different ball game all together. I'm not too bothered about academic scales that are through the roof but somewhere nurturing with a science based educational approach would be good. You've all given me alot to think about though... Thank you for sharing xx

I have @sleepismysuperpower1 thank you, I'm just not sure I would use the city centre as much though which sounds ridiculous as it's not exactly the other side of the world! It has got a beautiful feel to it though when I've been through before I've always admired it. Ps sleep is my superpower too x

@Iggi999 @SiddaleeWalker gosh I like the look of what you can get for your money in Corstorphine ! X

edit boroughmuir high school x

£450.000 would only buy a flat in those areas. I presume you want a garden and some space? I would look outside Edinburgh to E Lothian, Fife, East or West Linton. The areas you mention are very pricey and sought after, and go for way over asking price.

The weather and the traffic in Edinburgh are the downsides, but I guess you know that from having lived there before.

Agree schools are crucial. Unfortunately most of the secondaries are pretty awful with the exception of the Royal High, but that's in an expensive catchment.

Boroughmuir I would avoid like the plague. A friend of mine had a child there and the bullying was appalling. Others may have better experiences, but i have heard nothing good about it.

Bling - that's simply not true. 93% of Edinburgh school leavers went into positive destinations and 39% to uni. In terms of that, Trinity and Balerno both out perform RHS.

Sorry, yes you're right about Trinity and Balerno. My experience (or anecdotal experience of the others hasn't been good. Part of the reason so many people send their kids to private schools in Edinburgh.

You can buy a house for around £250 in the RHS catchment (ex local authority). Boroughmuir is one of, if not the, top performing schools in the city. With the exception of about five schools I would send my dc to any school in the city, and the ones I wouldn't go to are really because of catchment issues rather than the schools themselves.
People don't go private because the state schools are crap. They go private because they can afford it, because they went to a private school themselves, because it means they can live anywhere as no catchment worries, because they know it will confer benefits to their dc.

(£250,000 obviously, £250 would not get you anything!)

We moved from London to Comely Bank a few months ago. Comely Bank is just down the street a bit more from Stockbridge.

We rent and yes it’s expensive but we love the area and the primary school we’ll be using next year seems lovely. We are in a tenement flat but there’s a huge shared garden and I’ve got to know lots of people this way. I love the area - close to Botanics, Inverleith park the best cake shop in the whole world and some great charity shops!

We will have to move further out - a big age gap means sharing isn’t ideal and 3 beds here aren’t that common and expensive. But we’re very happy to be here for a wee while!

@Blingandrings thanks, I wouldn't want to be that far out of the centre to be honest. After some of the comments before I've been looking into Corstorphine and I have to say I am impressed by the look of the properties and school there, Craigmount. In all honesty I am not too driven by the 'best' school academically, however I do want somewhere with good ethos and morals, a nurturing hub for them. I'd have to visit a few of them to get a feel for them. We are coming up to visit in December so ideally I'll have an idea of which areas we have nailed down by then and can go from there with respects to schools, perhaps visiting again in Feb / March to take my eldest for a look around. It's difficult as I like different areas for different reasons so it's just nice to hear from others who are already there or made the move x

@Smokiesings totally agree. I wouldn't rule out private but I would much rather find a nice state school (obviously to avoid the cost! Plus some of the fees in Edinburgh are ludicrous for our budget) I went to both a private and a grammar school, enjoyed and performed consistently at both. Would there be any other areas you would recommend considering?

I'd also look at Firrhill catchment. Quite a range of property within the catchment for there.

It's not really common to visit schools here, since vast majority attend catchment school - that doesn't mean the head won't be willing to show you around though just if they don't I wouldn't take it personally. I haven't heard anything bad about Craigmount. You can get into Princes Street in under 30 mins by bus from that area, though you probably wouldn't want or need to very often! Cramond (with a small beach and a park run) is around ten minutes by car and it's really handy for the airport and the motorway (I may live nearby!)