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

You'd be able to get a house in a nice estate in the catchment easily on that budget and loads of fresh air and hopefully a view of the Pentlands and a decent bus service into the town via various routes.

I think all the areas have probably been named - Gillespie's and Borroughmuir (and hence their catchements) are really popular. Broughton High is, I think, the Comely Bank catchment and seems decent too. It's Trinity High for Trinity (natch) though a lot of families in catchment seem to go private as it's a very wealthy area. Firrhill is good too, though a bit far out perhaps. Even further is Currie though I've heard it's excellent. If you are willing to move your dc at some point in primary then renting for a year or two till you get your own feel for the place could be the best plan. It's a great place to live imho.

@Shantotto oh how lovely, thank you for commenting! It sounds fab j bet you are very happy there. I've looked at comely bank and can see it's only a stone's throw. Did you manage to get into Stockbridge primary there? If you don't mind me asking ☺️ I agree, we would probably get there, fall in love and never want to leave, but realistically the prospect of more space a little further out would lure us in I am sure. Which areas would you look to buy in eventually? Is it the same school 'system' as here, ie once you're 'in' after living in the catchment, you can move just outside of it and your child is still able to attend? Probably sounds silly to ask but just curious! x

Yes that is correct BUT a sibling won't have any guarantee, and you might not get into the secondary - you would only be guaranteed a place at the high school linked to your new house, not the one the primary school links with.
This won't apply so much if the school isn't at capacity, but it would be a worry.

(If you are Catholic you can also apply to one of the three Catholic high schools. Actually you probably don't have to be Catholic!)

@houseofconkers I did love the look of Stockbridge primary but the catchment is teeny tiny! We’ll likely end up at Flora Stevenson. It’s much bigger but DS is at preschool there and loves it and everything I’ve seen about so far looks great. He’s only been there half a term mind you.

I’m not sure how the system works as I haven’t gone through school yet but I think we could move out and keep going to the school. I don’t think we can ever afford to buy! We’ve not thought as far ahead as other areas yet. To be honest we might even head across to Dunfermline - we lived with in laws there for a while but after looking for months for a rental thought sod it let’s blow the budget and come here. Worth it though as DO commute is 10 mins now not 90- time is money they say!

If you're hoping to make friends and settle in a nice area I would look outside the city centre. I am in a village in East Lothian and it is lovely, v. friendly, smaller schools and you could get a stonker of a house with your budget. If you wanted to be 'nearer' the city centre, I would say Portobello is good. You'll have lots of transport options (bus and train) into the toon too.
Being in the city centre is overrated - it takes just as long to commute around the city on public transport as travel in from the burbs imo

Corstorphine is a bit of a suburban dump imo. The high street is atrocious and the traffic is horrendous.

@Shantotto yes! Sometimes you've just got to do what feels right. It's only us Brits that are so obsessed with buying a property, we should take note from our fellow Europeans (don't worry I won't get onto Brexit I'm beyond bored of all that 😂) Flora's sounds lovely. I did look at the map for Stockbridge catchment and it did see v stringent. Got a lot to think about now! X

@Smokiesings thank you for that, v interesting to know.. my eldest is at a C of E here which I love but we aren't particularly religious, each to their own of course and I still like the values of the school regardless.

However this area does operate on a sibling basis so it's helpful to know that the same rules do not apply up there... Thank you for that x

@ImperfectTents ooh interesting, why so? I've never actually been I'm just basing my hypothetical list of maybes on property, schools and commute to city centre / airport. Where would you recommend?

@HairyButtMonkey hanks for that, ill admit the more that this thread goes on I'm becoming torn! I love reading all of the comments. I love East Lothian, we have visited North Berwick several times and the surrounding areas seem lovely too. My husband will be working away so ideally I do want to settle in and make friends and have a life as well as my boys. What's it like where you are in terms of recreational facilities? Nice high street and do you still use the city centre? Sorry for all of the questions and understand if you'd rather not say ☺️

My niece has just moved to Corstorphine and I've been pleasantly surprised by the area. If (like me) you only ever tried to get down St John's Road in rush hour, you'd probably think it was a traffic jammed nightmare, but actually there's lots of lovely property, Craigmount is a good school (though very busy) and the high street is on the up.

I completely disagree with the pp who says so many kids go private because the schools are rubbish. They aren't. Some of them no doubt would do better in terms of results if so many kids weren't creamed off to private, but that doesn't make them bad schools.

Have you thought of South Queensferry OP? There's lots of new housing - which may not be what you want - but means there's lots of people moving in to the area at the same time, which makes making friends easier.

There are a lot of lovely houses in Corstorphine but agree with the poster above - the roads are choked with traffic. Honestly, living in the city is over rated. Much better value and less congestion in villages outside Edinburgh, Dunfermline or Fife.

If I had the money I think i'd get this:

espc.com/property/13-redhall-view-edinburgh-eh14-2na/35814458?sid=724046

What about a flat in this amazing building...
espc.com/property/47-5-mortonhall-gate-mortonhall-eh16-6tj/35804260?sid=398226

The sibling rule does apply up here - but if the school is at capacity, there is no obligation to admit them. They're the highest priority of placing requests after SEN and "cared for" kids.

So it can be the case that siblings are admitted one year but not the next - especially at over-subscribed rules. So you can't assume that siblings will get in.

@Smokiesings@WaxOnFeckOff thank you all so much for your inputs. It's definitely shone the light on the fact that I could get alot more for my money and helped me see that living so central wouldn't be as rose tinted as I may have thought.

With that in mind, I've had a few concerns about the schools there now as in, would my son be accepted. Is there a chance he could be picked on for his English accent ? I know it sounds ridiculous but I've heard people say things and it has worried me now. I'm mainly now focusing on the west so Corstorphine (traffic going towards edi wouldn't bother me as I won't be commuting, just hubby to airport and at less anti social hours i would imagine) and Cramond looks gorgeous. Anybody got / had children at the schools there? Either Corstorphine or Cramond, primary and secondary's Inthe catchment so RHS and Craigmount. Are the areas friendly? Personal experience. I need some positivity! I was so excited about this move and now I'm feeling apprehensive. X

English accent shouldn't be a problem (this has been discussed before on similar threads): particularly with the financial services sector, there are lots of English who move to Edinburgh, so English accents don't stand out.

...and anyway, given their ages, your kids will soon develop Scottish accents

I've a dc at the Royal High. Has been very positive so far.

Cramond is lovely but planes going over a lot of the time and houses prices are high. Otherwise has a nice community feel and great walks! Feels like a village in some ways which is great. Also a lot of incomers so English accents are heard a lot.

I have friends in Cramond who are very positive about the school, but I (personally) just could not deal with the plane noise. And because of that, I find it very expensive. It's definitely worth a visit and to spend a bit of time on foot to see how you feel about it OP (this is where you come back and tell me you currently live under the Heathrow flight path isn't i? )

We lived right under the flight path for two years in Cramond. The first day we moved in it was appalling. I went to bed that night planning when we could sell. I was so upset. However that was the worst it ever was, strangely. We got used to it , to the point we actually didn't notice.

Being near town is not the be all and end all you know. Princes Street is just a magnet for tourist tat shops! What is it you want from a city centre? If it's Museums and theatre etc etc, just commute in.

Or look at places with a real friendly feel. Like Musselburgh. Every year they celebrate Honest Toun week and have venues in the Edinburgh festival. Only 7 minutes into town by train on one line and 15 minutes in another line (tweedbank line)

Musselburgh is going to be having a brand new secondary school built soon. It will be amazing.

If flight noise in Cramond is a concern, then you could think about Cammo, Barnton, Davidson's Mains & Blackhall - all Royal High catchment.

You can do a school catchment search on ESPC.