Best areas to live in Aberdeen

[scotsmama]

Looking for a bit of advice as I don't know Aberdeen well, as as work will be very flexible I can pretty much choose my location as long as it's not too far to commute to the centre.

Based on my research west Aberdeen - cults, Peterculter, banchory - sound good. I also heard good things about Bridge of Don and Inverurie.

Any help appreciated. I have children who are nursery/primary age but I want to move in the catchment area for a good school. Any feedback on the schools in these areas?

TIA!

Probably depends on your budget. Have a look on the ASPC to get an idea of house prices in each area.

Banchory will probably be to far if commuting to the city centre. Will you be driving? Parking is expensive if work don't provide parking.

I'm in Bridge of Don with a child at Old Machar Academy. I'm very happy here and so far happy with the school. Feeder primaries also good. PM me if you want.

Westhill or Kingwells

Lots of people living in Banchory commute into Aberdeen. There are three access routes and the traffic is much lighter than in the past with many still working from home and the advantages of the new ring road.

Schools are generally very good too.

Aberdeen City is surrounded by Aberdeenshire which is a massive county. The opening of the new bypass (AWPR) has made many areas a much easier commute into Aberdeen City, so do google maps searches for journey times from your office in the centre (it is quite a sprawly town centre) to where you might want to live. Use ASPC to find properties.
Many people do commute from Banchory but it does involves some country roads whereas if you lived in say Stonehaven you would have an easy commute on the A90/92/bypass etc.
Haven't got an up to date school league table but 10 years ago Banchory used to be the top one in Aberdeenshire and Cults in Aberdeen City. So long as you live in the catchment you should get into the school. Good luck.

www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/7098594/schools-scotland-ranked-best-worst-league-table-results/
However as results were decided by teachers and not exams I don't know how credible this year's is.

Peterculter would probably tick your boxes. Not too far to drive in and out, good schools (Cults Academy is consistently high on the league tables), easy to get out into the country in Royal Deeside.

If you wanted to go a bit more south of Aberdeen, Stonehaven is really lovely and not too long a drive in, especially now the AWPR is built.

And yes, ASPC have the monopoly on houses up here so make sure you are using that - they have some weird deal going that means you can't advertise on them and also on other websites like Rightmove, etc. so the bulk of houses for sale in Aberdeenshire appear only on ASPC (but some are on Rightmove instead so worth checking).

Petercutler primary has a good name and feeds to Cults Academy currently; Airyhall primary is also very good.
Really does depend on what you want / budget
As to commuting, depends what you are used to - I used to commute 25 miles into Aberdeen and it was fine, but you have to drive as public transport is spotty at best.
There’s lots of different communities within reach of the city, some have a more outdoors sort of thing and others are more market towns, depends on what you want to do outside work really.

If buying new build, beware developers not being clear on the school catchment and check yourself.

In Aberdeenshire if in catchment and living 3 miles from a senior school or 2 miles from a junior school, there is usually a free taxi service provided.

The good news is that Aberdeen City prices have dropped significantly in the last few years (bad news if trying to sell) but Aberdeenshire prices have gone up quite a way in comparison to a few years ago.

As others say it depends on how you're travelling and what you find acceptable!
Inverurie is on the train line, Blackburn is popular with families, Stonehaven again on the train and lovely but has become very popular with the awpr. Balmedie and Ellon direction also popular.

Most companies accept up to an hour commute which in Aberdeenshire gives you quite a lot of options we definitely moved much further than I would have thought possible originally!

Thanks for all the advice! The commute is not a big deal - won't be commuting every day and it won't be during rush hours. Plenty of parking too so driving will be fine.

The main reason for wanting to be in easy commuting distance from the city is for socialising! I'm keen to make friends and make the most of living in Aberdeen, so being rural wouldn't make that so easy.

My other big consideration is the schools. Does anyone have any feedback on the schools in the centre or Inverurie and Ellon?

Aberdeen Grammar is good. It's in the city.

Sorry, primaries for Aberdeen Grammar - Ashley Road is good. I know someone with a child there.

I lived in Stonehaven for a while, its an easy commute, on the rail line for nights out, and a lovely place with good schools to raise a family. It was a while ago now but I’d recommend it. Just don’t buy at the water front because of flooding.

Milltimber and Culter primaries were certainly very good a few years ago, Cults was going through a bit of an upheaval but good enough (mine are mid teens / early twenties now). All three schools feed into Cults Academy which produced great results (new head since our time - though that might be a good thing).

Check out catchments in that area, as all the new builds around Countesswells may be zoned elsewhere, and there was a distinct cut off between Cults / Pitfodels and Airyhall / Mannofield.

Living in the west of the city also makes the private options easily accessible. The North Deeside Road is a good bus route so you wouldn’t go far wrong being close to it.

Personally I’d give Kingswells and Westhill a miss as they are satellite villages with little in the way of services (although the Westhill M&S food store was excellent).

Much depends on your budget for buying / renting - rentals seem to be back up to silly prices. Might be a gamble buying, though there are some good houses around at good prices compared to pre 2014 levels.

@Ekofisk Thanks, that's really helpful. When you say it might be a gamble buying, is that because the market is high in these areas between west Aberdeen and Banchory just now? I was hoping to buy but I could rent for a while instead if it's a bad time.

You have not really given a budget and size of house you want? I personally like the west end & Rosemount. The best secondary school is the Grammer, feeder schools are Ashley Road Primary School, Gilcomstoun Primary School, Mile-End School and Skene Square Primary School . For me I like living in the city and love to visit the towns and the countyside in the Shire. One thing I would say is buy a house with a south /west facing back garden as Aberdeen is not the warmest place in the country and a sunny back garden is a really must.

If you fancy out Inverurie way might want to consider Blackburn/Kintore. Small villages with little in the way of big stores etc but they’re literally less than 20mins to the city centre. Good schools too. The primaries now also have a choice between Kemnay and Inverurie academy with buses being put on for the children to the former.

I think Aberdeen is a bit of a gamble because so much of the local economy is reliant on oil - the UK government focus is on moving away from fossil fuels and I’m not convinced that there’s enough money in decommissioning or green energy to sustain Aberdeen in the long run.

Cults / Bieldside / Milltimber house prices are still considerably lower than their peak, but buoyant rental prices would suggest to me that people are reluctant to commit long term.

I think out into the Shire might be more stable, it was always a popular option with lower house prices and council tax.

@Nanalisa60 feeder primaries meet zilch unless the OP is in catchment for Grammar though! Lots of people getting their children into Gilcoumston/Skene Square as placing requests then getting very upset when they realise that a placing request needs to be approved for Grammar too. Literally zero out of catchment places have been awarded in recent years.

One thing I would say is buy a house with a south /west facing back garden as Aberdeen is not the warmest place in the country and a sunny back garden is a really must.

Nothing is sunny when the haar comes in. Another reason why inland can be better.

Not sure what your budget is (or what the school is like- DC will stay at their current school) but we’ve just not long bought a 3 bed semi with garage in Dyce for £150,000. Ex council but massive rooms and loads of storage. There’s also a train station in Dyce that would get you into the city centre in about 10mins or so

I've stayed in west end Aberdeen for 9 years and Banchory for ten. I much prefer Banchory.

The weather is better, countryside gorgeous, lots of outdoor activities for kids, a warm, welcoming and active local community, great schools (secondary is typically top ten in Scotland) and easy access to Aberdeen.

What's not to like?