Looking to relocate - Dunfermline ?

[crackingeaster]

Wanting decent secondary, nice town with a variety of shops, friendly and closeish to beach, also within commute distance to bigger towns/cities to open up employment opportunities?

Any advice please?

Eeek.... does no response mean not good! Or advice on Fife in general would be grand. Have one 11 year old DD

I'd start with Dalgety Bay (modern commuter town) Aberdour (on the beach & more traditional properties) - both on train line to Edinburgh.

Limekilns on the beach but no train line. Or Crossford - inland a bit.

Finally Kinross - better high school & near Loch Leven but would need to drive to a station.

St Andrews ticks the nice shops, near a beach and good schools boxes but is expensive and getting to edinburgh takes a while although there is the station at Leuchars. Expensive for housing though.

Thanks I'll look at those. Yes sadly St Andrews too expensive

Dunfermline is fine, there are plenty of others who have moved here for all the same reasons as you want to.

Transport links are excellent. Housing is affordable and schools are average but a bright child can do very well at them. There are plenty of supermarkets and leisure facilities, but the town centre is a bit sad these day (as are many).

We moved here with our young children 20 years ago and don't regret it.

I'm considering Dunfermline too. I'm Edinburgh based, all friends here, job etc but I just can't afford to buy here on a single person salary. Even in the less desirable bits!

Had a quick look at Dunfermline properties and I can't believe how much more bang you get for your buck. I drive but wondering if I'll be too isolated.

Maybe South Queensferry might be an option? It has a good selection of shops & nice feel about it.

Although both have good transport links.

Dunfermline is great to be honest. It's got a good selection of housing, shops, retail, activities (theatre, clubs etc), cafes and restaurants, cinema, bowling, parks, 2 train stations and good buses. It is very historic and there's loads of lovely old buildings, the Abbey and lots of historical bits. It's a great spot for almost anywhere in Scotland as it has excellent road links in every direction. The schools are pretty good (ours are at primary level). It has a nice sense of community despite being quite large now. We moved here 7 years ago and I'd never go back to Edinburgh now. It has lost all appeal and I wonder why we spent so long there, to be honest.

I can't believe the first recommendation is for Dalgety Bay over Dunfermline... Yes it's close to the water but it is utterly soul-less. Aberdour is nice but hard to buy in as quite small. There is a new Cala development being built but it will start at approx £400k for a semi so depends what your budget is.

Kinross is a commute to Edinburgh via bus or car only. Nice and affordable housing but that's because it's a pain to commute.

Crossford is good. Because it's very near Dunfermline

There are lots of villages on the outskirts of Dunfermline which give you the feeling of quieter living but all your shops, amenities etc are 5-10 mins away. I moved 25 years ago from Edinburgh and am happy in Fife. Close to M90, park and ride, retail park with plenty restaurants, plenty supermarkets. Town centre is not fantastic but has your main retailers.

Wanting decent secondary, nice town with a variety of shops, friendly and closeish to beach, also within commute distance to bigger towns/cities to open up employment opportunities?

I live in Dunfermline. It's a nice, friendly, attractive small town with interesting history and plenty to do.

All four secondary schools are excellent. 2 are in modern buildings and a brand new joint campus is being built for the other 2

It's got the best choice of shops in Fife and a really good range of restaurants.

20 minutes drive to Aberdour beach

Commute wise it's really easy to get to and well located for Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth, Stirling by train or or car and Glasgow isn't too bad by bus or car.