Relocating to Scotland from USA. Looking for local opinions on good communities to settle in around Dundee, Stirling, and Inverness

[NovaSkycrest]

Hello everyone.

Our family is relocating to Scotland in the Summer of 2024 for my wife's work. I will be over there again in May 2023 to scout out neighborhoods in 3 towns we have kind of narrowed things down to for settling in when we arrive; Dundee, Stirling, and Inverness.

We are looking for local feedback for areas to consider for me to scout out during my upcoming visit. We are looking for a community that is family friendly, has good public schools, and has good public transit as we will not have a vehicle when we first arrive. I know "affordable housing" is subjective and markets shift back and forth, so we are watching all the local websites for home sales and renting.

My wife and I are over planners and have spreadsheets of information that help us prioritize our decision making in matters like this. But there is only so much numbers and data can tell us. Thus why I am coming to walk areas in May and get a feel for these towns and neighborhoods.

We have been to Inverness on vacation, but never really left the city center other than taking a cruise on Loch Ness. We do love the highlands, but we read that Dundee and Stirling are also good potential locations for us to settle as well.

Any information is greatly appreciated. We look forward to joining the Scottish community.

Havent read the whlle thread but Stirling is best of the 3 places mentioned

I do agree with you to a fair extent @Sugarfree23 but given we have a leadership battle within the SNP and no referendum in sight at all I am not sure why that would even be mentioned.

I feel the same when people immediately say “go for Dunblane” or “Edinburgh is better”. It’s not helpful for anyone genuinely trying to work out a base.

i 100% agree that research is needed - I have known many people who have become disillusioned as they thought they would get highlander come trainspotting and it also be a nice place to raise a family. It seems like the OP has that in hand though

Says who? NHS in Scotland is doing better than rest of UK, according to horror stories in press re people in rest of UK trying to get GP appointments etc. And there are plenty of great state schools in Scotland!

I have nothing to add except to say that Scotland is beautiful and I hope you have a fabulous time 💕

Personally I would go for Northern Ireland over Scotland. Somewhere nice like Royal Hillsborough or Holywood.
Lovely houses, amazing beaches and countryside, just over an hour to Dublin, and the best schools in the whole of the UK.

I'm familiar with Stirling and Inverness (and Edinburgh). I don't really know Dundee well but it doesn't have a great reputation. I'm sure it has lovely places in the surrounds, same as anywhere.

You talk about affordable housing but don't mention a budget, that's going to be key to any recommendations.

Schools in Stirling are better academically than Inverness. I'd personally avoid the catchment of Bannockburn High as it isn't great from an academic standpoint. Other than that you'd probably best avoid the usual suspects of deprived areas in any of the cities.

For Stirling area there is always the usual recommendations of Dunblane and Bridge of Allan but there are many other lovely communities. I had relatives who lived in Dores area in Inverness at it was a nice family area.

Agree with others, Inverness feels very remote. Of your list I'd go for Stirling, but if I could choose I'd choose Edinburgh, not necessarily the centre

My BIL is American and his kids get teased terribly for their accents when they visit and go to play with local kids, so be aware of that. They are also further ahead in their education than their Scottish peers so you might want to consider private education both for the better education and the international mix of students who attend. Edinburgh is a good bet for places to live as you can easily get to both Inverness and London. Its a bit more 'international' than your choices, although Stirling has better state schools.

Out of them I'd pick Inverness and a small town along the Moray firth like Forres or Nairn.

Have you considered Aberdeenshire.? It has some lovely communities.

I'd avoid the central belt personally.

Broughty Ferry is great—4 miles out of Dundee. It’s more expensive for the area, but good value in comparison to other parts of the country. Good schools, beautiful beach and some lovely cafes/small shops etc. There is a train station with some trains to Aberdeen/Edinburgh/Glasgow (a few a day). Dundee train station is on the main line Aberdeen to London.

It was mentioned that travel isn't as easy but I don't believe that to be true. Scotland has great transport links to the European cities.

We do have major airports.

I have close family in England, Scotland, Jordan, Spain and Sweden each have their high and low points and differing systems. I'm sure the op doesn't need to hear how some who don't live in the country they have asked about feel about it.

I'd go for Nairn as the Inverness choice location, not Inverness itself. Perth is nicer than Dundee and Stirling is fine, with the nicer areas obvious.

The schools tend to align with the areas they are in, as everyone goes to their single catchment school. So if the area looks nice, friendly, lots of culture, well kept- then the school will be good. There aren't really nice areas with surprisingly poor schools or vice versa. Find an area that you like and the school will follow.

Dundee is actually a great place for families. Lots of nice parks and open spaces, not overly big so easy to get around and handy to explore both further North as well as relatively easy access for trips to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Broughty Ferry has some really lovely houses, bars and restaurants as well as a nice beach or, slightly further out and into Angus council for schools although the town pretty much runs into The Ferry and onto Dundee, is Monifieth which also has some decent houses but I'd say fewer nice places to eat etc.

Ultimately yes, there is more happens in Glasgow and Edinburgh - restaurants, bars, art and culture and, if you need a job, there are more jobs around the central belt (although I guess it depends what you do because there are a lot of remote roles in general now since 2020). Generally, the nicer places of the bigger cities are more expensive to live in so that might drive your decision too.

Would you be renting or buying OP? I've read a lot of posts on the local Glasgow reddit page as well as some FB pages that rent is ridiculous at the moment. Low availability and high demand has meant prices are crazy and flats are going off the market pretty much as soon as they come on. Not sure about the situation in other cities so again, something to think about.

We had a similar choice to make recently (Stirling Vs Inverness) and went for Inverness. Near daily flights to Amsterdam from the airport here so that's handy for travel to Europe and beyond. No need to drive through heavy traffic to get to the airport either - 20 mins drive and you're there.
So much on for children. Decent size without being too big / too small.
Aviemore/ Loch Morlich / so many stunning beachers on your doorstep. That was one of the main drivers for choosing here over Stirling. Summers are stunning. We're definitely so glad we made this decision.
It's not really remote - if you fancy a weekend in Glasgow or Edinburgh you can leave at 8 and be there by lunchtime. I'd never move back!
Feel free to pm me!

Sorry but this is nonsense. Yes slightly higher tax but worth it on the whole better public services like free prescriptions for all and free bus travel for over 60s and under 22s. Here's hoping there is another independence referendum so we can continue to be more a progressive country but I'm sure OP will know all this.

We would be renting to start. We definitely plan on buying sooner than later, but want to be more familiar with the areas and what not before purchasing.

Definitely start checking out the rental market in the areas you're considering now then, it might take longer than you think to find something.

Oh yeah definitely been watching it so we can get an idea of average price and how long things are available.

One plus side to having 15 months to plan is we can really study and research current housing stats.

OP, could you say a bit more about what factors have led you to narrow it down those three cities, and what your estimated budget might be for housing? That might help posters to make more detailed suggestions.

I second the advice to look into Northern Ireland.

I have lived in north Scotland and NI and NI is way better for kids unless you are really well off and can afford to live in Edinburgh/ Perth and use private schools.

Sorry lived in both!

Where is your wife's occasional commute to?

While it's not all the time, it will be easier from certain places than others based on frequency of flights or trains (or roads).

I'd also consider how much of the rest of the UK or Europe you wish to see. Inverness is lovely but it adds a lot onto going anywhere else. I appreciate these distances must seem short in American terms but our internal flights are not always as convenient.

Rather than us giving you random facts about each location, perhaps you could tell us what you are trying to achieve? Are you looking for certain amenities, see yourself on the coast or country, where will you travel regularly to? What do you like to do, are you an avid hillwalker or love all things cultural.

Perthshire and Stirling do benefit from being quite central giving you lots of access to explore the country.

Apologies if this is already obvious to you put many people look at Scotland west to east and think 'that's not far' without understanding there's a bloody big mountain range you have to drive a long way north or south to go round, or that there are very few roads in certain places. Getting to grips with the topography helps to make more sense of things.

Bridge of Allan or Dunblane, both v near Stirling.
Dunblane High School is very good.
Good transport links from both.

Inverness is great in terms of a community feel. I have heard of a few Americans settle here. Like anywhere some schools are better than others but overall the state schools are all good. I think your kids would be in P5 and secondary school. The south side of the city with Inshes, Milton of Leys, Culloden etc are nice.

In the summer we go to the beach, parks and paddle boarding on the lochs and in the winter we can ski or sledge(we get snow most years). The summer nights are long and very light. It sometimes never gets dark but the winter nights are very dark and it can get dark at 3.30pm. It's a relatively small city but has local amenities.

Private renting in Scotland is difficult in general at the moment. Inverness has a shortage of affordable rentals or rentals at all as it's a high demand area for housing. The bus service isn't great at all but you can walk to the city centre from most places if you don't mind a couple of mile walk. It's a low crime area compared to other major cities but like everywhere else there is drug and drink problems.

Inverness is very remote in the sense of accessing other major cities. The A9 that links Inverness and Perth is notoriously busy in the summer with a lot of accidents often involving tourists. The road also gets closed at the snow gates in the winter at times as it's impassable. Though this never affects our supplies and we don't have issues getting anything. There is lots of pubs and restaurants but clothes shops are pretty poor though online deliveries are easy to get. Broadband is good quality and we have fibre.

If public transport is a big issue I would be genuinely concerned about living in Inverness as it's awful.

Stirling is a lovely city with lots of good links.