Moving to Livingston

[Pbubz]

Me and my partner are moving to Livingston from England, my mum will be living with us and I’m just looking for some advice about a what the place is like, things to do etc.

We will have a newborn so schools will be a consideration at some point (from my understanding secondaries not great in this area but we are over a decade away from that). We have family in central Edinburgh but our budget won’t stretch to the city.

Reasons we are thinking of Livingston are:

> 20 mins by train to the city
> within walking distance or very short drive to train station and other amenities
> hopefully there are other families there and looks like there’s lots to do for kids

We currently live in the middle of nowhere, we do like our countryside walks but frankly looking forward to being closer to civilisation. We have never lived close to a gym or cinema 😅

I’ve seen the place take quite a bashing online and it’s been compared to Milton Keynes (not really an issue for us)… do our reasons for considering this as a place to call home ring true?

I understand there are areas to avoid, we’re also looking at the Calders, Queensferry and Dalkeith but not much on the market! We would need a 4 bed and our budget is £330 max.

Open to suggestions of other places but ideally looking for some experiences of people who live or have lived there.

Hello! We are also in England and will be moving to Scotland too. Livingston is on our list as we have a family member there, who only has good things to say. We have been told too it's like Milton Keynes but actually we live very close to MK and really like it! So not put off by that.

Ahh it’s nice to hear something positive! Currently I live in the middle of nowhere which does have its perks but I’m looking forward to being amongst a bit of a hub if I’m honest. I’ve seen comments like “there’s not much to do there” which makes me laugh because there’s a pub and a post office near me so a shopping centre, cinema and a gym will be like living in a metropolis! Good luck with your move x

i stay in livingston, its fine, cant comment on schools, its a good place to live hand for train lines to glasgow and edinburgh and close to the M8

I'm currently in Livingston and have kids in high school. Depending on where you go you can have the best of both worlds, there's plenty green spaces but also shops and amenities. No nightlife to speak of really but I'm not sure how much of a consideration that'll be. There's houses being thrown up everywhere currently and some places seem to be struggling infrastructure wise. I think East calder being one. It's not as bad as it seems. If there's anything specific you want to know I'll try and help, been here basically my whole life now.

I live near there and have friends in various parts of the town. I like it and would recommend it - it’s near enough to Edinburgh but house prices are much more reasonable. I don’t go to Livingston centre much, but it’s defo quite busy, with a cinema, shops, some restaurants etc. There are quite a few gym chains in the town too, grassy spaces, parks, etc.

Ive seen this posted on a few scotland moving threads and it looks super handy if you dont know the area - you want to aim to live in the blue areas. https://simd.scot/#/simd2020/BTTTFTT/10.63504034863802/-3.6329/55.9028/

Why would you do this to yourself? There are so many better places, seriously. Have you considered North or South Queenferry?

Do you want to be near Edinburgh or near Glasgow?

I’ve lived in Livingston twice, I really found it a bit soulless I’d prefer a smaller town. It depends what you’re looking for I guess but Stirling is lovely maybe Linlithgow?

From your post I can’t tell if you’ve ever actually visited Livingston? It’s fine but there’s really not much there except the shopping centre.

Mid Calder is nice to live in (it’s like a 5/10 min drive from Livingston) and there’s a massive development of new builds at Calderwood but they’re a bit further away.

I wouldn't lump south Queensferry and north Queensferry together.
There is a huge difference in time to get to north Queensferry if the trains are cancelled or the bridge is closed. Also commuting over the bridge could also add on an hour to your journey some days.

We’d like to be near Edinburgh. We are looking at South Queensferry but there’s not much up at the moment in the way of being in budget. We’re also looking at Musselburgh area and East Lothian - we hope to go and visit toward the end of the month to try and get a feel for the place. There’s lots of other areas we prefer but house prices in those places just don’t work for us

Shopper I’ve heard other people feel it’s a bit soulless as it’s a new town with no really high street. Stirling isn’t out of the question and we did start looking there last night but found it difficult to find something close enough to the station (ideally walking distance). Will definitely keep this on our radar though!

When I hear that song that goes 'LA is a great big freeway' I think of Livingston. Well, a great big dual carriageway with a mind boggling array of roundabouts. It's a great big shopping centre too.

A weird station accessed through a housing estate that you have to zig zag down to and hope your train doesn't whizz past.

But if you have kids, want a garden and don't earn hedge fund money it's a good way to live near Edinburgh.

I'm in Livingston. Lived there all my life. It's good for train stations, the Livingston centre is good for shopping and restaurants but apart from that there is nothing to do really.
For green spaces we tend to head out of Livingston, it's just housing estates and supermarkets to be honest.
If you have choice I would look at Linlithgow and queensferry. Livingston is very mixed, some rough areas and some nice, expensive areas, that goes for the schools as well.
It's a bit concrete city.

Linlithgow is much, much nicer, but I don’t think you’d get a 4 bed for £330k.

You live rurally currently and are going to move to Livingston?

I think you’ll regret it. There is no life to Livingston. We go there for a bit of shopping but that’s it. It’s a concrete jungle of houses, thousands of them. I lived in Deans for about 2 years as a child. Nothing would take me back there. Nothing. Soulless.

I have to agree with the above posters about being Livingston being a bit soulless. Apart from the shopping centre, there isn’t much going on there and it’s a distance from Edinburgh. Have you considered places like Pathhead, Pencaitland, Haddington, Dalkeith, Lasswade? They have some lovely green spaces, are within 40 minutes of Edinburgh and decent amenities nearby.

A lot of my friends that left Edinburgh for family homes went to Dunfermline. Quite a few 4 bed properties in your budget. They’re all very happy with schooling options as well.

Areas like Polmont, Linlithgow are nice, train station, direct motorway link to Edinburgh or Glasgow

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134902208

If you're looking at being close to train stations then I would go for Livingston North Station rather than Livingston South. Its the slow, less frequent train for the latter.

Yes Linlithgow is significantly more expensive than Livingston

Tacomaco we are really looking forward to a change of pace, living rurally has been nice but we are over being a 45 minute drive from anything to do (other than lovely walks of course!)

we have looked at Dalkeith and this is definitely on our radar. We’re just struggling to find the type/size of house we need within budget taking into consideration offers over which I’ve heard often go for 10% more

Dalkeith is way better.

I live in Livingston. I moved here from a house by the sea in the now much sought after Portobello. I much prefer it here. People are friendlier. Easier to get involved in community things. High School my DC goes to is better. Where we are we we are virtually in the countryside. Train into Edinburgh is really quick- way quicker than getting into the city centre from Porty. 2 train lines Glasgow to Edinburgh. Access to M8.
Shopping centre is soulless and it doesn't have a small town feel but it has the outlet centre which is v handy. As long as you have a car then Livingston is v handy. There are new houses at West Calder which is the next train stop along and also super easy for Edinburgh to Glasgow. West Calder High is a good secondary as is James Young and St Margarets.
Obviously it depends which bit of Livingston you live in. People are often super snotty about it and they've never lived there. I was. Best thing we did.

Mixed views! I don't mind the lack of high street as long as there's nice community spirit in places. Sorry I know this isn't my thread but we're heading there possibly too!