Killearn, Strathblane or Milngavie

[Sendcoffeeplease]

Hello, I wondered whether anyone who has lived in any of these areas and either has had children at the schools or has grown up there could share some perspectives with me.

We have two nursery aged children and have recently moved to Killearn, with the plan to buy a house in the near future in one of the above areas. We're debating whether we're best to buy in Killearn, or whether Strathblane or Milngavie may be a better suited option for us. We love the greenery and being out of the city a bit, we enjoy being in nature and want the kids to grow up having the kind of childhood where they can ride bikes around safely, climb trees, explore a bit of forest, and we love being outdoorsy at the weekend.

We're hoping to stay in one of the above areas as the schools seem really great, and family is north west and west. DH commutes to near Glasgow airport, and I will likely need to commute into Glasgow for most of my week and we usually visit parents one day at the weekend around the west end area - so I'm weighing up whether we would be better being a little closer like Milngavie for the commute 5 days a week and travels one day of the weekend and have the amenities of supermarkets, swimming pools etc handy but feel it would be such a shame to trade off with the green spaces, especially while the children are in their pre school and primary years. Killearn seems to have a lovely community and feel, and the school seems really lovely. I'm wondering whether it is worth the commute time - or whether Strathblane could be a nice middleground being a bit closer and handier.

Has anyone else tried the commute while also juggling the school run 5 days a week solo and managed to get into Glasgow for 9am (DH starts work early so this will be down to me)? Is it been worth it to live in such a beautiful village?

Has anyone got any experiences of Strathblane or Milngavie they can share for other location ideas, and any insight on the schools? Is living in Strathblane noticeably more manageable in terms of commute times? I don't know much about Strathblane primary or Milngavie primary and these would be the alternatives we would possibly consider. Thank you for any advice

Have a friend who lives in killearn and who brought up her family there - she loves it. Always seemed like a great community. She commuted to the west end 3 or 4 days per week

Killearn is lovely but if you are commuting into town regularly and doing school pick ups etc I think Milngavie is a better option
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You can get the train into Glasgow in about 25 minutes and you are still very handy for Mugdock park for the outdoors.

Good schooling too.

Milngavie, hands down. Bearsden is brilliant too. Strathblane & Killearn cute but tiny with tiny communities and nothing going on. Milngavie has a bunch of schools, nurseries, facilties, resteraunt & bar and loads of kids stuff, cool parks. Mugdock is brilliant fun, Lennox park really good. It's one of the best areas in Scotland along with Bearsden.

Killearn is lovely. Rural though, no station and the bus service into Stirling or Glasgow isn't great. Local high school is Balfron so once the kids get that age, they're travelling. Strathblane nearer to Glasgow but still no station, and smaller, and the older kids are bussed to Balfron. If we get a big dump of snow the roads can be bad. Milngavie more like the suburbs with the city on your doorstep and more facilities, station, bus links etc. But not such a rural feel.

All three have a solid reputation locally as nice family areas.

Also in terms of commute - you're 25 minutes to the airport from Milngavie over the Bridge to the airport. From Killearn it's more like 45 minutes, Strathblane between the two.