Move to Glasgow or stay put in Edinburgh

[FrizzledFrazzle]

DH and I currently live in Edinburgh with our 3yo DS. I'm also currently pregnant (5 months). We've lived in Edinburgh for about 5 years.

I currently work in Edinburgh, but have been offered a new job in Lanarkshire that will be in person at 2 hospitals (Hairmyres and Monklands). DH has a Glasgow-based job and currently commutes 2 days a week to locations to the north of Glasgow and the south west of Glasgow.

We are torn between staying where we are and sucking up a long drive each several days a week; and moving to Glasgow which would make at least some commutes substantially shorter.

If we didn't have a child, I think we would definitely be moving, but uprooting our life feels daunting and there are lots of reasons to stay put too.

Is there anyone that has made this move and liked/disliked it?

I've looked at some other Glasgow property threads, but realistically both DH and I like a more urban setting and would probably want to move somewhere quite central, so the general recommendations to move to Newton Mearns aren't a good fit.

So far, the main advantages to staying in Edinburgh seem to be:

• we love our flat and its location (good transport links to centre)
• current flat meets our needs as a family and has potential to change layout if we need an extra bedroom in future - lovely, really spacious tenement flat
• we're in catchment for a good primary school and DS has a place in a council nursery from next term (split with private nursery)
• Portobello and Silverknowes beaches, Pentland hills
• Small, bikeable city
• We have friends here (from mat leave, work etc)
• DS is settled in nursery placement (took a long time to get to this point) and has friends in the local area

Advantages to Glasgow:

• Shorter commute to work locations for both of us; cheaper commuting costs
• Cheaper house prices so could buy more centrally/larger place
• Bigger, more diverse city
• Good public transport
• More activities/places to go - love the science centre, Kelvingrove etc
• nearer West coast and Trossachs

Any thoughts/advice much appreciated!

How about West End of Glasgow?
Or if you want to be more towards Lanarkshire Uddingston or even Bothwell could be a good option as has good Main Street with shops and restaurants and good motorway and train access.

I think it depends what you value?

I grew up west coast and lived in Glasgow for a long time in my twenties.

I loved the GFT, the music scene, the west end. I miss those. But I made a decision to leave because it got to the point where I felt I was living in a basin as it rained so much. Maybe that has changed with climate change but if you look at west coast/east coast rainfall there is a significant difference. I value the greater sunlight and cleaner air here. I also think it is cleaner here. And I love the proximity to the sea. For those reasons alone I wouldn’t move back

but oh man I do miss it!

Move before your kid starts school - you will then definitely struggle to move.
once the child is in school he’ll make friends, you’ll make new friends with parents.
The west end has some good schools (Hyndland, Broomhill, Hillhead) and you can find lovely huge tenement flats. Transport links are great

@Juslooking2 weather is such a good point! I am already grumpy about how wet and cold Edinburgh is in winter/spring. The last few weeks of good weather pushed this out of my head.

But you're right that Glasgow is generally wetter and colder, which is not really a selling point.

Regarding what we value most, it's hard to tell tbh because neither of us has lived in Glasgow and we don't know the city well. Pre-children we would definitely have moved for the bigger city - we moved from London and Edinburgh feels significantly smaller in comparison. But now, I'm not sure we would necessarily be able to take advantage of the big city stuff - and i feel surprisingly daunted by the idea of starting over again.

Actually Glasgow is usually warmer and wetter, not colder and wetter (have lived in both).
I would be inclined to move: could you rent your Edi flat, try renting in Glasgow and see how you feel? In some ways it is true that this only gets harder as kids get older *but primary places are easier to come by than nursery places, so you might find you have a few years grace.

Move. You'll appreciate the shorter commute when you're having to juggle childcare and school pickups.

@GargoylesofBeelzebub and @gleeeba these are both good points - if we want to move we should do it before DC are school age because that is much more disruptive. Having a shorter commute will benefit all of us in the long term - and living in a bigger city might too.

I'd move in this situation. I live in Edinburgh and love it but no way could I commute to Lanarkshire. If it was me I would wait and see how the new job goes. Can you start it and if all goes well, plan to move house while you're on mat leave?

I think it would be very difficult to both have a long commute once you get to school stage. I would look to move soon so your DC1 settles into new environment with new friends before starting school and you have chance to meet new mum friends at baby groups etc with DC2.

Yeah- don’t underestimate the effect of more rain!

Glasgow would be a cool place to bring up kids though and those lovely west end tenements are so much more for your money. I may be bias but I also find west coast folks more open .

can you give each item on the pros and cons list a score of importance from 1 to 10 then add up the total? Eg: short commute = 9 out of 10. Affordability? Lifestyle? Weather?

The rain in Glasgow is brutal! Twice as much rainfall as Edinburgh. I lived in Glasgow for 5 years and it was notably wetter than Edinburgh. Stay put I’d say!

I personally wouldn't take the job unless it was a huge priority for me as I cannot stand a long commute so prioritise that first!

What about Linlithgow or elsewhere? it's not binary - doesn't have to be Glasgow or Edinburgh, there's plenty in between.

Are both jobs likely to be relatively long term? How fixed are the hours? I'd think carefully about how the logistics of drop-off and pick-up will work if you stay in Edinburgh. The days DH works from home, presumably he can do it (with suitable wraparound). What about the days you'd both be in Glasgow? If nursery/wraparound start at 8, will you reliably make it to work for 9? Even in the years when you have one at nursery and one at school? Same for finishing at 5 and picking up by 6? Or would you have the flexibility that someone does 8-4 and the other does 10-6?

I would move before school starts

I grew up in Edinburgh and now live in Glasgow and Glasgow is definitely not colder. Wetter maybe, but definitely not colder.

At 3 "uprooting" your child is not an issue. In fact, it's much better to do it now before they start their pre-school year and go to school than it is in 3 years time when you're sick of the commute.

If you want urban then I would be looking in the West End around Byres Road and areas like Hillhead, Hyndland and Dowanhill. You are right in the middle of everything and the schools are good. Glasgow is arguably more bike-able than Edinburgh as it's definitely flatter! Close the same amenities as you have in Edinburgh like hills, woods and beaches if you want them.

The Edinburgh city bypass and the Hermiston junction are on their own reason enough to move!

We moved from Edinburgh to Glasgow when our youngest was nearly 2. I wasn’t working but my other half would leave at 7am most mornings to commute to Glasgow and wouldn’t return till about 8 (sometimes later). It just wasn’t good for anyone!

We’d moved to Edinburgh from London and I must admit I had become bored with the touristy/twee aspects of Edinburgh after 3 years. The move to Glasgow suited our more urban habits.

I’m not saying I don’t miss the east coast beaches - Yellowcraig was our fave - and the weather is the weather but definitely not as cold. We went on to have a 2nd child and both have had great state educations and took advantage of all the city ‘s musical and arts offerings.

I think these young years are so precious and the kids usually need ferrying here there and everywhere which will be more difficult if your commute is a long one.

Best of luck with whatever you decide!

The job a big priority for me - the exact area I'm interested in, good career development prospects and less than full time, which is what I want after maternity leave.

I'm also in a weird situation where I'm currently on a fixed term contract (although this will pay my maternity leave) and there are very limited jobs in my field so I'm not going to turn this one down!

At the risk of turning this into an East vs West debate in my opinion it’s a no-brainer to move to Glasgow.

I commute the other way a couple of times a month so I know what it’s like, just imagine the impact that will have on the time you can spend with your child as they grow up.

Not just time, but also stress and tiredness.

For a Lanarkshire commute and a lively urban area I’d be looking towards Shawlands/Southside as it’s got easy access to East Kilbride and the A725 for Lanarkshire.

Shawlands itself is by no means cheap but you’ll get more for your money than Edinburgh.

If high-performing schools are important then parts of Muirend are in East Ren and Northern parts of Giffnock are a 20 min walk to Shawlands.

If you go to these areas you will have a good lifestyle for much less than you would pay in Edinburgh.

Also might be my age talking but the urban life you want just now might change very quickly when your child gets older and you realise they would love a garden, safe streets to play in and open spaces.

Glasgow has lots of areas where you could live in suburbs (Kelvindale, Netherlee etc..) that are within walking distance to the main livelier parts.

Thank you for the insights so far, this has definitely helped to clarify lots of things for me.

Realistically, I think we would want to be in the catchment area for either Hyndland or Hillhead high schools if we stay in Glasgow long-term, and the associated primary schools are decent too. That gives us a much more specific search area to focus on, which also makes it easier to make a direct comparison between our current life/location and a possible alternative in Glasgow.

@SnoozingFox I think it's sensible to be realistic that if we are going to move it is better to do so now, than to try the commute and get burned out and overwhelmed a few years down the line.

Our jobs can both be flexible, but there are obviously limits to that and a longer commute just adds pressure to every aspect of life.

The benefit of your commute is that both those hospitals are to the east of Glasgow so you wouldn't have to cross the city and you'd be turning off the M8 before the traffic tends to get too horrendous.
Also bear in mind that you'll need 2 cars unless DH goes by train to the city centre and what happens on the days you're both in Glasgow and there's traffic congestion that means you can't get back in time for nursery / after school club / childminder pick up?
I've done the commute to Glasgow from the west side of Edinburgh and there's no way I would want to do it daily by either train or driving!

I’d move - I love Edinburgh but if both of your jobs are Glasgow based for the foreseeable, I’d get on with it. Long commutes with small children are the worst.

The rain is warmer in Glasgow.

This is actually a significant consideration - I have grim memories of trudging through freezing rain pushing a pram because it was the only way DS would sleep. Warmer rain would be a considerable improvement!

I think this is my concern with our current set up - we would both be coming back from the west in the evening. So if there was a traffic issue, we would both be sitting in the same queue and late for pick-up.