Livingston

[JWeegie]

Currently I am renting in west end Glasgow. Looking for buying a home. I'm married and have 2 kids, one just started nursery and elder one in S2.
We are searching for a suitable property since long, offered few but no luck.
Tried Newton Mearns, bearsden , bishopbrigg etc with no luck in bidding, some people are just throwing money like 15% - 25% offer over at the places like Newton Mearns. So things are difficult.
One of my friend who lives in Edinburgh, have family similar to me, we both work in same company, decided to buy a new build home in Livingston and pushing me to buy there. He and his wife nearly convinced my wife to move Livingston and it's in my budget too. But I am not 100% sure how Livingston is? Though I've been there for few times only for designer outlet, no idea about anything else.
How's the school/nursery etc in Livingston and how safe it is?
Can anyone who is from Livingston or have good idea about it, throw some lights here or suggestions?

exactly livingston fine and pretty safe imo cant comment on schools tho

tbh, though I am living in Glasgow west end, I am not the kind of person who go to pub or shopping very often.
Quit alcohol so I go pub only when someone (friend) asked to meet. Not a fan of flashy lifestyle, rather like quiet, not so busy but safe place.
I'm a regular runner (ran two marathons including London), so like to go for long run along with canal or less busy roads.

One of most important point you mentioned is impact of moving DS in secondary when he spends all his life here, made friends. This is one of the most important point of my discussion with DW, but we know we have to make some sacrifices if we want our own place. Current flat (rented) is now too small for our need, moving to another rented flat is difficult because I'll have to pay almost same amount as rent as I can pay my mortgage EMI.
Having our own house is what everyone dream about and after so many years of struggling I am in position to make it reality, just don't want to move somewhere random where I don't feel safe for family.

I agree. I think Livingston is not bad as I know some areas in Glasgow. Few years back I had a colleague (Immigrant on work visa), when he arrived in Glasgow, had no idea where to rent, he went with the cheapest option somewhere near goven/queens park (can't remember exact area), within 6 months his house was broken twice, his wife complained saying random people knock doors/windows constantly when she's alone. He finally decided to go back to his country.
My aim is to mention above is - every city has it's own good/bad area, I don't want to be in that situation when moving to a new city. living in Glasgow I have very good idea about crime etc, working in Edinburgh gave me fair bit of knowledge.
But I didn't know anything about Livingston, though I am quite sure Livingston is far better.

So we visited Livingston again last weekend and spent 5-6 hours looking property and surrounding.
Though we do like property (who don't like new builds 😄), we walked few streets/surrounding area felt safe/okish but soulless. There is nothing much on the name of city centre except designer outlet.
One thing is for sure, one definitely needs car in Livingston or should be living near to train station, in my family I'm the only one who drives, which is going to difficult if wife/kids wants to go somewhere and I am busy.
Probably we can sacrifice a bit on this front but most important part of our decision is Schools, tbh I am not impressed. Apart from internet reviews I get the opinion of at least 3 people personally (2 direct, 1 via friend), who's kids are in JY high school, 2 said they are not happy with school while the other one is satisfied with JY.
Since I personally not convinced on school part, we are not considering Livingston now.

You certainly need to drive. I'd say that's the case for anywhere outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Public transport just isn't reliable enough for families needs e.g. football practice, swimming lessons, parents evenings, supermarket.

Have you considered Falkirk area, not town centre but either larbert to the west or Polmont to the east. Both well connected by train and decent schools.

I still think Lenzie or Linlithgow. Lenzie would be easier for your kids to keep in touch with friends but they will of course make new ones.

Lenzie still on my radar, waiting for suitable property listing.

Have you considered moving to kirknewton or Ratho, which feed into Balerno high school? I know a few people there who are happy with it for their kids.
Currie High school also good, probably has wider range of property to buy.
Both Currie & Kirknewton have a train station, from which can access Edinburgh or Glasgow.

I do have few ex colleagues living in Currie, I'll talk to them. Have no idea about Kirknewton or Ratho, I am going to Google about these area.

I wouldn’t live in Kirknewton or Ratho either if you’re the only
driver in the family!

Well I have no skin in the game with either Kirknewton or Ratho, but both seem reasonably well connected. Kirknewton has a train station and a bus that travels from Livingston to Edinburgh. Surely that is reasonable? Not everyone needs or desires to be in walking distance of the centre of Edinburgh.

Friends that live in Ratho are enjoying having both the new surf resort and the existing Edinburgh Leisure run Climbing centre within a 5 min walk of their house. Their teenagers are whizzing all over Edinburgh on the bus like all teenagers, the Ratho bus connects both with Edinburgh Gateway tram/train for transit to centre of Edinburgh, plus stops at Hermiston P&R to transfer to various buses.

I would consider both areas well connected and Ratho in particular has great resources on the doorstep, combining semi rural with access to the city. Balerno is considered a good school which both areas feed into.

Currie has a lot going for it as well, shorter bus journey into town, than Balerno and a brand new high school building opened last month. I rather like the north west/west/south west of Edinburgh but I have always worked in Fife/Lanarkshire/Glasgow so appreciate the ease of commute from the west side of the city. Used to live on Ferry Rd, and the traffic was bad 15 years ago. Visiting friends in Trinity, they all moan about the congestion on Ferry Road, so I presume it has got worse.

Of course choice of area is horses for courses and for those who wish to be closer to town, there are plenty of good options, at a price.

I second this! I cannot drive and would not consider Kirknewton, Currie or Ratho.

Anyone who thinks the connections to these places are adequate has most certainly never had to rely on them! I have made return journeys to all three. Ratho and Kirknewton were near impossible! If I was asked to make either journey again, I would say no. Currie is doable but SLOW, fine if you’re a teenager with nothing to do but kill time.

they say a picture tells a thousand words @FunnyOrca ;) 250907 LB Network Map

I assume you are agreeing these connections are completely inadequate for OP’s non-driving partner?

Yes definitely, even driving to Ratho feels like going to the back of beyond IMO!! @FunnyOrca

Phil Spencer was recommending Ratho on Location Location Location this week!

They didn’t buy the house though @SomewhereInMyHeart and one of the reasons was the location! They wanted something that didn’t exist for their budget in Edinburgh. I actually laughed out loud at the start when they said they wanted at least 4 beds in a good school catchment for £650k!

Yes, because Ratho is a great village and many people enjoy living there.

You are coming across like a privileged numpty! There are plenty of people in the Edinburgh area living in houses worth 650k or less that are happy with their kids schools. Give over with the Ratho bashing, it’s getting boring.

I’m not being privileged, Christ I wish I had £650k to spend on a house, but you can’t argue somewhere is “well connected” when it’s got one bus route!

🤣🤣🤣🤣

It's got a lovely canal running along it? As for practicality it's not really a great place to be situated if you don't drive. The PP isn't too far off the mark....

Haha I could only dream of spending £650k on a property😂

These programmes never depict normal families. Very unrelatable.

Wow... I just wanted people's opinion on Livingston or an alternate location to buy a property, but this escalated quickly 🤦
I understand the sentiments one has towards a particular area specifically if they are living there, others may have different opinions, it's alright.
I am living in Glasgow for many year's, enjoying life, running long miles along Clyde river or Forth-Clyde canal, so I also have a affinity for it, while many people who are not regular in Glasgow have very different opinion of the city. what I like, other may not like it, it's okay.

We are in East Calder, just outside Livingston, with the kids at West Calder High School (and East Calder Primary). Both schools are fantastic, imo, lovely new buildings, great teachers and loads of opportunities.