Moving to Oban

[User4472]

My husband is desperate to move to Scotland, specifically around Oban. We currently live in North Yorkshire. His main reasons are wanting a more outdoor lifestyle, scenery, sense of community, safety for raising our baby. While I understand this, I'm apprehensive due to it being so far from the support of family and friends, it would mean leaving my job, and the weather / darkness concern me too. Oban also feels a little isolated from anywhere else.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has made the move to this area, and also anyone local who can give an honest reflection of what it's like to live there.

Thanks!

I suspect you could have a more outdoor lifestyle in rural Yorkshire due to having better weather & more daylight in winter. Scottish education isn't in a good way at the moment and youth crime is very concerning. If Oban has a lower crime rate on paper that could easier just be comparing a rural to urban area.

I'd stay in North Yorkshire rather than Oban. You currently have access to loads of amazing outdoorsy places surely? I am Scottish and have been to Oban a number of towns. I find it quite a dreary place. My DD lives in Leeds and I thinks she has wonderful countryside all around her but still has access to the city. Best of both worlds really.

Scottish here, living in England but back a fair bit.

Oban is lovely - in the summer, for a holiday.

Had to deal with Scottish NHS a fair bit (family) recently. It’s a shitshow, England is bad - but not like this. As other posters have mentioned - education is struggling and the economy is over reliant on public service workers and really quite vulnerable. If you earn a decent wage you’ll be paying more tax than you would in England to subsidise all the not really free stuff.

Think carefully. Yes it’s beautiful and people are lovely (though not more so than in England if you take London out of the equation, forget that myth)

Doesn't North Yorkshire have plenty of lovely places to live? I'm thinking of Thirsk and around there.
As PP said, Oban is okay in the height of summer, but all year round? I wouldn't.

Thanks so much for your comments. North Yorkshire is lovely and in my opinion the best place to be in England. The scenery in Scotland trumps it for sure though, and what also appeals to my husband is the wildlife, cleaner rivers for fishing and kayaking, fewer camping restrictions etc.
The lack of choice for schools in Oban concerns me, especially as a struggling education system as a whole has been mentioned here. Do they have a good reputation?
As for crime, with Oban being quite isolated, is there any spill from Glasgow in terms of drugs etc? What's the biggest concern there?

Less overspill from Glasgow in terms of drugs, more that drugs gangs, often from England (Liverpool I believe is an issue) infiltrating small rural communities. I believe Oban has a significant drugs issue. Watch Highland Cops on TV and you will get the idea!

Another thing to bear in mind is that it takes absolutely ages to get to a city or an airport from Oban. There is little in the way of culture or shops, and the weather is terrible.

Unless you are used to and ok with living very rurally with fewer connections the isolation can get very old, very quickly.

Even if you want quiet, rural and clean rivers never underestimate how much you might miss the ability to hop on a train and be somewhere bustly and glittery in half an hour.

Exactly. Although you can hop on a train that runs two or three times a day and be somewhere bustly and glittery in three and a half to four hours.

This really jumps out at me

“his main reasons are wanting a more outdoor lifestyle, scenery, sense of community, safety for raising our baby.”

I can’t think of anywhere better than North Yorkshire for this tbh! He’s mad if he thinks Oban will be better. I mean there are worse places but the weather in winter will be bleak and I’m sure everyone will be stuck indoors. In terms of safety, it doesn’t get much better than NY surely?

Suggest a long weekend in Oban in February. I’ve been in summer and agree it’s lovely but I’m sure it’s quite different in winter in the dark. And there is the public services concern. I bet schools in NY are generally good.

I’m not quite so negative as some pps about Oban - I think it’s cleaned itself up a bit in recent years (although still drugs issues in some parts). I know people who live there who seem happy enough. However, I don't think the school is great at all, so would look very closely into that. If your husband is keen on Scotland maybe Perthshire would also fit the bill? Lots in the way of outdoors stuff but schooling is better.

I personally love Oban, but then my husband is from Argyll so we'd love to move back if there were only better paying jobs available! I'm surprised about the negativity towards it here but then again I'm used to the terrible weather and as I live in nearby Ayrshire, used to even worse drug rates.

I would add though that what you've said about "choices of schools" shows you guys haven't really grasped the differences between Scottish and English systems. In Scotland we don't really get a choice. You go to the catchment school for your house and that's it. Sometimes there might be a Catholic choice too in some areas and in busy built up areas you might be able to try putting a placement request for a nearby alternative to your catchment school but any "good schools" can get full pretty quick. We also have way less private schools here (except Edinburgh) although there is a private school in Helensburgh that does weekly boarding for kids from Oban and buses them back at weekends but that's obviously a pricey option. All state schools are run by councils and follow the same curriculum and tbh it's a total mess at the minute. I basically feel I send my kids to school for socialising and have to teach them actual knowledge myself.

Is he from Oban? Do you have family there? Culturally, it's very different from Yorkshire and I don't think I would consider moving if there wasn't a significant upside in terms of family support/connection.

Oban seems a random choice tbh. It's a very long way from anywhere, and the weather in Argyll is absolutely shit unless you're deeply fond of endless rain.

It also seems a bit pointless to move somewhere quite that inconvenient and still have the issues associated with living in a town, like drugs and antisocial behaviour.

If he's set on Scotland I'd recommend the north east. Some genuine good microclimates with plenty of sunshine, great scenery and variety (amazing beaches and mountains, even skiing if that's your thing), and Inverness is far more use than Oban is.

I’d definitely make the most of living in Yorkshire, and leave Scotland for the odd week away. Too dark, too remote.

As an Obanite that recently moved away but is regularly back to see friends and family, I’ll be honest. It’s a lovely place to live, if you’re a local and used to rural location and weather. It is VERY isolated. Closest town is an hour in any direction and there is very, very little in between. Glasgow is the nearest city and is 2.5/3 hours away - on a good day. In the winter, the weather is harsh and unforgiving. The roads are often closed due to weather - floods and landslides in the winter and accidents in the summer from tourists on the country roads.
Everyone knows everyone in Oban, there is only 1 school for miles around so everyone and their parents, grandparents, etc went there. This is a blessing and a curse. The saying goes, “you fart at the top of George Street and by the time you’ve reached the bottom, you’ve shit yourself”. It can be hard to make friends and integrate unless you’re very proactive, social or have an existing relationship.
The facilities are limited. There are very few shops in the town for locals, mostly aimed at tourists so all clothing, shoes, furniture, electrics, etc must be ordered online. Then you have issues with delivery as despite being very much on the mainland, many companies consider Oban an island and will not deliver! Or it costs a fortune, or takes an age. Any major hospital referrals are to Glasgow, the hospital is small and therefore only manages less serious cases. Though I believe there are some clinics now. There is a local petition at the moment as all dialysis patients have to travel over an hour every day for their treatment - this is not available locally.
the job market is limited and housing is a NIGHTMARE. The private rental market is non existent and all homes go for considerably over asking - I think around 20/30k. AirB&B is huge in Oban so there is a huge amount of holiday homes and very little development. Dunbeg is all there is at the moment, there are no new builds in the local area.
there is one local doctor surgery, one vets, a couple dentists but waiting lists are very long and it’s near impossible to get registered on the nhs. Public transport is dire, parking is extortionate and unless you live in the town centre, you need to drive.
Oban has a drugs problem, like most places in rural Scotland.
I love Oban because I grew up there and have all my friends and family there but I wouldn’t advise anyone to move there without a support system or having seriously considered all the cons. Visiting in the summer is not a reflection of the reality. Winter is long and hard and there are many struggles those in more urban areas don’t even consider.

We use Oban for a pit stop on our way out to Mull. As the pp said, it can take 3ish hours from Glasgow and considerably longer if you get stuck behind a coach or artic on the A82 along Loch Lomond.- there's stretches where there's no way of getting past.

We have stayed overnight on Oban and we did the tourist thing in an afternoon. There wasn't much to do.

My close friend moved from a big city to Oban and love it. They had been visiting for many years, though, and had made friends there and so that helped. I like it, but personally I wouldn't live there, it is a bit too remote for me.

As pp’s have said it’s very remote. It’s not easy to access things like big shops or emergency care and you’ll get a massive shock especially in the winter when there is nothing to do.

It’s remote, and there really aren’t many opportunities for young ones. I love Oban. We go often by train from Glasgow, and my partner and I would consider retiring up there. We do love it. But I’d never move there now, while I have kids who want opportunity and young lifestyle.

Plenty of place within easy travel of the great outdoors, but still with life.

Why Oban? There are plenty of other places in Scotland with ”cleaner rivers for fishing and kayaking, fewer camping restrictions”.
Ive been there it’s popular with tourists in the summer, but as others have said it rains there a lot you’ll be eaten alive by midges and its miles from anywhere and frankly it’s not even that nice a place although I accept the surrounding countryside is stunning.
Id go north east Inverness Nairn Forres etc you’re on the doorstep of the Cairngorms and its a stunning coastline, an airport back to England, Aberdeen and Perth are and not a million miles away.
Or south west D and G it’s a bit retirement central but a stunning rugged coastline, woodland upland meadows rivers etc low population density nice villages although crap public transport. Moffat aside which is good for the M74 (to Glasgow etc) the areas around Kirkudbright Castle Douglas Kipford and Rockliffe are probably the the best bits but a bit of a schlep to the motorways and although a good community atmosphere and non existent crime it is full of reasonably affluent active pensioners and activities are often aimed at them.

I have a uni friend who grew up outside Oban - everyone knows everyone as no other high school (people travel from a large distance). Quite midgey. Lots of teens die young in car accidents due to rural isolation/driving while under the influence etc. Drugs definitely around, mushrooms when friend was at school. Can be lovely but wet and dark in winter (as is most of Scotland it feels just now, even the east).

I lived in Oban for years as a teenager. Winters were brutal. The school (imo) is not good, if that’s a concern. I do love it to visit but would never live there again. I also coincidentally lived in very rural North Yorkshire and was more remote than central Oban but i would still pick Yorkshire every time as it’s just so much closer to everywhere else. Integrating into Oban was difficult as papa have said - everyone knows everyone has had done for generations

Another thing for you to seriously consider OP. Oban has a huge lack of available dentist’s just now so it’s not easy getting seen

As a Scot I’d definitely stay in North Yorkshire! @sunsu has really nailed the challenges of living in Oban (and rural small town Scotland away from the big cities generally). You could move to somewhere more rural in North Yorkshire and have great access to all the amenities of bigger cities and towns right on your doorstep (where that counts as within an hour!!).

We spend around half our time in rural East Lothian and I have to say it is fantastic. Beautiful and convenient for Edinburgh. It would be better for us to live further south as we spend half our time in France and we spend a lot of time travelling. If I could move anywhere in the UK it would be North Yorkshire. It’s stunning, the people are warm and friendly and it’s well connected with everywhere in the UK.