Edinburgh?

[green_pea]

I guess this is aimed at those of you who have lived/are living in Edinburgh, I know at least a couple of people do anyway, so I hope this isn't too much of a prod in the dark!

We're going up there in a few weeks time, everyone asks why Edinburgh, but why not? We've been based all over the country for the past 4 years and we need to choose somewhere to settle now because enough is enough. It's a lovely city, jobs in finance sector (G studies economics) and at the universities (for me, also a masters at Edinburgh in outdoor education i'm interested in doing in the future), lots of green space, coast at portobello looks nice, lots of stuff for us to do, not too enormous in comparison to lots of cities, good transport links, lots of volunteering opportunities, near to outdoorsy places by train/car for mountain biking, can afford to get on the property ladder and buy a small flat there in near future, etc etc. I could go on.

Anyway we're going up there to see some flats, want something below £550 ideally, 1 bedroom (have looked at some 2 bedroom also). The areas we've looked at are Old Town (only 2 or 3 under our budget there), Stockbridge, Holyrood, and Abbeyhill (Abbeywell?) also Portobello, and Duddingston a bit further out. Are these good places or bad places? Want to avoid anywhere rowdy (pubs, main roads etc), just somewhere reasonably safe and quietish but within reach of amenities and places to go for a run/nice walk/read a book.

Also any advice on where to look for jobs, things to see and do which we might not have heard about, is it realistic to hope to walk/cycle most places (we're very fit)?

[boboff]

We just booked 3 nights in Edinburgh, October half term, premier inn, going up on the Coach, which from Plymouth for a Family of 4 return was £80 TOTAL.. Amazing. I will look forward to your replies as well. At present I want to do the Castle, the Seat volcano thing, and Museums and Art galleries.

[demi]

We just booked 3 nights in Edinburgh, October half term, premier inn, going up on the Coach, which from Plymouth for a Family of 4 return was £80 TOTAL.. Amazing. I will look forward to your replies as well. At present I want to do the Castle, the Seat volcano thing, and Museums and Art galleries.

What? Your not going to see our houses of parliament!?

Its a strange building

[gregorach]

Anyway we're going up there to see some flats, want something below £550 ideally, 1 bedroom (have looked at some 2 bedroom also). The areas we've looked at are Old Town (only 2 or 3 under our budget there), Stockbridge, Holyrood, and Abbeyhill (Abbeywell?) also Portobello, and Duddingston a bit further out. Are these good places or bad places? Want to avoid anywhere rowdy (pubs, main roads etc), just somewhere reasonably safe and quietish but within reach of amenities and places to go for a run/nice walk/read a book.

Most of Edinburgh is safe - it's only when you start getting in to the really deprived sink estates that it starts getting rough, and even then, most of the trouble is interal... Bystanders don't tend to get caught up. Stockbridge is pretty pricey... Abbeyhill is OK, but most of the buildings are fairly recent (70s and 80s) and not especially well built. I'd recommend looking at some of the older tenement buildings in areas like Dalry and Gorgie, as they're solidly built. If you don't mind being a little further out, there's a number of areas with classic '30s four-in-a-block ex-council houses which are pretty good too. I haven't looked at the rental market in years though, so I'm not sure what prices are like these days. The public transport is generally excellent, and because it's a small city, pretty much everywhere is within easy reach of amenities, and there's no shortage of parks and green space.

Also any advice on where to look for jobs, things to see and do which we might not have heard about, is it realistic to hope to walk/cycle most places (we're very fit)?

Can't really help on the jobs front... Things to see and do? Oh, I could go on all day... There's so much, depending on what you're into - galleries, the National Museum, more pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants that you could visit in your lifetime, live music, comedy, parks, the nearby Pentland Hills, the Water of Leith Walkway, the unfathomable network of cycle paths (some of which must pass through some sort of hyperspace)... Cycling is fine as long as you can cope with the hills and the traffic, and walking is entirely practical. There's also a really good bus service, so no need for a car.

It's a wonderful city. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[green_pea]

Thanks Dunc, I had you in mind when I wrote his. I heard that Gorgie was the student place and heard horror stories of pavements plastered with vomit! I take it that's untrue then?

Where is good to buy stuff? (Specifically, or general area/streets I'd find things). As in foreign food shops, or markets, the sort of place to get oddments of wool or a spare sink plug? Not the expensive middle class type, but the 'proper' type.

We're attracted by the museums, and the botanical gardens, the parks, and being near the coast (is it nice near the city? Portobello looks nice, and I know it's lovely further down the coast up from the border). Also by the fact that it's one of the better places to find work at the moment (we'll do anything, which helps too), and the fact that the rental prices < the quality of living (for us anyway).

RE cycling, hills I can cope with, traffic however, eek! Something I'll have to learn to love.

How cosmopolitan/multicultural is the city? Are there a lot of different cultural events/shops/restaurants? Are people as rude and miserable as in London (didn't seem to be)? It's hard to get a clear picture from just visiting, but I loved what I saw.

[fifi folle]

Dunc - are you forgetting I lived in Abbeyhill? Not 1970s/80s! The section of Abbeyhill down by Holyrood is 70s/80s but Abbeyhill extends to Easter Road.

The colonies in Abbeyhill are lovely, close to town, bus routes etc but you have free parking and your own (small) garden! I lived there for 13 years til we moved to Fife for more space to have a family. There's Sainsburys round the corner, Asian supermarket at the end of the road. There's a handy shop that sells everything on Easter Road for your sink plug type requirements, they sell wool too but not great stuff. There's a Cat Rescue charity shop that I loved!

As for employment my hubby did economics and has worked for several of the large financial institutions in Edinburgh, PM me for further info, or even send your OH's CV and hubby could hand it in to his work if there are suitable vacancies. Most of the jobs in that sector are out at Edinburgh Park (South Gyle) so that may influence your choice of where to live, there are financial sector jobs in town but not as many (Citigroup is one of the main ones, Scottish Widows another).

Portobello is pretty much a suburb of Edinburgh, on the main bus routes, lots of people live there and work in the city.

Edinburgh is not as rude/miserable as London but people can be quite reserved. Loads of different restaurants, it is increasingly multicultural, you can buy ingredients for most ethnic cuisines somewhere in the city. I loved it, moved there for Uni and stayed on. Miss it but couldn't afford a family home in the city so moved just over the Forth Bridge, hubby commutes to Edinburgh Park by train which takes the same length of time as crossing the city used to take!

[gregorach]

Thanks Dunc, I had you in mind when I wrote his. I heard that Gorgie was the student place and heard horror stories of pavements plastered with vomit! I take it that's untrue then?

Well... Exaggerated, I would say. Still, it's a city, there's all sorts... There may be some vomit on a Saturday morning. And of course, there's Tynecastle Stadium, but I've lived in Gorgie for well over a decade and never had any football-related trouble other than congestion in the streets as they're going in or out. Mind you, my flat is as the back of the block I'm in, so I don't get noise from the street.

Where is good to buy stuff? (Specifically, or general area/streets I'd find things). As in foreign food shops, or markets, the sort of place to get oddments of wool or a spare sink plug? Not the expensive middle class type, but the 'proper' type.

All over the place really - it's not big enough for different areas to be hugely divergent. You'll find a decent Asian supermarket within a few blocks of just about anywhere. And even if you do have to go all the way across town to find a particular something, that's still only 20 minutes or so.

How cosmopolitan/multicultural is the city? Are there a lot of different cultural events/shops/restaurants? Are people as rude and miserable as in London (didn't seem to be)? It's hard to get a clear picture from just visiting, but I loved what I saw.

It's pretty comsopolitan. OK, it's not London, but you can find most cuisines without too much difficulty. And no, people aren't anywhere near as rude and miserable as London (in my limited experience of London anyway)... Once you get off the main streets and out of the centre a bit, there are still places where complete strangers smile and say "Hello" as you pass.

Dunc - are you forgetting I lived in Abbeyhill? Not 1970s/80s! The section of Abbeyhill down by Holyrood is 70s/80s but Abbeyhill extends to Easter Road.

Ha! Yeah, I never really think of that area as Abbeyhill, although I suppose it is really.

[green_pea]

Thanks both for the advice. Fifi could you PM the name of the finance companies located there? That'd be great, I might email the CV in future when we get up there if that would be ok?

Some vomit is fine, I just used to live in a city where you literally had to hop between the clear spaces in the vomit every morning.

[fifi folle]

PM'd you :)

[green_pea]

Where are the deprived estate areas so I can try and avoid them?

[gregorach]

Well, the ones I'd probably avoid are Wester Hailes, Granton, Pilton, Niddrie, Lasswade and Gracemount... There's probably a few others I'm not remembering off the top of my head. Generally they're not hard to spot - the give-aways are suspiciously low prices and the few remaining high-rises.

[gjthom]

We lived for a year in a rented tenement flat in an area adjacent to Murrayfield called Roseburn. Nice enough area. It's city living but not much effort to get out of there for whatever you want to do. And handy for bus routes into the centre.

[boboff]

Hello

Just returned from this wonderfull city.

What a fantastic place, wonderfull buildings, shops, attractions.

Busy up top, but the waters of Leith through the middle of it is an inner sanctum.

People are friendly and polite.

Public transport works well, even given the 750 million spent on the Tram way, which is still not moved off of Princes Street in 5 years.

We had a lovely time, public transport as I say all the way from home to hotel, 600 + miles, and the only problem was two taxi's with no drivers on our return through Plymouth.

I love travelling, and National Express Coach trip from Plymouth to Edinburgh, is there longest UK route, and at £10 each each way an absolute bargain! We will have great family memories from our trip, and I am so pleased we went off grid a bit and organised this ourselves, it was exactly what we all wanted.

[gregorach]

I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed it!