Edinburgh and surrounds - where do the young families live?
February 15, 2019 10:08 AM Subscribe
We used to live in Edinburgh and are considering moving back. Where should we be looking? Details inside!
My husband and I met while studying at the University of Edinburgh. I lived there for four years, he lived there for seven years - this was all 10+ years ago. Since that time, we’ve had a couple of kids and now live in the USA. We’re considering moving the family back to the UK in the next few years and Edinburgh is one of the potential places we’re looking at. We have a few friends still there and we both remember loving the city. This summer we’re taking a trip to the UK to visit some family and are planning a few days in Edinburgh as an early stage scouting mission - just to check out some neighborhoods and get reacquainted with the city to see if it would suit us. Where should we be wandering?
When we lived there, we both lived in cheap studenty flats in Marchmont or around the university and rarely ventured outside of that bubble unless we needed to go to IKEA or something. We aren’t interested in living in the city center now but aren’t sure where actual adults with kids and stuff tend to live. Our priorities are:
- Housing stock: we’d want to live in a detached, semi-detached or terraced family home (not a flat), would prefer an older home (say built before 1930 or so), not a new build. Let's assume that budget is not an issue at this time, based on the prices I've seen when browsing rightmove and Zoopla.
- Community: our kids would be primary school age by the time we move, so somewhere with other families around, nice schools, parks, that kind of thing.
- Location: ideally a 30-45 minute commute to the city center by some combination of bike, train, or tram (??? no trams were yet built when we lived there…). It would be great if the area itself had a neighborhood feel, walkable to schools and shops and a cafe or two.
This is really early days so we’re really just trying to narrow down where to look and pick some areas we can visit while we’re there. Would appreciate any on the ground knowledge from Edinburgh-based mefites!
My husband and I met while studying at the University of Edinburgh. I lived there for four years, he lived there for seven years - this was all 10+ years ago. Since that time, we’ve had a couple of kids and now live in the USA. We’re considering moving the family back to the UK in the next few years and Edinburgh is one of the potential places we’re looking at. We have a few friends still there and we both remember loving the city. This summer we’re taking a trip to the UK to visit some family and are planning a few days in Edinburgh as an early stage scouting mission - just to check out some neighborhoods and get reacquainted with the city to see if it would suit us. Where should we be wandering?
When we lived there, we both lived in cheap studenty flats in Marchmont or around the university and rarely ventured outside of that bubble unless we needed to go to IKEA or something. We aren’t interested in living in the city center now but aren’t sure where actual adults with kids and stuff tend to live. Our priorities are:
- Housing stock: we’d want to live in a detached, semi-detached or terraced family home (not a flat), would prefer an older home (say built before 1930 or so), not a new build. Let's assume that budget is not an issue at this time, based on the prices I've seen when browsing rightmove and Zoopla.
- Community: our kids would be primary school age by the time we move, so somewhere with other families around, nice schools, parks, that kind of thing.
- Location: ideally a 30-45 minute commute to the city center by some combination of bike, train, or tram (??? no trams were yet built when we lived there…). It would be great if the area itself had a neighborhood feel, walkable to schools and shops and a cafe or two.
This is really early days so we’re really just trying to narrow down where to look and pick some areas we can visit while we’re there. Would appreciate any on the ground knowledge from Edinburgh-based mefites!
Craiglockhart springs to mind - lots of family homes, ride up the canal towpath into town fairly quickly. Roseburn to the west of the centre I think has quite a lot of family homes, especially in the streets heading up the hill from Corstorphine Road. Bruntsfield and Marchmont are nice but predominantly flats. Davidson’s Mains and Silverknowes to the NW of the centre. (If you’re just wandering round those two and it starts to look a bit less nice and twee you’re probably roaming into Muirhouse or Pilton, so wander back). Duddingston has loads of family homes in the east, though Arthur’s Seat lies between you and the city centre so you’ve a hilly cycle in (or need to go round). Portobello has the advantage of nearby beach, but is correspondingly expensive, especially for anything with a garden.
Can’t comment on schools, but I have friends or colleagues in all those areas who have kids and who I’d imagine to be fairly picky about schools.
posted by penguin pie at 10:38 AM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Can’t comment on schools, but I have friends or colleagues in all those areas who have kids and who I’d imagine to be fairly picky about schools.
posted by penguin pie at 10:38 AM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oh - and I just noticed your comment about the age of housing - Edinburgh’s tenements are often Victorian, but a LOT of the family homes are 1930s bungalows or (pleasant) 1950s-ish semis. I’m struggling to think of any areas with a lot of family homes older than that, that aren’t like, mansions in the Grange or Barnton.
You’d maybe increase your options if you also considered main door flats but I’m never sure how their gardens work - whether they just share the communal gardens with the tenements either side, or if some of them have their own.
posted by penguin pie at 10:46 AM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
You’d maybe increase your options if you also considered main door flats but I’m never sure how their gardens work - whether they just share the communal gardens with the tenements either side, or if some of them have their own.
posted by penguin pie at 10:46 AM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
The place to look for property in Edinburgh is ESPC, they have the vast majority of listings and you can filter a search to only houses.
For your requirements I think you might like North Berwick - it's half an hour out by train but is on the main train line so does have regular services. If you are prepared to go a little further out Dunbar is very family friendly but is mostly newer houses.
posted by Lanark at 12:48 PM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
For your requirements I think you might like North Berwick - it's half an hour out by train but is on the main train line so does have regular services. If you are prepared to go a little further out Dunbar is very family friendly but is mostly newer houses.
posted by Lanark at 12:48 PM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
We lived in the west in the Clermiston/Clerwood/East Craigs area, up around Corstorphine Hill. Lots of 30s bungalows and 60s terraces, quiet (especially in festival time!), lots of families, good schools and parks. Downsides: less of a local feel in terms of cafes/shops (compared to some of the southside or more central areas, anyway) and a longer public transport commute into the city.
Other areas where young families I know live/have lived:
- Davidson's Mains/Silverknowes, as mentioned above
- Stockbridge: lovely, conveniently placed, shops/cafes and so on, but also stupendously expensive even by Edinburgh standards and much of the housing stock is flats (and much of those are AirB&Bs now)
- Morningside: does have (lovely, Victorian, terraced) houses, but again, expensive ones even by Edinburgh's already-pricey standards.
Someone also recommended Juniper Green to us when we were looking.
If you're prepared to go further out there is Cramond (stupendously pricey but gorgeous, very much a village/community feel) and South Queensferry (short train journey into central Edinburgh); the train line out to North Berwick; and now also the new train line south into the Borders, where the first few stations at least are very much commutable.
posted by Catseye at 1:01 PM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Other areas where young families I know live/have lived:
- Davidson's Mains/Silverknowes, as mentioned above
- Stockbridge: lovely, conveniently placed, shops/cafes and so on, but also stupendously expensive even by Edinburgh standards and much of the housing stock is flats (and much of those are AirB&Bs now)
- Morningside: does have (lovely, Victorian, terraced) houses, but again, expensive ones even by Edinburgh's already-pricey standards.
Someone also recommended Juniper Green to us when we were looking.
If you're prepared to go further out there is Cramond (stupendously pricey but gorgeous, very much a village/community feel) and South Queensferry (short train journey into central Edinburgh); the train line out to North Berwick; and now also the new train line south into the Borders, where the first few stations at least are very much commutable.
posted by Catseye at 1:01 PM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Currie, Juniper Green and Balerno are a bit more suburban but are all nice. There are lots of new houses being built there but also existing ones from the 50s/60s. I grew up in Currie and think it was a good experience. You should check what the situation is now though as it has probably doubled in population with no new schools being built...
Nowadays I view the main upside of those places as being that you can be in the countryside in 15 minutes or town in 15 minutes in the other direction.
posted by neilb449 at 3:51 AM on February 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nowadays I view the main upside of those places as being that you can be in the countryside in 15 minutes or town in 15 minutes in the other direction.
posted by neilb449 at 3:51 AM on February 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone; this is exactly the info I was looking for!
posted by cpatterson at 4:15 AM on February 21, 2019
posted by cpatterson at 4:15 AM on February 21, 2019
« Older Marry fox, throw grain in water, feed HDMI cable... | She drinks a matcha drink, she drinks a vodka... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by AuroraSky at 10:30 AM on February 15, 2019