[Closed] Places to live in Central Scotland?

Would be a great place to have a bike shop though - Menstrie Cycles - and no, no need to think about it, it's rather obvious!

you can buy us all a beer in the brewery.

Harviestoun or another?

Coffeeking - its years since I lived in Strathblane - its a commuter village with not much happening and expensive houses I think. couple of pubs

Killearn is more a real village and has some shops - but still rather commutersville and expensive - it also seems a long way from Glasgow when coming home after a night out - too far for taxis and buses are not great ( tho not awful)

you can buy us all a beer in the brewery.
Harviestoun or another?

(although you can use the other access and join the motorway at Milnathort).

I was born in Milnathort!!! 8)

I can't think of a more overrated biking area than Stirling. Full of mediocre wooded singletrack and boggy hillsides.

Avoid.

How about Perth Nice place and excellent roads network to get North, South, East and West.

Menstrie Cycles <s****>

Kirkintilloch is not bad - we had a house up by Hillhead and, although some of the locals look a bit dodgy, we never had any trouble and it was surprisingly quiet. Certainly an improvement on the flat we had in Springburn!

Best bit about living in Hillhead was that I could jump onto the Forth-Clyde canal and commute by bike all the way into north Glasgow with only one stretch of road riding that can't be more than 100m long. I can still do that from Milton of Campsie mind you - the trails start across the road from the house.

Killearn is more a real village and has some shops - but still rather commutersville and expensive - it also seems a long way from Glasgow when coming home after a night out - too far for taxis and buses are not great ( tho not awful)

Fortunately I'm not a big out-in-town person so that sort of thing is a rare inconvenience for me, the problem is that any closer and you're getting into some really unpleasant areas or sky-rocketing the house prices. bearsden/milngavie/bishopbriggs - you're talking 160K+ for a tiny 2 bed semi, and any closer than that is Beirut, unless you want to live in a box-flat with 1 bedroom, no parking and 6 noisy neighbours!

I've not read much of this thread, but I did see someone mentioning Larbert.

I too live in Larbert (albeit temporarily for 1 year) and also lived there from aged 13 - 17.

It's improved a vast amount since my teenage years (moved away in 98).

The old foundries have now been demolished and been replaced by housing.

It's definitely worth a look. Transport links are excellent for the rest of Scotland (rail and road) and you can be in the centre of both Edinburgh and Glasgow by rail in half an hour.

I reckon you'd be able to get a decent rate on rent too.

What are N & S Queensferry like?

Don't think I've ever met anyone who lived there.

Sirling is my home town. Not lived there for over 20 years but go back regularly to visit relatives. I'd move back to the area in a heartbeat if there were any jobs in my line of work. To the OP all the good things other people have been saying about Stirling and the surrounding area are true.

eckinspain - the Prime Minister lives in North Queensferry!

Caloomba - where in Larbert did you live? I moved out of there when I was 20 (lived round by Carron Works up on the hill).

I live in Edinburgh (same area as epicsteve) and love it. Transport links are great, I'm about 10 minutes drive from the M8 and about the same riding from the Pentlands trails. I'm literally on the city limits, the buses terminate near my house so I can still get the bus in when I'm not commuting on the bike (7 miles).

I do echo the sentiments of the Stirling area, my gran lives near Crieff and my aunt near Auchterarder and they're both lovely areas.

DickBarton - I used to live not for from Carron Works - on Carronshore Road. Practically opposite the old site of the Thomson Caravans factory (that was demolished at least 20 yrs ago!).

From 93 - 98, I lived in North Broomage (off Foundry Loan) and that's where I am back living temporarily until June when I bugger off to New Zealand!

Crikey, not far from me I was round by Lodge Drive - up on the hill...

I know a few people that have lived in S Queensferry I always found it a bit weird. There is a huge Hewlett Packard factory as the main employer but I think that has closed down now. So lots of unemployed hardware engineers.

Hels, I think you're getting it wrong when you connect South Queensferry's weirdness with Hewlett-packard (now Agilent technologies)
Its always been like that. 😉
I'm a native Leither, but like many native people, have been pushed westward by white expansionism, and now live in Bo'ness, which, aside from s***e public transport links, is fine for me, but if you're a snob, a toff or 'aspirational' forget it ya radge!

I'm a native Leither, but like many native people, have been pushed westward by white expansionism,

Who me? White settler?

Sorry TJ, i hope that gets taken in the right, joking, spirit(I can never get two smileys in the one post, for some reason)

I wish I'd seen this post earlier.

I was born in Falkirk and have lived in a few places roundabout it including Grangemouth, Hallglen and Polmont. I lived as a student first of all in Edinburgh and then later in Glasgow.

Keep away from Falkirk and Grangemouth and Hallglen. Perhaps most importantly keep away from Camelon!

There are a few nice places roundabout Falkirk, but mostly it is a bit shit. Stirling isn't too bad and you've got the Ochil hills on your doorstep.

I would recommend Glasgow as the best place to live. It's a little bit cheaper than Edinburgh and it's much bigger. The capital is very pretty, but it starts to feel very small after a few years.

Saying all that, I live in Manchester now, so WTF do I know really?

The capital is very pretty, but it starts to feel very small after a few years.

Which makes it ideal in my book! I like Glasgow but I prefer Edinburgh and one reason is that I think it's the right size.

[i]How am I an arse for not wanting to live in a dismal town full of knuckle dragging inbreds?
Unless you are of course one of the knuckle dragging inbreds I laugh at on a daily basis? [/i]

Where is it you're from again Bob?

Anyway I wouldn't move back to Glasgow if my life depended on it, manky shithole of a place filled with the scum of the earth.

Taken as meant West Kipper - no offence

Aye, Edinburghs good, but you dont half pay for it, we're talking London living costs.
As I've said in previous threads, the cheapest housing within 20 miles of the capital would take me until I was about, I s'pose, age 237 to pay a mortgage on. Being less picky does allow you a fair bit of financial freedom in the event of job loss etc.

Anyway I wouldn't move back to Glasgow if my life depended on it, manky shithole of a place filled with the scum of the earth.

Funny opinion, Glasgow is about the most friendly city I've been to and providing you don't live and work anywhere near the east end or some of the odd dodgy areas (which all cities have), it's really nice. I've sampled London, miserable. I've lived near Manchester and Liverpool - both so-so, I'd count Glasgow as marginally nicer than Liverpool, Ed is prettier but basically rather self-indulgent and not really that attractive to me.

ss... you are having a laugh aren't you? Whilst it is possible to find mediocre woodland singletrack it is also very easy to find some rather entertaining woodland singletrack around Stirling. The same goes for boggy hillsides - you can find them, or you can equally find some rather entertainingly spicy rocky options.

I do miss the riding up there. The Lakes are pretty grand though so I will survive 😉

[i]Funny opinion,[/i]

Well having lived in various parts of the city from nice to rough over 30 years it's a fairly well informed one.

Nobody has mentioned Skinflats yet.

Well having lived in various parts of the city from nice to rough over 30 years it's a fairly well informed one.

Where abouts? And what do you class as nice? Apparently it has largely improved in the last decade or so, according to the long-term residents I have spoken to. Naturally I just see what I've lived in and around for the last 2 years (west end and north).

stuartie_c - Member
Nobody has mentioned Skinflats yet.

Quite....

hmm, Skinflats... speaking of places with beautiful seashore vistas, I am surprised that no-one has mentioned anywhere in East Lothian

Some nice spots in East Lothian (North Berwick for example) but I wouldn't have thought them central enough.

I live in Torrance, a village to the North of Glasgow between Kirkintilloch and Milngavie.

I LOVE IT!

It gives me absolutely everything I want from life, and I rarely if ever have to sit in traffic. I have easy access to the north via Kilsyth, south via Bearsden or Springburn. The village is quiet, secure, and not simply a commuter town. It has a real community, local people working locally, neighbours looking out for each other. I also have the space and facilities to run my business, trade suppliers to hand and customers with enough cash to pay for services.

1 hour to Perth, 40 minutes to Greenock or Stirling, 55 mins to Edinburgh.

I highly recommend East Dunbartonshire. 11/10!

I nearly bought the house you did Dan 🙂 I was a bit slow. Still looking around torrance as I can't think of anywhere I'd rather live at the moment! Actually east dunbartonshire was rated the best place to bring up a family in the country last year!

Lochgelly , although I think house prices have just boomed to an all time high of 7 empty lemonade bottles a piece of used chewing gum and a fag end.
Local dialect is easy to pick up too , just add "ya hoor" to the start/end of everything you want to say. 😛

da funk

Edinburgh is by far the best city in Europe IMO. I used to live in the New Town and it was fantastic . (Unfortunately I live in Arbroath now which is a complete shithole). I would also definitely avoid the central belt and parts of Fife (as mentioned by purplefunkymonkey - Lochgelly/Cowdenbeath is unbelievably bad).
If you can't afford Edinburgh, then I'd also recommend Perth (don't know much about Stirling but it looks quite nice).

Milngavie, Balerno, Dunblane or Blackford / Auchterarder

Stirling should be the best option, but IMHO it's a bit of a poo hole.

(some parts of) Perth are lovely.

NOT Balerno. There are too many of us here already 🙂

If you want to have the advantages of living In Edinburgh but cant stretch to it East Lothian has some little hidden gems. Im not talking about the dumps like Prestonpans or Tranent but little villages like Pencaitland or East/ West Saltoun and the likes. Its also surrounded by great little bike tracks and 15 minutes from the city bypass.

If you want to have the advantages of living In Edinburgh but cant stretch to it East Lothian has some little hidden gems. Im not talking about the dumps like Prestonpans or Tranent but little villages like Pencaitland or East/ West Saltoun and the likes. Its also surrounded by great little bike tracks and 15 minutes from the city bypass.

Twas indeed lovely through some of these villages today, but the thing that puts me right off East Lothian is.....Edinburgh. Any attempt to head West or North and you have to get round it. I suspect I could only take so much of the A720.

DavidB - you don't drive a Renault Laguna and own a dog do you? If so, were you wearing a red hoodie and your wife a brown body warmer today? Again, if so, I saw you!

Twas indeed lovely through some of these villages today, but the thing that puts me right off East Lothian is.....Edinburgh. Any attempt to head West or North and you have to get round it. I suspect I could only take so much of the A720

Indeed. East Lothian is a great option if you're working out that way or in Edinburgh itself, but perhaps not for further afield.

Never thought I'd see bo'ness get votes FOR in a place to live thread. Cool.

Westkipper, where in Bo'ness are you? I'm down carriden way. Do you know about the bike club being set up?

I've lived in Linlithgow for the last 5 years - and love it.
I work in Stirling - which is ok but i wouldn't want to live there.
Linlithgow has 4 trains an hour to Ed, 2 an hour to Glasgow, bang on the M9, 25 min to Ed airport and a really good community, with plenty going on.

Bee craigs Country Park, 5 mins to the South and the Loch in the middle of town.

There are some greats bits of Ed and Glasgae - but i just prefer living out of the cities.

Andy,

Strangely I thought the same about Linlithgow today as I rode through it. It certainly has its nice areas, although you failed to mention Bathgate and Livi being within spitting distance too so that loses it points.

al

Depends what you are looking for, of course. If money is not a problem and you want that metropolitan buzz, Edinburgh or Glasgow are the obvious choices.
I live in fashionable West Lothian, and I've got a nice wee country park on my door step, 2 minutes to a great network of quiet back roads, 20 minutes to the Pentlands and a 30 minute cycling commute to work in Edinburgh. I'm right next to Livingston, which probably has the best cycle path network of any town in Scotland. I can hop on the bike and pedal to the shops or the swimming pool with my daughter on completely traffic free routes.

Normally, there's a lot to be said in the OP's position for the Edinburgh suburbs right on the Bypass e.g. Colinton because they have decent space, are a very fast bus ride to the centre of town for shopping/boozing/whatever, and are right on the Bypass for when you need to drive to whatever worksite you're going to.

But OP has said that he doesn't want to live in a city (even though Edinburgh isn't exactly Tokyo to start 😉 ), so for the sake of convenience and low cost, I'd agree with the consensus and say a village/small town outside Stirling. Doune is supposed to be OK, too, isn't it?

I'd be hesitant to live towards Perth if only because everyone (e.g. on the speeding thread) says that the A7 is a nightmare, and if you're going to be going from Perth to anywhere south or in the central belt, you'll end up doing an hour on it every time.

Of course the really big question would be if there is any way the OP can get a better idea of how many sites s/he'll be working at and where the calls tend to centre on.

>Strangely I thought the same about Linlithgow today as I rode through it. It certainly has its nice areas, although you failed to mention Bathgate and Livi being within spitting distance too so that loses it points.<

I take it that was firmly tongue in cheek? I think you'd be very hard pushed to name anywhere in Central Scotland that doesn't have "bad areas" within spitting distance. Glasgow and Edinburgh are prime examples...

Besides, whats wrong with Livi? Short on character admittedly but you could do much worse ime...

I think the OP was fairly clear that he didnt want to live in either Glasgow or Edinburgh and had a working range from Kilmarnock to Dundee. Biggest problem is getting through Glasgow - if the majority of your work is going to be in Ayrshire and you live anyhwere North of Glasgow, that could be commute hell.

Linlithgow is a brilliant location - if you can afford it...

Doune is very nice, but unless you have a car you can't get anywhere...buses are frequent but not regular (think it is hourly each way!)...so as long as you have your own wheels then it would be a definite possible.

A wee bit of riding to be done to get to the trails but there is plenty around there that can all be linked up...

Linlithgow has always impressed me but it's the opposite direction of where work is so the commute would annoy me (and the prices aren't cheap but they also aren't extortionate).

But OP has said that he doesn't want to live in a city

Living somewhere like Balerno isn't really like living in a city. It has many of the advantages (public transport etc) but with less of the hustle and bustle and no issues getting out as it's right on the edge.

I lived in Linlithgow before move here and. while I liked it a lotand would be happy to live there again, I still prefer where I am now and I'm not someone who generally likes cities.

Somewhere like Livingston actually feels a lot more like being in a city - it has it's nice areas and some good shops however the clientele in the main shopping centre does indicate how rough some of the areas of Livingston must be.

Doune is very nice, but unless you have a car you can't get anywhere.

Have we yet found out where the OP will actually work - and pretty important if he's spending 5 days a week commuting?

Algarvebairn, I'm in a secret bunker, 200metres away fae Tesco 😉
Bikeclub? really? are you sure its not some sort of honeytrap-type ruse by the local middle-aged boy racers to get all the cyclists in one area to make running us over easier?
(Thats the downside of all these wee towns like Bo'sneckie; theres all these fudds that do nothing apart from cruising around, driving like arses in their heap of s**te cars all day)

I think its funny the number of people on here who have views on 'the central belt' like its just one big place. Seems to be lots of Stirling people on here, how many folk on here live in Stirling?

>Living somewhere like Balerno isn't really like living in a city.<

Bit like Bearsden then- only smaller?

Heather Bash - Member
>Living somewhere like Balerno isn't really like living in a city.<

Bit like Bearsden then- only smaller?

MUCH smaller

Don't understand the negative comments about Stirling. I'm not from here originally but since I came here for uni, I chose to settle here. Now I'm in Menstrie, just a few miles out, literally two minutes away from the hills and my shop is in Alva.

To me, it doesn't get any better, and as mentioned, I'm not from here, not inbred as far as I am aware and had international choices of where I could have settled.

Westkipper/ Yip there's a bike club, Velosport Bo'ness, wuns out of Revolutionary Bikes just along from Tesco. Can't be far from your pitch. Its road-based sh!te just now but I'm thinking of agititating for a muddy chapter.

>MUCH smaller<

Yeah I know - that was tongue in cheek 😉

>I think its funny the number of people on here who have views on 'the central belt' like its just one big place.<

Yeah, I agree - the earlier knuckle trailing comments above being an extreme example.

>Its road-based sh!te just now but I'm thinking of agititating for a muddy chapter.<

Also the WL Clarion over the hill - quite a few guys on there also mtb. Slight hijack - Algarve Bairn: OS map shows a dotted line along the shoreline at Hopetoun House. Do you know if that is within Hoptoun Estate itself i.e is there anything rideable out to Port Edgar from Wester Shore Wood that doesn't involve throwing the bike over a high fence and being apprehended by estate staff?

Ta

Heather B, there is a totally legal (part of the NCN) route that goes smack through the middle of the estate, though its a 2k trundle on Hopetoun road itself to get to PE

Yup I know about that - I just wondered if there was an off road alternative along the shore?

Don't understand the negative comments about Stirling

Living in a town in the central belt is basically an admission that you're too poor to afford a decent place in the city

Living in a town in the central belt is basically an admission that you're too poor to afford a decent place in the city

lol Bob you talk some tripe at times.

BoardinBob, do you think everyone wants to live in a city? What an absurd thing to say!

He's probably not too far wide of the mark in my case 🙂

Bearsden is a suburb. Balerno is a village with a high street and shops and so on. Big big difference ( not that I would live in either 🙂 )

lol Bob you talk some tripe at times.

[img] [/img]

TandemJeremy - Member
Bearsden is a suburb. Balerno is a village with a high street and shops and so on. Big big difference ( not that I would live in either )

Thank **** for that...

Balerno is a village with a high street and shops and so on

I could have sworn Bearsden had a shops and resturaunts when I rode through on sunday.

Airdrie, and its only a Buckfastbottles throw from the M8.

>I could have sworn Bearsden had a shops and resturaunts when I rode through on sunday.<

Yeah but there's more of it joined to Glasgow than Balerno is to Currie/ outskirts of Edinburgh 😉

we may be moving up that way soon

Stirling is looking most likely

I'm a knuckle dragging inbred so i'll likely fit in

i've also drunk myself sick on bucky in the past so no how to behave

Ahhh!, there's so many threads ranting about 'immigrants not living by the countries rules, etc
...so its nice to see you're getting into the 'when in Rome' vibe
(Note, part of the new Scottish citizenship test is to identify and locate all the off-licenses in your area) 🙂

i passed level one 'locate your off-licences' whilst living in Edinburgh

I expect the further west I go to have to upgrade to level two 'robbing your off-licence'

I expect the further west I go to have to upgrade to level two 'robbing your off-licence'

Spoken like a true Edinburgher