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I moved to Edinburgh a year ago after moving in with my parents near Melrose for a year. My dad's from Hawick so we used to spend a lot of time in the area when I was growing up as well (though we were living in France/the US at the time). If you're looking for a town in the Borders on the railway line you'd likely be limited to Galashiels or Melrose, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend either.
Gala is quite depressing - the whole high street is boarded up and empty aside from charity shops and has probably only gotten worse during covid. Melrose is just a bit boring - there's some nice cycling but a lot of the MTB-ing is limited to gravel walking trails which are nice (but just that, not particularly exciting).
Also, the Borders are conservative politically and otherwise, so not necessarily the place to be if you're pro-independence. If the Yes vote ever happens expect everyone down there to whinge all the time.
In my experience, Edinburgh is so compact that there's very little advantage to being in the countryside - but then again, I've only lived here during Covid so I haven't seen it at its busiest peak. Either way it's very easy to get out of the city and go somewhere nice - easier than the Borders I'd say, as you travel an hour in any direction and its the same gentle, rolling hills, while in Edinburgh you have lovely beaches, some more significant hills, bigger and more beautiful lochs and even the start of some mountains in the same radius
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Peebles and Innerleithen are decent, inners has come full circle from post industrial (tweed mill closures aplenty), 90s and 00s depressed nothing town to an actual nice place to live. Vibes are mid left, little bit hippy dippy, lots of young families pushed out of Edinburgh (and who are able to commut, lots of bikes, lots of good road and mtb within metres of your door, got a fancy cafe/bakery now so pretty sorted. Peebles if you want the same but an average age of 70,lots of honda jazz....
Glasgow I can Reccomend, all the reasons said already, plus just damn easy to get out of if you want to by bike/mc/car/public transport. Yesterday 40 mins in car on easy roads with light to no traffic, in a kayak on a Loch had a great time, cruised back in to town via a mega pizza and ice cream. In newc/manc/leeds/notts you can't get that. Sheffield you can, Bristol you can, Edinburgh you can so long as its not traffic o clock (Traffic on Edinburgh can be London bad at wrong time in wrong place)
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ACRe19
BrickMan
@Dammit
Thanks for taking the time to write that out. I'm thinking to take something of a punt on Scottish Indy going ahead, and by dint of being a resident of Scotland at the time becoming a newly minted Scottish citizen. I'd rather pay my taxes to a government that won't immediately give them to their immediate family and family friends (at least in such an obviously corrupt way as the current bunch in Westminster are doing).
I'm quite tempted by one of the smaller towns in the borders, but would really want a train service into Edinburgh rather than having to drive which I imagine limits things.