Moving out of London

Jealous!

My grandparents lived in Calgary. We’d spend summer holidays there. Amazing place to a British kid in the 70s and 80s, miles of bike trails, and canoeing, parks and strip malls! I can still remember the smell of summer in foothills.

We toyed with the idea of emigrating at one stage but life moved on.

swindon?

Looks shit you hoser.

Miss you guyz. Glad you are well.

That looks like the sort of place where only hillbillies live. Are you sure you'll fit in?

Spent the weekend in Bristol and Cheltenham. Very, very different places from a limited street view.

Bristol seemed more eclectic and livelier. The road rides 5 minutes from town are pretty good (10deg ascents/descents…) and driver behaviour is much better than in London.

Cheltenham feels like Reading’s wealthier cousin. It’s more manicured and feels more walled-off than Bristol. Seen several ferraris and a dozen or more porsches parked about town. Haven’t done any cycling so can’t comment.

Hoping to check out Stroud and possibly Painswick. Entertaining the thought of getting out of dodge, disappointed that this weather is the exception wherever we go explore.

Removed cuz I’m in the reflection…

driver behaviour is much better than in London.

I always feel that this is short term till more people buy cars. London being at peak and have reached a point where infrastructure remains the only way forward seems like longer term.

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

Thanks for the info. Whereabouts in Edinburgh would you recommend?

RE Edinburgh - and this is largely from a student perspective ~15 years ago 😂 - old town (marchmont/Bruntsfield) had the charm, better pubs and greener environs and new town had the posh cunts and the fancy bars. I have been back up there at regular intervals over the intervening time for all sorts of reasons and have seen nothing to change that initial perception. I agree with the above, Ed is small enough to walk across, so you can drop the London approach of favouring the outskirts for access. Plus, I always had the impression that, from a town-planning perspective, Edinburgh had managed to maintain it's beautiful/historic/characterful town centre by effectively building an outer ring of grimness around itself and I certainly wouldn't recommend looking towards Sighthill etc... in short, especially considering it is quite so bleak from a weather/daylight perspective for 6 months of the year, one of the major attractions is the city itself, the architecture, pubs, museums, cultural scene etc, that - if you can afford to - you want to be within short walking distance of it, not stuck on the outskirts...

15 years ago [...] nothing to change that initial perception

And 10 years prior to that

Interesting reading about Edinburgh. Also thinking seriously about a move to Scotland. Similar reasons to @Dammit but also to be closer to family in Glasgow, Stranraer and Durham.

I am putting my house in the Thames Valley up for sale this week. Once sold I intend to put the contents in Storage and stay with family up there whilst I house hunt. No idea where i will end up though.

I currently live in Newington, I was in Bonnington before. Both are nice - echoing what others have said, the city is so small that the variation in areas is not very noticeable, so it's definitely a city where you can pick whichever flat/house which looks nicest and it will almost certainly be in an area with good amenities. Overall, of the more central areas, I would just avoid the East, which doesn't have much going for it, and potentially around Leith, mostly due to the chaos of the tram which will likely be ongoing for some time.

I have some friends who live on the outskirts, towards the bypass. It's obviously a little further out but not really a big deal if you have a bike, and I've never struggled to get to them on the bus from town. Huge bonus is that they see the mountains from their kitchen window, and just have to walk a few minutes to get into the Pentlands! It's pretty amazing. Happy to put you in touch with them if you wanted, they moved from London probably 8-10 years ago?

Also, assuming you've already spoken to @Ecobeard for local knowledge?

We’ve talked and we will again I’m sure

Obvs as a Brixton member Neil is inducted into Edinburgh Hillz immediately, all concerns about moving, specific areas and income tax bands being secondary to that.

We’re in Broughton, it’s central, a little bit east, great amenities and there is a lot of green space which is great as we have two dogs, but as everyone has already pointed out Edinburgh is so compact you can move about very easily. The only (relatively minor) thing is parking/garage space which comes at a premium.

It’s also great that it’s surrounded by great road/gravel/whatever cycling in all directions (one direction does require use of a bridge) and there are loads of good MTB trails locally and the Tweed Valley is 50mins away.

Having lived all over England and Scotland it’s easily the place I have enjoyed living the most

Edinburgh had managed to maintain it's beautiful/historic/characterful town centre by effectively building an outer ring of grimness around itself

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jul/08/a-great-city-has-been-defaced-why-has-a-poo-emoji-arrived-on-edinburghs-skyline

and I certainly wouldn't recommend looking towards Sighthill

So ironic ...

Here's the thing. You think London is wealthy, till you experience places that are prefaced with 'Royal' start with 'Che..' Then you see where really money goes.

Bristol is banging if you like the London vibe, but it's quickly catching up with London price wise. Didn't take you for somewhere like Painswick though?

Painswick is tiny - Stroud is a decent place to live - great for cycling ( probably geared ). A bit like a mini Bristol.

I like the new hotel! When I was living up there the Scottish parliament was the big controversy. I liked that as well - I think its largely accepted/proud about now? What this does all show is that Edinburgh is very (small c) conservative....

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)

if anyone is interested in moving to/trying out the Brighton & Hove area, I've got a nice flat for rent there, 2 bed in a nice part of Hove right by the sea. in an area with lots of restaurants, nearby train station etc and numerous well known self facilitating media nodes living on the street and nearby. if anyone is interested I can pass on the right move details

Any specific areas of Glasgow/surrounds you'd rec looking at? Only real criteria is being within a hour ish by public transit of the reform synagogue in Newton Mearns, which as far as I can tell opens up loads of options. Bristol rental prices are getting hard to stomach...

I've never been but I think Newton mearns itself is supposed to be nice (and a bit posh), isn't it?

We moved out of London a few years ago to Tonbridge, Kent. Lots of green open spaces, lots of cycle routes, 33-45 minute trains into London every 10 mins or so. Every supermarket and hardware store you can think of. Overall a great place to live. I love it here.