monkeymark

Now Ive asked about moving to Ireland and got some very helpfull replies can I ask about Scotland? Does anyone know the pro's and cons, work, housing about Scotland? Trying to get a picture of whats good and whats not. Where to live next? Thanks

movin'on

depends on how old you are, what is family situation, what your job will, what your nationality is, what you are looking for in a place to live...give us more info...cheers

slktck

Hi I haven't read your other posts but just noticed this one, so I'm not sure where you are moving from or what you're after,
we moved to scotland nearly three years ago, having lived in the south of england and then abroad.
we are now looking to escape scotland!!
be careful because in my experience the central belt of scotland is generally not a good place to live. there is really a lot of poverty and really ugly housing and towns (including new towns that appear to be just roundabouts)
housing is far cheaper here than in the south of england, but only in areas where it's not so nice to live. if you want to live anywhere nice but still in reach of the big cities then you will still have to pay a lot.
there is a lot of litter and social problems, broken glass everywhere, really scary council estates in the big cities.
the weather is awful, in the winter the rain and wind combine to keep you indoors most days. it doesn't really get hot in the summer and still rains a lot, and if you go anywhere nice there are midges that attack you.
of course there are positives - it's not so crowded as the south, there is absolutley beautiful countryside and a strong sense of tradition and culture. people are generally very friendly but in small towns it all seems very clannish.
edinburgh's a lovely city (in the centre at least) and glasgow also has lots of facilities although it doesn't appeal to us.
anyway it's just my opinion and not wanting to cause offence to anyone but i wish someone had told me this before we moved here!

Londonuck

I see they said on the TV last night that Palestinians have a better life expectancy than Glasgow East!

monkeymark

Hello yes of course should have said sorry. We are moving from perth in australia where weve been for 2.5 years and its not for us. Im a plasterer? carpenter and my wife is a hairdresser. We have a 14month old son and want to live closer to our family who live in Norfolk and the Kent London border where we're from. We are looking for a safe enviroment for our son and where theres work and reasonable climate and is not as far as where we are now. A lot to ask i know but hey we have to try dont we? The flights are becoming more and more expensive to fly home to the UK. Everything here is so pricey now and we did'nt move to have a stressfull life that was'ent the reason we did it, so time to move on. Thanks

Horus

I'd forget moving here if you're thinking of the building trade, it's dried up recently just like the UK.

Apart from that as far as I'm aware it's a lot safer here for kids than it is in the UK, obviously that depends on where you live etc.

dryroasted

In my humble experience, edinburgh is the only place to live in scotland and it is bloody expensive especially to buy or rent, glasgow isnt too bad great for most things but it is very sectarian, i remember a time when i had a business meeting with celtic fc, my car at the time was a blue imprezza, when i got back to my car post meeting the bonnet was covered in spit......read into that what you will!!! ireland on the other hand is a more sedate lifestyle, people are friendly but blunt and direct and you tend to know where you stand, and in reality it isnt that different to life in the uk....remember this ireland is very much an eu state...big brother will catch up like it has in the uk, france and germany and most things like driving license points, credit scores, etc will harmonise across the eu in jot time........so in essence escaping to ireland wont be much of an escape unless you want more land with a house, better education for your kids.....but unless you live outside of the dublin metropolitan area you will be very much in the rat race like anywhere else, hope that helps

ps i do love scotland and if i had the means i would live in a remote part of that country.

roamer25

I have to echo the comments made here. It's fine to come here for a couple of years if you need to come to get work, but I would never choose Scotland long term, especially if you have children.

Edinburgh and the Highlands aside, there is such little respect here for education and progressing yourself. Many teens are in gangs and their past times are based around drinking and fighting. It's really sad, as is the bigotry and racism.

I've spent the past 4 years arranging to leave, although i have had great opportunities here, I do not want my (future) children to be raised in such a violent and aggressive environment.

Davie McCaig

Wait a minute folks....I think you are doing Scotland an injustice here....I agree there are areas that are bad but every country has them including Ireland such as part of Dublin, Belfast and Limerick.There is sectarian violence in Ireland also. A blue Imprezza would get spat on in parts of Belfast( I know not part of the republic but still ireland). I live just outside Glasgow but in an area where most of the footballers from Celtic FC and Rangers TC live and it is a nice little village with no major problems.

I am looking however to move to the Republic of Ireland not for the above reasons but because my wife is from there.

As with the statement in roamer 25s post about... "there is such little respect here for education " well in Scotland students don't have to pay tuition fees unlike the rest of the UK and Im sure Ireland. I find that very respectful from the Scottish Executive.

I know people don't mean offence when they post on here and are giving their opinions but sometimes opinions can be misleading...

Anyway can't wait to move to Co Kerry

The following statement is also misleading from slktck...."housing is far cheaper here than in the south of england, but only in areas where it's not so nice to live"...As I said above I live in a very large house in a nice suburb of Glasgow where footballers choose to live.

dryroasted

Same shit different colour if you ask me

El Capitan

I have to agree on that. Have lived in Scotland, wife is Scottish and we go back there from time to time. Scotland geographically is almost as large as England but with much lower population and as someone else has said it has some wonderful scenery. Weather of course is cooler but best months are May and June. Above the central belt of Glasgow to Edinburgh, Scotland has a lot to offer and education is good. North of Stirling the country is divided by the Cairngorm ridge with East coast to Aberdeen much drier than the West coast up to Ullapool and beyond. I had to leave to get a better job but I love the place.

roamer25

Firstly, third level education is free in Ireland.

Secondly, as a teacher and having been in Scotland nearly 10 years, I can say with some experience, that unlike Ireland, education is generally, not high on the list of priorities for the people in Scotland, especially the west. It's not the executive's opinion of education that is the problem. They pump millions into the system and it just keeps getting worse.

What are the tell tale signs? Hmmm, well fewer Scots stay on in school til 18, with a large number leaving at 16 or 17. Fewer take their studies to the full extent, of Higher, with the majority of pupils leaving with a Standard Grade or Intermediate. Leaving school at 16 in Ireland is much rare (i think under 10% at last count, with 99.9% of those going on to apprenticeships or alternative education. The NEET stats (not in education, employment or training) in Scotland are much, much higher than elsewhere in the UK and Europe. In Ireland it is the norma to not only stay on in school, but to strive to do the best you can.

Even day to day the attitude is shocking. Pupils complain about homework, insisting they can't be bothered. Staff have given up giving homework as parents tell us the kids 'just want to go out with their friend'. This is all in a good middle class school, with seemingly educated parents.
3 weeks prior to any holiday, easter, christmas, summer, pupils begin refusing to work, parents complain if the kids are made work and we sit and watch DVDs.
You would not find that attitude in an Irish school. If you're in school, you're in school. If you're given homework, you wouldn't dare complain.
Holidays start when they start, minro slow downs occur but nothing on the scale I've seen here.
Any Scottish teacher I know who has taught abroad says the same thing.

Pop your head out of Bearsden/Milngavie long enough to see the pupils who don't go the the Glasgow High School or St Al's and you'll see what i mean.

Up north, totally different story. The Scotland you would expect. Lovely friendly people, educated, reading a book won't get you stabbed etc etc.

Davie McCaig

Pop your head out of Bearsden/Milngavie long enough .......


Don't live there and have actually never set foot in either


I agree with your point about attitude in schools and as you are a teacher then you are much more qualified to talk about that than I am and I wasn't aware third level education was free in Ireland, My wife had to pay for hers there but obviously before it became free.

However and Im sure you will correct me here if I am wrong, education in Scotland is very good its the attitude of pupils and their parents that are wrong. I went to a high School in the West of Scotland and although there were people in my classes who couldn't care less I went on to better myself as did my close friends who went to the same school as me.

To say the West of Scotland isn't a nice place to live and to bring up children just because some people in schools can't be arsed then I think you are wrong personally.

With regards to the west of scotland being a violent and agressive environment ...I hear Bearsden and Milnagvie are nice and peaceful

slktck

Of course everywhere has got good and bad areas, and in my post i was referring to the "central belt". Everyone has different expectations and needs, we have been quite shocked by what appears to be an overall lower standard of living in this area, having come from a lovely clean town in europe immediatley prior to this, I hate having my children walk everday along a path covered with glass and dog poo, the housing appears to be very ugly, and where you do get a nice area it seems to be an "oasis" and still surrounded by not very nice places.
We stayed initailly in strathaven which is by scottish standards a very nice desirable town - but drive out of there and you've got a choice of hamilton or east kilbride for your shopping etc!!! not places i would ever voluntarily vist!

If you are from here and have roots, friends and family here then of course you can have a great life, but the OP seemed to be trying to choose a good place for his family to relocate to, and there are myths about scotland - that it's beautiful and cheaper to live etc which only apply to the highlands etc where most people can't live because of work. I just wanted to point out our experience, and that looking on the internet at houses that are described as being ina sought after village in the central belt is deceptive because they look cheap but the "village" will still be mostly council housing and old industrial with high unemployment and social problems.
of course these are generalisations, but just trying to give the original question a meaningful answer from my point of view.

busterboy

I'm Scottish and born and bred in Edinburgh. Not sure I would ever go back.