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resolvedHey folks,
Fiance and I are currently flat hunting in Edinburgh and wondered if there were any areas that are considered rough that we should maybe try and avoid?
We're looking for somewhere that would be relatively easy to commute to the city center from by bike.
Having only lived in Edinburgh since September my geography of the city is still a little wobbly.
Depends how you define rough...
There are 'peripheral housing estate' areas that some people would prefer to avoid.
Others may be put off by the idea of areas near Easter Road and Tynecastle (and Murrayfield).
Prices per flat size (buying or renting) will give you some idea of what the 'market' thinks.
But Edinburgh is pretty 'safe' in most places - most of the time.
There's some remarkably cheap flats off West Bryson road, which are not only very close to city but also good access to canalpath. Probably not seen as a 'good' area, but worth checking out for good value; closer to Harrison park, Shandon, Polwarth some nice flats too but correspondingly pricier rentwise.
What SRD says - close to the canal is the best for getting to a lot of places, near to Roseburn good for the old railway routes to the north
Edinburgh is quite ghettoised in the sense that 'nice' areas and 'not nice' areas tend to have reasonably well defined boundaries; that's my perception anyway.
Watch out for solicitors 'upgrading' the area for a property to somewhere nicer nearby. E.g. Roseburn becomes Murrayfield; Craigmillar becomes Duddingston, etc.
Okay cool, that gives us something to go off :) Thanks :D
Of course one (not entirely reliable) guide is cars.
If you can't afford them...
If they've been set on fire (OK doesn't happen often)...
If you don't know anything about cars in UK, might not help.
Some people might want to avoid areas full of students - eg Marchmont.
Similarly you might like nightlife - but do you want to live above it??
Parts of Bingham and Craigmillar and the Magdalenes can be a bit dodgy, but it can be really hard to know which bits - one end of some streets is pure radge and the other end is fine, but you have to know the area to know which is which.
Colinton Mains is a nice little area but it all comes down to budget as well, quiet enough out of town but a quick downhill cycle to work, just a slog on the way home
I said
"
Others may be put off by the idea of areas near Easter Road and Tynecastle (and Murrayfield).
"
And
"
If they've been set on fire (OK doesn't happen often)...
"
Then this happens!! -
"
Victoria Raimes (@victoriaraimes)
24/08/2012 12:54
And car explodes into "fireball" near Hibs ticket office. Bit of a bizarre one:
"
Always worth going to a prospective area at night and walking or cycling through it to see if you would feel safe there. Also, helps you get a handle on whether it's nice and peaceful at night, or party central.
@chdot, as I live nearby to where this took place I can say with confidence that cars being set on fire is not normal or common in the area. Exceptional in fact. The upper part of Easter Road area is fine in fact. Further towards Leith, anf further east into Lochend, different story.
As cb says, there is a ghetto effect in Edinburgh as there is in most cities (most noticeable in London). 'Good' areas blend into 'bad' ones in various areas in central Edinburgh, the exceptions would be the New Town and Newington/Marchmont/Bruntsfield/Morningside: poor people were priced out of these areas quite a while ago.
"poor people were priced out of these areas quite a while ago."
Maybe for buying, but poor people are allowed to rent properties too :o)
Good advice about visiting the prospective area at night. Newington/Marchmont/Bruntsfield/Morningside could be considered a student ghetto, best to leave your visiting until mid-late September when tenants have all returned to Uni and have taken up residency again. Or just check how many different names are on each door in stairs.
I'll add my vote to the Polworth/Bryson area. I use that as a rat-run from Fountainbridge to mine and it's never struck me as Beirut or anyfink.
No-one has mentioned nice places to live such as around the New Town, Broughton St, Rodney St, Forth St, off Picardy Place, Barony St, E Claremont St, E London St, Broughton Rd, Eyre Place, Gayfield, top of Leith Walk, start of London Rd, Regent Tce, Leopold Place, Stockbridge, Inverleith, Canonmills, all north of Princes St!! Probably a bit expensive but then again renting in Edinburgh is very expensive, and has always been the case.
Areas to be avoided perhaps would be The Fort (Leith), Craigmillar/Niddrie (unless you were born there although a friend did have a house on Hay Drive which was very nice) Bingham, Magdalene. Parts of the Inch are fine.
My advice would be to avoid old mining villages or towns as well, it is rather hard to get accepted as an outsider, such as Tranent, Prestonpans or Newcraighall.
Do you intend to own a car? Some places are great for cycle users, but check how easy it is to get bike in to secure zone (often close is not secure)
Lack of parking spaces - even for those with permits - gives a good start for a number of locations. I stayed on Nicholson St for many years (still do after a fashion with honorary/ex landlady when I'm visiting) nice flat with rooms at rear - Waverley 3 minutes (on bike)
Looks like we're going to be down Broughton Road area :)
"Looks like we're going to be down Broughton Road area"
Plenty of links to the NEPN and a cycle speedway track!
Also handy for the excellent The Bike Chain.
There is a derelict terraced house which is surrounded by elegant properties on east Claremont st. Intersects with Broughton road with good pub next to mandors cloth shop. Any roads the derelict terraced townhouse has a sign above the door which says The Rod Stewart Fan Club
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