Edinburgh and Bristol

[LivingUpNorth]

They are higher than the surrounding areas, but the places north of Bristle and closer to the new rail links will go up to match.

Sensible people don't live in crowded cities, when there are some fabulous villages within ten miles; cheaper house process with sensible garden areas, neighbours that talk to you, greenery everywhere, generally way better quality of life and better schools.

Guess where I live...

Cheers for the advice. So where do you live?

[NickNick]

Cheers for the advice. So where do you live?

Places like Almondsbury, Tockington, Alveston and Olveston are lovely little villages only minutes from the businesses of Aztec West. For the same price as a 4 bed in a nice part of town you could get a larger place out there with much more green space and a pool. Schools, both state and fee paying, are good out there. BUT you can't do anything without a car as they aren't served by the busses AFAIK.

[LivingUpNorth]

Places like Almondsbury, Tockington, Alveston and Olveston are lovely little villages only minutes from the businesses of Aztec West. For the same price as a 4 bed in a nice part of town you could get a larger place out there with much more green space and a pool. Schools, both state and fee paying, are good out there. BUT you can't do anything without a car as they aren't served by the busses AFAIK.

Cheers buddy will take a look. I also found this article for good areas outside Bristol:

Areas outside the City of Bristol

[NickNick]

Cheers buddy will take a look. I also found this article for good areas outside Bristol:

Areas outside the City of Bristol

OK, so loking at some of those towns/
Backwell is great for work in the west of the city such as LLoyds or Aardman, and the schools are good. There is nothing else there though apart from a pub.
Most of the rest of them are probably worth avoiding though. Weston-super-mare is a hole and is not on the path to immprovement, plus it's only got one road in or out. Rush hour makes that painful.
Clevedon and Portishead are low crime rate places and offer good access to the businesses of Aztec West.

I've no real idea why many of those other palces are on the list as the commute in from many of them would be hellish.

Leigh Woods though, if you've a couple of million to drop on a house, that's where I'd go for. Although 750K will get you a nice three bed flat.

PM me if you want any specific info on any where you are considering.

[malvolio]

Cheers for the advice. So where do you live?

I'll sell you a nice house in my village, just down the A37 from Bristol...

We have local shop and Post Office, three pubs, an active community, one of the best primaries in the area and are in the catchment area for one of the best secondaries. But you can't live here without a car.

[malvolio]

Cheers buddy will take a look. I also found this article for good areas outside Bristol:

Areas outside the City of Bristol

Dunno who wrote that but there's a lot missing. West Harptree, for instance, is about 500 yards from East Harptree...

The commute from anywhere outside the city is going to be difficult, since that's what the council wants. It won't be much better inside the City, either, unless you fancy your chances on two wheels. Probably best to ignore that aspect and focus on somewhere that's good to live and has some kind of public transport.

[NickNick]

I'll sell you a nice house in my village, just down the A37 from Bristol...

We have local shop and Post Office, three pubs, an active community, one of the best primaries in the area and are in the catchment area for one of the best secondaries. But you can't live here without a car.

Temple Cloud?
:O)

[wettowel]

hi guys, I'm currently contracting as a front-end developer in London, but am considering moving up north to Edinburgh and any advice is greatly appreciated. i love London to bits, but it's tough love. the contracting market is fantastic, good rates, plenty of work (haven't been on a bench for longer than 3 weeks), lots of amazing companies, and a funky mix of different cultures form around the world, however, property prices are eye-watering and the commute is unbearable. i've an 8-month old daughter and all the time I could be spending with her and my girlfriend is spent on the Underground. I'm the only person working in our family, and I've been blessed with lots of great work recently, but when you add everything up, the flat we're (I am) renting, the commute, car payments, etc. - it's just not enough. it's not like we're short on money or anything like that, but the money we're (I am) spending on the flat is just not worth it. anyway, to cut long story short - I came up with the idea of moving to Edinburgh. now I just need to run a quick reality-check to make sure that we can actually pull it off, as it will be a very difficult time for both of me and my girlfriend. so here's what I don't like about the ol' Big Smoke:

• we live in a crappy flat on the borders of M25 - the place is definitely not worth what we're paying for it, even though the area itself is nice, but it's so far away from London that...
• ...I spend at least an hour, sometimes up to an hour and a half commuting, which when you add the return journey means I am wasting up to 3 hours of my life DAILY
• the amount I'm paying for trains / underground is outrageous too, but looking at the property prices somewhere closer to Central London makes me cringe with disgust
• as much as I love the cosmopolitan vibe, sometimes it's just too much. people EVERYWHERE. can be quite overwhelming at times. try Underground escalators in the rush hour. or sweaty arm pits straight in your face on the train. grr

now, Edinburgh looks like a good choice, but because neither of us have actually been there (yup, never), I'd appreciate if someone could verify my assumptions and answer a few questions.

• its a big city with all the perks that go with it (good shops, great entertainment, an international airport, etc.) yet it's considerably smaller and less crowded and I've heard that people can actually LIVE in it, rather than just work there!
• property prices look SO. MUCH. MORE. AFFORDABLE.
• it's got a beach... and a mountain. that's pretty cool, right?
• seems it's home to plenty of companies in the financial sector - that's good i guess? means that the city's doing fine economically?
• there are quite a few digital agencies out there...

...and here's where the questions start.

1. how easy it is to find a new gig? in London, I keep getting calls from agents ALL. THE. TIME. it's like literally, sometimes I am forced to choose between contracts, that's how good London has been for me in regards to work. is it the same in Edinburgh?
2. the recruiters - are they as pro-active as those down in London? how do you find them? how do they find me? I've changed my LinkedIn profile so it says I'm based in Edinburgh, and have connected with a few recruiters, but I am having difficulty finding more of them. it's almost as if they were all based in London how does one usually find work through a recruitment agent in Edinburgh? what more can I do to make them aware of my existence (other than calling them directly)? can someone recommend some good agencies?
3. what's the benchmark rate for freelance front-end in Edinburgh? in London, it's anything between 250 up to 450-500, but the majority seems to be around ~300-350, which isn't too bad considering that there's so many contractors around! I've had a look online, but the only contract jobs I found were just a few ads that didn't really mention any rates, and those that did proved inconclusive. I've seen some contract for a senior (!) FE for £150 per day, which quite frankly, is very measly, but then I saw some contract which paid £440 per day. what's the most common rate for senior-level front-end development in Edinburgh?
4. okay, let's say I've got my agents, I've finished my first contract, what now? how long will I sit on the bench before I find anything new?
5. I've got a Limited Company set up in England, do I need do do anything else to be able to operate it in Scotland?

and as for the city itself:

1. is it better to find a bit more expensive place to live in the heart of the city or something cheap on the outskirts (Falkirk / Stirling / Musselburgh / Loanhead are the places I've had a look so far - are there any other viable alternatives?) and then commute by car / train / bus? remember, we're a young family now, and we're not necessarily looking to get drunk every friday evening... we'd probably be more content in a nice house with a big garden barbecuing on the weekends rather than in a small flat next to the pub in the heart of Edinburgh curing yesterday's hangover
2. are there any areas we should avoid?
3. we would also like to start doing things that the countryside folk do - going for walks, hiking, seeing things, etc. however silly this may sound, we're into 'nature' and actually quite enjoy things like watching drops of rain gently fall off the leaves in the bloody light of the sunset. besides I'm a keen photographer and would like to start taking some landscape shots rather than snaps of people / buildings
4. currently my girlfriend spends the majority of her time at home, simply, because going to London for a walk with an infant can be an depressing experience. what's it like in Edinburgh? will she be able to actually enjoy it and go for a walk with my daughter without spending 2 hours on a train or in a traffic jam?

now I appreciate that this is a LOT of questions, but I will be REALLY grateful if someone could please answer them. we don't have any friends in Scotland and we'll be on our own, therefore as a father and head of the family, it is my responsibility and duty to make sure that I have thought about everything I could have, so all goes smoothly! my plan is to save up some money in the coming months and then find a gig in Edinburgh to test the waters, but that means that for at least a month (if not for longer) I would be actually maintaing two places - our flat in London and a room / hostel in Edinburgh, before we take the plunge. if we like Scotland and all goes well, we'll get a removals company to get our stuff up north, but we want to keep the flat just in case something doesn't work out and we have to go back to London. i know it might not be the best plan in the entire world, but what the hell - if things go tits up in Edinburgh, i'll be back to contracting in London.

i'll be waiting anxiously for your replies

sorry for the chaotic post, but I'm quite nervous about this! anyway thanks and peace out folks!

[Gumbo Robot]

Afternoon all,

Has anybody spent any time in both cities? We have lived in Edinburgh for 8 years but are considering a move South. Bristol is a possibility.

The contract market in Bristol for .Net devs looks great.

Here's what I like about Edinburgh:

- The contract market is strong and I've never struggled for a contract
- No traffic issues
- Its safe outside the ropey parts
- it's compact and easy to walk around
- Lots of parks and green spaces
- No end of things to do
- Great for raising kids
- Brilliant schools.
- Can get a 4-5 bed family home for about 400k in a nice area a few miles from the High Street

Any input from people who have lived in both would be appreciated. I'm curious to know how Bristol compares to Edinburgh.

The thing everyone complains about in Bristol is the traffic. I've read allllllll about that one.

Cheers for reading

Bristol seems to have a lot of angry people on bicycles these days.

[Gumbo Robot]

I'll sell you a nice house in my village, just down the A37 from Bristol...

We have local shop and Post Office, three pubs, an active community, one of the best primaries in the area and are in the catchment area for one of the best secondaries. But you can't live here without a car.

Pensford?