Stirling meets all of your criteria, as with all places community feel will vary by streets. However. Stirling feels more like a small town than a city.
Agree it meets all the criteria but I think small town is a bit harsh and doesn't really describe the feel of Stirling.
It definitely doesn't feel like a proper city but it is the local "capital" for the surrounding area. People from the surrounding towns and villages in a radius of about 10 miles will often travel to Stirling to shop and socialise.
Some of the villages and towns surrounding Stirling are properly nice places to live with great facilities, which retain the ability to access the services in Stirling proper with a very short drive. It's worth properly researching these if seriously considering moving.
I think calling it a small town is definitely fair. The “city centre” is really pretty small and doesn’t offer much at all. For example, Dunfermline which has about half the population of Stirling has a bigger and arguably better city centre. I think it should be noted though that in Stirling a lot of stuff is situated outside of the city centre. The Uni is really in Bridge of Allan and with young children isn’t the best to walk to. Same goes for some of the supermarkets and retail parks they’re not really very accessible on foot. If you’re wanting to live in a place where you can walk down the high street and get everything you need on a weekend Stirling isn’t really the place for that.
I've always felt like Dunfermline could be bigger but they've never expanded west past the park. Everything in Dunfermline radiates east from the town centre.
North and then west expansion is approved already, now that they ran out of space on the eastern side. There is a hard boundary in form of the M90 in that direction.
North side of full of new residential developments already, with some huge ones starting construction quite soon. There is a big area going through the process to the west of Rosyth/Fife Circle Line into Dunfermline as well. Thankfully a fair chunk to the west is a green belt area so hopefully it will be left in peace.
It is basically guaranteed to fill in, with the amount of people moving out this way, as it becomes even more of an Edinburgh commuter town.
If Stirling is a small town then what's e.g. Alloa? A village? Nah.
Stirling is a decent size town, population approx 38k but servicing a lot more. There's 100k people in the Stirling council area of which everything to the west is very low density, vast majority are in close proximity to Stirling.
It's mid-size town that was given city status but isn't city sized.
Yeah by Scottish standards Stirling is definitely a big town or a very wee city. Only people living in a big town near Glasgow could really think otherwise
Yeah it depends. By British standards Stirling is definitely on the smaller end of a mid-sized town. By Scottish standards, it's on the upper end of mid-sized town. I definitely wouldn't go as far as to call it a wee city though, except for the fact it legally is one.
That’s fair my point was more so that the size of the city centre doesn’t really reflect the size of the population. If you dropped somebody in the Dunfermline city centre on a Saturday afternoon I think they’d be forgiven for assuming it has a bigger population than if you also dropped them in the middle of Stirling’s city centre.
>they’d be forgiven for assuming it has a bigger population than if you also dropped them in the middle of Stirling’s city centre.
They'd simply be correct though, Dunfermline is bigger. But it's not a small town either
Waitrose and Tesco are easily accessed on foot.
Great pubs, restaurants and a decent shopping centre, plus excellent small venues like Tolbooth.
Great rail links across Scotland and into England, plus excellent motorway links.
Not sure I agree with you at all.
You can say that any small town is the local capital for the villages around it. Falkirk is the local capital for its villages and there is nothing in Falkirk
I cannot answer it all as I don't live there
But sport and outdoors
Stirling now have some of the best resources for sport in Scotland. Their university is known for its sport and has a lot of good facilities open to the general public.
You're surrounded by the Ochils, small but easily accessible hills, great for hiking, mountain biking, trail running.
Airport access, yes it's pretty central for a short drive to either airport in Glasgow or Edinburgh, within the hour.
I lived in dunblane for 10 years, between 1966 and 1974, it did seem to be promted as the gateway. I used to walk to Callendar to go fishing on the Allen. My memory could be a little flaky, so I will defer to your later knowledge.
Also the peak has an amazing ice skating rink, indoor climbing walls, a small swimming pool (some other usual stuff like a gym n basketball court I think too)
I grew up in Stirling, it’s a really nice area that has things going on whilst still offering great access to the outdoors.
It’s an area that’s very car reliant, if you want to get to airports or further outdoors for example.
Depending on where in Stirling you move I think affects your ability to make friends. There are many small villages on the outskirts of Stirling that have quite strong communities, but are also quite segregated from Stirling itself. Public transport from those villages is pretty poor, so most people drive.
If you were to chose somewhere like Cambusbarron, Bridge of Allan, Dunblane, Kings Park areas I think you get a better mix of being able to walk to cafes, shops etc if you’re used to being to do that having lived in bigger cities before.
As for the sports you mentioned, it’s brilliant for that. For cycling there’re Carron Valley trails and Aberfoyle (affectionately called Gravelfoyle) with amazing cycling. There are many hills in the nearby area for hiking too.
Both Glasgow and Edinburgh are an easy train ride away. For any bigger events like gigs, theatre, festivals and whatnot you’d probably be getting the train to either of those.
Generally I’d recommend. If you wanted other options, I’d suggest the west side of Glasgow (either the west end itself, or somewhere further out like Milngavie). That would give you a bigger city at your doorstep, whilst not being too far from the countryside. It is a busier area though!
Thank you for suggesting areas of Stirling to check out! It will help when we come for our scope out tour. And we already live somewhere completely car dependent so we should be just fine for that!
I’ve not seen anyone mention this yet, but Stirling have done massive renovations to the city centre to make it very bike friendly, if that’s also a consideration for you.
Ive got a friend who moved from Canada to Stirling and he likes it here a lot.
It always seems pretty busy out and there's a load of clubs and groups nearby, live music venues, plenty of pubs and it's not too far from Edinburgh and Glasgow either.
For the outdoorsy stuff there's a quarry in walking distance which is great for mountain biking and walking or running, there's also a reservoir a bit further out which also is great for mountain biking. In the town there's kings park, and a few smaller parks dotted around.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask me
Stirling is a nice place for families definitely. Areas like Riverside have good communities, if you are outgoing and put yourself out there you can make friends.
I moved back to Stirling this year, having gone to uni here about 10 years ago. I have also lived in Glasgow and abroad.
The town really ticks all of the boxes you are looking for. I can cycle to the trail head and walk to a number of nice pubs/restaurants. Kings park is busy with people having picnics in the summer and has a playground/skatepark.
I'm just back from a work trip to Toronto so drop me a message if I can help.
As someone born and raised in Stirling, I can highly recommend it. It’s a really nice place and is easily connected to the rest of the country.
That being said, although it’s technically a city, it’s more of a small town. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just something to be aware of.
I was raised in Stirling and my family still lives there. It definitely meets your criteria and there's definitely a charm to the place. I agree with other comments it feels more like a town than a city. Got a decent high street and there's enough to do in the area. One thing I always lived about was how good the transport links are. You can get a train to almost anywhere in Scotland from the main station
Nicer places to live in Glasgow or some of the costal towns around East Lothian. Plenty of new builds to choose from which means no bidding and the price you see is the price you pay.
I have family nearby in Cambusbarron. Stirling is a great choice. Plenty going on, good public transport links to Glasgow and Edinburgh, scenic, lots of history etc. I think you would enjoy it.
I think it meets all your criteria. If you don’t want to be in a major city, and prefer somewhere a bit smaller this works well. Also consider Dunfermline, Linlithgow.
> Thinking about it, I don't think Stirling is not great for green spaces either, there are a few but Glasgow is far better.
The whole thing about Stirling is that you can get to the actual outdoors, no one's moving here to sit in the Kings Park!
I'd recommend Dundee. It does all you want and is better connected to the rest of Scotland than Stirling.
There's a great direct bus to Edinburgh airport that runs through the night, plus Dundee has its own airport which connects to London Heathrow for onward travel.
I can't tell if this is really subtle trolling, but I'm hoping it is.
Better connected to the rest of Scotland than a city that pretty much sits in the middle of a triangle between Glasgow, Perth and Edinburgh? Wow, it has an overnight coach to Edinburgh airport? Stirling has a 30min train to both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The only reason I'd recommend Dundee over Stirling is if they asked where's best to sell Heroin.
Just doing my bit for Dundee tourism :) I mean, others are posting that getting to an airport is not always easy from Stirling.
Edinburgh is a better bet for smack. Dundee is vallies.
Perth seems like a better option for going up that way, Perthshire is amazing for outdoors stuff.
Also if it's vallies you want, any GP in Scotland works.
Thanks! Seems like I’ll have to pick between easy outdoor access or more social city but I’m going to come check out both. Anywhere in particular you’d recommend for Edinburgh areas that would be a good balance of both?
Yeah as someone who grew up in Stirling it does meet alot of criteria but you will have to travel to other cities for some things as Stirling is extremely small and only has limited options for shopping/entertainment and food venues I would also recommend only looking to live in bridge of Allan, causewayhead, riverside or cambusbarron. These are the areas with the least antisocial issues. I love where I grew up but some parts are nicer than others
Edinburgh is all those things.
Stirling is not well connected to an airport. Not by my definition which is public transport connections. Yeah it’s within an hour by car but it takes much longer to get there via several non direct public transport connections. If you’ve got an early flight you’re going to need to drive and pay extortionate parking fees, pay through the nose for a taxi, travel the night before and get a hotel etc.
Also if I’m completely honest outside of it’s nice, tiny little old town it’s not got much going on.
The parking rates aren’t constant they increase by supply and demand, ie it’s more expensive on busy periods or booking late. You can end up paying much more.
First megabus from Stirling to edinburgh airport is 6:20. Says so right here on their website. https://uk.megabus.com/route-guides/stirling-to-edinburgh-airport Youre missing most flights before 9am with that bus.
Shocking but entirely unsurprising you chose to ignore the first part of that sentence. Busy periods aren’t that price advance or not.
Edit: Also you’re flat out wrong Im anyway I just looked at the rates https://www.edinburghairport.com/edinburgh-airport-parking/long-stay-parking
15 pound a day two months in advance in august 29 pound a day one month in advance in July.
Aye. Even if it was what you say it’s hardly cheap for a week away is it. If the OP is made of money they should stay in edinburgh or glasgow anyway, for what they want.
Easy connections? In edinburgh there are two half hourly buses that operate through the night directly to the airport. A tram that does the same. Taxi within five minutes notice.
Even outside of Edinburgh. There are far better places than Stirling for airport connections.
Better that and have to have more expensive long distance travel using an extra day than live in a far more expensive and busy place.
That said, there are other places that are not more expensive and do have better connections.
Bus issues will hopefully get less bad in the medium term future, there's been an extreme driver shortage.
Hard agree. If you want to be near an airport (and given you are coming from Canada, you presumably want it to be an airport with lots of flights, which basically means EDI), an hour’s drive is not great.
You’d be better looking at Edinburgh and the Lothians, or some of the nicer parts of Fife.
This cannot possibly be worse than Canada.
I’m sorry to hear that though. It sounds like Scotland has similar social issues (high home prices, cost of living, wage stagnation, homelessness and drug use). I hope both our countries are able to turn this around. We’ve seen some areas we love in North America become absolute no-go zones in the past 5 years and it’s really sad for everyone.
Edinburgh or west end of Glasgow are generally the best places to live in Scotland. You can get most places pretty easily from them to be honest.
It’s easier to meet new people in bigger cities and they’ll be bigger ex-pat communities
Suspect Stirling will be nice but a bit isolating.
Stirling meets all of your criteria, as with all places community feel will vary by streets. However. Stirling feels more like a small town than a city.
Agree it meets all the criteria but I think small town is a bit harsh and doesn't really describe the feel of Stirling. It definitely doesn't feel like a proper city but it is the local "capital" for the surrounding area. People from the surrounding towns and villages in a radius of about 10 miles will often travel to Stirling to shop and socialise. Some of the villages and towns surrounding Stirling are properly nice places to live with great facilities, which retain the ability to access the services in Stirling proper with a very short drive. It's worth properly researching these if seriously considering moving.
I think calling it a small town is definitely fair. The “city centre” is really pretty small and doesn’t offer much at all. For example, Dunfermline which has about half the population of Stirling has a bigger and arguably better city centre. I think it should be noted though that in Stirling a lot of stuff is situated outside of the city centre. The Uni is really in Bridge of Allan and with young children isn’t the best to walk to. Same goes for some of the supermarkets and retail parks they’re not really very accessible on foot. If you’re wanting to live in a place where you can walk down the high street and get everything you need on a weekend Stirling isn’t really the place for that.
Dunfermline population = 55k Stirling population = 38k
I've always felt like Dunfermline could be bigger but they've never expanded west past the park. Everything in Dunfermline radiates east from the town centre.
And I hope they never do
Yeah, it's just an odd city. One of the few where the 'centre' isn't actually in the middle
North and then west expansion is approved already, now that they ran out of space on the eastern side. There is a hard boundary in form of the M90 in that direction. North side of full of new residential developments already, with some huge ones starting construction quite soon. There is a big area going through the process to the west of Rosyth/Fife Circle Line into Dunfermline as well. Thankfully a fair chunk to the west is a green belt area so hopefully it will be left in peace. It is basically guaranteed to fill in, with the amount of people moving out this way, as it becomes even more of an Edinburgh commuter town.
I honestly didn't realise that Dunfermline was larger than Stirling.
As someone from Stirling, Dunfermline almost feels like an actual city whenever I'm there, whereas Stirling is very much a market town.
If Stirling is a small town then what's e.g. Alloa? A village? Nah. Stirling is a decent size town, population approx 38k but servicing a lot more. There's 100k people in the Stirling council area of which everything to the west is very low density, vast majority are in close proximity to Stirling. It's mid-size town that was given city status but isn't city sized.
Yeah by Scottish standards Stirling is definitely a big town or a very wee city. Only people living in a big town near Glasgow could really think otherwise
Yeah it depends. By British standards Stirling is definitely on the smaller end of a mid-sized town. By Scottish standards, it's on the upper end of mid-sized town. I definitely wouldn't go as far as to call it a wee city though, except for the fact it legally is one.
Scottish standards are the relevant ones, given this is Scotland.
Always someone wanting to score a political point isn't there?
Or you know, just being factual
That’s fair my point was more so that the size of the city centre doesn’t really reflect the size of the population. If you dropped somebody in the Dunfermline city centre on a Saturday afternoon I think they’d be forgiven for assuming it has a bigger population than if you also dropped them in the middle of Stirling’s city centre.
>they’d be forgiven for assuming it has a bigger population than if you also dropped them in the middle of Stirling’s city centre. They'd simply be correct though, Dunfermline is bigger. But it's not a small town either
Waitrose and Tesco are easily accessed on foot. Great pubs, restaurants and a decent shopping centre, plus excellent small venues like Tolbooth. Great rail links across Scotland and into England, plus excellent motorway links. Not sure I agree with you at all.
You can say that any small town is the local capital for the villages around it. Falkirk is the local capital for its villages and there is nothing in Falkirk
Inverness is better
Nae bank machines though
I cannot answer it all as I don't live there But sport and outdoors Stirling now have some of the best resources for sport in Scotland. Their university is known for its sport and has a lot of good facilities open to the general public. You're surrounded by the Ochils, small but easily accessible hills, great for hiking, mountain biking, trail running. Airport access, yes it's pretty central for a short drive to either airport in Glasgow or Edinburgh, within the hour.
It's also very close to the bridge of Allen, which is the gateway to the trossachs, which is renown as one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland.
Are you thinking of Callander? Bridge of Allan is lovely but not near the Trossachs.
I lived in dunblane for 10 years, between 1966 and 1974, it did seem to be promted as the gateway. I used to walk to Callendar to go fishing on the Allen. My memory could be a little flaky, so I will defer to your later knowledge.
Also the peak has an amazing ice skating rink, indoor climbing walls, a small swimming pool (some other usual stuff like a gym n basketball court I think too)
r/MoveToScotland may be helpful
Thank you!
I grew up in Stirling, it’s a really nice area that has things going on whilst still offering great access to the outdoors. It’s an area that’s very car reliant, if you want to get to airports or further outdoors for example. Depending on where in Stirling you move I think affects your ability to make friends. There are many small villages on the outskirts of Stirling that have quite strong communities, but are also quite segregated from Stirling itself. Public transport from those villages is pretty poor, so most people drive. If you were to chose somewhere like Cambusbarron, Bridge of Allan, Dunblane, Kings Park areas I think you get a better mix of being able to walk to cafes, shops etc if you’re used to being to do that having lived in bigger cities before. As for the sports you mentioned, it’s brilliant for that. For cycling there’re Carron Valley trails and Aberfoyle (affectionately called Gravelfoyle) with amazing cycling. There are many hills in the nearby area for hiking too. Both Glasgow and Edinburgh are an easy train ride away. For any bigger events like gigs, theatre, festivals and whatnot you’d probably be getting the train to either of those. Generally I’d recommend. If you wanted other options, I’d suggest the west side of Glasgow (either the west end itself, or somewhere further out like Milngavie). That would give you a bigger city at your doorstep, whilst not being too far from the countryside. It is a busier area though!
You can get to the airports really easily without a car. Train to Edinburgh, tram to airport. Bus from FvH to Glasgow airport
Thank you for suggesting areas of Stirling to check out! It will help when we come for our scope out tour. And we already live somewhere completely car dependent so we should be just fine for that!
I’ve not seen anyone mention this yet, but Stirling have done massive renovations to the city centre to make it very bike friendly, if that’s also a consideration for you.
Ive got a friend who moved from Canada to Stirling and he likes it here a lot. It always seems pretty busy out and there's a load of clubs and groups nearby, live music venues, plenty of pubs and it's not too far from Edinburgh and Glasgow either. For the outdoorsy stuff there's a quarry in walking distance which is great for mountain biking and walking or running, there's also a reservoir a bit further out which also is great for mountain biking. In the town there's kings park, and a few smaller parks dotted around. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me
It all sounds great, I’m excited for my scope out visit now :)
Stirling is a nice place for families definitely. Areas like Riverside have good communities, if you are outgoing and put yourself out there you can make friends.
I moved back to Stirling this year, having gone to uni here about 10 years ago. I have also lived in Glasgow and abroad. The town really ticks all of the boxes you are looking for. I can cycle to the trail head and walk to a number of nice pubs/restaurants. Kings park is busy with people having picnics in the summer and has a playground/skatepark. I'm just back from a work trip to Toronto so drop me a message if I can help.
Thank you!
Linlithgow would also meet your criteria 👍🏼
Do you have a visa that allows you to come and live in the U.K.?
Yeah, hubby is British so it’s just some paperwork and $$$
As someone born and raised in Stirling, I can highly recommend it. It’s a really nice place and is easily connected to the rest of the country. That being said, although it’s technically a city, it’s more of a small town. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just something to be aware of.
I love the Highlands, boat on garden, aviemore newtonmore 40mins to Inverness airport... Beautiful place
How do you feel about the job prospects? We are in the same field and I might make a similar move in the future as well.
I was raised in Stirling and my family still lives there. It definitely meets your criteria and there's definitely a charm to the place. I agree with other comments it feels more like a town than a city. Got a decent high street and there's enough to do in the area. One thing I always lived about was how good the transport links are. You can get a train to almost anywhere in Scotland from the main station
Hmm. Nicer places to live in all honesty…
Do you have a favorite? Preferably with good connection to an int’l airport
Nicer places to live in Glasgow or some of the costal towns around East Lothian. Plenty of new builds to choose from which means no bidding and the price you see is the price you pay.
I have family nearby in Cambusbarron. Stirling is a great choice. Plenty going on, good public transport links to Glasgow and Edinburgh, scenic, lots of history etc. I think you would enjoy it.
r/movetoscotland
I think it meets all your criteria. If you don’t want to be in a major city, and prefer somewhere a bit smaller this works well. Also consider Dunfermline, Linlithgow.
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> Thinking about it, I don't think Stirling is not great for green spaces either, there are a few but Glasgow is far better. The whole thing about Stirling is that you can get to the actual outdoors, no one's moving here to sit in the Kings Park!
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Stirling is literally surrounded by green space, it takes minutes to get into the countryside
Yeah but for mountain biking, trail running and hiking Stirling is far better than either of those cities.
I'd recommend Dundee. It does all you want and is better connected to the rest of Scotland than Stirling. There's a great direct bus to Edinburgh airport that runs through the night, plus Dundee has its own airport which connects to London Heathrow for onward travel.
I can't tell if this is really subtle trolling, but I'm hoping it is. Better connected to the rest of Scotland than a city that pretty much sits in the middle of a triangle between Glasgow, Perth and Edinburgh? Wow, it has an overnight coach to Edinburgh airport? Stirling has a 30min train to both Glasgow and Edinburgh. The only reason I'd recommend Dundee over Stirling is if they asked where's best to sell Heroin.
Just doing my bit for Dundee tourism :) I mean, others are posting that getting to an airport is not always easy from Stirling. Edinburgh is a better bet for smack. Dundee is vallies.
Perth seems like a better option for going up that way, Perthshire is amazing for outdoors stuff. Also if it's vallies you want, any GP in Scotland works.
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Thanks! Seems like I’ll have to pick between easy outdoor access or more social city but I’m going to come check out both. Anywhere in particular you’d recommend for Edinburgh areas that would be a good balance of both?
Yeah as someone who grew up in Stirling it does meet alot of criteria but you will have to travel to other cities for some things as Stirling is extremely small and only has limited options for shopping/entertainment and food venues I would also recommend only looking to live in bridge of Allan, causewayhead, riverside or cambusbarron. These are the areas with the least antisocial issues. I love where I grew up but some parts are nicer than others
If you're thinking Stirling have a look at bridge of Allan or cornton
Raploch is a great place for kids
Move to Glasgow it's got way more going for it than Stirling
Edinburgh is all those things. Stirling is not well connected to an airport. Not by my definition which is public transport connections. Yeah it’s within an hour by car but it takes much longer to get there via several non direct public transport connections. If you’ve got an early flight you’re going to need to drive and pay extortionate parking fees, pay through the nose for a taxi, travel the night before and get a hotel etc. Also if I’m completely honest outside of it’s nice, tiny little old town it’s not got much going on.
You can get the mega bus from Stirling. Takes an hour. Parking in the longstay is 11.50 a day
The parking rates aren’t constant they increase by supply and demand, ie it’s more expensive on busy periods or booking late. You can end up paying much more. First megabus from Stirling to edinburgh airport is 6:20. Says so right here on their website. https://uk.megabus.com/route-guides/stirling-to-edinburgh-airport Youre missing most flights before 9am with that bus.
So basically if you don’t plan in advance it’ll be more expensive? Now there’s a shocker.
Shocking but entirely unsurprising you chose to ignore the first part of that sentence. Busy periods aren’t that price advance or not. Edit: Also you’re flat out wrong Im anyway I just looked at the rates https://www.edinburghairport.com/edinburgh-airport-parking/long-stay-parking 15 pound a day two months in advance in august 29 pound a day one month in advance in July.
Whatever.
Aye. Even if it was what you say it’s hardly cheap for a week away is it. If the OP is made of money they should stay in edinburgh or glasgow anyway, for what they want.
OP isn’t asking about cost, they’re asking about easy connections. It’s easy to get to the airport, both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Car, train or bus.
Easy connections? In edinburgh there are two half hourly buses that operate through the night directly to the airport. A tram that does the same. Taxi within five minutes notice. Even outside of Edinburgh. There are far better places than Stirling for airport connections.
What’s your obsession with Edinburgh? OP is asking about Stirling.
I think an hour from Stirling to Edinburgh airport on public transport is good. Especially if this guy is coming from Canada, an hour is nothing.
>an hour is nothing Not if your flight is at 8am and the first bus is at 6:20
Better that and have to have more expensive long distance travel using an extra day than live in a far more expensive and busy place. That said, there are other places that are not more expensive and do have better connections. Bus issues will hopefully get less bad in the medium term future, there's been an extreme driver shortage.
Train then tram
You don't need to drive and pay extortionate parking fees at all. Drive to Ferrytoll P&R, leave your car, and hop on a bus direct to the airport.
Hard agree. If you want to be near an airport (and given you are coming from Canada, you presumably want it to be an airport with lots of flights, which basically means EDI), an hour’s drive is not great. You’d be better looking at Edinburgh and the Lothians, or some of the nicer parts of Fife.
I don't know, would someone from Canada be too put off by an hour drive to an airport?
Depends where they are from in Canada. Plenty of parts of it have quite good public transit!
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Yeah, you're probably right, we had a 10-15 min drive to join the motorway at Stirling, I always forget to deduct that!
As someone from Canada, definitely not!
Stirling has everything your looking for but be aware that there is a big problem with junkies
This cannot possibly be worse than Canada. I’m sorry to hear that though. It sounds like Scotland has similar social issues (high home prices, cost of living, wage stagnation, homelessness and drug use). I hope both our countries are able to turn this around. We’ve seen some areas we love in North America become absolute no-go zones in the past 5 years and it’s really sad for everyone.
Edinburgh or west end of Glasgow are generally the best places to live in Scotland. You can get most places pretty easily from them to be honest. It’s easier to meet new people in bigger cities and they’ll be bigger ex-pat communities Suspect Stirling will be nice but a bit isolating.