Does anyone live in or near Aberdeen?

Werehorse

Werehorse

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Jan 3, 2005
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If so what can you tell me about it?

Myself and OH are considering a move... West Cumbria just isn't far away from civilisation enough :wink: I jest but there is an element of that in our thinking.

I've been doing quite a bit of googling and have found lots of people who are quite angry and bitter about Aberdeen and the house prices and rent prices are very expensive but also some awesome looking livery yards, beautiful countryside, amazing flora and fauna, a good running and orienteering scene...

Has anyone got any personal insight into living up there (down there for some!)?

Anything you can tell me would be very much appreciated, a focus on the good would be nice I've been reading a lot of bad. :redface:
 
I'm from Aberdeen.
Yeah, guess its a tad pricey but the job market is fantastic and its very horsey.
Aberdeen is very commutable and I moved 35 miles south of the town and travelled in daily.
I'd move back today if I could.
 
Parentals and sister live up that way so have a bit of experience of the place. You are subject to a slightly higher than average level of radiation exposure because of the amount of granite (might be a myth!) but as CN says, the job market seems strong because of the oil and associated IT industry.
Think it'll be even more commuter friendly if they sort out this bypass thing, although thats a bit contraversial as a lot of folk are against it (I don't know enough to say either way, just know its a bummer trying to get to work in the morning for my sister going up Anderson Drive).
Right by the sea, bit windy, suffer from haar(sp?) alot of the time, but some lovely places to go and see. Not sure about livery yards, from what I see south of aberdeen alot of the land is farmed so not very pretty, but there are lots of nicer bits as well.
Do think I'll probably end up there at some point in later life....depends on job stuff, but its got good shopping, nightlife and leisure stuff to take part in. Alot of studenty stuff going on but equally good for bringing up children on the outskirts I'd say. Really like it.
 
Ooh what rock in Cornwall is to blame for that Laura? Yeah, sorry, mean't to say I knew it did no harm...although there was something about the water supply and miscarriages at one point - but trying to keep this positive so will shut up sorry, I'm just remembering old and very random things about Aberdeen.
 
It's granite in Cornwall too. Granite contains relatively high levels of Uranium, and a decay product of that is radon gas which seeps out of the ground.

The HSE lead on radon, if your interested here is more info http://www.hse.gov.uk/radiation/ionising/radon.htm. They have produced radon maps for Scotland, England and Wales.

But since you live in Cumbria just now Werehorse I'm assuming your not too bothered by a bit of radiation :wink:
 
LOL. I live near Sellafield and there's talk of dumping nuclear waste in the ground pretty much underneath where I live now. Not something that worries me a lot - one of those things that sounds worse than it's real consequences. X-post Laura... exactly. I probably pretty much glow already.

We would probably avoid living IN Aberdeen itself anyway, we aren't city people.

I'm drawn to the area to the west of the city, as close to the Cairngorms as is practical for commuting (OH will most likely get a job IN Aberdeen).

Nice to hear that it is horsey - I thought so from looking at the livery yards... I expect the whole open access thing makes hacking in Scotland a different experience than hacking in England?

Weather is not really an issue - it's got to rain less then Cumbria? And I really don't mind the cold but get quite grumpy when I'm too hot. :hot: :tongue:
 
Its bloody cold when the wind whips in off the north sea it would tear the face of you. But lovely countryside and Aberdeen is a real nice city. Not as good as Perthshire [the big county] of course.
 
We considered moving there several years ago before the house prices shot through the roof. My friend moved there so we went to look and loved it. We didn't go because we were having 'school' issues at the time and my son had just settled after several upsets and we didn't want to change things for him again so soon. We planed to go after he had finished school but then the house prices shot up. It is getting much busier up there now, plenty of jobs but there are new houses and supermarkets popping up all over the place, plus Scotland is always freezing in winter (and summer mostly). My friend has now moved from Aberdeen further north (she likes the peace and quiet).
 
Aberdeen is actually colder than Shetland. The county is nice enough, pricey, but there's lots worse places.

Our boat goes into Aberdeen.
 
Werehorse said:
If so what can you tell me about it?

Myself and OH are considering a move... West Cumbria just isn't far away from civilisation enough :wink: I jest but there is an element of that in our thinking.

I've been doing quite a bit of googling and have found lots of people who are quite angry and bitter about Aberdeen and the house prices and rent prices are very expensive but also some awesome looking livery yards, beautiful countryside, amazing flora and fauna, a good running and orienteering scene...

Has anyone got any personal insight into living up there (down there for some!)?

Anything you can tell me would be very much appreciated, a focus on the good would be nice I've been reading a lot of bad. :redface:
Click to expand...

Now this i CAN give you a personal insight into as i'm born and bred and still living there :p

Awesome livery yards? really? that hasn't been my experience of them!! However i have very high standards and don't like being told what to do. Personally there are very few yards i'd use. There are a lot of XC courses you can hire, some very active riding clubs and a great cross country ride with jumps (so you can either hack it or use the jumps). On the up side we have some BRILLIANT local instructors (my RI being one of the :) ) and a lot of visiting clinics etc. Veterinary care is good as there is an equine hospital and i can certainly point you in the direction of a good farrier.

Yes, renting is expensive but i wouldn't say it's any worse than any of scotland's other major cities. You are looking at about £500-750 for a decent 2 bed flat with parking. Of course you can pay much more should you head to the west end of the city (the posh bit :p). So realistically do not limit yourself. Aberdeen is not a massively busy city like Edinburgh. I live pretty much city centre and still have lots of green space and peace. Take a look at the ASPC website to give you an idea on prices. Tbh the cairngorms are so far away doesn't make a jot of difference where you are in Aberdeen!!

I think you need to be made aware that aberdonians can be very, very dour souls!! They complain about EVERYTHING!! and I can say that coz i was born here (but brought up in the sticks so not true aberdonian i suppose :p). Pay very little attention to what you read posted on forums and the like as they complain for the sake of complaining. And those outwith oil have a real chip on their shoulder about those in oil.

I don't get the wind comments. It's not windy!! it's like everywhere. We get windy days and calm days so i think you can disregard that as a reason not to move here!!

Shopping in Aberdeen is getting better but i'm more of a designer gal and Aberdeen doesn't really do it for me. But there are a good variety of restaurants, entertainment and nice foodie places if you hunt for them :p

As for the granite, should that be true i should be glowing green having lived here all my life :p parents have an old granite house and have never had an issue with radiation nor radon gas (emitted by granite). It's closely monitored anyway in at risk areas.

I wouldn't say the jobs market is strong. Yes, there are oppertunities in oil but don't assume it's the land of milk and honey. When my ex moved down here he was unemployed for 18 months despite being an IT specialist. It's a lot about who you know, especially in oil....... Been there, done that and got out PDQ!!!!

tbh, if i were to recommend you an area i'd be heading to the north of the city. Ellon is an easy commute. Peterhead and Fraserburgh also commutable but a good 60 mile round trip. However you get a lot more for your money and there ARE some lovely livery yards out fraserburgh/mintlaw way aswell as a big equestrian community.

Any more questions just ask! Happy to help :)
 
Thanks Eventerbabe that's really helpful.... I was going from the livery websites - many seem to have excellent facilities, large indoor and outdoor schools, year round turnout and access to very good hacking. Compared to what we have here that's pretty awesome. Unless they are lying of course. :tongue: And websites don't tell you what the yard politics are like either.

We wouldn't move unless OH got a job to move to so in a way the strength of the job market would only determine how soon we moved. Work for me is something we can be flexible on. Oh is in Finance and there seems to be a reasonable amount of that going - we'll see if it's about what you know or who you know if/when he starts applying for stuff.

Clean and quiet sound nice. What about areas to avoid like the plague (every city has them!)? As I think I said though, I don't think living in the actual city is for us. 15-30 miles outside it would be fine. LOL

Good to hear about good vets and at least one good farrier, that was something that was worrying me as I love our vets here.

We aren't big clothes shoppers and neither of us have any inclination to go disco dancing. We like quiet pubs with nice food though and places that let the dogs in after a walk, which we are completely spoilt with here!

I definitely got a sense of that outside oil chip in the stuff I have been reading!

Will check out Fraserburgh! Thanks again.
 
I'm not sure you'd want to live in Fraserburgh! Both there and Peterhead are notorious for drugs. Peterhead also has the prison which houses some of the most dangerous sex offenders in the UK. But the country areas around there are lovely! I work in this area so see the impact the drugs issues have on the children. Not nice.

I live in a perceived 'nasty' area of the city however i've lived here 10 years and had nothing more than a smashed windscreen. My friends live in the 'posh' area and have had their cars vandalised on numerous occasions (they live on a street frequented by drunks returning from the clubs) aswell as having has their flat broken into. So don't judge an area too quickly. Only areas i really wouldn't touch are Middlefield, Logie, parts of Northfield and Torry!

I'm from 20 miles outside the city out Royal Deeside but unless you've a healthy quarter of a million you won't get a house and flats are rare. However there are horrid little identikit new builds shot up in Banchory so if that's your thing you can get a flat/little house there for a reasonable price.

See for me facilities mean nothing. Except good hacking, which is what my private rented yard offers. There are opportunities to rent yards aswell. Oh good farriers not an issue, i can name 4 off the top of my head. You will find most places offer year round turnout so i suppose if you aren't used to it then that is good. For me, reading on here of turnout being restricted is such a daft concept as i've always had unrestricted turnout on every yard i've been on!

You might also want to look oldmeldrum/inverurie/turrif was aswell.

Oil is akin to an old boys club. I can make that judgement because my dad works in oil and has done his entire career. And i only got my job in oil coz my boss was a friend of a friend of my dads. Of course i had to prove myself once in the door. I have friends in oil and they love it. It just wasn't for me! Education as a cake walk compared to dealing with an all male office!!
 
We're still on restricted turnout here, even though they usually go to 24/7 in summer. We are currently restricted to day time only, but have been asked to keep to the 4 hour winter turnout on wet days. And we have lots of wet days.

Plus I'm already up to my eyes in crazy yard owners and being told what to do with my own horse so am used to dealing with things like that. I dislike it very much but am used to it.

It would be nice to even have a choice of livery yards which have an indoor school! lol
 
Oh well you won't have to worry about that :p not sure how many have indoor schools? i can think of 3 or 4 but really depends what area you end up in.

Just to give you an idea of the bargains to be had, i walked past this gem today. If i wasn't so adverse to being so far from my boys i'd be making moves to buy it as it could be stunning!
http://www.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/SINGLE?ID=299521

This flat is out of the city centre, in the burbs and with direct access to deeside
http://www.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/SINGLE?ID=300519

And then you have the extreme, in one of the most expensive parts of the suburbs!!
http://www.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/SINGLE?ID=300518

one thing i might add is pets could cause you a problem. Having lived here as a student and rented for MANY years, pets are not really welcomed by many landlords!
 
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