Welcome Kippen!
I don't know how much help this will be, but I can give a general breakdown of the parts of Glasgow. As far as I know all parts of Glasgow are close to public transport it has an excellent train/bus system. When we lived up there we didn't have a car and I can honestly say we didn't miss it.
The west end is usually considered the nicest (read poshest) part of town. I lived here as a student. It has the University of Glasgow, culture, parks, etc, but is very expensive! You can get reasonable accommodation but it will probably be a lot smaller than what you would get in another part of town.
The south side (Pollockshaws, Shawlands) is very nice, but doesn't have the reputation of the west end, so as of three years ago it was a lot more affordable, but still with the parks, museums, shops, restaurants,etc. This is where we lived when I first moved over here permanently.
The north of Glasgow can be a bit hit and miss I think. Places like Bishopbriggs and Robroyston are basically just suburbs, but they are very highly regarded and houses go at a premium. You are very near the countryside here and walks in the Campsies are about 15 minutes away by car. You could probably find something very reasonable in this area, but it is more of a dormer community.
I know very little about the east end, except what I have been told by other people. It is not a particularly desireable part of town, but I am sure there are perfectly lovely areas of it. I've know several people who came from that side of town, but they were all native to Glasgow and knew what areas were better than others.
Please excuse all spelling and grammer mistakes! I might not be on for a few days, but if you have any other questions please let me know. There are at least 10 other people on the site that probably know Glasgow better than I do!
