Aberdeen...I want the facts!

I'm traveling to Aberdeen this week for a job interview at the university. I've been to Edinburgh which I LOVE, but never been to Aberdeen. Can anyone give me any tips? What are the areas I should steer clear of? What is the cost of living like? What is the best way to find a flat? Any dinner recommendations for my trip up this week?

I have a good memory of A.
We went there to see a typical Scottish fishing village, hardly. We arrived with no reservations we checked for a room at a small hotel. The lady we talked to said everything was booked up, because of the oil boom. She said her children owned this hotel and that she sometimes rented out her "flat" to help out. We were concerned about the condition of the said flat but we took her up on it. The flat was luxurious. We couldn't believe it. She had just given us the keys and the address and that was it. We kept saying if this happened in the US she would run the risk of someone pulling up in  :)a UHAUL and making off.
So thats my memory of A. Not exactly what you wanted.

Haven't been myself but I know a few people who have. Their general impressions are (mixing positives and negs here): gray, oil town, a university town so not a dead place, rainy and cold, beautiful, rather far north so remote, lots of BP employees... I'll have to see if I can remember anything else!

Fact: It is the only city in Britain where the rain falls horizontally. 

It is not a cheap city. I would think you'd be looking at £500 to rent a flat.  Here is a link to the Aberdeen Property Centre. http://www.aspc.co.uk/ASPC/

What uni are you looking at? RGU or U of A?

Personally, I don't feel there are any areas to avoid but others may disagree.  Northfield and Seaton are two places that maybe fall into the stay away category, only because of people I work with have spoke bad about these places.

It's a nice overgrown town (230,000?, 3rd largest city in Scotland) that sits between two rivers - the Don and the Dee (the Dee is part of Royal Deeside - very pretty) It is fairly clean, lots of shops and restaraunts. Union Street is the main street with several shopping precincts off it. Several retail parks. A few good parks (Hazelhead and Duthie Park and numerous smaller parks).  A good beach front with cinemas, restaraunts, pool, bowling alley and amusement park. It has a very good theatre - His Majesties. It has an extremely vibrant nightlife with far too many nightclubs and bars (supposedly more per head than any other UK city). The architecture is something else. The city is known as the Granite city for reason which will become obvious as soon as you arrive. On a sunny day, one could think it is the sparkliest city in the UK.

It has a relatively good airport and one of the busiest heliports in the world. Bus service is on par with any other city. A car would be useful for getting around outside the city.

It has its share of junkies and lager louts but overall the people are friendly. It has a lot of foreigners, some due to being the oil capital of Europe but also with an influx of Asian and Polish peoples.

There are a lot of places to explore in this neck of the woods. Very pretty countryside.

They can spik a bit funnier than Edinburgh but it is a very cosmopolitan place.
If someone asks you foos yer doos? Just answer ' aye peckin' That's Hi, How are you. Fine
It is actually How are your doves (pigeons). All eating. They speak Doric  but there are really 3 different tongues that can be heard, the 'normal' Aberdonian spik, the farmer's Doric and then the fishing type and each is very distinct. I don't know a lot because I am more familiar with the softer accents further down the coast (well 1 hour drive).

I would probably live closer to Aberdeen if it weren't for connections down the road. I think you will like it. Feel free to ask if there is anything else that comes to mind.

They can spik a bit funnier than Edinburgh but it is a very cosmopolitan place.
If someone asks you foos yer doos? Just answer ' aye peckin' That's Hi, How are you. Fine
It is actually How are your doves (pigeons). All eating. They speak Doric  but there are really 3 different tongues that can be heard, the 'normal' Aberdonian spik, the farmer's Doric and then the fishing type and each is very distinct. I don't know a lot because I am more familiar with the softer accents further down the coast (well 1 hour drive).

And 'furryboots' is 'whereabouts'!
I like Aberdeen.
I know lots of guys in the bank who were transferred up there and really enjoyed their time there.  And as Bob says, on a sunny day, when the granite is sparkling, it's really pretty.

I thought it sucked.

My husband did, too.

Sorry, but there's no way I'd move there.

My former boss grew up there, and she f*£ked off to Glasgow the moment she could and never moved back.

How far north is that?  I though Edinburgh was pretty cold & grey (then again I was there at New Years time of year).  Although I know there are lovely people who live there, of course (up Edinburgh way).  And you have to make allowances considering I was in my element in south Florida, back in the day...

I lived in Aberdeen my first three years in Scotland.. .. I did find it too grey(cos of all that granite) tooo bloody cold cos of the north sea.. and it was pretty expensive.. Least if you wanted to live in a decent area..
When i lived there i stayed in the rosemount area of aberdeen expensive but nice .. really handy to the city cenre(union st .. etc) Very handy if you work at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary etc..
So its not on my list of places to live again. 
I do love it here in Fife however.. Near to major motorways.. close enough to commute to Edinburgh.. and/or take the train in easily..

Thanks for all your suggestions! The interview is at U of A. I'm interested in going and seeing what the city is like. I fear I'll be there and it will be warm(ish) and sunny, leading to me to believe it's like that all the time! I have to admit, the gray buildings with the gray weather may be a bit too depressing for me. Are there any good places to live outside of the city that could be a little cheaper with an easy commute in (via train or bus)?

I've lived in Aberdeen for the last few years. I wouldn't put it at the top of my list of favorite cities. Yes it's gray, and it rains a lot and property is expensive. However the property boom seems to have very recently stalled so we may see a levelling off or even decrease in property prices. Some friends of ours recently sold their house after many weeks on the market, whereas usually houses sell within a week or two.

Although the weather is frequently damp and gray, when we do get nice weather boy is it ever nice. Never hot (at least not by my Texan standards), rarely humid.

If you're working at the university you may find a lot of things to get involved in, but to be honest I find it a bit of a cultural wasteland. I've recently stumbled on Scottish Culture and Tradition (www.scottishculture.org) and am taking fiddle lessons through them which has led to some other fun things. There's one main art museum and a maritime museum and a few art galleries. We get plays and musicals if you're into that sort of thing. I went to see 'Fame' at His Majesty's Theatre a couple months ago and that was great.

The best thing about Aberdeen is the surrounding countryside and the ease with which you can get out of the city. We're keen hillwalkers and it's a paradise for that. Cycling as well. Head out west of the city through Deeside and you'll find it's absolutely gorgeous.

We live about 6 miles outside of Aberdeen in Maryculter, which is really nice. It feels like living in the country but it's only a 10 minute drive from the city center. However if we had to rely on public transport to get there we'd be out of luck. Just across the river from us in Peterculter though you can get a bus directly into town, and lots of people commute. The village of Banchory, about 16 miles out of Aberdeen, is very nice and lots of people live there who work in Aberdeen. There are a number of Americans there as it's popular with the oil people.

One thing about Aberdeen that I find really frustrating is that you can't get anywhere from here directly! To go just about anywhere except Tenerife or Shetland you have to get to London, Edinburgh or Glasgow, which adds time and expense to your journey. FlyGlobeSpan were going to introduce a direct flight to Prague in November but they scrapped it.

As for restaurants, if you like Indian definitely go to Nawaabs on Summer Street. They're my favorite!

If you have any specific questions about Aberdeen feel free to ask.
Lee

It's the coldest place in the entire world.

No really.

It's the coldest place in the entire world.

No really.

It's the second coldest place in the entire world.

Really 

Then what's first? Siberia? Alaska? The (Ant)artic, in general? 

Then what's first? Siberia? Alaska? The (Ant)artic, in general? 

Inverness.

Inverness.

What with the remnants of an off shoot of the gulf stream winding its way up Loch Ness? 

I was actually thinking like the top of Mount Everest as the coldest.