Moving with family to UK, What's the pro's & con's of these places?

Hello,

I'm an RN looking at working in the UK for about a year.  Will probably be working with the company Continental Travel Nurse.  They will help with my work visa, transport, housing and all of that. 

They have several options of cities/areas I can work in.  So my question is what are the pro's and con's of the following areas:  London, Oxford, Brighton, Cheltenham, Glascow, Edinburgh.

Because nurses are so in demand they will also provide a work visa for my spouse.  So jobs for him would play into our locale.  We will also be bringing our to sons, ages thirteen and ten.

Thanks in advance!

Beth

Hi Beth
 What does your husband do? (He doesn't need a work visa if you're the visa holder, he'll be a dependant and allowed to work)

No idea on any of tthose places in England, but Edinburgh and Glasgow are both lovely. Quite different from each other, but both offer a great experience. (Maybe those who live there can give you a better idea though. I just pop on the train to visit them )

Cheltenham is one of my very favourite places in the UK! Oxford is nice too.

Edinburgh is pretty much the best place ever, so for me it would be a no-brainer! Great culture, beautiful city, excellent transport, wonderful restaurants, beautiful parks, distinctive identity, but also only about 600,000 people, so all the feel and advantage of a big city without many of the worst problems of a big city. Pretty much all of those cities have a high cost of living, but Scotland is overall cheaper than the south of England. Given my choice of all those cities I wouldn't even think twice!

Those are ALL good locations.

I lived in Brighton for 6 months, and it was WAY too small for me, because I am from Manhattan... so I hated it, and we moved to London, which I love.

But, that said, I think if I had kids, I might have loved being in Brighton.

All the parents I know in Brighton LOVE being there because it is VERY kid friendly.
Well, that is what they say, "Very Kid Friendly."

And, there are direct trains from Brighton to London, which are a bit expensive, but run all the time, and do not take that long at all. About an hour, I think?

The rent we paid in Brighton is the SAME as the rent we pay in South London, Zone 3, so, do not be fooled into thinking that Brighton is cheap - because it is NOT cheap. People call Brighton "London by the Sea" but the only thing I found that was London-Like were the prices of everything! Even eating out is expensive there, because most stuff is geared towards tourists. It is "London Prices By The Sea."

But, Brighton IS very pretty.

They have several options of cities/areas I can work in.  So my question is what are the pro's and con's of the following areas:  London, Oxford, Brighton, Cheltenham, Glascow, Edinburgh.

While I like to visit London, I lived there for 4 years and found it to be a place that's difficult to enjoy if you don't have money.  I didn't have enough money to be able to live in an area I liked, and to do the things I wanted to do.  Your mileage may vary!  

I've only visited Brighton, but I loved it from a visitors POV and would go back again any time... good pubs and lots of lovely unique shops and restaurants.

Edinburgh:  I worked there for 8 years, living just outside of town, and living in town for 1 year.  I dunno... someone mentioned 'great transport' for Edinburgh, but I found the transport to be terrible.  Buses... that's all they've got, basically.  And I hated being in Edinburgh during the Festival... too crowded and manic.  But yes, it is beautiful.

Glasgow:  I've lived here for most of my adult life, and it's where I plan to stay.  It's not beautiful, although it does have a certain slightly grubby charm, dotted by some magnificent architecture.  But it is very liveable, with what I would consider to be great transport... buses, trains, and a subway/underground system.

Good luck with your decision... choosing a location depends a lot on your personal preferences and what's important to you.

Brighton has insanely high unemployment.

That is a fact - look it up.

Unless someone is in their 20's and looking for pub work, or shop clerk work, there is not much going on in the way of employment. The university jobs there are on lockdown.

A lot of people who live there commute to London every day for work! Many people that I met do something 'freelance' for a living, and most of their clients are NOT in Brighton, they are in London.

I mean, yeah, it is a recession and all, and it is hard all over right now, but Brighton has like... No jobs.

I was in Brighton for 6 months, and the job market was horrid, and I could NOT get a decent paying job. (And I am what would be considered 'highly qualified' with a number of academic degrees, and a great work history.)

So, we moved to London, and 3 days after applying to jobs, I had 5 interviews, for very well paid positions, and I was hired for one of them the following week.

Big difference.

In Brighton, I applied for every 'professional' job that I could find (there were not many of them), for about 4 months, and eventually I started applying to everything listed, and I got ONE interview, for a job in a call centre, paying like 7 per hour. The call centre, which was a Last Resort for me, was the largest employer in Brighton.

So, the non-existent job market was the main reason we left Brighton.

I don't know what your husband does, but you might want to keep this in mind...

I mean, I am sure there are people on the planet who had a very different experience in Brighton... But, that was my experience in Brighton. It is a recent experience... We left Brighton about 3 months ago.

Can't help with the Scottish cities, but here's my take on the English ones.

London: Cons: crowded, busy, dirty, lots of tourists.  Some would say its a bit soul-less (although others will disagree strongly with this).  I have traveled a lot around England and London is my least favourite place.
Pros: public transportation, a lot of different cultures, never a shortage of places to eat/drink/shop/spend days out (museums, etc)

Oxford: Pros: Beautiful, historical.  Cons: Student orriented (if that is a con?)

Brighton: Cons: can be a bit "edgy" for some. Lots of annoying party-goers (stag/hen nights) at the weekend. I find it a bit "seedy" in some places, but I'm sure that is the same for most places. Pros: Seaside, great "vibe", lots of nice outdoor spaces, the best shops!

Cheltenham: Pros: My fav place in all of England. There is a wonderful feeling about Cheltenham and I dont exactly know why, but I really love it. And the best wine bar in all the world is in Cheltenham  Cons: Far-ish from the major airports.

Well, Edinburgh has great transport compared to most of the rest of Scotland and certainly most of the US! I've been using the buses a lot now that I'm commuting down from Fife, and I think they're pretty good. There are trains as well, and there's also the tram eventually coming in, but I don't think that's going to be all that useful. Festival time is mad, but I'll take Edinburgh in the middle of August to Glasgow any day of the year. I can't stand the place and avoid it like the plague to be honest. East coast all the way for me! 

 

Yeah, on second thought... all you Glasgow-haters out there are right!  God in Govan, how could I have got it *so* wrong for all these years?!  Thinking that it was a fun, friendly, vibrant place to live with good shopping, transport, pubs and restaurants?  WTH is wrong with me?!   The West End?  What a pit, man!

Please, people... I take it all back... DON'T COME TO GLASGOW!  It's awful; you'll  hate it.  My friends and I will just stay here in penance for our manifold sins and wickedness, and suffer Glasgow ourselves... it would be wrong to inflict it on anyone else.

 

(in saying that, though... there ARE some really BAD areas in Glasgow, so if you do end up here, choose your area carefully!!)

Edinburgh: The best English city in Scotland.

Glasgow is where it is at.

I think my Edinburgh-born husband and in-laws would take extreme umbrage to that! The English city in Scotland is St. Andrews!

Glasgow is definitely where it is at though. The worst crime, violence, drug abuse, life expectancy, poverty rates, sectarianism... You don't get highest teen pregnancy rates though, that's Dundee's

Out of those choices, I'd pick Glasgow or Brighton.

London - I'm not a big city person. Great place to visit, wouldn't want to live there.

I've never been to Oxford, Brighton, or Cheltenham.  However, my completely unscientific & probably unfounded opinion of Oxford & Cheltenham is that they would be too posh for my tastes.  I'd give Brighton a go, however, as you might get better weather & I'm all for that! 

Edinburgh, I liked as a tourist - however, it felt like I was in <insert any mid-sized European city> rather than like I was really in Scotland.  Everyone seemed to be from somewhere else - and mostly from London!

I loved Glasgow, however - you know you're in Scotland when you're in Glasgow, so it gets +100 for that alone.  It has such a gritty, working class charm to it, great architecture, good craic -- pretty much ticked all my boxes.  If I had to live somewhere other than Leeds, Glasgow would rank right up there among the top choices! 

my completely unscientific & probably unfounded opinion of Oxford & Cheltenham is that they would be too posh

You say that like it's a bad thing. 

Seriously though, Cheltenham is absolutely gorgeous. I have a thing for spa towns anyway, but it's a particularly lovely one. And there's the added bonus of having Cooking the Books there - an amazing cookbook shop with loads of second hand ones. I could spend days in that place.

I've been to London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Oxford.  And after the glowing reviews I will definitely be going to Cheltenham sometime soon!  I'd pick either Edinburgh or Oxford.  Both beautiful, old, distinguished cities.  London I love to visit, but I wouldn't live there unless I were really, really rich and didn't have to stay all year.  Glasgow I hope I never have the cursed misfortune to set foot in again  .