r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	meepmeep13
Comment	Well, I've spent 28 years of my 40 living in rural west Scotland, so it's born of experience - I love rural life, and am planning to move to Argyll as soon as work circumstances permit. But my superficial treatment of rural life in that post is based on experience. That is, I lived for a long while in a small hamlet of 20 houses 5 miles from the nearest village in an idyllic part of the west coast. About one third were occupied by folk who'd lived there since the houses were built, working for the Forestry Commission or Hydro. Another third were people like myself, younger and there medium-term for other work. And the final third were what we referred to as the 'fairweather' inhabitants, typically 40-somethings with families, or newly-retired, moving from the city with unrealistic Grand Designs-inspired ideas of what it would be like. We'd take sweepstakes on how long they'd last. Any given summer on average 4 houses would be on sale, and almost always the ones most recently arrived. Most would move back to suburbia after 2 winters. Some would stick it out a third, but few people who had not grown up in rural surrounds would actually stay long term. The simple fact is that the things I've listed - as well as the evil midge - do over-ride many folks' enjoyment of all the great aspects of rural life. The winter and the rain is just an absolute fucker when you don't have the amenities of a city. And I haven't mentioned the other shocks, like narrow-mindedness, xenophobia/outright racism, and lack of cultural exposure. The tales I could tell about when an Indian family moved to the village... So, yes, based on my lived experience of rural Scotland, I am absolutely expecting that a big chunk of folk who moved to rural areas of Scotland during lockdown, and have just lived through 2 depressing winters in their new rural lives, will be fleeing back to the ease and variety of choice granted by city life. Or, at the very least, to be opting for the east coast where the rain and midge is somewhat less of a concern. Not for no reason is Fife the most expensive place to buy a house in Scotland.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/u4cl4c/buying_anxiety/i50823r/
Created	Sat 16th Apr 2022 10:34pm
Status	normal ()

Well, I've spent 28 years of my 40 living in rural west Scotland, so it's born of experience - I love rural life, and am planning to move to Argyll as soon as work circumstances permit. But my superficial treatment of rural life in that post is based on experience.

That is, I lived for a long while in a small hamlet of 20 houses 5 miles from the nearest village in an idyllic part of the west coast. About one third were occupied by folk who'd lived there since the houses were built, working for the Forestry Commission or Hydro. Another third were people like myself, younger and there medium-term for other work.

And the final third were what we referred to as the 'fairweather' inhabitants, typically 40-somethings with families, or newly-retired, moving from the city with unrealistic Grand Designs-inspired ideas of what it would be like. We'd take sweepstakes on how long they'd last. Any given summer on average 4 houses would be on sale, and almost always the ones most recently arrived.

Most would move back to suburbia after 2 winters. Some would stick it out a third, but few people who had not grown up in rural surrounds would actually stay long term. The simple fact is that the things I've listed - as well as the evil midge - do over-ride many folks' enjoyment of all the great aspects of rural life. The winter and the rain is just an absolute fucker when you don't have the amenities of a city. And I haven't mentioned the other shocks, like narrow-mindedness, xenophobia/outright racism, and lack of cultural exposure. The tales I could tell about when an Indian family moved to the village...

So, yes, based on my lived experience of rural Scotland, I am absolutely expecting that a big chunk of folk who moved to rural areas of Scotland during lockdown, and have just lived through 2 depressing winters in their new rural lives, will be fleeing back to the ease and variety of choice granted by city life. Or, at the very least, to be opting for the east coast where the rain and midge is somewhat less of a concern. Not for no reason is Fife the most expensive place to buy a house in Scotland.