Channel 4's flagship property programme Location, Location, Location has rated Edinburgh this year's top place to live in the UK last night.
The programme rated towns and cities based on six criteria: crime, education, environment, lifestyle, health, and employment levels. East Dumbartonshire as 11th best was the only other Scottish location to feature in either the top 20 or the worst 20 places to live. Middlesbrough was declared the "worst place in Britain to live" by the programme.
The programme focused more on life in the Old Town and New Town, in particular Edinburgh's conservation status as a UNESCO World Heritage site with "the highest concentration of listed buildings in the UK."
It also cited Edinburgh's rich cultural life, low unemployment, the Edinburgh festival, and (this may be a surprise to some here) affordability of homes.
"What makes it even more a winner is that the typical house goes for just £205,000! That’s £5,000 below the UK average, " said hosts of the show Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer, adding it's also half the cost of a house in London.
The Channel 4 web site for the competition also cites an Old Town development as an added pull in Edinburgh's favour.
"A £20 million regeneration programme announced in June 2007 will
see a series of rundown buildings between the Royal Mile and Market
Street transformed into a brand new quarter, set to include 80 flats
and a budget hotel. Locals aren't pleased, but if you're planning to move, you could snap
up some brand new housing in the picturesque heart of the city."
Could they be talking about the Caltongate project, a £300 million development which will see 200 new homes, a new arts quarter, and a 5-star hotel with conference centre built in the area between the Royal Mile and Market Street?