Aberdeen commuting

Egoodchild

Hi,

Another famous thread about Aberdeen commute...
Just moved recently here in Aberdeen, working at Altens....we are looking to buy and we are considering north deeside road, stonehaven and west end if the city.
We looked at Banchory and really liked the town but the south deeside road scares me ( time and narrow road)

What would the commute be like from Westhill?

Any other views?
There doesnt seem to be much moving going on in the house market and we are desperate to move from our rental place....

Thanks

pogofish

The very idea of commuting from Westhill to Altens and back fills me with dread. If you took the main roads, you would have to deal with several of the city's worst bottlenecks and a lot of queues each way.

And if you took the back road to Cults or Peterculter, you would still be dealing with some pretty congested narrow roads that don't have a good history for accidents - Search out "Carnie Crossroads" :eek:

Banchory would be a far better choice IMO. A far nicer town than Westhill - esp if you have young family (and I'm not just being biased cos I grew-up near there!) and the South Deeside Road is not that bad at all, apart from when you hit Aberdeen at the Bridge of Dee - Which is still not nearly as bad as the Stony or North Deeside roads, even at its worst. I live not far off SDR and use it daily.

However, the new junctions at Portlethen and Marywell mean you could leave the SDR at Blairs, then take a route to Altens that avoids the main roads altogether. Which will make life a lot easier.

missile

Commuting in Aberdeen is hardly a big problem when compared to other cities. Your best option is to go to work early to miss the traffic.

There doesnt seem to be much moving going on in the house market

I don't know how you figure that? There are lots of houses for sale close to Altens check ASPC > http://www-e.aspc.co.uk/ASPC/HomesForSale/index.html?not_bookmark=1
& perhaps you could consider the new Stewart Milne developments http://www.stewartmilnehomes.com/homes-search-results.aspx?Page=13&RegionID=1&TownID=13&HomeTypeID=0&Bedrooms=0&PriceRange=0&DevelopmentID=0

or Lethan Fields > http://www.smartnewhomes.com/development/details/The_Meadows-Bett_Homes.aspx

What type of house and what is your budget?

Egoodchild

Thanks for the replies....
You confirmed my fears with Westhill....I think my husband is now convinced that it will be too bad!
Would love to live in Banchory but we have a 1 year old and I hate thinking that I would have to drop him at 7.30am at nursery and pick him at 6pm....long days for everyone! The people who commute from Banchory to Altens that I talked to and that said commuting was fine seem to have their wives at home and not working....

We are looking for houses 4/5 bedrooms, on north deeside road....doesnt seem like much is happening that way...
Thanks for tge links for The new developments though....

missile

North Deeside Road is expensive and is horrendous for traffic at rush hour. http://www-k.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/LiveProperty/303436?ID=ACHNJOME#picture

If you are averse to traffic and want easy commute to Altens, you really should be looking south of the Dee, e.g. South Deeside Road / Leggat Terrace / Cove Bay http://www-k.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/LiveProperty/302664?ID=ACHNJOME#picture.

There is a brand new development Deeside Braes by Dandara Homes. 3, 4 and 5 bedroom homes, very nice to a high specification, but Dandara are a little pricey and may be outside your budget? http://www.dandara.com/new-houses-aberdeen/deeside-brae/summary-22072

Good luck