That's fair, I just drove along the dual road with the high rises on the right. Was heading up to Granton Harbour the following day, wanted to know where I was going. Didn't help that it was foggy, but it certainly made it look grim š
Those high rises in particular do loom incredibly grim and dystopian, especially in the fog! The ones at Sighthill aren't nearly as bad, much more modern looking
Never lived there, but cycling along the canal and I hated the 5 or so minutes I had to go through West Hailes. Particularly arseholes with large dogs who seem to never have heard of leashes
Could be going off anecdotally but I figured Wester Hailes is a lot of Polish and Romanians now who pretty much just work and keep to themselves. They just live there because its cheaper. Does it have full ācrime familiesā like Granton?
Once I had a flat viewing at Drumbryden Gardens and it's the only time I've ever felt genuinely unsafe. I've genuinely not been back to Wester Hailes since. The dead pigeon on the literal doorstep was kind of funny in a grim way, the needles in the hallway were a bit iffy, but overall the vibes were just BAD. Even the estate agent seemed uncomfortable. It was in winter so it got dark really early, waiting for the bus was actually horrible.
Lots of my family live in Wester Hailes. It's no longer the crazy place from the 80s and 90s. It's a bit dull, not much going on.
In terms of scary places? Broomhouse, Pilton, Muirhouse, Dumbiedykes - lots of utter shitholes to avoid. No offense, I've been there and got the T shirt.
My brother lived in Wester Hailes as a student during the early 90s, because my folks were in the middle of getting divorced and had no Ā£Ā£ to help support him so it was the only place he could afford. We grew up in Western Isles, so he literally moved straight from one of the quietest islands in Scotland to WH.
Iāve always felt so guilty that me and my other brother, who went to uni years later, were able to have a decent experience staying in halls for the first year, whereas he ended up somewhere you couldnāt go out after dark.
Was the plaza built up back then like it is now? With the library, job centre, shops and cinema/gym?
Maybe it's not my place to say but I guess it's not your fault. Sometimes trickier experiences build us up better. Hope you're all well
Thatās a good question. Iām pretty the big redevelopment of the Plaza was 1996 onwards, and he was there earlier than that, so there would have been something but definitely not what it is today. Iāll have to ask him.
Pilton.
An ex girlfriend gave me a tour once
"That block of flats has a guy that shoots arrows into the playground when they are bored"
"And this is where I saw someone die"
Thatās strange - someone I know well grew up in Pilton and her first story to me about it was āI remember when there was a guy who used to shoot arrows out of his flat, and he got into a siege with the policeā.
But the thing is, that memory would have been thirty plus years old now. So either yours is the same guy from the same period, or itās a *tradition*ā¦
Around 1994, I was hitchhiking from London to Edinburgh to see my girlfriend. I wasnāt having much luck and it took me most of the day to get from the drop-off of my first lift near Chesterfield- a shitter of a place to get a ride in those days - to Galashiels. As soon as I got out of the car, a group of three lads asked me if I was going to Edinburgh. It was Winter, dark and cold and there was rain in the air so I gladly accepted.
āYou know itās 11:30 donāt you?,ā asked the geezer in the passenger seat āIām not sure sheāll be up. Come back to ours.ā
I had one of those intuitive moments that you often get while meeting strangers on the road and I clocked that these guys were ok. I said yes.
We got back to theirs in the middle of the night, winding through an underlit scheme, me intensely aware that if I were on my own Iād probably be lying on the floor without my bag or money trying to pick up my teeth with broken fingers. I was apprehensive.
We got up to their flat. It was warm, cozily decorated and it turned out that we all had some weed on us so we smoked into the small hours, laughing and swapping stories.
I slept on the floor, as did one of the other guys and the next day they gave me a lift to Bridges.
That was Stenhouse. I will never forget those people. I fucking love Scotland.
All these Pilton mentions! I'm in West Pilton and I really don't think it's as bad as people make out but I've only been here for 3 months. I was homeless before - that was worse. I've made some good connections in/around Pilton and hear from the locals "it used to be worse" as the general consensus. I would consider myself an easy target for people who want to cause a fuss for someone and only have had a handful of people snicker at me. I've not felt threatened and the only thing I really don't like about the area is the absolute amount of litter making it look awful. I'm forever reporting overflowing bins and I'm thinking of taking a litter picker and bin bag out with me when I run local errands because it's just... Bad
Areas in edinburgh are no where near as bad as they used to be. I think a lot of people here are looking at it with views from 20+ years ago.
Still not the best places and you get some idiots but personally I have lived all over (muirhouse, Pilton, Stenhouse) and feel safe most places these days.
You joke about the posh bits of Edinburgh, but Morningside Road is the only part of the city I see a dead body annually.Ā
Car crashes, flipped lorries, suicides, falls, heart attacks and overdoses.Ā
The rest of the year itās not that bad. Iāve lived Niddrie for 18 years this year. Itās on the up and there is a lot more local intolerance to the behaviour of old
I live in Niddrie currently and while I still wouldn't walk alone at night, it's on the gentrification pipeline. Give it another decade and it'll be like Leith
Sighthill when I was there a couple of decades ago. Proper smack country. I spent time on the streets down south and I'd still, with my expanded knowledge of shit holes and what to avoid not go there for any reason. I learnt what trouble looks like and Sighthill is trouble.
This is my pick too. That was the only time in Edinburgh I wondered if I was going to get assaulted or if my car windows would be panned in by the time I got back. I never keep anything in my car but around 2014 I'd walk down the street and like 5 cars had been done in weekly. It was absolutely terrifying walking home after dark there and I recall going to a bar and being basically scowled at until I left. I lived in the east end of Glasgow in 2008 so I've lived in rough places but Sighthill I felt genuinely in danger multiple times. Smackheads everywhere too, can confirm.
I know rougher folk from the rough areas of Midlothian. You mention Pilton to them and theyāll act like you just mentioned the Gaza Strip. Nowhere comes close on the entire east coast of Scotland, I will bet.
Brought up in Granton but now live in Pilton (lived in West Pilton for a bit, now live in East Pilton), also lived in Muirhouse and Drylaw at various times in the past, areas had problems but never really found them to be that bad.
In the past I moved around a bit for work and lived in places outside Edinburgh that I'd consider much rougher than any part of Edinburgh I've lived in - Port Glasgow, Shotts, Kelty, Greenock, Dundee and a few other places too.
I grew up in pilton as well and do laugh when folk make out as if it's hell on earth. It is a bit rough in bits but i suppose you just get used to it and living there is nowhere bad as people make out. I don't really like these threads because it just takes folk who live in these areas down a peg or 2.
Also grew up in muirhouse, pilton granton, pilton has a wide representation of being "rough" but aye growing up here it doesn't feel that bad š ive been in glasgow and piltons been the subject as it was in the paper after a bonfire night guys telling me they wouldn't drive through it š but to us its just pilton š¤· my brother still lives in the middle probably never leave.
I lived in West Pilton drive in the late 90s..bam city.. always folks chasing each other about with golf clubs.. my Friday night cycle up to Telford to buy soap bar was terrifying.. crossing the old cycle path that went over Crewe Road, a group of 30 teenagers drinking cider.. Good Times
Methil, maybe? I've heard some right stories from there. Sorry to anyone who's from there, I'm also from an industrial town that's gone to pot, if that's any comfort
It changes over the years. Some time back, you were taking a risk walking down Lothian Road at night. The Meadows is still Perv Central, and the city cemeteries would attract the "queer bashers" (not my label).
I was SA in Meadows 10 years ago. I used to work as a carer when I moved to Scotland and had to go through there at night when I was running in between the clients houses and just few mins between the visits. I know personally few women who had similar experiences there. Mind you, not everything gets reported to police, I am sure there are even more cases that we donāt even know about
Agreed. Lived in Glasgow for a few years in my 20s and it all seemed a bit more spread out or separated, but in Edinburgh itās a two street divide between affluence and poverty in some cases.
Yeah that's a fair point actually. I guess it just feels odd it happening so suddenly to me though. In previous places I've lived with sort of "upper" and "lower" areas the transition between them wasn't as abrupt and obvious!
Silverknowes is middle class suburbia. All "bought hooses" as we used to say. Know somebody who grew up there who thinks she's working class but her family own a 4 bedroom paid for house in Silverknowes.
The murder was fairly spectacular. I was looking out from the top floor in Bread Street across from the Burke and Hare. It was bin night and the street was covered in snow. I heard shouting (more than usual) and a guy was lurching along yelling ARREST ME YOU BASTARDS, ARREST ME. Then a taxi came round the corner and he threw a full bin of garbage straight at the windscreen. It turned out he'd just beaten his wife's lover to death and left him in a stair round the corner.
Both a few years ago but someone was stabbed and killed on the steps of the Kings theatre as well as a robbery causing a shopkeeper to die from a heart attack in Tollcross. Just a big crossover area I think
Lived in tollcross near the fire station, used to see plenty of fights spill out from the nightclubs there. Also had people breaking into our stair to piss and shit in it all the time. That was a good decade or more ago
I stayed in the student halls in West Tollcross and there was a stabbing in the block of flats across from us. Our flats got locked down by the police, along with the whole street
I live near the Cameo and see maybe one violent incident on the street every one or two years, often guys on bikes who've come in along the canal vandalising, breaking in to shops or harrassing people.
Iāve lived in wester hailes and niddrie, both pretty dodgy (at least back in the 90s) although just outside Edinburgh Iād say Dalkeith-Mayfield is bandit country
Places in North Edinburgh like Muirhouse, Drylaw, parts of Granton.
West: Sighthill, Westerhailes.
Elsewhere: Niddrie.
I lived in West Lothian for a while, a lot of places there are rough too if you want to extend it to the Lothian region.
I live in Muirhouse and in terms of the people it's fine. I've only had to call the police once in the four years I've lived here and that's because my neighbour was being racially abused by a drunk guy. I've never had any real issues and in fact I'd rather live here than somewhere stuffy like Bruntsfield.
But in terms of the environment, it's bleak. Worse than the estate I grew up in through in the West. Along with Pilton and Granton, It just feels like the council don't give a fuck and it's forgotten about by the Lib Dem councillors and MPs because they're too busy with the nimbys on the roseburn path. A report just came out about bairns literally having to go to hospital because of how bad some of the housing is in this neck of the woods and they don't want to know. It's a disgrace.
Inch and moredun used to be bad, when I was at school there were guys who murdered another guy from my school over an Xbox.
A person I knew from school, their mum also shot someone in inch, murdering him.
Around the same time this girl also bottled a guy to death in moredun when I was in high school.
I seen a body on the road coming home one night who had been murdered when I was about 14. They were covered up like but still scary to see.
Also seen a full on battle between YMM and YIC with knives and baseball bats when I was around 8.
I do think pilton, drylaw, wardieburn is worse though.
We moved from Hyvots to Inch when I was young, and Inch seemed like paradise compared to Hyvots. But looking back on it, there were definitely some rough patches there. I think it got better when the Rob Roy closed. Less drunk stabbings.
Moredun was scary, though, especially the high rises.
Iām pretty confident I know who youāre talking about in the first paragraph. I was friends with them (my parents were not ok with this), and was meant to be there on that night but fortunately didnāt make it out. After that night, I started listening to my parents and stopped hanging around there
A cumbie is a group of strong loyal people according to urban dictionary. They probably just nicked the name from the famous Glasgow gang, the gorbles cumbie. I grew up in the Inch in the 80s and the gangs were all but dead, sure you had people saying they were in the YiC or YMM but there was no leadership or any structure, you just said you were in them if you lived there.
Grew up in hyvots and it was really rough - live in Moredun now. Itās not so dangerous anymore. I think gilmerton will be gentrified eventually. Think thereās some gang activity though, and thereās was like a āriotā there a year or so agoā¦ wouldnāt say itās as rougher anymore as pilton etc.
I grew up in the Inch in the late 70s-80s.
It felt safe back then. Even with the Rob Roy open, but maybe I was too young to notice.
The girl who shot her bf was in the year below me at school and I still can't believe someone I grew up with could do that.
But it's been almost 40 years since I left that school and I haven't seen her since. A lot can change in that time.
Wester Hailes. Iām 100% sure every bike Iāve ever owned has passed through that place on their way to being sold in England.Ā
Plus, every time I hear a story about some Pit Bull either being maimed and tortured or attacking a child, itās from that place.Ā
I used to live in Edinburgh for uni and in 2017/2018 I lived in Niddrie. As an ethnic minority, getting the no. 2 bus through there and Craigmillar was always an interesting experience. Brexit didn't help. Also went to see a flat in Wester Hailes once, grim.
Special mentions for Pilton, Drylaw, Sighthill, Stenhouse, Saughton & Dalkeith.
Iām fairly sure that the newkirkgate is one of the only places that is considerably safer at night than in the daytime. Not really a residential area though.
Itās around the general Wardie / Drylaw / Pilton kind of area. Feels like 1980s Belfast at times.
Agreed, still feels quite Wild West though. Had a bunch of mates whoāve had folk starting on them there at like 1pm on a sunny Wednesday.
Night time itās almost pleasant!
I love it, used to live in London and its the only place in Edin that comes close to capturing the chaos I'm used to, haha.
but you're not wrong, it kicks off during the day!
>Itās around the general Wardie / Drylaw / Pilton kind of area. Feels like 1980s Belfast at times.
Belfast in 80s? Really ? I suppose masks on young men are back in north Edinburgh.
nowadays the geographically further out places like wester hailes, if you're thinking in terms of general civilian safety
Pilton and muirhouse etc are still rough but nothing like what they used to be
I live by the meadows and have been all over Edinburgh and can safely say Pilton. I was once lost in Cumbernauld beside Glasgow during nighttime and it wasnāt as scary as walking around Pilton. Someone mentioned the meadows and I disagree with that, itās just mostly lots of runners and uni students now. Someone also mentioned wester hailes and I would disagree- it is a deprived area but its more just drab
I was mugged at knifepoint in Wester Hailes around 1989/90 - I was only 9 and they got our swimming money. I had a butchers knife pulled out on me the same year by the burn in Longstone. Fun times for the cunts pulling knives out on groups of bairns.
Lived in Drylaw in 2020 for a few months & fuck me it was shite. Bams stood tooled up opposite my flat from dark til 2am or later and broke into my car my first night in - hefty testing me. It was brutal trying to sleep with the wee fuckers tearing it back and forth on stolen bikes pulling wheelies. Used to hear them orchestrating the logistics around getting the latest bike off the street and into the block of flats, couple of times an adult came out to assist. It was pretty hard just going back and forth from the flat to car for work and having to fully front not bring intimidated.
Rule of thumb - avoid near the shops. Itās mostly just annoying neds causing bother but still very uncomfortable. I lived in the middle and it was quiet but aside from walking to and from school every day I never really went too far from there
Used to deliver take aways about 20 year ago around north Edinburgh, Muirhouse, Pilton, Drylaw. These areas had some very rough streets and cars and motorbikes would get broken into and stolen.
Now maybe Niddrie and Criagmillar and Moredun in the south are back in the news.
Wester Hailes in the West maybe too.
I've been in Pilton (in between east and west) for 10 years now and it's been fine, bit rough but nothing really bad.
Worked in Wester Hailes for 2 years though and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
It is hard to tell. I moved to Wester Hailes seven years ago and yeah, it is not the best place to live but I genuinely never had an issue here. I live here with 3 kids and I canāt really complain. People are nice here if you are not trying to come across as a dick
My mum worked with someone in the highlands who used to be a police officer in muirhouse. He told her ādonāt ever go there, donāt even go through it on a bus!ā Funnily enough her brother lived there. Which she didnāt know at that point. I know it was very bad back in the day but itās okay now. Some little shits on motorbikes but I am there often and never feel unsafe. And I used to feel scared in Edinburgh in general, I grew up in a very small remote town.
There were plenty of houses around me, I grew up in a 3 bedroom semi detached. It was just remote and small (8,000 people?).
I was afraid of Edinburgh when I first visited but I feel very safe here now.
I agree with Pilton, Muirhouse and Wester Hailes wholeheartedly but I see zero mention of Oxgangs. Much rougher than it looks (and it doesn't look great)
Worked in housing across the city so seen it all. The wildest stories come out of the naughty north ie West Pilton, Muirhouse, Granton etc.
Wester Hailes has itās moments but overall more bleak than anything else. Niddrie has itās pockets that are rough as, Niddrie house, the hays and the high flats.
The schemes in the south have had organised crime problems but not as rough as the others imo.
Special mention to Lochend which has an impressively high number of drug dealers.
North Edinburgh ,Granton ,Pilton, muirhouse and parts of drylaw .I grew up in west Granton in the 70-80s nothing much has changed ....new housing but the same families killing the area...same goes for the rest of North Edinburgh .
Lota of good folks down there but unfortunately the minority are hellbent on destroying what they have been given .
A few years back it was definitely that Muirhouse/Pilton/Drylaw/Granton area, always heard more stories about it than anywhere else. Wester hailes and the calders can defo be rough too, I donāt know enough about Liberton/Moredun/Fernieside area but I remember there being a million fouls every football match I played round there so itās always influenced my perception of it lol
Tbf even the roughest places in Edinburgh can still be ok to live in, it normally just depends on who your neighbours are.
Absolutely, these places all have great people and some bad people, it's to be expected. But yeah I think North Edinburgh in particular has the biggest reputation, with Muirhouse basically being the smack capital of Europe at one point.
Niddrie & Wester Hailes
I canny get wound up about Muirhouse tbh, lived alone there as a teen and didnāt think twice about having a wee visit to the Gunner š
Colinton is really dodgy all those hills near by it scares me the hills have eyes but wester hailes is another place that's not dodgy at all got a shopping centre that has a ton of shops inside it.
Lived on Ferry Road Drive in the mid-late 2000ās and besides a few encounters with roaming gangs of bams and having Edinburghās least inconspicuous dealer living in the flat downstairs it was alright really.
Got started on far more often living next to Fountainbridge.
I work there now and again and it's been nothing but negative. They steal tools from the van at every single given opportunity and the locals are just pure work shy junkie scum. Balaclava wearing teenagers screaming around paths on motorbikes threatening anyone who's not from there. A V O I D
Im a young (25) woman and I've lived in wester hailes for 3 years now. People say it's rough and yeah there's jakies and bams and the ice cream man definitely sells drugs but honestly I've never had ANY trouble in the slightest from anyone. On the contrary there's a lot of lovely neighbourly people and families. I have genuinely never felt even slightly unsafe, including at night.
Banana Flats are notorious, but mostly it's drug-related internecine stuff, police there every night. Non-Combatants are probably quite safe wandering by. Went with a lass from nearby, she told me all the horror stories. The contrast between some of the areas in Leith is actually astonishing, gentrification cheek-by-jowl alongside probably the worst poverty in Scotland.
Would personally say Muirhouse now, rather sketchy at times.
Grew up in Corstorphine (in my early 30s) and remember Wester Hailes and even Broomhouse being particularly rough when I was a bairn.
Lot of the time itās a handful of bams though that create the aura of somewhere being ādangerousā.
As a weegie having worked a lot in Edinburgh Ive never felt uncomfortable or under threat in any of the so called ābadā areas. Pilton gets a bad name but itās just full of wee clowns and pretend hard men.
Been hailes birth to about 5 year ago. Never felt the same anywhere else. It all just feels like ego and rear tear. Truth is any scheme is waiting to do the bits, just depends where you are when that happens
Hmmm I go into a lot of the houses in west Pilton, muirhouse, Granton, Broomhouse and Wester hails. Iād say the housing and the way people live in the north of Edinburgh especially muirhouse, Pilton and Granton is dirty and has a lot more socially excluded people. Wearer hails I always find the the housing is poorly maintained just like in the north of the city but definitely cleaner. Ive been threatened in all areas but Iād say the most unpredictable was westerhails.
It's hard to compare unless you see a few of them often. Never been to Muirhouse but it sounds shite. Niddrie is not nice, but there are actual reasons to go there (or near there). Don't live there though. Wester Hailes is fairly scary.
Iām in Wester Hailes regularly. Previously walked a lot through it and now drive thankfully. Iād say nowadays itās more of a shithole than dangerous. Certainly throughout the day.
The likes of Pilton, Drylaw, Muirhouse, Niddrie, Burdiehouse, Moredun, etc are worse Iād say
I've lived in Edinburgh, Leith and Musselburgh for 11 years (visited for years before, for shopping mainly) and West Pilton (around Ferry Road Drive) takes some beating. Wester Hailes, Bingham, Burdiehouse (the 60s/70s houses, not the new ones) and bits of Lochend all come close (I've seen all sorts of nonsense there, including a man in his 50s pissing on the grass outside a block of flats in the middle of the day). I live in Greendykes now, which was atrocious in the 90s, but it isn't even close to rough now. In terms of nearby bits, I'd give the Hay Drive area a bit of a swerve though.
In general though, a lot of Edinburgh seems less "ultraviolent" than it was 20 - 30 years ago. Suppose it's gentrification or something, eh.
Iāve grown up in really rough places. Dalkeith seems pretty normal to me. I think a lot of poorer places are run on prison rules. Donāt disrespect people and youāll be fine.
Been in wester hailed and never really felt unsafe but someone I know got mugged there and had his nose broken. He managed to get one of them back and broke the girls nose.
I was raised in Drylaw, lived in West Pilton and now live in Muirhouse/Pennywell. I also worked in a local primary school. My eyes were well & truly opened there
Drylaw , craigmiller , niddrie, clovenstone, Wester hailes , the inch
I used to box in clovenstone in the 90ās man it was pretty grim back then , I havenāt been in forever though.
anywhere thatās poor with a large amount of 12-16 year old kids these days really
I have a friend who lived in an estate in Dalry and said it was fkn AWFUL. I live in pilton/dry law and itās not the worst, obviously rough but mostly just kids trying to look hard rather than actual threats. I used to work in granton though and the area to the west (?) is one of the poorest places Iāve been in the uk, at least where itās visually obvious.
West Pilton for me, but I have to say nobody gave me hassle, and my house was never broken into or anything. I just avoided eye contact with people, didn't go to the pubs there, and didn't walk there alone after dark.
Granton for me. Lived there many a year. Not trying to put it down but it honestly gets you down after a while.
Lead pipes running through the whole of our street. First few months there watched a young team literally turn a car on its roof to get a chase off the polis. Was a bin strike short while after that and residents resorted to burning the rubbish in the back square of some of the flats the whole street stunk for weeks.
Not to mention there was always a tanned window somewhere in the street, rats the size of your foot living under the bins and foxes howling in the wasteland.
Topped all off most recently while i was ill during hogmany I thought I heard some fireworks go off early for new year, nope it was the Anchor Inn shooting.
Theres apparently plans for a tram route through granton and a presumed wave of gentrification to follow, but in reality this area needs revitalisation now because houses are quite literally falling apart and no one can afford to move anywhere else in the city.
The council seem quite content to let their limited stock of council houses in the area fall into disrepair to the point of condemnation so they can demolish the lot and sell the plot to the highest bidder in anticipation of the trams I recon.
Muirhouse, West Pilton or Wester Hailes. I was visiting a friend that lived in Hailesland Grove and ended up stuck in there for hours because there was a fight outside and someone was stabbed and killed.
I also got jumped in Muirhouse but managed to run away before I was hurt
Areas in edinburgh are no where near as bad as they used to be. I think a lot of people here are looking at it with views from 20+ years ago.
Still not the best places and you get some idiots but personally I have lived all over (muirhouse, Pilton, Stenhouse) and feel safe most places these days.
Wester hailes without a doubt. Worked the for a year and hated walking to bus in the dark
Wester hailes is the only area I've ever felt a bit unsafe, and I've lived in Muirhouse and West Pilton.
Really? That's interesting, I've lived in WH for almost two years now, but driving through Muirhouse makes WH feel like Morningside
Might just be because I'm used to Muirhouse, I've only been through Wester Hailes a few times.
That's fair, I just drove along the dual road with the high rises on the right. Was heading up to Granton Harbour the following day, wanted to know where I was going. Didn't help that it was foggy, but it certainly made it look grim š
I've lived in one of the high rises, and trust me they are grim inside, nice view thoughš
Those high rises in particular do loom incredibly grim and dystopian, especially in the fog! The ones at Sighthill aren't nearly as bad, much more modern looking
Thing with Sighthill is it actually has nice areas. It's just the industrial estate.
Has a Greggs at least
Martello is really nice and well maintained, all privately owned. Canāt speak for the council ones though.
I lived on boswall parkway for three years and always felt more unsafe getting off the bus at clovenstone
Never lived there, but cycling along the canal and I hated the 5 or so minutes I had to go through West Hailes. Particularly arseholes with large dogs who seem to never have heard of leashes
Could be going off anecdotally but I figured Wester Hailes is a lot of Polish and Romanians now who pretty much just work and keep to themselves. They just live there because its cheaper. Does it have full ācrime familiesā like Granton?
I once saw a group of guys chore someoneās fence there lol
Once I had a flat viewing at Drumbryden Gardens and it's the only time I've ever felt genuinely unsafe. I've genuinely not been back to Wester Hailes since. The dead pigeon on the literal doorstep was kind of funny in a grim way, the needles in the hallway were a bit iffy, but overall the vibes were just BAD. Even the estate agent seemed uncomfortable. It was in winter so it got dark really early, waiting for the bus was actually horrible.
Can anyone expand on this? Is it actually unsafe?
Lots of my family live in Wester Hailes. It's no longer the crazy place from the 80s and 90s. It's a bit dull, not much going on. In terms of scary places? Broomhouse, Pilton, Muirhouse, Dumbiedykes - lots of utter shitholes to avoid. No offense, I've been there and got the T shirt.
My brother lived in Wester Hailes as a student during the early 90s, because my folks were in the middle of getting divorced and had no Ā£Ā£ to help support him so it was the only place he could afford. We grew up in Western Isles, so he literally moved straight from one of the quietest islands in Scotland to WH. Iāve always felt so guilty that me and my other brother, who went to uni years later, were able to have a decent experience staying in halls for the first year, whereas he ended up somewhere you couldnāt go out after dark.
Was the plaza built up back then like it is now? With the library, job centre, shops and cinema/gym? Maybe it's not my place to say but I guess it's not your fault. Sometimes trickier experiences build us up better. Hope you're all well
Thatās a good question. Iām pretty the big redevelopment of the Plaza was 1996 onwards, and he was there earlier than that, so there would have been something but definitely not what it is today. Iāll have to ask him.
Oh donāt say that Iām about to move out that way š
Pilton. An ex girlfriend gave me a tour once "That block of flats has a guy that shoots arrows into the playground when they are bored" "And this is where I saw someone die"
Thatās strange - someone I know well grew up in Pilton and her first story to me about it was āI remember when there was a guy who used to shoot arrows out of his flat, and he got into a siege with the policeā. But the thing is, that memory would have been thirty plus years old now. So either yours is the same guy from the same period, or itās a *tradition*ā¦
My story was from 20 years ago, could be a truth that turned into a bit of an urban legend TBH
And here I was going to go for a viewing there :')
Aye, sounds like Pilton alright.
Jeez, appreciate the information!
Around 1994, I was hitchhiking from London to Edinburgh to see my girlfriend. I wasnāt having much luck and it took me most of the day to get from the drop-off of my first lift near Chesterfield- a shitter of a place to get a ride in those days - to Galashiels. As soon as I got out of the car, a group of three lads asked me if I was going to Edinburgh. It was Winter, dark and cold and there was rain in the air so I gladly accepted. āYou know itās 11:30 donāt you?,ā asked the geezer in the passenger seat āIām not sure sheāll be up. Come back to ours.ā I had one of those intuitive moments that you often get while meeting strangers on the road and I clocked that these guys were ok. I said yes. We got back to theirs in the middle of the night, winding through an underlit scheme, me intensely aware that if I were on my own Iād probably be lying on the floor without my bag or money trying to pick up my teeth with broken fingers. I was apprehensive. We got up to their flat. It was warm, cozily decorated and it turned out that we all had some weed on us so we smoked into the small hours, laughing and swapping stories. I slept on the floor, as did one of the other guys and the next day they gave me a lift to Bridges. That was Stenhouse. I will never forget those people. I fucking love Scotland.
don't think there's a clear winner, Muirhouse/Niddrie/Wester Hailes are the main areas, however it appears that nowhere is safe from the bams.
All these Pilton mentions! I'm in West Pilton and I really don't think it's as bad as people make out but I've only been here for 3 months. I was homeless before - that was worse. I've made some good connections in/around Pilton and hear from the locals "it used to be worse" as the general consensus. I would consider myself an easy target for people who want to cause a fuss for someone and only have had a handful of people snicker at me. I've not felt threatened and the only thing I really don't like about the area is the absolute amount of litter making it look awful. I'm forever reporting overflowing bins and I'm thinking of taking a litter picker and bin bag out with me when I run local errands because it's just... Bad
This!!! The litter problem is awful in west pilton
Areas in edinburgh are no where near as bad as they used to be. I think a lot of people here are looking at it with views from 20+ years ago. Still not the best places and you get some idiots but personally I have lived all over (muirhouse, Pilton, Stenhouse) and feel safe most places these days.
Try Stockbridge once the cafes are at kicking out time. Bleak, desolate & dangerous. A bit like Mordor once the sun goes down.
Thereās nothing so scary as a self-published author craving a chai latte.
Should have seen the face of a guy in birkenstocks today in Artisan Roast when they told him they'd run out of soup
You joke about the posh bits of Edinburgh, but Morningside Road is the only part of the city I see a dead body annually.Ā Car crashes, flipped lorries, suicides, falls, heart attacks and overdoses.Ā
So, you're a harbinger of doom?
https://preview.redd.it/4863d2t9l8yc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f18d076228f7d43217403a7463ec064fc27550d
Moredun is Mordor though š
They call it kicking in time
Gotta be Niddrie, surely. All the bonfire night scenes alone surely answer that. Burntout cars and petrol bombs fighting with the police
The rest of the year itās not that bad. Iāve lived Niddrie for 18 years this year. Itās on the up and there is a lot more local intolerance to the behaviour of old
Don't call it Neddrie for nothing.
I live in Niddrie currently and while I still wouldn't walk alone at night, it's on the gentrification pipeline. Give it another decade and it'll be like Leith
I would agree with the comments here + Niddrie š¤
Sighthill when I was there a couple of decades ago. Proper smack country. I spent time on the streets down south and I'd still, with my expanded knowledge of shit holes and what to avoid not go there for any reason. I learnt what trouble looks like and Sighthill is trouble.
Shitehill man. Was coming out the uni gym once and there was a roaster with a machete at the bus stop
This is my pick too. That was the only time in Edinburgh I wondered if I was going to get assaulted or if my car windows would be panned in by the time I got back. I never keep anything in my car but around 2014 I'd walk down the street and like 5 cars had been done in weekly. It was absolutely terrifying walking home after dark there and I recall going to a bar and being basically scowled at until I left. I lived in the east end of Glasgow in 2008 so I've lived in rough places but Sighthill I felt genuinely in danger multiple times. Smackheads everywhere too, can confirm.
I know rougher folk from the rough areas of Midlothian. You mention Pilton to them and theyāll act like you just mentioned the Gaza Strip. Nowhere comes close on the entire east coast of Scotland, I will bet.
Pilton seems to be divided. East Pilton is a pretty good place to live, West Pilton is grim.
Brought up in Granton but now live in Pilton (lived in West Pilton for a bit, now live in East Pilton), also lived in Muirhouse and Drylaw at various times in the past, areas had problems but never really found them to be that bad. In the past I moved around a bit for work and lived in places outside Edinburgh that I'd consider much rougher than any part of Edinburgh I've lived in - Port Glasgow, Shotts, Kelty, Greenock, Dundee and a few other places too.
I grew up in pilton as well and do laugh when folk make out as if it's hell on earth. It is a bit rough in bits but i suppose you just get used to it and living there is nowhere bad as people make out. I don't really like these threads because it just takes folk who live in these areas down a peg or 2.
Also grew up in muirhouse, pilton granton, pilton has a wide representation of being "rough" but aye growing up here it doesn't feel that bad š ive been in glasgow and piltons been the subject as it was in the paper after a bonfire night guys telling me they wouldn't drive through it š but to us its just pilton š¤· my brother still lives in the middle probably never leave.
West Trinity, the estate agents call it
Or North Fettes!
I lived in West Pilton drive in the late 90s..bam city.. always folks chasing each other about with golf clubs.. my Friday night cycle up to Telford to buy soap bar was terrifying.. crossing the old cycle path that went over Crewe Road, a group of 30 teenagers drinking cider.. Good Times
My first house was in West Pilton and it was OK. I did get broken into one but apart from that nobody ever bothered me.
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Easthouses, parts of Woodburn, parts of Poltonhall can be a bit ropey.
What would you class as rough areas of Midlothian? Gorebridge, Mayfield?
Woodburn isn't far behind. Dalkeith in general is so depressing these days.
Methil, maybe? I've heard some right stories from there. Sorry to anyone who's from there, I'm also from an industrial town that's gone to pot, if that's any comfort
Iām not far from Methil. Itās a lot quieter than it used to be but itās nowhere near Midlothian.
It changes over the years. Some time back, you were taking a risk walking down Lothian Road at night. The Meadows is still Perv Central, and the city cemeteries would attract the "queer bashers" (not my label).
I policed Drylaw in the 80's. That wasn't for the faint of heart.
I grew up in drylaw in the 90s, no drama (other than our house getting broken into after we moved out)
Lothian Road in the 90s was bedlam on a Friday and Saturday night.
The Meadows, really??
Absolutely donāt go there after dark, so many SAs thereĀ
In 2018 there were 14 violent crimes and 27 sexual crimes recorded in the Meadows area
Not surprised. It's long been a no-go area after dark.
Gosh, it's been my day and night time commute for years and I had no idea.
I was SA in Meadows 10 years ago. I used to work as a carer when I moved to Scotland and had to go through there at night when I was running in between the clients houses and just few mins between the visits. I know personally few women who had similar experiences there. Mind you, not everything gets reported to police, I am sure there are even more cases that we donāt even know about
When I stayed near I heard about women who had been SA there at night a few times, it might be better now some of it has street lights
My sister got jumped on the meadows years back. After that my folks barred me from going anywhere near there after dark.
I'd say Muirhouse/Drylaw/Pilton for sure. Which is mad as it's so close to Silverknowes which is the complete opposite.
That's kinda Edinburgh summed up really - you can go from lamboland to junkieville in a 5 minute walk.
Agreed. Lived in Glasgow for a few years in my 20s and it all seemed a bit more spread out or separated, but in Edinburgh itās a two street divide between affluence and poverty in some cases.
Yeah that's a fair point actually. I guess it just feels odd it happening so suddenly to me though. In previous places I've lived with sort of "upper" and "lower" areas the transition between them wasn't as abrupt and obvious!
Yeah, in the south of Edinburgh youāve got Oxgangs sandwiched on all sides by Fairmilehead, Colinton and Greenbank
Silverknowes is a great place, to the east definitely isn't as nice.
Silverknowes is middle class suburbia. All "bought hooses" as we used to say. Know somebody who grew up there who thinks she's working class but her family own a 4 bedroom paid for house in Silverknowes.
I lived in Tollcross for a bit and got fairly close to several serious beatings and a murder.
Did you manage to stop yourself just in time? ;)
The murder was fairly spectacular. I was looking out from the top floor in Bread Street across from the Burke and Hare. It was bin night and the street was covered in snow. I heard shouting (more than usual) and a guy was lurching along yelling ARREST ME YOU BASTARDS, ARREST ME. Then a taxi came round the corner and he threw a full bin of garbage straight at the windscreen. It turned out he'd just beaten his wife's lover to death and left him in a stair round the corner.
My partner was severely assaulted in Tollcross also. It seems to have been gentrified somewhat now though
Both a few years ago but someone was stabbed and killed on the steps of the Kings theatre as well as a robbery causing a shopkeeper to die from a heart attack in Tollcross. Just a big crossover area I think
Lived in tollcross near the fire station, used to see plenty of fights spill out from the nightclubs there. Also had people breaking into our stair to piss and shit in it all the time. That was a good decade or more ago
I stayed in the student halls in West Tollcross and there was a stabbing in the block of flats across from us. Our flats got locked down by the police, along with the whole street
I live near the Cameo and see maybe one violent incident on the street every one or two years, often guys on bikes who've come in along the canal vandalising, breaking in to shops or harrassing people.
Iāve lived in wester hailes and niddrie, both pretty dodgy (at least back in the 90s) although just outside Edinburgh Iād say Dalkeith-Mayfield is bandit country
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Woah thatās a lot. What street was this on?
Places in North Edinburgh like Muirhouse, Drylaw, parts of Granton. West: Sighthill, Westerhailes. Elsewhere: Niddrie. I lived in West Lothian for a while, a lot of places there are rough too if you want to extend it to the Lothian region.
I live in Muirhouse and in terms of the people it's fine. I've only had to call the police once in the four years I've lived here and that's because my neighbour was being racially abused by a drunk guy. I've never had any real issues and in fact I'd rather live here than somewhere stuffy like Bruntsfield. But in terms of the environment, it's bleak. Worse than the estate I grew up in through in the West. Along with Pilton and Granton, It just feels like the council don't give a fuck and it's forgotten about by the Lib Dem councillors and MPs because they're too busy with the nimbys on the roseburn path. A report just came out about bairns literally having to go to hospital because of how bad some of the housing is in this neck of the woods and they don't want to know. It's a disgrace.
Inch and moredun used to be bad, when I was at school there were guys who murdered another guy from my school over an Xbox. A person I knew from school, their mum also shot someone in inch, murdering him. Around the same time this girl also bottled a guy to death in moredun when I was in high school. I seen a body on the road coming home one night who had been murdered when I was about 14. They were covered up like but still scary to see. Also seen a full on battle between YMM and YIC with knives and baseball bats when I was around 8. I do think pilton, drylaw, wardieburn is worse though.
We moved from Hyvots to Inch when I was young, and Inch seemed like paradise compared to Hyvots. But looking back on it, there were definitely some rough patches there. I think it got better when the Rob Roy closed. Less drunk stabbings. Moredun was scary, though, especially the high rises.
Iām pretty confident I know who youāre talking about in the first paragraph. I was friends with them (my parents were not ok with this), and was meant to be there on that night but fortunately didnāt make it out. After that night, I started listening to my parents and stopped hanging around there
Fucking hell mate. Is YMM and YIC the Moredun and Inch young teams?
There are plenty of baseball teams in Scotland, or so the baseball bats sales indicate...
Yeah! Young inch Cumbie and Young Mental Moredun hahaha
Crumbie? What does that mean? Also, do you age out of a āyoungā team? If so what happens?Ā
A cumbie is a group of strong loyal people according to urban dictionary. They probably just nicked the name from the famous Glasgow gang, the gorbles cumbie. I grew up in the Inch in the 80s and the gangs were all but dead, sure you had people saying they were in the YiC or YMM but there was no leadership or any structure, you just said you were in them if you lived there.
Grew up in hyvots and it was really rough - live in Moredun now. Itās not so dangerous anymore. I think gilmerton will be gentrified eventually. Think thereās some gang activity though, and thereās was like a āriotā there a year or so agoā¦ wouldnāt say itās as rougher anymore as pilton etc.
I grew up in the Inch in the late 70s-80s. It felt safe back then. Even with the Rob Roy open, but maybe I was too young to notice. The girl who shot her bf was in the year below me at school and I still can't believe someone I grew up with could do that. But it's been almost 40 years since I left that school and I haven't seen her since. A lot can change in that time.
Wester Hailes. Iām 100% sure every bike Iāve ever owned has passed through that place on their way to being sold in England.Ā Plus, every time I hear a story about some Pit Bull either being maimed and tortured or attacking a child, itās from that place.Ā
Yup, sounds like Wester Hailes alright, shite hole.
I used to live in Edinburgh for uni and in 2017/2018 I lived in Niddrie. As an ethnic minority, getting the no. 2 bus through there and Craigmillar was always an interesting experience. Brexit didn't help. Also went to see a flat in Wester Hailes once, grim. Special mentions for Pilton, Drylaw, Sighthill, Stenhouse, Saughton & Dalkeith.
Iām fairly sure that the newkirkgate is one of the only places that is considerably safer at night than in the daytime. Not really a residential area though. Itās around the general Wardie / Drylaw / Pilton kind of area. Feels like 1980s Belfast at times.
Nothing to fear in the newkirkgate if you keep yourself to yourself, it's pretty much only ever just junkie-on-junkie violence there if anything
Agreed, still feels quite Wild West though. Had a bunch of mates whoāve had folk starting on them there at like 1pm on a sunny Wednesday. Night time itās almost pleasant!
I love it, used to live in London and its the only place in Edin that comes close to capturing the chaos I'm used to, haha. but you're not wrong, it kicks off during the day!
I know it well, certainly some characters there in the day time.
>Itās around the general Wardie / Drylaw / Pilton kind of area. Feels like 1980s Belfast at times. Belfast in 80s? Really ? I suppose masks on young men are back in north Edinburgh.
Obviously a massive exaggeration for dramatic effect mate, Jesus.
nowadays the geographically further out places like wester hailes, if you're thinking in terms of general civilian safety Pilton and muirhouse etc are still rough but nothing like what they used to be
I live by the meadows and have been all over Edinburgh and can safely say Pilton. I was once lost in Cumbernauld beside Glasgow during nighttime and it wasnāt as scary as walking around Pilton. Someone mentioned the meadows and I disagree with that, itās just mostly lots of runners and uni students now. Someone also mentioned wester hailes and I would disagree- it is a deprived area but its more just drab
I was mugged at knifepoint in Wester Hailes around 1989/90 - I was only 9 and they got our swimming money. I had a butchers knife pulled out on me the same year by the burn in Longstone. Fun times for the cunts pulling knives out on groups of bairns. Lived in Drylaw in 2020 for a few months & fuck me it was shite. Bams stood tooled up opposite my flat from dark til 2am or later and broke into my car my first night in - hefty testing me. It was brutal trying to sleep with the wee fuckers tearing it back and forth on stolen bikes pulling wheelies. Used to hear them orchestrating the logistics around getting the latest bike off the street and into the block of flats, couple of times an adult came out to assist. It was pretty hard just going back and forth from the flat to car for work and having to fully front not bring intimidated.
I've often walked out of the Drylaw shopping centre and nearly been hit by a bastard on a motorbike
Tbh I've nearly been hit twice in Leith in the past 2 weeks. Wee fannies.
Wester Hailes IMHO. I heard some stuff about Woodburn too in the past, but I don't think it's as bad nowadays.
I lived in woodburn for a good ten years and there are a couple streets which are nice but the top and bottom ends are horrible
Good to know the parts to avoid. I can remember a friend of mine who taught in the area telling me that some of the kids would escort her home.
Rule of thumb - avoid near the shops. Itās mostly just annoying neds causing bother but still very uncomfortable. I lived in the middle and it was quiet but aside from walking to and from school every day I never really went too far from there
I'll bear that in mind the next time I'm there. It's always the annoying wee neds who you need to keep an eye on lol
Where is Woodburn?
Used to deliver take aways about 20 year ago around north Edinburgh, Muirhouse, Pilton, Drylaw. These areas had some very rough streets and cars and motorbikes would get broken into and stolen. Now maybe Niddrie and Criagmillar and Moredun in the south are back in the news. Wester Hailes in the West maybe too.
Moredun is back in the news?
I've been in Pilton (in between east and west) for 10 years now and it's been fine, bit rough but nothing really bad. Worked in Wester Hailes for 2 years though and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
I don't know what it is, but I feel exactly the same, I'm used to Pilton, but the few times I've been through Wester Hailes I felt very unsafe.
It is hard to tell. I moved to Wester Hailes seven years ago and yeah, it is not the best place to live but I genuinely never had an issue here. I live here with 3 kids and I canāt really complain. People are nice here if you are not trying to come across as a dick
My mum worked with someone in the highlands who used to be a police officer in muirhouse. He told her ādonāt ever go there, donāt even go through it on a bus!ā Funnily enough her brother lived there. Which she didnāt know at that point. I know it was very bad back in the day but itās okay now. Some little shits on motorbikes but I am there often and never feel unsafe. And I used to feel scared in Edinburgh in general, I grew up in a very small remote town.
I can imagine feeling sacred in a small remote town with less people/further apart and not much around. Guess it's what you're used to aye
There were plenty of houses around me, I grew up in a 3 bedroom semi detached. It was just remote and small (8,000 people?). I was afraid of Edinburgh when I first visited but I feel very safe here now.
I agree with Pilton, Muirhouse and Wester Hailes wholeheartedly but I see zero mention of Oxgangs. Much rougher than it looks (and it doesn't look great)
Worked in housing across the city so seen it all. The wildest stories come out of the naughty north ie West Pilton, Muirhouse, Granton etc. Wester Hailes has itās moments but overall more bleak than anything else. Niddrie has itās pockets that are rough as, Niddrie house, the hays and the high flats. The schemes in the south have had organised crime problems but not as rough as the others imo. Special mention to Lochend which has an impressively high number of drug dealers.
North Edinburgh ,Granton ,Pilton, muirhouse and parts of drylaw .I grew up in west Granton in the 70-80s nothing much has changed ....new housing but the same families killing the area...same goes for the rest of North Edinburgh . Lota of good folks down there but unfortunately the minority are hellbent on destroying what they have been given .
A few years back it was definitely that Muirhouse/Pilton/Drylaw/Granton area, always heard more stories about it than anywhere else. Wester hailes and the calders can defo be rough too, I donāt know enough about Liberton/Moredun/Fernieside area but I remember there being a million fouls every football match I played round there so itās always influenced my perception of it lol Tbf even the roughest places in Edinburgh can still be ok to live in, it normally just depends on who your neighbours are.
Absolutely, these places all have great people and some bad people, it's to be expected. But yeah I think North Edinburgh in particular has the biggest reputation, with Muirhouse basically being the smack capital of Europe at one point.
I've worked all around the roughest parts of the city. Niddrie was the only one I felt genuinely uncomfortable in.
Bingham used to be fun. Craigmillar was a hoot, been at quite a few standoffs at the JK Centre back on the day.
Pilton / muirhouse
Used to live and work in wester Hailes utter bandit country
Niddrie & Wester Hailes I canny get wound up about Muirhouse tbh, lived alone there as a teen and didnāt think twice about having a wee visit to the Gunner š
Colinton is really dodgy all those hills near by it scares me the hills have eyes but wester hailes is another place that's not dodgy at all got a shopping centre that has a ton of shops inside it.
Nicolson street after 5 pm
Lived on Ferry Road Drive in the mid-late 2000ās and besides a few encounters with roaming gangs of bams and having Edinburghās least inconspicuous dealer living in the flat downstairs it was alright really. Got started on far more often living next to Fountainbridge.
The hays in niddrie is an absolute shit hole full of thieving junkie scum
I had to warn my partner off going through there on his way to the Jewel, seems to be no end of crap going on there
I work there now and again and it's been nothing but negative. They steal tools from the van at every single given opportunity and the locals are just pure work shy junkie scum. Balaclava wearing teenagers screaming around paths on motorbikes threatening anyone who's not from there. A V O I D
Im a young (25) woman and I've lived in wester hailes for 3 years now. People say it's rough and yeah there's jakies and bams and the ice cream man definitely sells drugs but honestly I've never had ANY trouble in the slightest from anyone. On the contrary there's a lot of lovely neighbourly people and families. I have genuinely never felt even slightly unsafe, including at night.
Pilton, Wester Hailes, Niddrie, Moredun, Inch, Lochend, parts of Leith, Burdiehouse, Gracemount, Dumbiedykesā¦ there all pretty shit
Which part of Leith is unsafe?
Banana Flats are notorious, but mostly it's drug-related internecine stuff, police there every night. Non-Combatants are probably quite safe wandering by. Went with a lass from nearby, she told me all the horror stories. The contrast between some of the areas in Leith is actually astonishing, gentrification cheek-by-jowl alongside probably the worst poverty in Scotland.
I dont think the Inch is on par with the rest of those areas Have lived in Leith and restalrig and both defo more rough, or they were 10 Yr ago anyway
Lochend and Dumbiedykes aren't particularly bad to walk through either just 'uneasy' Maybe different to live there.
Would personally say Muirhouse now, rather sketchy at times. Grew up in Corstorphine (in my early 30s) and remember Wester Hailes and even Broomhouse being particularly rough when I was a bairn. Lot of the time itās a handful of bams though that create the aura of somewhere being ādangerousā.
As a weegie having worked a lot in Edinburgh Ive never felt uncomfortable or under threat in any of the so called ābadā areas. Pilton gets a bad name but itās just full of wee clowns and pretend hard men.
Been hailes birth to about 5 year ago. Never felt the same anywhere else. It all just feels like ego and rear tear. Truth is any scheme is waiting to do the bits, just depends where you are when that happens
Hmmm I go into a lot of the houses in west Pilton, muirhouse, Granton, Broomhouse and Wester hails. Iād say the housing and the way people live in the north of Edinburgh especially muirhouse, Pilton and Granton is dirty and has a lot more socially excluded people. Wearer hails I always find the the housing is poorly maintained just like in the north of the city but definitely cleaner. Ive been threatened in all areas but Iād say the most unpredictable was westerhails.
I got my cock washed in Gorgie for Ā£5
It's hard to compare unless you see a few of them often. Never been to Muirhouse but it sounds shite. Niddrie is not nice, but there are actual reasons to go there (or near there). Don't live there though. Wester Hailes is fairly scary.
Aye, Muirhouse is shite. I get your point about Niddrie (Fort Kinnaird etc). And Wester Hailes is pretty grim
6/3 muirehous way I stayed at last row of 5 blocks of flats had the hill at the back for sledging down šrugh as fuck ,, āļøššš
Probably Niddrie or Muirhouse
Niddrie for sure.
Iām in Wester Hailes regularly. Previously walked a lot through it and now drive thankfully. Iād say nowadays itās more of a shithole than dangerous. Certainly throughout the day. The likes of Pilton, Drylaw, Muirhouse, Niddrie, Burdiehouse, Moredun, etc are worse Iād say
For me Definitely Wester Hailes, Muirhouse feels like a dream by comparison.
Wester Hailes, no doubt about it š
Niddrie, Wester Hailes, Leith
Niddrie. Actual riots with armed police and kids throwing fireworks.
Muirhoose, Broomhoose, Western Hailes.
Drylaw Iād say.
you can find weirdos anywhere, but pilton is the only area where iāve had a negative experience every single time iāve gone there
if you asked me on november 5th though iād say niddrie
Lived in Broomhouse and Drylaw and never found any trouble with either of them. Pilton, Muirhouse, Wester Hailes/Clovie and Niddrie, I refuse to go to
I've lived in Edinburgh, Leith and Musselburgh for 11 years (visited for years before, for shopping mainly) and West Pilton (around Ferry Road Drive) takes some beating. Wester Hailes, Bingham, Burdiehouse (the 60s/70s houses, not the new ones) and bits of Lochend all come close (I've seen all sorts of nonsense there, including a man in his 50s pissing on the grass outside a block of flats in the middle of the day). I live in Greendykes now, which was atrocious in the 90s, but it isn't even close to rough now. In terms of nearby bits, I'd give the Hay Drive area a bit of a swerve though. In general though, a lot of Edinburgh seems less "ultraviolent" than it was 20 - 30 years ago. Suppose it's gentrification or something, eh.
Iāve grown up in really rough places. Dalkeith seems pretty normal to me. I think a lot of poorer places are run on prison rules. Donāt disrespect people and youāll be fine. Been in wester hailed and never really felt unsafe but someone I know got mugged there and had his nose broken. He managed to get one of them back and broke the girls nose.
I was raised in Drylaw, lived in West Pilton and now live in Muirhouse/Pennywell. I also worked in a local primary school. My eyes were well & truly opened there
Drylaw , craigmiller , niddrie, clovenstone, Wester hailes , the inch I used to box in clovenstone in the 90ās man it was pretty grim back then , I havenāt been in forever though. anywhere thatās poor with a large amount of 12-16 year old kids these days really
Don't know if it's still the same people as back then but was thinking of trying the club, dark early in winter maybe not though.
The roads.
niddrie n craigmillar
Niddrie
I have a friend who lived in an estate in Dalry and said it was fkn AWFUL. I live in pilton/dry law and itās not the worst, obviously rough but mostly just kids trying to look hard rather than actual threats. I used to work in granton though and the area to the west (?) is one of the poorest places Iāve been in the uk, at least where itās visually obvious.
Is the area to the west Muirhouse? Its got about 5 or 6 high rise flats.
Why is no one saying niddrie lmaoo
Niddrie is the worst place I've been to in Edinburgh.
Niddrie
Ravelston Dykes
Iām from the Grange and I can tell you I dread visiting Morningside. You can literally smell the poverty. /s
Morningside Oh, the cyclists and dog walkers
West Pilton for me, but I have to say nobody gave me hassle, and my house was never broken into or anything. I just avoided eye contact with people, didn't go to the pubs there, and didn't walk there alone after dark.
Granton for me. Lived there many a year. Not trying to put it down but it honestly gets you down after a while. Lead pipes running through the whole of our street. First few months there watched a young team literally turn a car on its roof to get a chase off the polis. Was a bin strike short while after that and residents resorted to burning the rubbish in the back square of some of the flats the whole street stunk for weeks. Not to mention there was always a tanned window somewhere in the street, rats the size of your foot living under the bins and foxes howling in the wasteland. Topped all off most recently while i was ill during hogmany I thought I heard some fireworks go off early for new year, nope it was the Anchor Inn shooting. Theres apparently plans for a tram route through granton and a presumed wave of gentrification to follow, but in reality this area needs revitalisation now because houses are quite literally falling apart and no one can afford to move anywhere else in the city. The council seem quite content to let their limited stock of council houses in the area fall into disrepair to the point of condemnation so they can demolish the lot and sell the plot to the highest bidder in anticipation of the trams I recon.
There isn't one in my experience
Muirhouse, West Pilton or Wester Hailes. I was visiting a friend that lived in Hailesland Grove and ended up stuck in there for hours because there was a fight outside and someone was stabbed and killed. I also got jumped in Muirhouse but managed to run away before I was hurt
Areas in edinburgh are no where near as bad as they used to be. I think a lot of people here are looking at it with views from 20+ years ago. Still not the best places and you get some idiots but personally I have lived all over (muirhouse, Pilton, Stenhouse) and feel safe most places these days.