# Considering a move to Aberdeen



## DDW (Jan 29, 2012)

My wife and I are considering a move to Aberdeen and would appreciate any information that people can share. We currently live in Houston, and we both work for a major energy company with operations in the North Sea. 

Is Aberdeen a safe city? Are there any neighborhoods that should be avoided when we look for a house (from a safety standpoint)?

We've been struggling with living outside the city and commuting vs. living in the city and walking to work. How is the traffic in Aberdeen?

For anyone who has been to Houston, how would the cost of living in Aberdeen compare?

This is our first expat assignment, so I am probably not even thinking of other questions I should be thinking of. Any advice or guidance about Aberdeen would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.


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## teuchter (Dec 12, 2011)

DDW said:


> My wife and I are considering a move to Aberdeen and would appreciate any information that people can share. We currently live in Houston, and we both work for a major energy company with operations in the North Sea.
> 
> Is Aberdeen a safe city? Are there any neighborhoods that should be avoided when we look for a house (from a safety standpoint)?
> 
> ...


Not sure which are the current 'areas to avoid', although I'd give Torry a miss.

Aberdeen is indeed generally a safe enough city, although the usual rules of common sense which apply to city living anywhere apply equally to Aberdeen.

Traffic in Aberdeen is not so bad (although the city simply wasn't designed for the levels of traffic we see nowadays), and it's no worse than any other city, IMO - and certainly nowhere near as bad as (eg) London, Cairo, Delhi or Jakarta!  

Many people working in Aberdeen choose to live outwith the city and commute each day. Traffic during rush hours (especially mornings) is therefore especially heavy coming in from the southern commuter towns (eg Stonehaven and Portlethen); from the northwest (eg Kintore and Inverurie) and from the north (eg Ellon & Peterhead). In winter, a 20-minute journey from Ellon to Aberdeen can easily stretch to 1.5 hours or more because of heavy snowfall...this is also partly due to the fact that the road north (A90) is only single carriageway after Bridge of Don (northern periphery of the city), whereas the road south (also the A90) is completely dual carriageway.

Cost of living: some things will be cheaper (eg mobile contracts/calls; broadband; wine; utilities), while some things will be more expensive (notably, cars and the petrol (gas) to run them on; clothing).

One thing you will almost certainly struggle with initially (aside from the brutal climate and 3-4 hours of daylight in mid-winter*) is the local dialect of the Scots language spoken in Aberdeen (known as 'Doric'), which also greatly impacts the spoken English word spoken there!

_*the trade-off being of course the 20-21 hours of daylight in mid-summer 
_
Feel free to let me know if you have any more specific questions: I'd be happy to help.

teuchter


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## Jrge (Mar 22, 2011)

DDW said:


> My wife and I are considering a move to Aberdeen and would appreciate any information that people can share. We currently live in Houston, and we both work for *a major energy company* with operations in the North Sea.
> 
> This is our* first expat assignment*, so I am probably not even thinking of other questions I should be thinking of.


Energy companies normally have Expat packages already crafted and tailored to specific position(s). Some of those packages include housing, worldwide health insurance, income tax paid by employer, flights back home, car, expense account, among others. However, it wouldn't hurt to find out with HR what your package actually covers/offers. 

Congratulation y'all on this assignment! 



DDW said:


> Is Aberdeen a safe city? Are there any neighborhoods that should be avoided when we look for a house (from a safety standpoint)?
> 
> We've been struggling with living outside the city and commuting vs. living in the city and walking to work. How is the traffic in Aberdeen?
> 
> ...


I will kindly leave this to another member to help you with. Never been to Aberdeen.

Animo
(Cheers)


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