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| Reluctant Hero |
Shetland Has Highest Quality Of LifeShetland top for quality of lifeShetland Islanders have the highest quality of life in Scotland, according to a new survey. The Bank of Scotland study said residents tended to have higher than average earnings, more chance of being employed and better health. The islands also benefited from the best education results and had a low rate of housebreaking. Aberdeenshire came in second, East Dunbartonshire was third and the Orkney Islands were fourth on the list. They were followed by East Renfrewshire, East Lothian, Scottish Borders, Midlothian, Moray and Angus. Properties in six of the top 10 quality of life areas attract a premium, selling for more than the average Scottish house price - which is £165,921. The Shetland Islands not only have the best quality of life but lower than average house prices means that householders have good value-for-money housing Martin Ellis Bank of Scotland In East Renfrewshire, the area ranked as having the fifth highest quality of life, average property prices were the highest in Scotland at £223,662. However in the Shetland Islands prices for the year up to September 2008 were 24% lower than the Scottish average. Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Bank of Scotland, said: "The Shetland Islands not only have the best quality of life but lower than average house prices means that householders have good value-for-money housing." The Shetland Islands was ranked at 109 in Great Britain for its quality of life. According to the research Elmbridge in Surrey is the area with the highest quality of life in Britain. The Quality of Life study said Shetland had the highest employment rate but the highest average earnings were in Stirling. East Renfrewshire had the most owner-occupied properties and the Western Isles had the biggest houses in Scotland. Traffic flows were lowest in the Western Isles, Highland and Argyll and Bute. The Western Isles was also lowest for housebreaking. East Lothian had the lowest average annual rainfall and Aberdeen and Dundee City had the most hours of sunshine. Life expectancy was highest in East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire and Aberdeenshire. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7743151.stm |
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| Holebender |
I found the television news coverage of this story very interesting; the BBC's Reporting Scotland said Shetland had the highest standard of living in Scotland, but then went on to emphasise that over 100 places outwith Scotland had higher scores. STV just looked at the relative figures for Scottish locations and left it at that.
Was the BBC deliberately talking Scotland down, or just reporting the big picture? |
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| Blackleaf |
It was just telling the truth.
Life in Scotland is so harsh that several places even in Northern England rank higher than the Shetland Islands. There are Third World countries with a higher life expectancy than people in many parts of Scotland have. But that's no suprise considering Scotland is a land where people consider the deep-fried pizza an example of healthy eating (but make me want to vomit at the thought), and when Scots cut down on beer they only drink 30 pints a day instead of the usual 40. If you ask a Scot to eat things like fruit and vegetables they'd probably just fry those things in loads of fatty batter. It's no wonder Scotland has Europe's highest rate of lung disease, the UK's highest rate of liver cirrhosis and the UK's highest hospital superbug infection rate. |
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| Reluctant Hero |
And despite all that, you are still in love with the place Blackleaf.....!!! |
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| William_Cleland |
Re: Shetland Has Highest Quality Of Life
This maybe should have alerted them to some serious flaws in their methodology.  I suspect they didn't factor in stuff like probability of stepping outside to be met by torrential rain combined with gale force winds, not seeing the sun for a month on end in the middle of summer and the hours of daylight being in the blink and you'll miss it sort of category in the winter. Lerwick's not bad in terms of night life at least in as far as it is possible for a town of 7000 to be not bad in terms of night life (helps if you are a bit of a redneck type basically) but if you are living on Yell, Unst, Whalsay and even in some of the remoter parts of the Mainland...
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