A UK-wide survey by the Reader's Digest magazine to find the best areas in the country to bring up a family, has placed East Dunbartonshire (pictured here) and East Renfrewshire in Scotland in the top two places, followed by the Forest of Dean and the Vale of Glamorgan in England and Wales. The report was based on questionnaires to a selection of residents plus official data, to identify counties with safe streets, strong schools, thriving towns and a strong community as well as good local hospitals and affordable family housing. The magazine used official data such as Home Office crime figures and house price data to rank each area. It's nice for two of Scotland's counties to top such a poll. Some residents in East Dunbartonshire, at the top of the table, described it as "a slice of paradise". But at the same time, the local newspaper was publishing the usual lurid headlines of muggings and assaults in Milngavie town centre in East Dunbartonshire. And house prices in both East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire are amongst the highest in Scotland.