John O'Connor

John O'Connor who describes himself as 'over 50' has lived in Inverness for 35 years and just so happens to be a Laird! I feel rather privileged at being able to chat with a member of the Scottish Gentry to find out his views on the city.

"I certainly love living in Iverness. I fell in love with the towns and the countryside. I moved here from Edinburgh when I was in my teens because it just got too big! Originally when my family moved here it was Old Inverness Town which was the town centre here and Old Culloden. That was it. But because of tourism and an influx of people moving to Inverness it's got a lot bigger.

I've definitely seen a lot of changes in my 35 years here, especially regarding businesses and retail. They've grown immensely. If you look at the retail parks, when I first came here, they were fields! There was a pub and that was it!I definitely see this kind of growth as a positive change. The businesses have grown in Inverness over the last 20 years, I would say, for the good.

For the future, I would love to see more businesses opening up around the city centre. Sometimes, I feel like when you look around the city centre, all there is are pubs and charity shops!

I've raised a family in Inverness. My son's still here and my daughter's in Edinburgh. It's a great place to raise a family. I would say that the education here is the best in Scotland because of the teachers and the facilities in the Highlands from rural to semi rural to city centre here. I'm not moving anymore. I can't move! I've got too much land here!"