This is definitely one of those things that divides locals from visitors; Edinburgh is a walker's city. I walk a mile up one way and downhill the other as part of my commute. But visitors or women in heels are not going to do that at the end of a night out, and that's also when public transport stops, all the taxis are booked, and Uber is on 3x surge pricing.
The festival makes this worse; the city as a whole becomes overbooked.
But the gentrification wave is heading into Leith. You can practically watch it progressing down Leith walk. I suppose the giveaway will be when someone builds a luxury hotel in the old dockyards.
In most of Scotland, I would agree, but in Edinburgh where the typical low in the dead of winter above freezing, the < 2 miles from Leith to Old Town isn't that bad.
The festival makes this worse; the city as a whole becomes overbooked.
But the gentrification wave is heading into Leith. You can practically watch it progressing down Leith walk. I suppose the giveaway will be when someone builds a luxury hotel in the old dockyards.