By the end of the 18th Century many of the population saw the need to move on. Based on a grid pattern designed by James Craig, the New Town began to spring up on the other side of the Nor' Loch. It was an attempt to create a rational, scientific means of expanding the city. The loch was drained and bridged, and is now known as Princes Street Gardens.
The nobility and new mercantile class deserted the Old Town and distanced themselves from the masses, who in turn moved into the vacated high risers of the Royal Mile.
In amongst the glorious buildings grew more than a new town - it was a place of new ideas and new ideals. The Enlightenment brought great minds to the city. And with an advert like this from David Hume in 1771, who could resist the charms of Edinburgh?
"I charge you not to think of settling in London 'til you have first see our New Town which exceeds anything you have seen in any part of the world"
The rest as they say, is history. The New Town thrived, those in the Old Town carried on with business and the city grew around them, expanding and taking in the surrounding villages - creating the city we know now.
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