Livingston is a town in West Lothian in Scotland. It has a population of over 63,000 people. The town is situated just 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow. Livingston is the biggest town in West Lothian. It was built as part of the New Towns Act in 1946 in an attempt to ease overcrowding in Glasgow.
Historically, Livingston's economy was centred on oil shale mining. Today a lot of employment in Livingston is generated by pharmaceutical and high technology firms. One of the largest employers within Livingston is BSkyB, which has its main call centre in the town. The retail and health sectors also provide much employment within the town of Livingston.
Livingston has a strong retail centre and is home to one of the largest shopping complexes in Scotland, the Centre, which was completed in 2008. The shopping centre has over 150 shops and eating establishments, which provide a large number of jobs within the town. Livingston Designer Outlet is another key shopping destination within the town with over 100 shops along with a cinema, restaurants and a health club.
Livingston maintains excellent transport links with the rest of the Scotland, with main roads connecting the town including the M8 and the A899. Livingston has comprehensive buses to its surrounding areas including Glasgow and Edinburgh. There are also two railway stations serving the town; Livingston North and Livingston South. The situation of Livingston is one of the reasons it has attracted good employers such as Cameron Iron works which now called wyman and Gordon one of the first big companies to settle in the town. Other well known company's such as Motorola, NEC, Sky and Gore-Tex are just some of the biggest companies to settle within Livingston.
There are many leisure facilities within the town of Livingston including a multiplex cinema and a leisure swimming pool. Livingston's town centre has many hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs which make up the town's nightlife. Livingston is a vibrant town and is a popular place to live and work in Scotland.