Why is Edinburgh so great for writing?

hey this blogging is seriously addictive, especially after 1/2 bottle of red wine.
Well has anyone considered why Edinburgh is full of excellent writers at the moment? Is it something in the water? Perhaps we should all go there and inhale deeply. I have to tell you, having been a student there for four years, inhaling deeply between the months of October and February will probably result in a lung transplant. The air is seriously cold. Having grown up in the far north of Scotland, a good 150 miles further north, I tell you this was tropical compared to Edinburgh. The wind howls off the N sea and funnels down these grand Georgian boulevards straight into your ears. I put a wooly hat on in October and didn't take it off again till the spring. And on the subject of those beautful Georgian buildings and being a student; when you can't afford to heat them, and when the university only supplies meagre two bar fires whose measly heat shoots straight up 20 feet to heat the ceiling - well.. no wonder we spent so much time in the pub.
One student flat had overseas students from N Africa - they took to bed in November and did not get up again, they could not bear it. Come spring they went home, or perhaps went to England - Edinburgh is not for those who are used to heat.
I assume these writers have central heating becuase I personally can't bear writing in the cold. I have to have lots of jumpers on, thick socks, and preferably a heater blazing close enough to give me mild burns. A couple of cats are useful, but mine will insist on sitting on the keyboard. Apart from the somewhat erratic spelling that ensues, I hate the cat hairs between the keys.
I think though, the reason there are so many fabulous writers in Edinburgh right now is that it is a heartstoppingly beautiful place. If you have never visited, then make it the top of the list of "places I must see before I die." Actually scrub that - aren't those books a seriously depressing idea even if they are stonkingly commerical? I don't want to see Prague and croak it, really I don't. I want to see Prague and then witter on about it to all my thousands of descendants until they pull their own ears off in despair, "Oh Great-granny, not Prague reminiscences again, please!" If you get through one of those lists, I am sure you are tempting fate. Someone up there is going to say, ok you've done it, now here is your well deserved rest. A tip: keep at least two, fairly uninteresting ones back to wave under the nose of the Grim Reaper and perhaps you can stave off the inevitable.
So back to Edinburgh and its beauties, and inspirations for writers. I'd like to know what other writers feel is the ideal environment for writing. For me, it is actually sitting looking at a great view, preferably Scottish mountains. I am so fortunate at the moment that my desk is in front of a big picture window which looks straight down the Great Glen. An added bonus is that this is where the prevailing weather comes from, so I can also see when the washing is going to need to be taken in.
When we moved here we created two studies - one for me and one for my other half.He refuses to share a study with me any more - says I am too noisy. Imagine! A writer who is noisy. Presumably it is the sound of rusty cogs. The choice was this one with the great view, or the other one which looks out into the small back garden and the dog kennel. So I get to muse the mountains, and he gets the dog staring solefully at him all day saying, "please walk me now, please walk me now, please walk me now..... "
I used to live in Rotherhithe in London and all I wrote was seriously bad, depressing poetry. I think vista matters. My ideal environment would be small croft (with 21st century heating) in remote glen with views of mountains and sea, and not a soul within a hundred odd miles, but some good delivery services, ideally from Sainsburys. Anyone know of such a place?
So who are these great Edinburgh writers? Well of course apart from our dear JKR, there is Alexander McCall Smith (who spoke in Inverness a while ago and was very entertaining; recommended) Ian Rankin of course (who overlapped with me at Edinburgh - does this make me famous by proxy??) Irvine Walsh (I think) Christopher Brookmyre - any others? Apart from of course all the oldies like Walter Scott etc. And if you are a great writer in Edinburgh and stand still long enough, they'll put a statue of you up. Edinburgh was the first city I lived in and I thought all cities had statues and banks on every corner. Couldn't understand when I went to London and couldn't find a bank or statue within a few yards of my first digs.
So Edinburgh - go for it. But take your woolies.
Caroline