Looking to move to Galway

MattKid

I'm bored of the UK and like what I've seen of Galway, tell me the good and bad points of living there.

misty floyd

Some Good:

The people are really nice and friendly.
The pubs are very good. Great night life.
Very few scum bags (or chavs as you might call them)
Really nice places to see. (e.g Connemara)
Galway city is a real student city. (you may not like that but I think its great)

Some bad:

It rains all the time.
The traffic, for such a small city is a joke.
House prices are expensive as is rent. No surprises there really.

There are lots more good and bad of course. I moved to Galway to study last September and I really like the place. Thumbs up from me.

tman

good;
it's a relatively large place, but the locals manage to avoid having the typical city attitude.
lots of students
some great pubs
there seems to be an ever increasing range of ethnicity

bad;
expensive rent
not that many decent club nights (well, not if you're after something more than a cattle mart type "nite club")
couple the above with Ireland's backwards licencing laws (going home at 2:30!!! wtf!)

Redhairedguy

good:

Always something interesting going on, you just gotta look out for it.

bad:

I live in Galway

Webbs

Moved here from the UK (London) last year, so from my point of view

Good Points
People are great, friendly, easy going attitude
City big enough to have fair amount of things going on but is easy to get around (even the traffic aint that bad if you compare it to London)
Again depends on where you are coming from in UK but for me despite what other people say rent is pretty cheap (you can get a house here for less
than I was paying for 1 bed flat!!)
Pubs are fantastic, plenty of live music, (some good some bad!). I reckon if you cant find a pub to suit your needs here then you have a problem.
The countryside in and around Galway is stunning and is on your doorstep, dont think you could ever tire of going to connemara for walks. (perfect for getting over the night before)
Agree about it being more culturally/ethnically diverse here than I expected and am sure that will increase (though some I'm sure will think that a bad point)

Not sure I can really think of any bad points as yet (and still not been here for the summer which am sure will be even better)

All in all I reckon Galway is the ideal size city so mixes the intimacy of smaller places with the diversity you can get from bigger cities so get good music, food etc.

MattKid

I was over for a week in October when it was nice and cold and foggy and had a great time.

Everywhere seemed friendly, and I could do with living somewhere with a good music scene.

SilverTongue

Theres a great cultural buzz going on around galway too, besides the standard issue drinking culture I mean You can get galleries, exhibitions, festivals and displays all within the city centre.

mikemac

misty floyd wrote:

Some Good:
Very few scum bags (or chavs as you might call them)

You obviously haven't been around Ballybrit/Castlepark lately.
The next liitle scumbag who swears at me because I won't get him cigarettes in the shop will be hammered.

MattKid

Are they the areas to avoid living in?

Are there any decent gyms around Galway rather than poncyitness spas ? (presume there are)

finlma

MattKid wrote:

Are they the areas to avoid living in?

Are there any decent gyms around Galway rather than poncyitness spas ? (presume there are)

Plenty of gyms but they're expensive enough. You can't beat a jog along the prom in Salthill or a game of football out in Drom.

Like every city there are areas to avoid - Westside, Ballybrit, etc. Best thing to do is come over and check the places out for yourself.

Its my favourite city in the world and I've been to plenty.

biko

http://galway.net/
http://www.galway1.ie/
http://www.whatsoningalway.com/
http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/
http://www.geocities.com/galwaylawn/

fun bus

loads of areas to avoid living in! city centre itself is great! living a few miles out (oranmore, moycullen, athenry etc.) is nice as there are good dual carraige ways to travel in on in relatively short periods of time (except moycullen maybe!). ive lived in the city all my life, so havent got much else to compare it to, but i know people who visit here love the place; particularly the night life! good supply of jobs too, but i suppose it probably depends what area you work in

Eurochild

finlma wrote:

Like every city there are areas to avoid - Westside, Ballybrit, etc. Best thing to do is come over and check the places out for yourself.

I've been living in Ballybrit for three years and its grand - never had a problem, despite Castlepark being nearby. Neighbours are nice and friendly too.

Areas to avoid on Eastside - Castelpark, Ballybaan, Doughiska (new housing area, too many houses, no amenities). Mervue used to have a bad rep but its become a bit gentrified (as its one of the few areas left with affordable housing).

MattKid

I'll be arranging another holiday over to look around the more residential areas to get a feel for them and their location in terms of social stuff and supermarkets and gyms etc.

I'm focusing on decorating my flat at the moment and get it on the market.