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Where to live in Wicklow
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Shopping in Arklow is pretty good. There are 3 "hubs" I suppose. Bridgewater has Dunnes Stores, Boots, Argos, Easons, cinema etc and Aldi just beside it.Where would be the closest Aldi / Tesco for shopping. I know there is one in arklow at the bridge water sc but would that be the closest?
Is there a bus link to arklow? Ideal for himself to go to the cinema and so on.
Is there a gym local? we are a big fitness family too.
The town centre had smaller clothes, butchers etc.
The Gorey/Wexford Road has Lidl, big 24hr Tesco and Supervalu(Pettitts)
Bus services are not great I think. Route 133 - couple of services each way. There used to be talk of reopening the railway station but if it didnt happen in Tiger times I reckon its off the agenda now.
Had to phone to ask about the gyms
-- Arklow Bay hotel has one and theres a Coral Leisure one in Ferrybank too
http://www.coralleisure.ie/our-clubs/new-page.html
(In Arklow everything north of the main bridge is called Ferrybank or Templerainey and is part of the parish of Avoca - some people can be very fussy about that ) 0 -
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Shopping in Arklow is pretty good. There are 3 "hubs" I suppose. Bridgewater has Dunnes Stores, Boots, Argos, Easons, cinema etc and Aldi just beside it.
The town centre had smaller clothes, butchers etc.
The Gorey/Wexford Road has Lidl, big 24hr Tesco and Supervalu(Pettitts)
Bus services are not great I think. Route 133 - couple of services each way. There used to be talk of reopening the railway station but if it didnt happen in Tiger times I reckon its off the agenda now.
Had to phone to ask about the gyms -- Arklow Bay hotel has one and theres a Coral Leisure one in Ferrybank too
http://www.coralleisure.ie/our-clubs/new-page.html
(In Arklow everything north of the main bridge is called Ferrybank or Templerainey and is part of the parish of Avoca - some people can be very fussy about that )
Thanks Lottopaul, You really didnt need to make calls for the info, Now I just feel lazy, lol. I had a look at the bus eireann time table, wow that is a sparse doc. I'm going to guess that there is a much more frequent service to arklow? or even better a rail service. As i said we have nothing at the moment so anything over that is an improvement.
Thanks again0 -
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You really didnt need to make calls for the info, Now I just feel lazy, lol. I had a look at the bus eireann time table, wow that is a sparse doc. I'm going to guess that there is a much more frequent service to arklow? or even better a rail service. As i said we have nothing at the moment so anything over that is an improvement.
Thanks again
Don't worry -- the call was to a retired friend who fancies herself as a cross between Miss Marple and the FBI and is a fount of all info -- useful and useless . Yes, bus service to Arklow is much better -- once an hour or so I think. Trains are not much -- early morning commuters and the home trip.
You'll enjoy the area -- I used to love wandering around Avondale, Aughrim, Ballycoog, Redcross Greenann etc. Does get busy in the summer but is not as touristy as places like Glendalough, Brittas Bay etc.
Writing this gives me a bit of a longing - must head back up that way again soon.0 -
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Hi all, we have been doing a lot of thinking on Avoca and the merits of it. In our hearts would love avoca but we are just fed up of having to get in to the car to go places. We just feel like we are going to end up running the kids here there and everywhere. We want to be able for the eldest to get a summer job and maybe for herself to pick up some part time work ( and yes I know that there is a rescission on and there is little work but maybe in the future) to be able to walk to a playground / gym our eldest myself and herself are regular gym soldiers. To be closer to more clubs and sports facilities. The availability to walk to secondary school / primary school. The distance to work in order to give me a better work life balance. All of these things are going to be worth more to us than what we can get in avoca.
We have been looking at wicklow town ( I know that I said originally that we weren't too sure about wicklow but I think the positives will outweigh the negatives. On the Dublin side of the town. I will be looking at a much shorter commute I would put it at 20 min per way (saving) minimum. a choice of primary schools including an educate together and secondary schools ( obviously pending availability of places)
So Here we go again, where in Wicklow town would be our best bet? where should we avoid? we were looking at Burkeen, Wicklow Town. seems to be a new estate and nice houses? has anyone been to / live in the estate?
What are the bus / rail services like in the area?
Again I would like to thank you all for your help and all the effort you have put in to helping us thus far. Perhaps you may be able to help us again?
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When I worked around Wicklow Town Burkeen was a very new estate - the general consensus was that it was a nice area. Some of the "older" areas of the town had a name for being a bit rougher, but to be honest I always found it pretty OK. The school situation at primary was excellent - several RC schools, a big C of I school, an inter denom Gaelscoil (i.e. not under the local diocese etc) and a large Educate Together. Secondary is more limited now -- a big community school - right beside Burkeen - a large girls school (Dominican Convent) and a C of I school (East Glendalough - difficult to get into as theres a limited number of places and Wicklow has a big Protestant population).
Bus services are good -- once an hour or so to Dublin, sometimes more, and the train is OK for commuting to Dublin.
Shopping was something I found not so good -- the Tesco was small and Lidl was the only real competitor. Theres a lot of nice shops in the town itself. We often went to Arklow or Greystones to shop instead. There's no cinema anymore but a lot of sports clubs and facilities - tennis, swimming, rugby, soccer, GAA etc.
The great thing is the excellent road connection to Dublin etc. and in the town itself, which now has a new port road and a good "bypass" too. Last time I was there I had to think carefully with new traffic lights etc but it made getting around very very easy and there were lots of cycle lanes and footpaths too.
(Pity about Avoca -- but maybe some other time ) 0 -
As you only intend to rent a house just rent one for a year if you don't like the area go back to Laois.
In an ideal world, yes, this would be a perfectly simple solution. However I am not really willing to uproot my family for the sake of a year. Plus we will rent our own home and it may not be available for us to return. I really want to try and find an ideal location with a balance of my requirements. But thanks for your input.0 -
When I worked around Wicklow Town Burkeen was a very new estate - the general consensus was that it was a nice area. Some of the "older" areas of the town had a name for being a bit rougher, but to be honest I always found it pretty OK. The school situation at primary was excellent - several RC schools, a big C of I school, an inter denom Gaelscoil (i.e. not under the local diocese etc) and a large Educate Together. Secondary is more limited now -- a big community school - right beside Burkeen - a large girls school (Dominican Convent) and a C of I school (East Glendalough - difficult to get into as theres a limited number of places and Wicklow has a big Protestant population).
Bus services are good -- once an hour or so to Dublin, sometimes more, and the train is OK for commuting to Dublin.
Shopping was something I found not so good -- the Tesco was small and Lidl was the only real competitor. Theres a lot of nice shops in the town itself. We often went to Arklow or Greystones to shop instead. There's no cinema anymore but a lot of sports clubs and facilities - tennis, swimming, rugby, soccer, GAA etc.
The great thing is the excellent road connection to Dublin etc. and in the town itself, which now has a new port road and a good "bypass" too. Last time I was there I had to think carefully with new traffic lights etc but it made getting around very very easy and there were lots of cycle lanes and footpaths too.
(Pity about Avoca -- but maybe some other time )
Cheers Lottopaul, As usual a fountain of knowledge. It would seem that on the face of it wicklow town may be the way to go. I have made some inquiries with the educate together school as to places and will do the same with the secondary school. There seems to be a couple of houses available in the estate and the closer area too.
As it stands the eldest has to rise at 6:50 in order to get his bus to school which will be cancelled within the next two years ( the knock on of this is dropping him and collecting him which has the knock on of having to drag the two little ones out early morning and after school too. + the cost obviously) so a secondary school within walking distance is a major plus.
I did read somewhere that the Tesco is to be expanded in wicklow town, But to be honest were aldi folks for the majority of goods so a trip to arklow / a another area may be on the cards for the weekly shop.
I shouldn't be affected by the m11 works by going here either which should improve my at home time a bit too. I think that estate / area is quite close to the M11 too. Plus with all the sports / facilities on offer I think we should be ok.
That estate seems to have large houses and as it is new I would imagine that there would be a higher percentage of newer families in there too for the Kids and in general new estates would be more accepting of a new family in the area.
As for Avoca, who knows maybe at some stage in the future if there was better transport links it could be a runner again.0 -
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Wicklowandy wrote: »Friend lives in Burkeen, nice house, well built but like all estates built at the time, small gardens and very overlooked.
Wicklow has really suffered in this recession; Arklow and Wicklow are near ghost towns retail wise.
I think Gorey is the best regional town on the east coast, but if commute and amenities are the priorities, think of Redford Park in Greystones. Estate was built early eighties, with houses ranging from 2 bed bungalows up, built on proper sites.
Rentals come up pretty regular, and within your budget, and it really is a lovely mature estate, surrounded by amenities, the sea, the DART and good schools.
I'd love to tell you to go live in Avoca or Rathdrum, as they are in the most beautiful locations, but a daily commute from here unless you have job flexibility can be a real grind, especially in winter (believe me, I did it for years.)
Good luck with your search:)
Thanks Andy, Ill keep that in mind, I think wicklow is going to be where we go with rental prices coming in under budget too.
Hopefully commercial landlords will get their sh*t together and realize that business cant afford the crazy rents. Then hopefully the towns can get back to being vibrant places for their inhabitants.
Don't think that I could take the commute to Gorey at all. It would be longer than my current.
On the commute, I just did a run during lunch and I realize that the traffic will be worse at rush hour, well at 10 and 6 when I travel, but it only took 30 min door to door in burkeen estate. I could definitely live with a sub 1 hour travel time.
Yes the gardens are smaller than the one we currently have about a 3rd the size but the pay off would be the amenities in the area hopefully.
I was talking to a builder in wicklow while I was there and he said that he couldn't get to avoca during some of the winters passed, this would not be good for work at all. They are beautiful to look at but I just don't want to end up regretting our decision( which I could still obviously do where ever we end up).0 -
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Thanks Andy, Ill keep that in mind, I think wicklow is going to be where we go with rental prices coming in under budget too.
Hopefully commercial landlords will get their sh*t together and realize that business cant afford the crazy rents. Then hopefully the towns can get back to being vibrant places for their inhabitants.
Don't think that I could take the commute to Gorey at all. It would be longer than my current.
On the commute, I just did a run during lunch and I realize that the traffic will be worse at rush hour, well at 10 and 6 when I travel, but it only took 30 min door to door in burkeen estate. I could definitely live with a sub 1 hour travel time.
Yes the gardens are smaller than the one we currently have about a 3rd the size but the pay off would be the amenities in the area hopefully.
I was talking to a builder in wicklow while I was there and he said that he couldn't get to avoca during some of the winters passed, this would not be good for work at all. They are beautiful to look at but I just don't want to end up regretting our decision( which I could still obviously do where ever we end up).
Just wondering where you travel to to work? I'm thinking of moving to Wicklow town also and work in Clonskeagh. Thanks.0 -
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