Move to Lucan? Help me decide

Chickus

Hi,
Myself and OH are living in the city centre for 10 years between college and work...We now have mortgage in principle and need to decide where to move to...
I work in Dublin 8 and he works in town..We have never had to commute or rely on public transport to get to work and this make him want to buy close to city centre, around Navan road..
However, you can get much better value for money out of town ie: Lucan..He is not convinced that it would be a good move due to distance out of town...We love hanging around town, pubs, restaurants etc and are afraid that if we move too far out we will loose that.. He doesn't want to be travelling home for work for any more than 50 mins..Here are a few questions I have:
How far is Lucan from town?I hear there is a good bus service.. presuming this is true..
What are the better areas?- I would prefer an area with more owner-occupiers in it and looking in to future good schools, good sense of community etc..
Are there good pubs, restaurants in Lucan and which part of Lucan would be closer to them?
How much does a taxi from town cost?-approx
I know I sound like a complete eejit but I don't have any knowledge of Dublin areas outside of centre and I have some convincing to do..

Thanks in advance for any advice

Heroditas

I've lived in Lucan for 7 yars now and previously had similar ideas to your OH.
Some areas of Lucan are about 30mins from the city centre by bus, and about 20mins off-peak.
Better areas? As a rule of thumb, the further north, the better and typically to the west of the outer ring road. There would appear to be a higher percentage of owner occupies in those areas, e.g. Willsbrook, Elmbrook, Lucan Heights, Chalet Gardens, Roselawn, Beech Park, Beech Grove, Bewley....
Lucan village has a number of pubs - Courtney's, Kennys, Ball Alley. I love Kennys and think it's the nicest but despite living here for 7 years, I always go out in town to meet friends because we're scattered all over Dublin. It's just easier to head into the city centre. I think I've drunk in those three pubs about 7 times in my years here.
Restaurants - La Banda in the village has been around for years but I think it's expensive for what it is. Courtney's appears to have a restaurant in the last while. My personal favourites in the area are Becketts in Leixlip and Avenue in Maynooth - both less than 20mins drive from Lucan and easily accessible by bus.
A taxi from the city centre to where I live (Willsbrook/Elmbrook area) is about €23.

Personally, I love living here nowadays. Previously I had lived in the IFSC and thought I loved the buzz of city centre living but, to be honest, I really prefer the whole suburbia buzz of Lucan. There's some really nice areas, it's settled and very accessible to the city centre.
Also, you're very close to the M50 so it's easy to navigate the city. Less than 2 hours from Lucan to Galway by car if you fancy a weekend away!
There's some great value here at the moment for property.

P.S. I work on the Navan Road and I would absolutely hate to live there. It won't take more than 50mins to travel home! Lucan is not out in the sticks. I used to think the very same thing but, for example, I sometimes meet my mates on Thursday evenings for pints in the city centre. I can leave the house at 8.15, walk to the bus stop and be sitting in the Stag's Head at 8.55 with a pint in front of me!

Chickus

Thanks Heroditas, Thats a great reply..
Yeah we are in IFSC now but cant stay there forever ..:(
We will take a drive out to look at those areas, I take it the areas around Grifeen and anything with Liffey valley are not great..Houses there seem much cheaper and plentiful

Heroditas

A huge amount of houses that are south of the N4 were built in the last decade. They're all almost identical. You'll notice the difference in prices between them though so make of that what you will!
The thing is that a large amount of the newer houses in Lucan were bought as investment properties and have gradually been sold over the years. Low prices don't necessarily mean it's a bad area, just that the housing crash has made itself felt a bit more in Lucan than in perhaps other suburbs in Dublin.

stoneill

Don't forget to mention the grub in Kenny's either - food is excellent!

average_runner

Chickus wrote: »

Thanks Heroditas, Thats a great reply..
Yeah we are in IFSC now but cant stay there forever ..:(
We will take a drive out to look at those areas, I take it the areas around Grifeen and anything with Liffey valley are not great..Houses there seem much cheaper and plentiful

Both sides of lucan have alot to offer, I live on the southside and the main reasons we decided here was:
- Village is traffic black spot so didnt want kids in that environment.
- Flood areas is something to look at, parts of village floods badly.
- At the time all buses from village went thru Chapelizod which is a no no
for town in the mornings. Not sure what it is like now for buses.
- Houses were newer, so less chance of rewiring needed.
- Estates on both sides had parking issues, so take this into account.
- Social scene wasnt at top of my list so village life not that big of a deal,
plus nothing in village that is much good in my opinion except for pubs.
- Griffeen Park is a great bonus, as kids have plenty of places to play their
gaa, soccer and also running club there.
- Bus service is good, 25b is great for in and out of town, now there can
be crowding issues, but if you get on near johnsbridge, finnstown,
grange manor etc, you have no issues.
- Schools are something to take into consideration no matter where you are.


Its really down to what ye want, if its a social scene, the village is the place, Lord lucan on Southside is a good pub. Lucan is a grand spot and any south areas your looking at i can give advice. Best of luck with your decision.