Moving to Kildare

OleRodrigo

Hi, myself and the wife are considering moving out to Kildare, perhaps as far out as Newbridge, (living in Dublin city center currently ) and were wondering what the commute is like and how people find it for general living etc.

Both of us will be commuting into Dublin, for a while at least. We don't have kids yet but that may happen in the not too distant future. Thanks

Lady is a tramp

I live in Athy and commute daily to the city centre. Currently considering a move to Newbridge myself. I know a few people living there, seems like a nice wee town. I've no problem with the length of the commute, even from here in Athy, the cost is the main issue for me (it's a lot cheaper from Newbridge.) Sallins/Naas might be worth considering also, or Maynooth. By the way, you didn't mention whether you'll be driving or using public transport for the commute ... I think the last train in the evenings leaves Heuston at 20:15, which is a bit of a pain if you ever want to do anything in Dublin in the evenings after work.

OleRodrigo

Thanks, I'll be cycling for the most part but my wife will be getting the train to the city center.

Sallins and Maynooth look good too but Maynooth seems to be significantly more expensive, perhaps because its closer to Dublin I guess.

Was also looking at Kill and Naas and they seem nice also, although Newbridge looks like better value. Athy and Monastrevin might be a bit too far out when work and family for both of us is in Dublin.

That's good to know about the train. Do you find the savings on property are offset by increases in travel costs and the amount of time spent travelling? I hear some folks saying things along those lines.

We've been in the city center for over 10 years so looking forward to a change of pace tbh.

cathalj

Lady is a tramp wrote:

I live in Athy and commute daily to the city centre. Currently considering a move to Newbridge myself. I know a few people living there, seems like a nice wee town. I've no problem with the length of the commute, even from here in Athy, the cost is the main issue for me (it's a lot cheaper from Newbridge.) Sallins/Naas might be worth considering also, or Maynooth. By the way, you didn't mention whether you'll be driving or using public transport for the commute ... I think the last train in the evenings leaves Heuston at 20:15, which is a bit of a pain if you ever want to do anything in Dublin in the evenings after work.

In relation to the trains , the last one is 23.10 (Mon to Sat) to Sallins/Naas & Newbridge etc

dev100

OleRodrigo wrote:

We've been in the city center for over 10 years so looking forward to a change of pace tbh.That's good to know about the train. Do you find the savings on property are offset by increases in travel costs and the amount of time spent travelling? I hear some folks saying things along those lines.

Factor in your commuting times, are you prepared to be on the road or train by 6 am to be in work for 8 or 9am and not be home till 7 pm ? You will see people telling you it's 35min from point A to point B but that's always with a wind behind your back and nothing in front of you . May be different for public transport but there's always a wait time for trains etc . I know a few Dubs who've moved to commuter belt towns and what they saved on mortgages etc now they are spending the extra money on cars and the likes and that's not factoring in the 2 plus hours spent travelling . Have you a car at the moment ?

irishgirl19

Have you looked in kildare town too? Well served train station as well. Not too far from Newbridge

OleRodrigo

dev100 wrote: »

Factor in your commuting times, are you prepared to be on the road or train by 6 am to be in work for 8 or 9am and not be home till 7 pm ? You will see people telling you it's 35min from point A to point B but that's always with a wind behind your back and nothing in front of you . May be different for public transport but there's always a wait time for trains etc . I know a few Dubs who've moved to commuter belt towns and what they saved on mortgages etc now they are spending the extra money on cars and the likes and that's not factoring in the 2 plus hours spent travelling . Have you a car at the moment ?

Yeah I have worked that side of it out, for the most part, I'm OK with the extra time, it shouldn't be too much. I work shifts so the most I have on the roster is 4 days in a row which should prevent it becoming a grind I think.

irishgirl19 wrote: »

Have you looked in kildare town too? Well served train station as well. Not too far from Newbridge

I have thought of it yep, just not sure if its a bit too far out in terms of time spent on the road. I figured Newbridge would be the furthest away we could manage ( or I, I should say ).

nosilver

One thing to factor in is Sallins / naas is in the short hop zone and therefore is considerably cheaper for train fares. It also has train options to connolly, pearse and grand canal dock.

OleRodrigo

dev100 wrote: »

. Have you a car at the moment ?

No but a single car between us, is on the cards. We both have different schedules though.

OleRodrigo

nosilver wrote: »

One thing to factor in is Sallins / naas is in the short hop zone and therefore is considerably cheaper for train fares. It also has train options to connolly, pearse and grand canal dock.

Yeah but the prices are higher which equals a higher mortgage. Havent fully calculated the savings or penalty yet, for the closer towns. Maybe in the med term it would work out better.

I'd prefer Naas or Kill tbh.

Moonbeam

Maynooth is a lovely place to live and it has all the facilities that you will need within walking distance and there are very good transport links to Dublin and the west but for this reason it is more expensive then surrounding areas.
Kilcock,Celbridge and Leixlip would be cheaper and within the Dublin commuter ticket, if you like Sallins you can buy amazing houses there a lot cheaper and you have a train line.
I know nothing about the area only that I drive through it going to Naas but I had a friend house hunting there and she loves the area.

nosilver

nosilver wrote: »

One thing to factor in is Sallins / naas is in the short hop zone and therefore is considerably cheaper for train fares. It also has train options to connolly, pearse and grand canal dock.

Clane or Naas IMO.
Newbridge isn't an overly nice town....... wouldn't fancy living there tbh.
Sallins I find very grey and grim.

TooObvious

If you plan on cycling to the city centre, I would aim for Kill or Naas. Cycling from Newbridge in and out each day will become a drag, and you'll end up looking for the quickest option - N7. Cycling from Kill or Naas you can make the journey in an hour to an hour and half depending on the route - of which you have many options including the Grand Canal, which will likely be hard-surfaced all the way to Sallins in the next few years.

c6ysaphjvqw41k

This post has been deleted.

Gabriel Small Banister

Gabriel Small Banister wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Clane is lovely.
Short drive to Sallins for the train if you have a car.
Wouldn't fancy living in Clane without a car.

bohsfan

Hi OP- Was renting in Lucan and bought a house in Sallins 2 years ago. Love the place! Very handy for accessing either the M4 or M7 and the by-pass has finally been approved and funded, so traffic should improve over the next few years.

The canal makes for lovely walking routes and Lock13 is a great pub to have on your doorstep. You can also walk (or catch the feeder bus) into Naas, so that's handy for nights out etc.

But what makes Sallins really is the train- it's dead handy. I work in Dublin city centre and I leave my house at 07.30 in the morning and am sitting at my desk for 08.45 (including the 20 minute walk to the office from Hueston). In the evening I finish at 5 and am back in the door just after 6. Fantastic service- it took longer commuting from Lucan on the bus!

Friends have recently moved from Caragh to Naas and they love it. I would recommend the Sallins side of Naas (Monread etc.) as it is near the M7 and train station in Sallins.

A Neurotic

bohsfan wrote:

But what makes Sallins really is the train- it's dead handy. I work in Dublin city centre and I leave my house at 07.30 in the morning and am sitting at my desk for 08.45 (including the 20 minute walk to the office from Hueston). In the evening I finish at 5 and am back in the door just after 6. Fantastic service- it took longer commuting from Lucan on the bus!

Jesus, you're almost doing better than me commuting between Dublin 7 and Dublin 3!

Lady is a tramp

OleRodrigo wrote: »

Do you find the savings on property are offset by increases in travel costs and the amount of time spent travelling? I hear some folks saying things along those lines.

I'm in a houseshare, it's €350 a month including all bills, I'd probably be spending twice that for a similar houseshare in Dublin. Not worth it though with the cost of the trains, even with Taxsaver.

bohsfan wrote: »

But what makes Sallins really is the train- it's dead handy. I work in Dublin city centre and I leave my house at 07.30 in the morning and am sitting at my desk for 08.45 (including the 20 minute walk to the office from Hueston). In the evening I finish at 5 and am back in the door just after 6. Fantastic service- it took longer commuting from Lucan on the bus!

Similar myself - my commute from Athy to the city centre takes no longer than when I used to commute to the city centre from Blanchardstown! AND, coming from Athy, I always get a seat on the train - rarely the case coming in from Coolmine station when I lived in Blanch.

There's also just something really nice about leaving the city behind you in the evenings and getting the train out through the middle of the countryside. Especially on these sunny evenings. You can really leave the job behind you where it belongs!

Sesshoumaru

TooObvious wrote: »

If you plan on cycling to the city centre, I would aim for Kill or Naas. Cycling from Newbridge in and out each day will become a drag, and you'll end up looking for the quickest option - N7. Cycling from Kill or Naas you can make the journey in an hour to an hour and half depending on the route - of which you have many options including the Grand Canal, which will likely be hard-surfaced all the way to Sallins in the next few years.

Is there any official plan somewhere that mentions this? I'd love to cycle from Celbridge to work in the city. The Grand Canal would be perfect other than it's a dirt track between Celbridge and Lucan.

TooObvious

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

Is there any official plan somewhere that mentions this? I'd love to cycle from Celbridge to work in the city. The Grand Canal would be perfect other than it's a dirt track between Celbridge and Lucan.

I'm not sure what the plan is with it just yet, and actually emailed waterways Ireland about it recently (no response). Whilst i love nature and prefer off road cycling, if the section between Hazelhatch and the Adamstown road was hard surfaced it would definitely increase cycle commuting from towns like Celbridge.

Pawwed Rig

Naas is a nicer ace to live than Newbridge. IMO both are too far to commute to Dublin (although many people do it).

mloc123

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

Is there any official plan somewhere that mentions this? I'd love to cycle from Celbridge to work in the city. The Grand Canal would be perfect other than it's a dirt track between Celbridge and Lucan.

That one section is quite annoying.. however.. when I cycle from Celbridge in, I use this route to get to the canal.. it is only 1-2km longer than along the canal and traffic on the road is usually quiet around commute times I have found.

https://goo.gl/maps/urRR8hUv1H52

The rest of the route into town is great.. apart from when we get sunny days and the teenagers are out along it

GavMan

I made the move from west Dublin to Newbridge in 2014. Worked in the docklands (still do).

I got told Newbridge isn't a nice place to live too and Naas/Sallins/Maynooth/Celbridge/Leixlip were better to live in but I can't for the life of me see why. I can honestly say I don't miss living in Dublin and I can't see myself moving back. I have the type of house I could never afford in, in a lovely estate.

It is a perfectly fine town. Tesco, Lidl and Dunnes for groceries. Central Train Station with very regular services when you want them. Between Bus Eireann and DublinCoach there is an OK bus service too. Lots of shops and the whitewater has 90% of what you would get in the like of Liffey Valley. Odeon Cinema, pubs, cafes, restaurants, Library, Theater. Traffic in the town is probably the worst thing about Newbridge and its not even that bad. Curragh Plains on your backdoor. I REALLY don't know whats wrong with the place. Generally that 'advice' comes from folk who don't live there. Which is of course useless.

I use the train for work. I start at 8. Get the 6:40 and cycle from Heuston. At my desk by 7:45. Return trip takes 1 hour leaving at 4. Back in my house by 5. I used to work 9-5:30. When I did, I'd get the 7:45 train and be at work in an hour. Get the 5:55 (now moved to 6:10) and be home before 7pm. If the Grand Canal Dock train times suit your start times it's a brilliant server. Look them up on Irish Rail website. You save a bomb by taking the taxsaver ticket. It'll probably end up costing about 1500 quid per year if you use it. Great value IMO

Naas is a fine place but a lot of the housing it quite removed from the town and some of the essentials such as Grocery shopping is outside the town. Even the Odeon is out by the M7 Junction. Same with Woodies, etc.

Why not take a lease and rent in Newbridge for a while. See what you think. You can PM me for specific advice if you wish.

Cazale

We moved in 2015 from Citywest to Newbridge and we love it. As you say it has everything you could ask for in a town. Dunnes, Tesco, Lidl, Supervalu and Marks and Spencers for Groceries. An Aldi ten mins drive away in Kildare town. The whitewater shopping centre with all its shops and cinema. A big penny's and tk maxx. The county Gaa stadium, greyhound track and Curragh racecourse. The curragh plains is great in the summer for walks and for bringing the kids to play. You can be in Dublin in 27 minutes on the train. Down the road you have the kildare outlet village and the National stud. A Garda station and theatre. Plenty of takeaways and pubs. There are a number of cafes and restaurants but the town does lack a really good quality restaurant. Saying that it's only a short journey to Kildare town, kilcullen or Naas where there are some lovely places.

We got a five bed semi with a big extension out back in a lovely area for less than 300k. God knows what that would get you in Dublin these days. I think peoples perception of Newbridge is one made years ago. There is plenty of money pouring into the town. The number of planning permissions for new business and current businesses expanding shows it's a town holding its own. We looked at some of the places you mentioned and there was nothing in them in comparison. We would never move back to Dublin.

OleRodrigo

Thanks guys, some really good insights there. I guess the best thing to do is take a closer look or even rent for a while and see firsthand.

chitchat01

hi all, is newbridge rough at night time.? i am thinking of moving there but hear mixed opinions, i have 2 small kids but i am thinking ahead when they are down the town on their own