Moving to Galway, advice needed.

discolexia

Hi there, I'm from Croatia I am seriously considering to move to Ireland. Galway seems like a nice city to settle down. I am planning to move with my girlfriend, probable wife by that time (yay civil unions) and my brother. We are planning to move in April next year. I am 27 y/o girl currently working on the reception desk in a hostel, and she is 30 y/o system administrator. Do you think finding a job will be a problem? Is Galway gay friendly? Like, can I be out at work? I am aware of the nightmare situation of the housing market right now. How difficult is to find a normal place to rent (2 bedroom) and what are good areas to look into? We are planning the budget around 1200-1400eur p/m for a house. Is Galway bike friendly, because both of us are currently riding a bike to work every day. Any advice is welcomed

ben.schlomo

For 1200/1400 you'll have far less problems than many renters. Galway is a gay friendly city I would say, a very diverse and multi cultural city. Use daft.ie for accommodation and job sites like jobbio, irishjobs, monster, indeed etc. I cycle most days, it's easy when you know you're route and will save you from traffic.

beardybrewer

Welcome to the forum! As ben said above I believe Galway to be gay friendly and you shouldn't expect any problems being out at work or in town. There's a fair bit of IT in town so hopefully you're gf can find something. Check out irishjobs.ie and ITAG for a list of IT companies to cold call. Jobs can be difficult to come by so plan conservatively. Galway has a population of just 77k so while small there are a lot of good technical and medical devices jobs available and a good number in the services industry as well. You're rental budget look reasonable to me. Galway is a good city to be a cyclist in as the motor traffic can be frustratingly slow a lot of the time. It's really a pretty compact city so it's not hard to get around if you're willing to cycle. However it's not what I'd call cyclist friendly and has little to no infrastructure for cyclists. A good rule of thumb is to try to live on the same side of the city as you work to avoid bridges which are traffic bottlenecks.

dinneenp

If planning on moving here book a weekend here first!

discolexia

dinneenp wrote: »

If planning on moving here book a weekend here first!

I can't afford a weekend trip like that. I would rather save that money to have it when I arrive here.

dinneenp

discolexia wrote: »

I can't afford a weekend trip like that. I would rather save that money to have it when I arrive here.

I was thinking that but it's a big move and possible risk to move to somewhere without having visited it at least once. Having said that Galway is an extremely relaxed, friendly city. Most hostels are central, Galway is 'fine' for cycling, not many good cycle lanes but it does have public bike scheme so hopefully can cycle on one of those to work.

Good luck,
Patrick.

?Cee?view

You don't mention what your brother will be doing?

discolexia

?Cee?view wrote: »

You don't mention what your brother will be doing?

He has a uni degree in Culture Studies, so he is looking for like event management, project coordinating, he is also a writer so he also have experience in editing and stuff like that.
But for the first hand, we are all wiling to do whatever jobs we can get until we settle in and get all the papers done like pps, bank accounts and of course, a place to live.

what_traffic

beardybrewer wrote: »

Galway is a good city to be a cyclist in as the motor traffic can be frustratingly slow a lot of the time. It's really a pretty compact city so it's not hard to get around if you're willing to cycle. However it's not what I'd call cyclist friendly and has little to no infrastructure for cyclists. A good rule of thumb is to try to live on the same side of the city as you work to avoid bridges which are traffic bottlenecks.

I would say the exact same as beardybrewer, and his rule of thumb is good guidance. From 16h00-> 19h00/19h30 it is much quicker to get around the city by bike - despite no cycling infrastructure in the City Centre most cars are practically stationary in the car traffic. Mild climate here.

xckjoo

Your girlfriend might find it difficult to walk into a job a sys admin job as quite a lot of jobs still get filled by people who already know someone in the company. I'm not saying this to put you off, just so you know what to expect. Longer term I'd expect her to be fine but it could take a little while. I'd say you'll find a job on reception without too much difficulty. There's plenty of hotels, hostels, gyms, etc.

It's fairly bike friendly but there isn't that many bike lanes. If you're confident on a bike you'll be okay. If you're a bit unsure you might find drivers a bit bullying. Don't think either of you'll have any problem with being out. Never came across someone that did anyway. Renting wise I'd say you'll find somewhere nice for that price range. We don't really have any "no go" areas, but I'd still use some judgement on the surrounding area when deciding. Ideally find somewhere the same side of the river as you'll be working, but that would mean you'll need the job before a place to live.

what_traffic wrote: »

I would say the exact same as beardybrewer, and his rule of thumb is good guidance. From 16h00-> 19h00/19h30 it is much quicker to get around the city by bike - despite no cycling infrastructure in the City Centre most cars are practically stationary in the car traffic. Mild climate here.

Mild but wet . Buy some rain gear and you'll be fine. Cycling in the rain can be nice and it definitely beats sitting in traffic.

what_traffic

xckjoo wrote: »

Mild but wet . Buy some rain gear and you'll be fine. Cycling in the rain can be nice and it definitely beats sitting in traffic.

True - lots of surface water on the roads don't help, this morning is a testament to that. Gully maintenance is poor. The Atlantic wind can often be a bigger issue on the bike.