How far is too far for Dublin commute

ubu wrote:

To the people suggesting 45mins is too long a commute, i live in Santry which is about 5 miles from St.Stephens Green and to get into town for 9:00 am i have to get the bus at 07:50, thats just over an hour, i have a friend who lives in Newbridge which is prob over 30 miles from city centre and he gets the train at pretty much the same time as i get the bus.

I dont see the difference in commmuting from the 2 places if it takes the same amount of time to get into the city centre in the morning.

Could you cycle?

I put "Santry" and "St Stephens Green" into the DTO Journey Planner. I selected "Santry Avenue" from the starting point choices.
It says that it is 8.2km. Claims it would take 99mins walking. You could easily cycle this in 30 mins, without breaking much of a sweat. You could cycle hard on the way home to get some exercise benefits out of the commute.

I realise that cycling may not be suitable for you e.g. nowhere to park bike or store helmet/lights.

ubu wrote:

To the people suggesting 45mins is too long a commute, i live in Santry which is about 5 miles from St.Stephens Green and to get into town for 9:00 am i have to get the bus at 07:50, thats just over an hour, i have a friend who lives in Newbridge which is prob over 30 miles from city centre and he gets the train at pretty much the same time as i get the bus.

I dont see the difference in commmuting from the 2 places if it takes the same amount of time to get into the city centre in the morning.

It's all about choice ubu. I live 8.5 miles out from the city, but I get into Harcourt Street in between 20 and 30 minutes every day. By motorcycle. That may not be everyone's cup of tea, but personally if I was to live somewhere, I'd assess how long it's going to take me to get in using a variety of modes, and not just think of "well, the bus takes an hour, so it's out". As someone else points out, you can make the santry trip in 30 minutes by bike.

In reality, I'd say 90% of people commit themselves to long tiring journeys without exploring the possibilities.

50 minutes, I cover 39 miles in this time, just outside thurles to mitchelstown

for me an hour each way is the limit, but that assumes i'm moving, I'd find sitting in traffic for an hour soul destroying. I could never work in dublin, it's madness to me

it completely depends on whereabouts in Dublin you work. I live in Trim in Meath, and work in D12. The commute takes an hour and a half to two and ahalf hours, depeding on whether i've slept it out or not! Working in somewhere like Sandyford or Leopardstown would be out of the question for me. I'd recommend that if it goes above 1 1/2 to 2 hours, its not worth the bother. At the moment, traffic is really crap and by the time you get home, you;re completely shattered. I agree that if you can avoid driving, do it, coz at least on public transport you can relax and doze off if you want.

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Wouldn't you rather get home in 30 minutes or less to your nice, spacious and secure apartment (I'm not talking the excuse for same that we have now) and spend that extra time with the family that you think is currently somehow better served by mam and dad being on the road for hours/too tired when they get home to do much more than kiss the kids goodnight? You might even have an extra few quid in your pocket too if you rent (I'm assuming that with better usage of land to build these apartments, comes more supply, equalling lower rents).

I've lived abroad and it's only here that I've seen this - frankly - ridiculously outdated and impractical attitude that you've somehow failed in life if you don't own a house. The reality is that public transport in this city/country is never going to be as good as it NEEDS to be to keep up with the times, and as such, the commute will only get longer and people "forced" to move further and further out unless this mindset starts to change.

Kaiser,

I've lived abroad too and frankly, what you describe is a utopia which won't work in this country because of the way the rental market operates. I have been living in Ireland for five years now and I have been screwed over by three different Irish landlords in that time. No doubt MorningStar will pop up and say "don't tar all landlords with the same brush" but the last two properties were sold out from under me and involved a massive number of problems with the landlords who don't appear to understand security of tenure legislation and it's not like it's that onerous in this country. I particularly loved dealing with the one who didn't even bother to read his lease before he tried to throw me out. Do you know what it's like to get a phone call that goes "I want to sell the house, so can you be out in a couple of weeks?" In other words, the rental experience is not that great.

The argument against dead money only works if rent is significantly lower than a mortgage which although it's the case in some parts of the country, it is not really the case in Dublin. It is naive to assume you can suggest "it might be the case with better land usage", it is not because the apartments being built are appallingly badly designed by comparison with what I have been used to abroad, at least in my area. I can't believe anyone actually wants to live in some of them.

I've had to deal with too many amateur landlords in what is a very short time to want to have to put up with it for an eternity. I will stop looking to buy my own place when I can be absolutely sure I won't be screwed over by a landlord and in this country that's a fantasy. The rental market is not regulated or policed adequately as far as I can see.

Personally I think 30-40 mins is the limit. beyond this the commute impacts on your quality of life.

As for the comments about living in an apartment and a house. Raising a family in a house is much easier than in an apartment. I'm not saying it can't be done in an apartment, but it is harder. However many houses they are building these days are little more than apartments.

I recently switched to flexi hours, usually 8-4 and that has made a huge impact on my quality of life. It knocks about 50% off my commuting time.

The big problem is the lack of a comprehensive infrastructure. Certainly in many european cities it much easier to use public transport than drive. In Dublin it simply is harder to use. It adds about 150% to my commuting time.

I think its a myth that renting is cheaper than paying a mortgage. It may be right at the moment, but in the long term it isn't. Its a poor return for your money aswell. Also when you retire will you still be able to pay the same rent as you can when you are working? Unlikely.

High density does not mean high-rise. The densist parts of Dublin are typicly 2-3 storeys.

TempestSabre wrote:

Raising a family in a house is much easier than in an apartment.

Do explain.

loyatemu wrote:

And before anyone brings it up, I know millions of people in cities around the world successfully raise families in apartments, but Irish people have historically preferred houses, and if you were brought up in a house you're probably going to want to bring up your own children in a house (even if it means having to buy one in the sticks and commute)

...Which was precisely the mindset I was referring to. It's the same reason people complain about the government but vote FF - cause their parents did.

It's time to get over this and wake up to the realities of the situation. And as you yourself pointed out, millions of people around the world can successfully raise a family in apartments; why should the Irish be any different??

(Incidentially, I lived in both houses and apartments growing up, and I certainly don't feel hard done by having spent several years in the latter).

loyatemu wrote: »

try getting a toddler and a baby and bootload of shopping up to a 3rd storey apartment, now compare with parking your car in your driveway and walking in the front door.

or compare letting a child out to play in a fenced garden with having to accompany them down several flights of stairs to play in a (probably) child-unfriendly communal area.

I'm sure apartment complexes in Ireland could be made more child-friendly but ultimately if you have small children a house is a better option (for older kids an apartment becomes more practical).

What about comparing an appartment with underground parking and a lift up to the level of the apartment with a house with 7 steps up to the frontdoor from the street? Where the street is a clearway and you've to park several hundred metres away?

Carawaystick wrote: »

What about comparing an appartment with underground parking and a lift up to the level of the apartment with a house with 7 steps up to the frontdoor from the street? Where the street is a clearway and you've to park several hundred metres away?

I was just going to say..that's why they invented lifts!