Places to live in kildare

warrenaldo

Hi folks,
Im looking at the possibility of relocating in kildare, just wondering what peoples opinions of the different towns there are.

So far ive only visited the towns along the N7
Kill - lovely - but expensive.
Naas - seems quite nice - big town.

Now after this the properties get cheaper - so probably looking like somewhere like this.

Ive even looked at portarlington - which is a bit of a distance - but comuting is not a worry. so its a possibiltity. Portarlington seemed very nice and house prices are fair.

Just wondering about peoples opinions on places like
Newbridge
Athy
Sallins
Kildare Town
Rathangan
Killcullen
Clane
Monsterevin
and others?
Thanks

eve

I live in Maynooth so I wouldn't be hugely familiiar with some other towns in the county but I'll try to give a quick rundown of what I do know.

Naas-lots of shops and close enough to the train line into Heuston Station in Dublin (if you're on the right end). Can be a pain if you need to cross the entire town to get to somewhere.

Newbridge-only been there once before White Water shopping centre opened, and once after- both times the traffic was chaotic and the lights didn't stay green long enough to allow half a dozen cars out. Has some large chains such as Tesco, Woodies, etc but the traffic made us abandon the car and walk to where we wanted.

Sallins- has a train station which will bring you into Dublin. Not a huge number of amenities-small shops, take-away places, etc. But you only need to cross the motorway into Naas to get anything else you may need.

Clane - haven't been on the main street in years, only been skirting around it lately. Has become quite sprawled with lot of apartments going up. New Supervalu and hotel opened there a few months ago.

godtabh

I'm moving to lexlip. Town is 40 mins away by train. Liffey valley is 20 mins away by car/bus. Lidl aldi tesco in the area. Intel just out side it and HP very close. Seems to have it all

eve

kearnsr wrote:

I'm moving to lexlip. Town is 40 mins away by train. Liffey valley is 20 mins away by car/bus. Lidl aldi tesco in the area. Intel just out side it and HP very close. Seems to have it all

But Maynooth is only one more stop out on the train and we have a 24 hour Dunnes and Tesco. Plus if you get on a train that starts in Maynooth you are pretty much guaranteed a seat-Leixlip Louisa Bridge can be iffy in the morning.

squire1

I from North Kildare so I'll give a view on the places I know.

Sallins - As eve says, dormer town with few amenities, main attraction is the train station but close enough to Naas for lack of amenities not to matter too much.

Kildare Town - Hmmm, never liked it too much myself but now that it has been by-passed things might improve.

Rathangan- Nice rural feel and not too far from major towns of Naas and Newbridge

Kilcullen - I don't think I've been near the place since it was by-passed.

Clane - Nice small town that is a bit congested. Good stong local identity and probably still retains the small town feel. A lot of apartments seems to have appeared in recent times that might dilute that.

Monasterevin - Train link to Dublin. A bit desolate, lack of local business/shops but things will probably improve now that by-pass has opened.

Portarlington - I actually lived in Port for five years and found it a good town. There was an explosion of building over that time and it is starting to loose it's "local" feel somewhat. Train link to Dublin was OK but driving commute was a bit draining. Houses still substantially cheaper than north Kildare. The town really need a large local business to get going again (The Avon factory used to be there). It's small shops and businesses seem to be loosing out to Portlaoise a bit.

Naas & Newbridge - The two main towns, as eve said traffic seems to be an issue at peak times. Fairly extensive amenities in both towns.


There are plenty of small villages that seem to have survived the building boom if you are not against living in a semi-rural location.

warrenaldo

ye i was in Monasterevin and it seemed very desolete - didnt like the look of the place too much. prices were good and distance not too bad from dublin. But the area did not give me the feel good factor.
Ill have to visit Clane then to get an idea - all reports ive heard are good.

squire1

Take a look at Celbridge and Straffan while you are down that far. I'm not familiar with prices but I'd imaging Straffan is a bit overpriced because of the K-Club factor, the petrol station certainly has "K-Club prices".

godtabh

eve wrote:

But Maynooth is only one more stop out on the train and we have a 24 hour Dunnes and Tesco. Plus if you get on a train that starts in Maynooth you are pretty much guaranteed a seat-Leixlip Louisa Bridge can be iffy in the morning.

I get a seat there.

Were I'm located in Lexilip i'm at the hub of all transport so dont have to worry about being the first stop on the line.

Lex Luthor

I've lived in Naas for 11yrs and would be fairly biased towards it. Dublin side of town definitely the better area. Same goes for Newbridge. Naas is very much self contained now and has almost everything although the town could do with a bit of a facelift.

Schools are a big issue in any of the Kildare towns so if thats one of your criteria, check first. The new primary school in Naas is very modern on the Sallins Rd. Plenty to occupy the kids aswell. My 6yr old does Tae Kwon Do, soccer and Gaelic.

I travel to/from Leixlip daily through Straffan and although it looks like a nice place to live, it is expensive.

don't mind me asking what kind of house are you looking at and what your budget is...?

godtabh

Lex Luthor wrote:

I travel to/from Leixlip daily through Straffan and although it looks like a nice place to live, it is expensive.

Do you mean expensive to buy or expensive to live in?

For buying compared to Nass and similar in Kildare then yes but that would be due to its so close to Dublin. Its also at the center of a transport hub i.e bus and rail and this will affect prices.

squire1

I think he means Straffan.

jubi lee

naas - lived here for years. by far my favourite place. i think lex mentioned the dublin side of naas is nicer. thats crap. most of it is nice! traffic is crap but hey it's a popular town. best place for nightlife by far.

Newbridge - living here at present. when i lived in naas i never liked newbridge. didn't like the layout or the feel of it. however now that i'm living there 6 months i think it's great. everyhting is really close and whitewater is good. has rail station so good for travel also easy access to motorways.

Athy - no offence to any athy people but it's a kip. plus the number of properties that are up for sale and remain unsold is ridiculous. wouldn't buy down there unless ur planning to stay there for life!

Sallins - nothing in it. traffic absolutely horrible in the evening times. nice pub for dinner but thats it. no supermarket etc. rail station into town though...

Kildare Town - yuck

Rathangan - moving here in a few months. don't like the village, seems very dreary but the house we're getting is gorgeous so who cares!!

Killcullen - it's alright.. quite a travel distance into town though or even into naas to get to the shops.

Clane - lived here for 2 years. really liked it. lived close to hotel/supervalue. no shops for the girls to go shopping in really so would generally drive to liffey valley or into naas. but was fine.property prices are increasing all the time. 5 min drive to sallins rail station, then 20 mins into town by train, so the best of both worlds really.

Monsterevin - nothing in it. commuter town. some nice chineses though! some of the pubs a bit rough

portarlington - personal opinion i guess, looked here when i was looking to buy. drove in and drove out. didn't like the village itself at all and some of the buildings have seen better days. in saying that it's been 2 years since i was there so they may have done it up.

kill - nice but as you said pricey.

port laoise - was going top buy a house down there but am glad i didn't. nice enough place but traffic to get from one side to the other is crazy.

Lex Luthor

jubi lee wrote:

naas - lived here for years. by far my favourite place. i think lex mentioned the dublin side of naas is nicer. thats crap. most of it is nice! traffic is crap but hey it's a popular town. best place for nightlife by far.

What I mean is the Dublin side of the town is better for living due to traffic reasons and its easier to access the town from there...less lights to get through.
Plus if you live that side and your kids go to school that side, the commute is better.
They also have the big park & play area over there and I have friends that travel from other side of town and also Sallins to use it, whereas its a 5 min walk to me

Lex Luthor

kearnsr wrote:

Do you mean expensive to buy or expensive to live in?

I would say both....

I priced the new houses in Straffan in that new estate about 18 months ago and I think it was well over 800k for the detached ones

Golden Horde

A lot depends on where you have to commute to work to. If the train is suitable, then Sallins, Naas, Newbridge and Kildare are your options.

Personally (I live in Sallins) I'd go for Naas/Sallins/Clane direction. Good transport links, shops, pubs, restaurants, smaller commuting time to Dublin if that's what you want.

Sallins is really just an extension of Naas, and you can walk to the train station from there.

Also worth knowing that Supervalu is opening in July in Sallins, along with an off licence and a newsagent. Hotel, leisure centre,restaurant, pharmacy and pizza delivery to follow over the next few months...all beside train station. And a new route for the by pass has been decided upon...but no decision as to when it will be built.

My two cents.