How will Carlow fare?

shenanigans1982

I think everyone is in agreement that the country has gone to sh*t in recent times but how do people feel Carlow is going to fare in this?

I don't know how many posters here are originally from Carlow or how many are blow ins (like myself:D) but what do people see happening over the next few years? There is already a thread talking about all the rumours of job losses in the county and even when things were good there seemed to be a hard time attracting any business other than retail to here e.g the IDA business park on the Dublin road. I know some people here already commute to Dublin/Waterford but is that the future for almost everyone?

Secondly, the housing...in the 8 years I have been familiar with Carlow a lot of new estates have been popping up around the town. And as of this moment a lot of them are still unsold. With the impending drop in house prices people will no longer want to live in "commuter towns" and they will be eager to sell up and move to the areas they wanted but couldn't afford in the first place. Will this have a knock on affect on local business and force some closures or will the drop in house prices attract enough people who want to escape from the city lifestyle to keep the town alive?

road_high

While Carlow will be hit hard it is well used to it too. It is in a far better position than more remote counties/towns up the west.
It has always had a decent inustrial base and a very strong agricultural base too. While both have suffered a lot in recent years, they are still there.
The m9 is/will impact positively on the county with easy access to the capital.
There is alot of "old money" in county Carlow.

As regards the here and now, anybody else hear Braun are on the way out? Heard from somebody that works there. Will be a huge loss to the area.

shenanigans1982

mfitzy wrote: »

As regards the here and now, anybody else hear Braun are on the way out? Heard from somebody that works there. Will be a huge loss to the area.

I aint heard this recently but it always seem to do the rounds every 6 months or so. Hopefully its not true.

racso1975

Braun are to let 50 people go according to paper today the plus side is that penny's re development will create 450 new jobs and while this may be temp you would hope it might tie people over till country gets back on feet or another redevelopment is announced....

Whats really going to affect carlow is all the housing estates that are only half finished 1) they are a terrible eye sore- there are 2 in my village and it looks horrible. 2) anybody who has bought in these estates i am sure will have an awful time trying to get the delvelopers to maintain these as the council will defo not take them if unfinished.

I'm not sure about people moving back to dublin cause house prices have dropped the flip side of the coin is that the value of the property they own in carlow has also dropped.

I agree with the previous poster that carlow has has it hard even during bad time with sugar factory going and l'apple closing and braun always layin off 10 staf here and there but these people seemed to find work elsewhere as the number of social welfare receipients never spiked during this period.

Hopefully that new company Merck in the IDA park will attract other big companies and will give Carlovians a lifeline

HugoIrl

I can see the point put forward for people moving away from 'commuter towns' but who will they sell their house to? They will need to get full price if they wish to relocate closer to Dublin.

As for the jobs front For every announement of lay-offs there tends to be a bit of good news regarding job creation. I think agrigculture will quickly become the strong factor in the county (if the land has not already been sold off!)

I can see carlow holding its own.

road_high

HugoIrl wrote: »

I can see the point put forward for people moving away from 'commuter towns' but who will they sell their house to? They will need to get full price if they wish to relocate closer to Dublin.

As for the jobs front For every announement of lay-offs there tends to be a bit of good news regarding job creation. I think agrigculture will quickly become the strong factor in the county (if the land has not already been sold off!)

I can see carlow holding its own.

Me too. It always has, even in previous reccessions. There is no huge tradition of emigration in Carlow or surrounds unlike up the west.
The new road is a lifeline to the county.

shenanigans1982

mfitzy wrote: »

Me too. It always has, even in previous reccessions. There is no huge tradition of emigration in Carlow or surrounds unlike up the west.
The new road is a lifeline to the county.

One of the biggest problems I think that will affect the county is the loss of students who head off to college and never return because there are no job opportunities here, which in turn leads to the situation of not having a skilled workforce located here is any industry sets up. Kinda catch 22.

HugoIrl wrote: »

I can see the point put forward for people moving away from 'commuter towns' but who will they sell their house to? They will need to get full price if they wish to relocate closer to Dublin.

Yeah thats what I was wondering, as has been said nobody is buying at the minute. Everyone is waiting to see just how far prices will drop. I think if people could get buyers they would be willing to sell at a slight loss and recoup it by renting while prices in Dublin drop. Although a quick look on property sites show they will have to take a considerable hit.....average for a 3 bed house is 220-250 yet one for 157 has been on the market for a few months and can't be shifted.

Just out of curiosity does anyone have an idea of what houses cost before things went crazy?

road_high

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

One of the biggest problems I think that will affect the county is the loss of students who head off to college and never return because there are no job opportunities here, which in turn leads to the situation of not having a skilled workforce located here is any industry sets up. Kinda catch 22.

Same story in all the south east counties though. Least it is possible to commute to West Dublin where a lot of the good jobs are based. If that is an option it is possible to do in under an hour, especially with the new road coming on stream.
Here's hoping the arrival of Merck will usher a new era into Carlow..

SV

Carlow will be grand..wouldn't worry about it really. msd will attract more professional types to Carlow and their employees will occupy a fair few of these unsold houses too. With penneys redeveloping there's building, security and eventually retail jobs available. However a lot of building jobs out in merck have been given to companies in cork. It's a disgrace.

wheres me jumpa

MSD is an exciting prospect for the town. It alone will bring jobs but it also brings the opportunity for spin off industries to excel. Hopefully it will also help improve the image of Carlow. Currently the image people have of Carlow is, a one nightclub town people go to get plastered in and have their fu*cking hen nights in.