Where is nice to live in Wicklow

Fi_J

Hi

I'm looking to move from Dublin 18 to Wicklow with my husband and baby but don't know enough about the areas.

Can anyone recommend any areas? Or warn us off where not to go?

Many thanks

spank_inferno

Well, your so close you can come down and have a look!
Also... you should stay in D18, its probably nicer.

Anyway,

Avoid:
Newtown, Rathnew (sorry guys who live there, but you know its true)

Be cautious about:
Bray in parts, Arklow in Parts, Wicklow town in a lot of parts.

Check out:
Delgany, Greystones, Newcastle, Ashford (for the most part) & the more rural parts.

Fi_J

Thanks spank _inferno for your reply.

We've driven around different parts and I know a little bit about Wicklow but its hard to really know by just driving though.

Why should we avoid the areas you mentioned?

Thanks again!!

Peter Sweeney

For a family any place away from a large town, you will need to cars and plenty of school runs

2011

OP if you want the best advice you should let people know what your budget is (approx), what type of house you want (i.e. 3 bed semi) and if you want to live in a village/town/out in the sticks.

I have lived in Greystones and Delgany and would reccomend both. However they are very expensive!

The Dart in Greystones makes communiting to the big smoke very easy, but perhaps this is of no interest to you.

RosieJoe

spank_inferno wrote: »

Well, your so close you can come down and have a look!
Also... you should stay in D18, its probably nicer.

Anyway,

Avoid:
Newtown, Rathnew (sorry guys who live there, but you know its true)

Be cautious about:
Bray in parts, Arklow in Parts, Wicklow town in a lot of parts.

Check out:
Delgany, Greystones, Newcastle, Ashford (for the most part) & the more rural parts.

Spank, from what you say there are no real nice places to live in Wicklow :rolleyes:

Delgany yes, but at a price. Ashford, Newcastle and rural parts are lovely when sunny but not nice when cold, grey and lonesome!

Reputation that Newtown and Rathnew is as old as the hills but they are not as bad as back in the day. You could say the same about places up in around Dublin 18 too!

2011 wrote: »

OP if you want the best advice you should let people know what your budget is (approx), what type of house you want (i.e. 3 bed semi) and if you want to live in a village/town/out in the sticks.

I have lived in Greystones and Delgany and would reccomend both. However they are very expensive!

The Dart in Greystones makes communiting to the big smoke very easy, but perhaps this is of no interest to you.

Be good to know how far out you want to travel from Cabinteely too.

common sense brigade

Enniskerry, Rocky valley, Greystones, all nice. Avoid Bray

PseudoFamous

Baltinglass would be the first town I would think of when asked about nice towns in Wicklow. I live in Arklow, so I can guarantee that the vast majority of Estates would be lovely to live in. Of course, there are a few which may have social problems, but overall, any estate in which you would look at would be completely liveable. Some of the more modern Estates in the Southern parts of Arklow would be great for kids, as there's a lot of young children living in the area. Other benefits of living in Arklow are the shopping centre and relatively frequent bus services, when compared with other towns in the county.

brayblue24

common sense brigade wrote: »

Avoid Bray

Why?

Cookie_Monster

brayblue24 wrote: »

Why?

Because it's a horrible town overrun with knackers, to be polite about it.

OP surely distance from work is a consideration. No point moving to Arklow if you work on the North side of Dublin (for example), especially with a young family I would have thought minimising time wasted commuting to have more family time would be very important?

Judgement Day

Roundwood might be nice if you're looking for peace and quiet. Greystones (The Burnaby) if you're wealthy and want to commute to the city. Bray peaked about 1880 and it's been on a downhill trajectory ever since - avoid. Lived there for almost 30 years on and off and it used to be a great place (1960 to mid-1970s) but could not recommend to anybody now. Ashford could be nice too but it's too far from the coast and as is well known people who live inland are all "doolally" - I live in Enniscorthy so I know about these things.

common sense brigade

Why?

Im originally from Bray, born and bred.
It has high crime, high amount of drug takers. The town has fallen into disarray. Knackers are everywhere and i dont mean the travelling community. I mean little knacker scumbags.

PseudoFamous

common sense brigade wrote: »

I mean little knacker scumbags.

And Greystones is completely devoid of scumbags? What about Kindlestown and the likes? Those areas don't exactly have a pristine reputation.

LEIN

Im not really liking where this thread is heading.

Can we bring it back to the op please!

RosieJoe

Damo9090 wrote: »

Im not really liking where this thread is heading.

Can we bring it back to the op please!

Unless OP comes back to let us know what she's looking for, what kind of price she has in mind and how far she wishes to travel this thread is a bit pointless.

Rasmus

OP: Where do you/your husband work? This will make a huge difference as to where in Wicklow you could live comfortably.
In Greystones (end of the DART line) you would be looking at 50 mins minimum solely on rail time if you work in town.

A bit more info on what you are looking for and you'll get more specific recommendations!

cock robin

OP check out Blessington,Manor Kilbride areas. There are great facilities if your the outdoor type, good schools. Only 15 mins from Dublin by car and about a week by bus. Sally Gap area is beautiful but winters can be harsh as can most rural areas in winter. But it goes with the territory and you get used to it. Best of luck with the search.

stephanie1979

@ spank inferno... where do you live as a matter of interest??
I have lived in Wicklow for 32 years & its a lovely place.. Obviously you cant name different estates because you get good & bad people no matter where you go..
Wicklow has everything you need from schools to decent night life & i dont think its fair that someone can be so judgmental about a place you might not know too well..

jellybaby21

PseudoFamous wrote: »

And Greystones is completely devoid of scumbags? What about Kindlestown and the likes? Those areas don't exactly have a pristine reputation.

Nothing wrong with Kindlestown, most people in the estate own their houses there now very few council houses left in it.

I grew up there and not a bad word to say about it, there are plenty of other places I could name that are far worse, don't forget the so called 'posh estates' have their fair share of scumbags too

OP I would recommend Holywell in Kilcoole, lovely development and the houses aren't overpriced, and it is only a few mins stroll to the beach

If I had the money I would move down there myself

hdowney

jellybaby21 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with Kindlestown, most people in the estate own their houses there now very few council houses left in it.

I grew up there and not a bad word to say about it, there are plenty of other places I could name that are far worse, don't forget the so called 'posh estates' have their fair share of scumbags too

OP I would recommend Holywell in Kilcoole, lovely development and the houses aren't overpriced, and it is only a few mins stroll to the beach

If I had the money I would move down there myself

may i please draw your attention to the bold piece followed by the italic piece. in the bold piece you come across as saying that Kindlestown has the reputation of having scumbags as it used to have council accommodation - ie it is only council tenants that are the scumbags.

i think however the italicised piece is more acurate, there are 'posh estates', where people own their houses and have money that have just as many scumbags as council estates.

i found your first comment a little harsh tbh

XxMCRxBabyxX

stephanie1979 wrote: »

@ spank inferno... where do you live as a matter of interest??
I have lived in Wicklow for 32 years & its a lovely place.. Obviously you cant name different estates because you get good & bad people no matter where you go..
Wicklow has everything you need from schools to decent night life & i dont think its fair that someone can be so judgmental about a place you might not know too well..

A decent nightlife? Far from it.

Wicklow needs some proper facilities. Unless you play sports there is pretty much nothing to do. For a main town it is seriously lacking in so many areas.

And that's not mentioning half the people...

It's alright but it's far from fantastic and it's not somewhere that I plan on staying in.

And yes I know Wicklow well. Moved there 10 years ago at the age of 10.

hdowney

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

A decent nightlife? Far from it.

Wicklow needs some proper facilities. Unless you play sports there is pretty much nothing to do. For a main town it is seriously lacking in so many areas.

And that's not mentioning half the people...

It's alright but it's far from fantastic and it's not somewhere that I plan on staying in.

And yes I know Wicklow well. Moved there 10 years ago at the age of 10.

even if you play sports, that is only good to you in this town if you have money. none of the sports are free!

XxMCRxBabyxX

hdowney wrote: »

even if you play sports, that is only good to you in this town if you have money. none of the sports are free!

Just reiterating my point. Wicklow just doesn't provide great facilities

Taltos

Hi OP

I think a few have already asked for - but giving more context may help

1. Sea / Mountains / Forests / Lakes?
2. Transport to work - is car ok / train / bus - what max commute is agreeable?
3. Distances to schools - you able to do school runs?
4. Convenience to shopping / allow tesco etc to deliver?
5. Services - do you need high speed broadband if you work from home?
6. How much land do you need - eg large dogs / cats or ponies

In terms of the posts above - most towns everywhere have some bad spots (families). To pick on the few that were mentioned.
Bray - crime has been a problem here for a while. The main street has been allowed to really run down - far cry from the lovely little town of the 70s/80s. Have to admit using the arcade there a few weeks ago for a shortcut and I was really conscious of the scumbags hanging around by the church eyeballing the passersby. However Bray is quite large so while there are some bad spots there are also some nice areas too.
Greystones - Kindlestown - had to laugh - had the same rep when I grew up in the town. Anyone I have ever met from that estate are spot on. In fact one of the nicest kindest girls I knew growing up came from there. Doesn't seem to have changed outwardly in the years since I was there last - could do with a cash injection from the council though, do up the roads, footpath and put in trees on the green areas.
Kilcoole - also has a bad rep going back years - but has changed a huge amount over time. Some great little coffee shops there and a wonderful vetinary practice.

Figure out what it is you are looking for - then take some drives through the spots that meet your needs at different times of the week.
eg.
Morning during school runs.
Mid-day
Evenings - to see what kind of life is there
Weekends - same reason.
Evenings are good to see if an area has a problem with kids hanging around due to lack of resources. Mate of mine though is building a BMX track in Ratoath to address this very concern - he loved it himself as a kid and wants others to have a similar chance he did. Shame there aren't more like him.

FYI - just moved back here from Dublin after an absence of 16 yrs - ok money is tight now - but quality of life is better at last...

jellybaby21

hdowney wrote: »

may i please draw your attention to the bold piece followed by the italic piece. in the bold piece you come across as saying that Kindlestown has the reputation of having scumbags as it used to have council accommodation - ie it is only council tenants that are the scumbags.

i think however the italicised piece is more acurate, there are 'posh estates', where people own their houses and have money that have just as many scumbags as council estates.

i found your first comment a little harsh tbh

I come from a council house if you must know, I wasn't implying that only people in council houses are scumbags at all, you obviously took that up wrong.
It p**es me off tbh the way I am constantly hearing that Kindlestown and council estates alike are full of scumbags, just pure snobbery if you ask me.

I still live in a council estate still although I am not a council tenant.

When I lived in Greystones it was people from the so called 'posh' estates that actually brought trouble into Kindlestown believe it or not.