Children, Pubs and Communting

ihopeyoudance

we are looking for a place to raise a family (schools , safe etc.) but is close enough to Dublin to commute on public transportation ( the less stress the better). Other thing is I have always had this dream of owning a Pub or restaurant. My dad was in food service my whole life and i learned everythign from my grandma. I just like cooking for people seeing them happy and in some way and in some small little way taking care of people ya know... being apart of a small community where people care ( like I do)... my Dream is a dream obviously not happening in the short term future (if at all) :rolleyes:


Any suggestions??:D

ClimberC

To be honest the public transport isn't the best and is over priced as far as i am concerned. As far as safety i believe that things have improved a lot over the past few months in Wicklow town, don't know enough about the other towns bar the country side where i am from. the country is safe enough but there has been a recent spate of robbery's, sign of the times i suppose.

I know people will argue about what i have said by thats my take on things

spank_inferno

An example may be the Beehive on the N11 near wicklow town.

A place that has changed hands so many times over the years.

People assume it should make money but the turnover of owners has shown its struggled even in the best of times.
I think the current owner of Jack Whites is leasing it?

As for Wicklow town, its more or less fine.
Does anyone know if the site that was formerly "the griddle" is still vacant?
That was a nice little cafe, I reckon it could make money

cuddlycavies

No offence, but go and work in a pub or restaurant first. Used to be a wine merchant and met quite a few people living the dream. Most of them blew a fortune and lost the dream. It's a hard game.

dudmis

Saying that, Greystones is a fantastic place to bring up kids and it does have a lovely sense of community - so it ticks all your boxes on that front

ihopeyoudance

cuddlycavies wrote: »

No offence, but go and work in a pub or restaurant first. Used to be a wine merchant and met quite a few people living the dream. Most of them blew a fortune and lost the dream. It's a hard game.

I don't take offense to anything anyone says when I ask for a advice. My Dad has opened/ ran and own many restaurants in his life and while i was growning up. I also saw him lose restaurants from under him (along with our savings) I myself starting working in the restaurants/ bar business the day I turned 16. I know it's a hard life, I've seen and experiences it. That is why I'm asking advice and it's a dream of mine ( dreams take work)

mikedragon32

FWIW, there are vacant premises for both pubs and cafés in Greystones. There is a unit in the Charlesland centre that used to be a cafe. It did pretty well at weekends but only did a little trade Mon-Fri. It was a great spot for brunch on a lazy Sunday.

If it was pitched just right, I reckon it would do well during the week too. There are a lot more people around during the week in Charlesland than there used to be! A lot of young families. Bonus is that the unit is fully fitted out, still furnished too.

I can see where cuddlycavies is coming from. I worked for years in the pub trade and there is nothing worse than people who've made their money elsewhere thinking they can make it in the hospitality industry only to fail spectacularly. At least you have a good first hand knowledge and would be doing it with your eyes open.

Greystones is a super place to raise kids and you won't find better facilities anywhere else in the commuter belt!

Rinker

Roundwood might be worth considering. Its a nice place to live and its got a good primary school too. Public transport is not great but its about 25 mins drive to the luas station in Sandyford and that gets you into town in about 15 mins. Probably about the same time to get to the Dart in Bray accounting for traffic.
Regarding the pub or restaurant. Roundwood has had a new pub and restaurant, a wine bar, a new cafe, a new chipper and a new Thai takeaway open within the last 2 years. This could be interpreted as a town where the hospitality industry is still thriving or as an overly packed marketplace. You'll need to do some market research.

PseudoFamous

In reality, nearly every town in Wicklow is very liveable. The larger towns along the East coast all have a pretty good quality of public transport, and then other towns, such as Blessington, have great views of lakes and forests. Every facility mentioned in Greystones, with the exception of the DART, is available in in every other town with a population of 10K+, so don't believe the hype about it. There also a shopping centre in Arklow, the likes of which cannot be found in Greystones. House price look to be at their lowest at the minute, so you should be able to pick one up relatively cheaply. Just understand that the average European house is a lot smaller than the average American one.

On the restaurant/pub front,, despite there being a lot of empty shops in every town in the county, there is a high level of competition in the cuisine business, so there's not a ton of money to be made.

Plenty of schools in Arklow, 5 in the town serving the Irish equivalent of K-6th grades, and then 4 serving 7-12th.

Macy0161

Not sure there's room in Roundwood for much more outlets to be honest - several of the "new" ones are reopenings/ new owners. Even on the takeaway front I'm not sure both chippers will survive the opening of the chinese.

Commuting wise, Greystones is also only 15 minutes away as another Dart option (more expensive ticket v free parking), and there is the St Kevins bus as well from Roundwood to Stephen's Green.

If I was looking for urban, I wouldn't look beyond Greystones if it was within budget. No disrespect to Wicklow or Arklow that other posters have mentioned which I'm sure would be fine, but as an outsider looking in there wouldn't be a contest if it was a choice of the three.

DazMarz

Rathnew, Ashford, Greystones, Newtownmountkennedy, Newcastle, Kilcoole and Delgany are all on main commuter belts and all are good places and have good local anemities and friendly people.