Thinking of moving - Kilcullen or Athy

_Kaiser_

So 2 years back I moved out of Dublin to Laois as a result of the stupid rent prices in the city. Since then I've been doing a combination of working from home and starting/finishing later to ease the commute, but it does still wear you down.

Add to this then the point that rents in Laois are increasing as well (review due shortly and I expect them to look for a big enough increase) so I'm thinking about my options.
The reality is that the place I'm renting just isn't worth much more (very noisy/faulty water pump, poor mobile signal, poor satellite signal due to a row of trees behind the block, and the walls are so thin you can hear normal conversations upstairs), so if I have to pay more then I might as well get better "value" for it.

Hence the above choices.. I still need to be within reach of the M7/M8 as I have a little fella down south that I see at the weekends, but Kilcullen would give the advantage of halving my daily mileage, whereas Athy would still be roughly the same miles but the same rents as I'm paying now.

But what are both like to live in? I don't need much.. just decent broadband/fibre, the usual shops, and TV I'm either in Dublin or Cork anyway most of the time so I won't be hitting the local nightlife every weekend.

Anywhere else I could consider in the area and up to around the €800-900 mark? It probably has to be a 2 bed if only for the storage space and more livable environment generally, but I'm too old to be sharing a place now and I also like peace and quiet when I get home so any suggestions on estates to look in/avoid would be appreciated too.

Thanks in advance!

bduffy

There doesn't seem to be many options in Kilcullen to rent looking on daft. The gridlock on the M7 means you'd be hitting the back roads most days for the commute to Dublin....but cruising on the days to Cork.

_Kaiser_

bduffy wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be many options in Kilcullen to rent looking on daft. The gridlock on the M7 means you'd be hitting the back roads most days for the commute to Dublin....but cruising on the days to Cork.

I'm lucky enough that my job allows me flexible start times so I normally leave my current place around 9ish and can be in the office by 10 most days and that's via the M7/M50. The return trip is usually much the same unless there's been an accident on the M50 or it's a Friday... Fridays are always a mess (though not yesterday surprisingly - guess lots of people stayed in town to watch rugby!)

Kilcullen would seem to be the better option I think but as you say, rentals are scarce

Mink

Location wise for your work commute, Kilcullen would definitely be better. Also it would be nearer the likes of Naas & Newbridge if you did want nightlife, shopping centre, good selection of restaurants.

If you're leaving at 9am it would probably be about an hour from Athy. Certainly more rentals and possibly cheaper ones available there.

I've just moved to Athy recently and I like it so far, everyone I've come across has been very friendly. I've not heard anything bad about Kilcullen, but I really don't know much about it.

Athy has some ropey estates (like every single other town in Ireland) which will be clear when driving through them. Stay the Dublin side so you avoid the bottle neck at the bridge. The main street leaves a lot to be desired. Up around Emily square is better. I have Sky & fibre broadband (which seems to be faster than when I had it in north Kildare)

It has Aldi, Lidl and a well stocked Supervalu. Leisure centre with a gym & pool. Lots of sport, 5 a sides, astroturf etc. Carlow is 20 mins away with most other things (shopping centre, cinema, more restaurants etc).