Galway – the city of rain and self-aggrandisement?

Grandeeod

Muahahaha wrote: »

Poor Waterford doesnt even get a mention, it must be Irelands most neglected city yet has so much potential

There's an honesty about Waterford city that Galway just doesn't have. I prefer it.

Seathrun66

Muahahaha wrote: »

Poor Waterford doesnt even get a mention, it must be Irelands most neglected city yet has so much potential

The Spraoi festival looks great and now you have All Together Now on your doorstep. Good local bands and artists resident there. Great scenery nearby, particularly the Copper Coast and better weather than most of the country. I'd happily live there.

Grandeeod

Seathrun66 wrote: »

The Spraoi festival looks great and now you have All Together Now on your doorstep. Good local bands and artists resident there. Great scenery nearby, particularly the Copper Coast and better weather than most of the country. I'd happily live there.

And Winterval is well worth a visit.

rainybillwill

Muahahaha wrote: »

Poor Waterford doesnt even get a mention, it must be Irelands most neglected city yet has so much potential

Waterford is up and coming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_8uGxRYBSM&feature=youtu.be

http://www.munster-express.ie/front-page-news/investment-secured-for-%E2%80%98guardian-of-the-deise%E2%80%99/

Tell me how

Lads, Waterford has it's work cut out with that accent.
Cork too but, there's not point telling them that.

Galway accent at least makes you think, 'everything will be grand, I'll go and have a pint and worry about it tomorrow.'

Tell me how

Tell me how wrote: »

Lads, Waterford has it's work cut out with that accent.
Cork too but, there's not point telling them that.

Galway accent at least makes you think, 'everything will be grand, I'll go and have a pint and worry about it tomorrow.'

There is something very reassuring about having your coffee served to you by a she-stoner called Síofra, a pale native, speckled like a freckled trout and probably living in a tent and saying mildly suggestive things in the Gaelic syntax.

That's charm that waterford just doesn't have. Waterford is a simpler town, you may take that anyway you like.

branie2

Galway and Waterford are playing today in the hurling

Tell me how

branie2 wrote: »

Galway and Waterford are playing today in the hurling

Cough cough. Camogie

kikilarue2

Seathrun66 wrote: »

kikilarue2 wrote: »

Oh, okay I guess we’re in agreement then. The impression I’ve been getting is that those defending Galway think it’s as good as or better.

Better in some ways. Worse in others. As you'll likely find when comparing most cities. My reason for pointing out the stuff that's available in Galway is that some posting here seem to have no experience of the city beyond the pubs and are thus making the lazy assumption that there's therefore nothing else there.

You lost me when you started defending the weather, Galway traffic and public transport. Pure delusion.

You got me on the “stuff to do” point in fairness. I shouldn’t have said there’s not much to do outside of pubs, it’d be far more accurate to say Dublin has a lot more of what I want to do in the evening (and this’ll shock you - classical music in churches doesn’t rank among them!)

And yeah, you can make observations on anything you like, but you probably wouldn’t take parenting advice from me given that I don’t have kids ya know? And I’d consider that valid. I really don’t see how you think you know what being single in Galway is like better than a person who’s been single in Galway.

Anyway, you love Galway, I like Galway quite a bit but also recognize it’s many flaws. ‘Tis grand. We’ll agree to disagree. Let’s have this conversation again in 2022 when you’ve been through a few more winters!

Seathrun66

kikilarue2 wrote: »

You lost me when you started defending the weather, Galway traffic and public transport. Pure delusion.

You got me on the “stuff to do” point in fairness. I shouldn’t have said there’s not much to do outside of pubs, it’d be far more accurate to say Dublin has a lot more of what I want to do in the evening (and this’ll shock you - classical music in churches doesn’t rank among them!)

And yeah, you can make observations on anything you like, but you probably wouldn’t take parenting advice from me given that I don’t have kids ya know? And I’d consider that valid. I really don’t see how you think you know what being single in Galway is like better than a person who’s been single in Galway.

Anyway, you love Galway, I like Galway quite a bit but also recognize it’s many flaws. ‘Tis grand. We’ll agree to disagree. Let’s have this conversation again in 2022 when you’ve been through a few more winters!

You said you couldn't arrange dates in Galway. You're the first I've heard with that complaint. It's not Helsinki. People chat very freely in social gatherings here.

And to not have experienced something does not preclude one from commenting. To ask someone not to is the road to authoritarianism.

In terms of weather see the previous poster's graphics. Same rainfall as Cork, more than Dublin, less than Donegal. Can be terrible, mostly not.

Traffic - greatly dependent on where you live. No bother at all where I am in Dangan/Newcastle. Mainly traffic to and from Moycullen, Oughterard & Connemara.The major issues are on the Eastern side with traffic coming from Tuam, Mayo, Loughrea, Athenry, Clare, Dublin, etc. Can be terrible but I generally avoid that side. If you know the geography of Galway you'll be aware of the differences in traffic problems per area. It's utterly incomparable to the Dublin early morning gridlock. And I've never taken as long to cross Galway as it took to get from Heuston station to O'Connell St along the Quays at mid-day. Not even rush-hour. Thus there are clear traffic problems here but don't exaggerate them. Dublin is similar to London's mayhem. And both generally angrier.

And cycling into or around town is no bother at all.

For many people the centre is less than 30 mins walk (eg Newcastle, Dangan, Westside, Shantalla, Salthill, Taylor's Hill) but there's the standard over-reliance on cars.

And as before the public transport is there but the worship of cars means you can't get people out of their motors. This issue applies to almost every city on this continent. And beyond.

Will continue in three years. Enjoy your weekend.

Lotus Flower

Seathrun66 wrote: »

You said you couldn't arrange dates in Galway. You're the first I've heard with that complaint. It's not Helsinki. People chat very freely in social gatherings here.

And to not have experienced something does not preclude one from commenting. To ask someone not to is the road to authoritarianism.

In terms of weather see the previous poster's graphics. Same rainfall as Cork, more than Dublin, less than Donegal. Can be terrible, mostly not.

Traffic - greatly dependent on where you live. No bother at all where I am in Dangan/Newcastle. Mainly traffic to and from Moycullen, Oughterard & Connemara.The major issues are on the Eastern side with traffic coming from Tuam, Mayo, Loughrea, Athenry, Clare, Dublin, etc. Can be terrible but I generally avoid that side. If you know the geography of Galway you'll be aware of the differences in traffic problems per area. It's utterly incomparable to the Dublin early morning gridlock. And I've never taken as long to cross Galway as it took to get from Heuston station to O'Connell St along the Quays at mid-day. Not even rush-hour. Thus there are clear traffic problems here but don't exaggerate them. Dublin is similar to London's mayhem. And both generally angrier.

And cycling into or around town is no bother at all.

For many people the centre is less than 30 mins walk (eg Newcastle, Dangan, Westside, Shantalla, Salthill, Taylor's Hill) but there's the standard over-reliance on cars.

And as before the public transport is there but the worship of cars means you can't get people out of their motors. This issue applies to almost every city on this continent. And beyond.

Will continue in three years. Enjoy your weekend.

Dublin is brutal for traffic, really no point in pretending otherwise. There's more to do in Dublin but that's the same of any capital city

kikilarue2

Dublin’s traffic is pretty bad but that makes more sense in a city of a million people than one of 80k people. Galway’s traffic is more down to bad planning, and the crappy public transport.

The LUAS is a super easy way to get around the city centre without worrying about traffic now that they finally linked the two lines. And you can get out to really beautiful areas like Howth and Greystones by hopping on the Dart at the weekend. Commuters can get from towns like Celbridge to the city centre in 20 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, Dublin is still LEAGUES behind most other European capitals when it comes to public transport - there’s massive room for improvement - but naturally enough it’s better than any other part of Ireland.

Donnielighto

kikilarue2 wrote: »

Dublin’s traffic is pretty bad but that makes more sense in a city of a million people than one of 80k people. Galway’s traffic is more down to bad planning, and the crappy public transport.

The LUAS is a super easy way to get around the city centre without worrying about traffic now that they finally linked the two lines. And you can get out to really beautiful areas like Howth and Greystones by hopping on the Dart at the weekend. Commuters can get from towns like Celbridge to the city centre in 20 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, Dublin is still LEAGUES behind most other European capitals when it comes to public transport - there’s massive room for improvement - but naturally enough it’s better than any other part of Ireland.

There's more, for the size it's as bad as the rest.

Seathrun66

kikilarue2 wrote: »

Dublin’s traffic is pretty bad but that makes more sense in a city of a million people than one of 80k people. Galway’s traffic is more down to bad planning, and the crappy public transport.

The LUAS is a super easy way to get around the city centre without worrying about traffic now that they finally linked the two lines. And you can get out to really beautiful areas like Howth and Greystones by hopping on the Dart at the weekend. Commuters can get from towns like Celbridge to the city centre in 20 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, Dublin is still LEAGUES behind most other European capitals when it comes to public transport - there’s massive room for improvement - but naturally enough it’s better than any other part of Ireland.

Nope. Scale is irrelevant.Traffic problems in a town of 3k could be worse than a city of 120k.

As before there are public transport issues in all Irish cities. Galway has satisfactory city bus services, generally every 20 mins from most areas (Salthill, Newcastle, etc, even more regular from Renmore) and good bus links to Moycullen, Clifden, etc. Good train links to Oranmore, Athenry and Loughrea but more carriages would help.

The greatest issue is getting people to use them and give up the car. The excuse of public transport not being good enough is a pretty feeble one, particularly for those motorists who want other people off the roads but not themselves. The size of Galway lends itself to people using a bike or walking. Just not doable for many Dubliners.

I very much like the LUAS in Dublin. Also the DART. Not too expensive and generally on time. My only gripe is the 11.30/12 closing time. Crazily early for a modern European capital, particularly on Fri/Sat nights. And if you're not on those lines you're kinda screwed. Bus traffic is appalling there.

In summary the infrastructure ain't great but get people to ditch their cars and the problem greatly improves. Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam are good exxamples of this.

rainybillwill

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Nope. Scale is irrelevant.Traffic problems in a town of 3k could be worse than a city of 120k.

As before there are public transport issues in all Irish cities. Galway has satisfactory city bus services, generally every 20 mins from most areas (Salthill, Newcastle, etc, even more regular from Renmore) and good bus links to Moycullen, Clifden, etc. Good train links to Oranmore, Athenry and Loughrea but more carriages would help.

The greatest issue is getting people to use them and give up the car. The excuse of public transport not being good enough is a pretty feeble one, particularly for those motorists who want other people off the roads but not themselves. The size of Galway lends itself to people using a bike or walking. Just not doable for many Dubliners.

I very much like the LUAS in Dublin. Also the DART. Not too expensive and generally on time. My only gripe is the 11.30/12 closing time. Crazily early for a modern European capital, particularly on Fri/Sat nights. And if you're not on those lines you're kinda screwed. Bus traffic is appalling there.

In summary the infrastructure ain't great but get people to ditch their cars and the problem greatly improves. Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam are good exxamples of this.

"In summary the infrastructure ain't great but get people to ditch their cars and the problem greatly improves"

In summary if people in Galway city drive less the roads in Galway city will have less traffic. Its really that simple

kikilarue2

Of course scale is relevant. And there is no town of 3k people with traffic worse than a city of 120k people, that’s just silly talk now.

Arghus

The traffic is bad in Galway.

Don't know why that's such a subject of debate.

rainybillwill

The €300m Adare bypass half of what the Galway bypass will cost is expected to be fast-tracked as a result of the Ryder Cup announcement.

kikilarue2

Arghus wrote: »

The traffic is bad in Galway.

Don't know why that's such a subject of debate.

It's not, really. Most people, even those who love Galway with all their hearts, can recognise that it's a huge problem for the size of the city.

There's just one poster who refuses to accept that Galway has any flaws.

Jamsiek

rainybillwill wrote: »

I think you may have just stumbled upon the answer. Galway is a student town. The student days are some of the best days of your life partying and drinking. This is why some people look back on Galway with fond memories.

I initially thought Galway was student heaven but I soon realized how overrated it was. Everyone went home at weekends and Thursday night was the only night you met a lot of students before they all left the following day.

I then went to Scotland which opened my eyes to what student life should be like. Nobody went home at weekends as there were so many student things on and people’s friends visited them and not the other way around.
Also a lot of cheap places to go if you were a student, nothing like that in Galway.
I thought if only Galway or Ireland was like this.

The Rape of Lucretia

Jamsiek wrote: »

I initially thought,
Galway was student heaven.
But I soon realized,
how overrated it was.
Everyone went home at weekends,
and Thursday night,
was the only night,
you met a lot of students.

I then went to Scotland - which I loved.
Nobody went home at weekends,
as there were so many student things on,
and people’s friends visited them,
and not the other way around.
Also a lot of cheap places to go.
If you were a student.
Nothing like that in Galway.
I thought if only Galway,
or Ireland,
was like this.

One does learn to be a poet in Galway though.

Jamsiek

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

One does learn to be a poet in Galway though.

Like our esteemed president :-)

The Rape of Lucretia

Jamsiek wrote: »

Like our esteemed president :-)

He is more a subclass Galway specialty - The Poet Dreamer.

dd973

Only visited the place but did think 'Does anybody work in this town, how do they eat or earn money?', just seems to be students,people on holiday, dropping out, busking, messing, etc.

Seathrun66

rainybillwill wrote: »

"In summary the infrastructure ain't great but get people to ditch their cars and the problem greatly improves"

In summary if people in Galway city drive less the roads in Galway city will have less traffic. Its really that simple

Yep, it really is. Follow the example of Ghent, ban cars from the centre and you have an entirely different vibe.

Seathrun66

Arghus wrote: »

The traffic is bad in Galway.

Don't know why that's such a subject of debate.

It isn't. The relative levels of the problem are disputed.

Seathrun66

kikilarue2 wrote: »

It's not, really. Most people, even those who love Galway with all their hearts, can recognise that it's a huge problem for the size of the city.

There's just one poster who refuses to accept that Galway has any flaws.

Nope, not the case. Every city has flaws. In Galway there's more rain than the east coast. A lack of bars and cafes in areas outside the centre (bar Salthill). Some over-priced restaurants. And a couple of awful tourist attractions.

What I disagree with is factually incorrect and nonsensical criticisms of the place. Go ahead and slag it off. But please be accurate.

Muahahaha

Seathrun66 wrote: »

It's utterly incomparable to the Dublin early morning gridlock

Ahem

Galway has been revealed as the worst place in Ireland for traffic congestion in a new study.

Drivers in the city spend an average of 43.5 hours per year sitting in rush hour traffic - meaning that drivers spend the equivalent of more than a workin week sitting in their car stuck in traffic. Galway ranks 61st in the overall cities ranking, dropping down from 59th in 2015.

Dublin ranks 151 and drives spend an average of 31.4 hours per year in congested traffic.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/revealed-the-worst-irish-city-for-congestion-where-drivers-spend-more-than-the-average-work-week-sitting-in-traffic-every-year-35467969.html

Arghus

Seathrun66 wrote: »

It isn't. The relative levels of the problem are disputed.

Ah yeah. I think Galway has taken some unfair and inaccurate criticism in this thread, but I think the weather and the traffic are objectively bad things about the place.

Relative levels of the problem. Well, good luck getting to the bottom of that highly subjective criteria, but, IMO, Galway - for a place of roughly 80-100k has relatively bad problems with traffic gridlock and congestion.

Seathrun66

kikilarue2 wrote: »

Of course scale is relevant. And there is no town of 3k people with traffic worse than a city of 120k people, that’s just silly talk now.

Ghent banned traffic from the city centre 23 years ago. A city of 248,000 now has less traffic problems than small towns on routes to major cities. Small towns near Brussles have far worse traffic than Ghent.

The town of Durrow (population 800) in Co. Laois had appalling problems due to it's location on the main road from Cork to Dublin. A village with worse traffic than some minor or major cities.

The flow of traffic is the relevant factor here. You can get through many major European cities quicker than through some Irish towns.

And it's odd that the focus here is on Galway traffic when Dublin has the slowest city centre traffic on the entire continent.