Moving to Athy

Gael23

Looking to leave Dublin so I can afford to buy in my own and Athy looks to be the most affordable town for me.
Looking for some local knowledge on the place, are there many amenities and facilities in the town or nearby? I can’t drive so ideally in Athy itself.I work for a company in Dublin so would be working from home a good deal of the time.

ThewhiteJesus

Gael23 wrote: »

Looking to leave Dublin so I can afford to buy in my own and Athy looks to be the most affordable town for me.
Looking for some local knowledge on the place, are there many amenities and facilities in the town or nearby? I can’t drive so ideally in Athy itself.I work for a company in Dublin so would be working from home a good deal of the time.

Apart from the river there’s not
Much there tbh but I guess that’s why it’s cheap

sanjose1

Handy though, Id end up throwing myself into it if I lived in that awful kip

saabsaab

Before you move anywhere spend a week in the place and ask around see what it's like first and if it suits you.

Tom Mann Centuria

Nice Lidl close to the town centre, near the bizarre "your guess is as good as mine" road layout.

Gael23

sanjose1 wrote: »

Handy though, Id end up throwing myself into it if I lived in that awful kip

The whole town?

tabby aspreme

Like any town there is good and bad, while there was always a bad element in Athy, most other towns have now caught up with Athy in that regard. There are good amenities in the town, all sports are catered for, well run, public swimming pool, trains, a few good pubs, good supermarkets, the Barrow and a canal.

son.of.jimi

I'd bet that Athy will have a resurgence in the next 10 years, despite the inevitable Recession that is on the way.

Few nice estates in the town but overall it's currently past it's prime.

Gael23

Looks a small bit that way alright. Also most of the nice new housing developments seem to be well out of town so you need a car

Tork

Don't. It has always had a bad name.

Gael23

There’s obviously a reason why it’s the one place where houses are affordable

Darc19

Gael23 wrote: »

Looking to leave Dublin so I can afford to buy in my own and Athy looks to be the most affordable town for me.
Looking for some local knowledge on the place, are there many amenities and facilities in the town or nearby? I can’t drive so ideally in Athy itself.I work for a company in Dublin so would be working from home a good deal of the time.

Look at Kildare Town or just outside it, Nurney. Good local bus service from Nurney to Kildare (5km) and far superior transport links from Kildare.

Nice 3bed semi in nurney €200k
Small 3bed bungalow €140k

I would suspect both will be a bit lower now.

marieholmfan

Surely the likes of Kilcullen (drive to Newbridge for train) would be nicer?

Im born and raised in Naas so hating Athy is in my blood.
I now live 50/50 between the two so often go to Athy to do the grocery shopping.
Its not as much a **** hole as people say IMO.
But I still wouldn't move there!

Gael23

I can’t afford Naas or Kildare town and Athy has a bus to Dublin so that’s what drew me. Not familiar with Kildare town but €200k is about as far as it goes so it does look like an option

blindside88

Athy is not a great area to be honest. I’d consider renting there for a few months before you consider buying there. From a quick look on Daft, property in Carlow town is only slightly more expensive. Far nicer area and very good bus and train links to Dublin.

ghostdancer

i'd take another year of saving, or start driving, rather than move to Athy tbh. Just driving through it is depressing enough.

Tork

I think you should learn how to drive. That is a handicap once you move out of Dublin. You would have more options if you weren’t impeded in the way you are.

Athy does have a train station too so if you don't have a car it has that going for it.

marieholmfan

BrownFinger wrote: »

Athy does have a train station too so if you don't have a car it has that going for it.

You need a car to live in Athy. You can commute by train but all stuff like shopping needs a car.

Gael23

ghostdancer wrote: »

i'd take another year of saving, or start driving, rather than move to Athy tbh. Just driving through it is depressing enough.

Yes looks like I need to save a bit more, but then a years saving will give me around €10k extra. I have a medical condition which means I can’t drive so that’s not something I can change.
Maybe I need to lower expectations and look at smaller places in Kildare town and Naas not being able to drive

GavMan

On the plus side for you, property prices will go down a bit with this pandemic as demand will be reduced. But I would not expect what we seen in the last crash as we had a fundamentally strong economy before this. A lot of jobs will come back reasonably quickly

theteal

Dang I used to go to Athy a lot as a kid, never knew it was so poorly regarded. In saying that the granny's house is about 1/3 of the way out the Carlow road so I wouldn't exactly be hanging around the town itself. I do have a lasting memory of the traffic going through the town being pretty muck.

Gael23

GavMan wrote: »

On the plus side for you, property prices will go down a bit with this pandemic as demand will be reduced. But I would not expect what we seen in the last crash as we had a fundamentally strong economy before this. A lot of jobs will come back reasonably quickly

If I save for another year and really plough all my savings into a house I think I can push to €220k. That’s not even leaving enough for a tin of paint though so would have to be perfect

GavMan

Gael23 wrote: »

If I save for another year and really plough all my savings into a house I think I can push to €220k. That’s not even leaving enough for a tin of paint though so would have to be perfect

https://www.daft.ie/kildare/houses-for-sale/allenwood,athgarvan,carragh,coill-dubh,derrinturn,kilcullen,kill,moone,naas,newbridge,nurney,robertstown,sallins,suncroft,the-curragh,two-mile-house/?ad_type=sale&advanced=1&s%5Bmxp%5D=225000&s%5Badvanced%5D=1&searchSource=sale

There's a lot of options up to 225K. Best of luck with the search

theteal

Gael23 wrote: »

If I save for another year and really plough all my savings into a house I think I can push to €220k. That’s not even leaving enough for a tin of paint though so would have to be perfect

Don't worry about that. The joy of home ownership is that there's always something to be done to the house. Get something in a "liveable" state and pick away at the decor bit by bit once you're in.

marieholmfan

Gael23 wrote: »

Yes looks like I need to save a bit more, but then a years saving will give me around €10k extra. I have a medical condition which means I can’t drive so that’s not something I can change.
Maybe I need to lower expectations and look at smaller places in Kildare town and Naas not being able to drive

Could you look at Sallins? The train does NOT go to NAAS. Also NAAS needs a car - total donut of a town ; only about 2 people living in the town itself.

I'd say house prices in Kildare will crash now with work from home.

Without asking you to identify yourself where are you actually from?

Tork

I think house prices are going to drop in the wake of the pandemic. I don't think they'll crash like they did in 2008 but this is going to halt price increases. It remains to be seen how working from home will evolve. My employers have indicated that they still want us all back in the office eventually and they are unlikely to be unique in holding that viewpoint. I think there is no harm in waiting and seeing what does happen with prices. If your wages stay as they are, you should be able to do better for yourself than Athy. The old saying "The day you buy is the day you sell" applies just as much now as it always has. Should you need to sell up and move for some reason, you might find your place in Athy harder to shift if the commuter belt has contracted back towards Dublin.

Gael23

marieholmfan wrote: »

Could you look at Sallins? The train does NOT go to NAAS. Also NAAS needs a car - total donut of a town ; only about 2 people living in the town itself.

I'd say house prices in Kildare will crash now with work from home.

Without asking you to identify yourself where are you actually from?

I’m from Waterford and work in Dublin so Kildare would be handy because the train goes in both directions

marieholmfan

Gael23 wrote: »

If I save for another year and really plough all my savings into a house I think I can push to €220k. That’s not even leaving enough for a tin of paint though so would have to be perfect

That will definitely get you a place in Newbridge next year.
Can you cycle a bicyle (sorry if question is insensitive)

Gael23

marieholmfan wrote: »

That will definitely get you a place in Newbridge next year.
Can you cycle a bicyle (sorry if question is insensitive)

Yes I can although I think cycling in rush hour traffic is very dangerous

marieholmfan

Gael23 wrote: »

Yes I can although I think cycling in rush hour traffic is very dangerous

You can cycle from Kilcullen to Newbridge in 25 minutes (maybe less on an EBike). Much nicer place to live than Athy.

mooref

I was looking to buy a house in 2008 but I was looking as far as Mountrath rather than Athy though Athy was much closer to family, Nice town to shop in but I wouldn't live there if you gave me a house for free. Got lucky with the recession and was able to buy in my preferred location.Kilcullen is serviced by the same bus that goes from Athy to Dublin. Lived there 2 years and it's a lovely town. If you keep your eyes peeled you can get a nice house for under 200k in Newbridge which location wise would be ideal for you. Even Monasterevin wouldn't be a bad location. You'd get a lovely house in Portarlington for that budget and an excellent train service to Dublin

tabby aspreme

marieholmfan wrote: »

You can cycle from Kilcullen to Newbridge in 25 minutes (maybe less on an EBike). Much nicer place to live than Athy.

Kilcullen to Newbridge, through Athgarvan, not a good road to cycle on I would think, especially during the winter. Is the local link bus, connecting the towns, still running

10pennymixup

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Kilcullen to Newbridge, through Athgarvan, not a good road to cycle on I would think, especially during the winter. Is the local link bus, connecting the towns, still running

Agree, I used to cycle it 30/35 years ago. It's straighter in parts now but a hell of a lot busier.

Back then I was knocked off the bike twice.

blackbird98

Gael23 wrote: »

I can’t afford Naas or Kildare town and Athy has a bus to Dublin so that’s what drew me. Not familiar with Kildare town but €200k is about as far as it goes so it does look like an option

I can't understand where all the posters get their negative comments from. Athy may have had a bad name years ago, but it's a far better town now. much safer than the likes of carlow or newbridge, and nicer people. All you have to do is read the leinster leader each week and see where all the trouble is!!!

There is great community spirit in the town, with lots of amenities, clubs, groups, etc. You really should come to the town and check it out for yourself.
There has been previous threads such as this about moving to Athy, have a look them.

Darc19

I'd still go for Kildare Town for the op.

Plenty of property within walking distance of shops. You also have Kildare village for clothing.

Good facilities for all ages.

Very strong transport links.

I'd keep an eye on some of the old council estates such as rowanville and Assumpta Villas which are very mature and quiet these days. - their drawback is poor parking, not an issue for the op, hence potentially good value.

Gael23

Darc19 wrote: »

I'd still go for Kildare Town for the op.

Plenty of property within walking distance of shops. You also have Kildare village for clothing.

Good facilities for all ages.

Very strong transport links.

I'd keep an eye on some of the old council estates such as rowanville and Assumpta Villas which are very mature and quiet these days. - their drawback is poor parking, not an issue for the op, hence potentially good value.

Yes parking not a problem, transport links would be a deal breaker though. Seen a few places I really like in Portarlington but not sure about it yet

Cole

blackbird98 wrote: »

I can't understand where all the posters get their negative comments from. Athy may have had a bad name years ago, but it's a far better town now. much safer than the likes of carlow or newbridge, and nicer people. All you have to do is read the leinster leader each week and see where all the trouble is!!!

There is great community spirit in the town, with lots of amenities, clubs, groups, etc. You really should come to the town and check it out for yourself.
There has been previous threads such as this about moving to Athy, have a look them.

I agree with much of this.

I'm not from/live in Athy but have family there, so I know it reasonably well. It does lack decent shops, but you have Carlow or Newbridge nearby for that. It is a bit 'rough around the edges' but that's part of its appeal...a real down to earth and unpretentious vibe to the place.

Mink

I’m in Athy a few years now and really like it. I’m on the Dublin side of the town where the majority of the nice estates are. I may be particularly lucky as the people on my road are brilliant.

Haven’t encountered any trouble, loads of sports leagues here which suits us, lots of musicians (again suits us) and the school my son is in has been great.

Having said all that there are an awful lot of bookies, pharmacies, euro shops and pubs for such a small town. But if you’re active there’s rugby, football, gaa, gym, pool, triathlon club, dragon boat racing, canoeing, dancing, martial arts, boxing, gymnastics, weight lifting, tennis and all of these groups have an amazing community spirit around them.

This is coming from someone who grew up in the posh part of D9.

If OP wants a list of estates to go for/avoid, just pm me.

AKMC

Mink wrote: »

I’m in Athy a few years now and really like it. I’m on the Dublin side of the town where the majority of the nice estates are. I may be particularly lucky as the people on my road are brilliant.

Haven’t encountered any trouble, loads of sports leagues here which suits us, lots of musicians (again suits us) and the school my son is in has been great.

Having said all that there are an awful lot of bookies, pharmacies, euro shops and pubs for such a small town. But if you’re active there’s rugby, football, gaa, gym, pool, triathlon club, dragon boat racing, canoeing, dancing, martial arts, boxing, gymnastics, weight lifting, tennis and all of these groups have an amazing community spirit around them.

This is coming from someone who grew up in the posh part of D9.

If OP wants a list of estates to go for/avoid, just pm me.

Hi there,

Would love some ideas an estates to go for please, especially with commuting to Dublin in mind

Thanks

Erik77

Hi guys,

Is Gallow Hill, Athy, a good estate to settle? Are there any down points to consider? We're thinking about buying a house there..

fe1fi20

Hi all,

Thinking of buying a place in Shackleton Court... I'm a first time buyer and plan to live alone. Is it a nice area?

Thanks

GalwayMan74

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119139274#Comment_119139274

I don't know if it will make a difference to but the ring road will be build near there.

six of one /half a dozen of the other considering its already close to the the N78.

Probably make life easier then worse.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/231641643429/