Where to Live? Galway or Dublin?

Sunshine after the Rain · 12-06-2017 05:11PM #1

Hi everyone, I need some help to choose the city to settle down in Ireland. Galway or Dublin?

My husband is a Senior Software Engineer, wanting to move to Dublin for more job opportunities and better pay. We have been living in Athlone for a few years. I personally love Irish towns and villages, small, quiet place with friendly local people. I'm only earning the national minimum wage but I enjoy the nature, peace, and closeness of the small place. I don't like the noise and rush in Dublin, not as clean or friendly as Athlone, feeling frustrated every time when I'm in Dublin.

Under this circumstance, would Galway be a better option than Dublin for both of us? or Any other place for a senior software engineer?

We both are not Irish, but have been studying and working in Ireland over 10 years. I really need some genuine advice here, thx in advance, much appreciated!

retro:electro · 12-06-2017 05:16PM

Galway is a great city with all the amenities, but it has the vibes and feel of a village town and is very relaxed and has a lovely warm atmosphere- so going by what you've outlined in your op I think you'll love it there.

blinkwink · 12-06-2017 05:18PM

Not sure if AH would be the best place if you are looking for serious answers tbh

12-06-2017 05:20PM

Why are you moving?

Barry Badrinath · 12-06-2017 05:21PM

G-G-G-Galway.

greencap · 12-06-2017 05:28PM

Why not try the likes of Drogheda or Dundalk or Wicklow.

Best* of both worlds.

*well if you can describe it as that.

Stonedpilot · 12-06-2017 05:31PM

Lived in both. Dublin for me. More to do and Galway can be drab if your not into drinking.
Galway is great for tourists, not so great to live. Full a drunks/stag dos at night in a small town, bit rough Galway Spermacs Eyre Square there is like WWE after 12 and its As expensive as Dublin with
Far far less things to do.

Great scenery in Lenanne though.

Sunshine after the Rain · 12-06-2017 05:31PM

anna080 wrote: »

Galway is a great city with all the amenities, but it has the vibes and feel of a village town and is very relaxed and has a lovely warm atmosphere- so going by what you've outlined in your op I think you'll love it there.

Thanks Anna, that's really helpful. We would like to live in a relaxed and welcoming place.

LizGalway · 12-06-2017 05:32PM

We moved to Ireland from another country and Dublin was out of the question for us. We definitely didn't want the big city feeling and decided against Dublin and for Galway. For me personally it is hard to find a job, the better job offers are definitely in Dublin but the better half found a job so it's not too bad right now. If you are more interested in having a good job and great pay etc. go for Dublin, if the small town feeling is more to your liking, definitely Galway. I totally LOVE Galway and don't want to move anywhere else

TheAnalyst_ · 12-06-2017 05:32PM

Dublin.

The weather in Galway is terrible as is the traffic.

Sosurface · 12-06-2017 05:33PM

Both horrible overpriced kips. Maybe try the UK or Germany.

Sunshine after the Rain · 12-06-2017 05:34PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Why are you moving?

Good question, the truth is I don't want to move at all, I don't like Dublin to be honest; but my husband wants to go to Dublin for his career progression and higher salary. So I'm thinking about some place we both can compromise.

Cordell · 12-06-2017 05:34PM

Why not somewhere in between. Like, Limerick?

/typed this with a straight face I swear I did

JP Liz V1 · 12-06-2017 05:34PM

I would pick Galway but has your husband already sourced work opportunities in both cities, I guess going where he can get the best job

I don't live in either just going on my visits to both

ScumLord · 12-06-2017 05:36PM

I couldn't do dublin traffic. There's no amount of money that would make me sufferre hours of sitting in traffic every week.

Galway is bad for traffic but if your living in the city you could get around that traffic with a bike.

PhoenixParker · 12-06-2017 05:39PM

Dublin, you just need to set yourself up in the right suburb. Job and pay wise he'll be in a much better position then Galway.

Reality is you're not going to be in the centre of Dublin with the hustle and bustle unless that's your thing. Plenty of locations around Dublin that offer the quiet life with friendly neighbours and nice parks/nature. Base yourself in one of the satellite suburbs, there's one for every m50 junction and a few inside. You just need to find the one that suits you. Given you're currently looking at Athlone or Galway I'd suggest somewhere on th N4. Lucan, chapelizod, islandbridge, celbridge, maynooth . . .

retro:electro · 12-06-2017 05:39PM

TheAnalyst_ wrote: »

Dublin.

The weather in Galway is terrible as is the traffic.

I agree the weather is piss, and the traffic can be bad depending on your commute- but it's a relatively small city. You can bike it/bus it and avoid most of the rush hour traffic. Dublin traffic would test someone with the patience of a saint.

retro:electro · 12-06-2017 05:42PM

Sunshine after the Rain wrote: »

Thanks Anna, that's really helpful. We would like to live in a relaxed and welcoming place.

It really is relaxed and welcoming. I live right in the city and I love it. I think it's quite a bohemian city and it's deep in culture, art and trad. The weather is mostly crappy but we do get some scorchers!

TheAnalyst_ · 12-06-2017 05:42PM

Its not a nice place to cycle either.
http://connachttribune.ie/galway-worst-traffic-congestion-ireland-021/

GalwayGrrrrrl · 12-06-2017 05:48PM

I moved to Galway from London area 12 years ago and I would never move back to a bigger city. Galway is a fantastic place to live. The sea is on your doorstep, wonderful music and art festivals, good choice of restaurants. Brilliant for children if you have any. Much cheaper for houses than dublin. Less choice of jobs for your husband so I guess that's the deciding factor for your possible move. Traffic is bad at rush hour but if you live the same side of galway as you work it's no big deal. Very mild, rarely snows. It does rain a lot but one good raincoat and off you go!

Discodog · 12-06-2017 05:51PM

No contest. I moved here 20 years ago & I still think that Galway is one of the best cities in the World.

Dublin might be the capital but Galway is the heart.

Mrs OBumble · 12-06-2017 05:54PM

PhoenixParker wrote: »

pay wise he'll be in a much better position then Galway.

. . .

Not necessarily true for a software engineer. Companies in Galway know they have to be competitive to get the staff.

It rains more in Galway but at least our criminal families only rarely shoot people.

Ponguin · 12-06-2017 05:57PM

Salthill sounds like the perfect place for you

ScumLord · 12-06-2017 05:59PM

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Not necessarily true for a software engineer. Companies in Galway know they have to be competitive to get the staff.

Plus, once you take cost of living and commute times into consideration Galway starts to look a lot better. Companies don't include commute times into their wages. That extra money might not be worth spending an extra hour commuting each day. What good is money if you've no time to spend it?

12-06-2017 06:02PM

Sunshine after the Rain wrote: »

Good question, the truth is I don't want to move at all, I don't like Dublin to be honest; but my husband wants to go to Dublin for his career progression and higher salary. So I'm thinking about some place we both can compromise.

I moved from Athlone to Dublin in 2013. My increase in salary instantly got swallowed up by the rent for my small apartment which was double what I paid in Athlone for a house. Make sure your husband takes that into account.

Depending on where he ends up working, you could be best off staying in athlone and he getting the train to Dublin in the morning. Travel time from Athlone to Dublin is about an hour. If he gets a job in Smithfield, Kilmainham, or on the Quays, he'd be as well off commuting from Athlone than moving to some parts of Dublin and commuting from there. From where I live right now to the Quays or Smithfield is about an hour of travel in the morning(and I'm paying 1300 in rent, versus the 600 I was paying in Athlone).

Samuel T. Cogley · 12-06-2017 06:03PM

OP I'm not going to offer an opinion on which location but look up the populations. (IMHO) I find the term 'City' in Ireland used in an exclusively Irish context. Yes I'm sure the ISO standard city naming what not is there etc. etc. but just personally I'm surprised at how few people there are in some Irish cities.

retro:electro · 12-06-2017 06:04PM

Op you should try looking at houses in Oranmore. It's about a 20min drive from Galway city centre but it's a beautiful village. It might suit what you're looking for residence wise and your husband could commute to work everyday.
If he got Engineering work in Ballybrit business park the commute from Oranmore is very straight forward-12 mins, and mostly traffic free.

Blazer · 12-06-2017 06:09PM

Cordell wrote: »

Why not somewhere in between. Like, Limerick?

/typed this with a straight face I swear I did

Limerick is actually a great place for IT and I work in the field myself. Pay wise it's not much less than Dublin as someone mentioned above they have to be competitive to get people due to skills shortages. Traffic wise Limerick beats both Galway and Dublin hands down as it's nowhere near as bad and Limerick is a lot safer than Dublin although the national media would have you think otherwise.
Accommodation would also be cheaper in Limerick.

Cork is another alternative and I spent 2 years down there and loved it. So much to do down there as well.

12-06-2017 06:10PM

Do not underestimate the amount it rains in galway!
It rains all the time.
Put me off moving there around 15years ago, I just couldn't stand the thought of the depressing rain.......
Maybe find a little town/village commuting distance to Dublin? Some nice little places in north county Dublin.
My favorite Dublin village is chapelizod, lovely spot, right on the liffey & beside the Phoenix park.

ScumLord · 12-06-2017 06:16PM

Blazer wrote: »

Cork is another alternative and I spent 2 years down there and loved it. So much to do down there as well.

The traffic in the whole county of Cork is horrendous, the cities layout is anti car. Other than that it's a lovely city.

bubblypop wrote: »

Put me off moving there around 15years ago, I just couldn't stand the thought of the depressing rain.......

Our rain is effervescent, it's down right rejuvenating.

Discodog · 12-06-2017 06:16PM

bubblypop wrote: »

Do not underestimate the amount it rains in galway!
It rains all the time.
Put me off moving there around 15years ago, I just couldn't stand the thought of the depressing rain.......
Maybe find a little town/village commuting distance to Dublin? Some nice little places in north county Dublin.
My favorite Dublin village is chapelizod, lovely spot, right on the liffey & beside the Phoenix park.

Simply not true. I work outdoors & Galway doesn't have anywhere near as much rain as people make out. I remember seeing a rainfall map. There is a narrow band from the sea to around a mile inland. It stretches from Rossaveel to Oranmore & has far less rainfall that the rest of the area.

Where to Live? Galway or Dublin?

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