Sallins, Clane, Kildare?

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clipper1981

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I am a first time buyer and am thinking of moving out of Dublin to Kildare. I have been looking in the Sallins/Clane area. Does anybody know what these ares are like to live in? Also where else would people recommend in Kildare?
 
They are nice areas, Prosperous is nice also. Obviously Nass and Maynooth would be the "best" places to buy in Kildare but these are also nice places.

Its a bit far from dublin city centre if you are planning to commute in but if you like a quiet life then these areas are good. Donedea forest is close to Prosperous which is a good place for a walk and prices there are quite good e.g. large 4 bed semi in Propersous would go for about 300k, good value compared to Dublin.
 
My parents live in Kildare and I have a few times over the last couple of years. The train service out of Kildare is excellent and perfect for commuters, and is being expanded even more, I'm afraid you'll have to rely on the bus in Clane or the car to drive to the nearest town with a station.
Sallins is a nice place to live but is Full to the brim with commuters, very few people actually do business there whereas Kildare Town and Clane were reasonable size places Before the commuter rush in the 90's and 00's and have expanded since. Sallins from what I hear is a hell of a lot of houses with the infrastructure starting to catch up. There's actually major roads planned to go through a number of green spaces in some of the estates in Sallins.
Sallins is probably more expensive than Kildare Town.
Kildare Town has a number of great restaurants, a large choice of pubs, has Ireland's first proper outlet mall run by a British firm with good reputation for these things opening in 2006. Tesco have received planning permission for a major store there. Also planning permission for a new hotel. Is right beside the Curragh, a stones throw from Newbridge with the new Whitewater centre opening with M&S etc... this year. Has the National Stud, Japanese Gardens, St.Brigid's Cathedral etc...
I'm not biased as I've bought in Palmerstown as it suited my partner better but if I hadn't I'd have bought in Kildare.
Hope that helps.
 
I thought Kildare town itself was a bit of a dump, or least thats what i was told by someone who lives in Maynooth, so maybe its not true.
 
Lived in Clane for 10 years till I got a site , nice place to live small journey
to sallins to get arrow into city.
Call Remax in Clane I think the main mans Name is Fintan he sells in all the areas around good guy.
Best of luck on move
 
SteelBlue05 said:
I thought Kildare town itself was a bit of a dump, or least thats what i was told by someone who lives in Maynooth, so maybe its not true.
Click to expand...
Ah Maynooth is nice as well but very different as in it's bigger and has the seminary and more recently the university dominating it development so it's going to have a different atmosphere. Kildare isn't perfect but either is Maynooth but I imagine you'd get better value in Kildare.
 
I lived in Kildare for 3 years and have been lucky enough to recently move out.
When we first moved in we thought the town offered good value although there were few ammenities. We were happy to make the 9 mile round trip to Newbridge to Tescos or Dunnes or take the kids to the park.
Eventually things started to get us down. Kildare, like many former army towns has a fairly rough element and many of the (very young) kids use language that would shame a sergeant major. They tend to hang around the streets drinking alcohol from an early age. There is not much else for them to do. There also seems to be a high level of young girls getting pregnant in Kildare (this is just an observation), maybe a consequence of the drinking. I have daughters so I did not fancy a future where drinking on street corners and swearing like a trooper was the highlight of the week.

Alcohol and bookies seem to figure fairly large in Kildare. For the three years we were there, whenever a new shop was about to open there would be the hope that it might actually be something of use to the community, only to be disappointed to discover it was another off-licence or bookies.

To be fair Kildare does have the Curragh and National Stud/Japanese Gardens as well as a Factory Outlet Mall due to open. However these attractions are really geared for tourists spending a day there and have limited attraction to the locals.

There was a huge effort to secure a government department for Kildare during the decentralization scheme. They wanted Defence and wanted it to be located on the decommissioned army barracks in the town, however the bid failed and the latest I heard was that the barracks was to be redeveloped into a huge affordable/social housing project.

Also the daily commute to Dublin is a nightmare. Three hours per day in the car for the sake of a cheaper house was not a sacrifice I was ultimately willing to make. Life is for living not commuting. It will get worse as more houses are built on the N7 corridor.

In the end I was happy to take my family away from Kildare Town and now live in a much nicer town in the mid west. I have a 20 minute commute to work on empty motorway and property is much better value than the Kildare/Greater Dublin region. The children behave like children and the town has lots of ammenities. However you pays your money and takes your choice.


I would advise anybody to think long and hard before buying in Kildare Town.
 
I have to say that I agree with you about Kildare town - a complete dump although I know a lot of people who have moved there recently so mayb things will change.
Naas would be far more preferable - but more expensive.
Sallins - really this is just a place that commuters sleep when they get home from work! There is nothing in Sallins, just loads of houses.........although very close to Naas.
 
My advice stay clear of Kildare town-dump,dump,dump. I lived there from 0-21 so I know.

Could you consider somewhere a little closer to Dublin. I've always liked Celbridge.Looked in to moving their a couple of years ago but due to external forces didn't settle there
 
My advice stay clear of Kildare town-dump,dump,dump. I lived there from 0-21 so I know.
Saying that the commute to Dublin from there isn't too bad but it would depend on where your working.The train only takes about 40 mins, less on express trains but you are dumped in Heuston.

Could you consider somewhere a little closer to Dublin. I've always liked Celbridge.Looked in to moving their a couple of years ago but due to external forces didn't settle there
 
I have to disagree about Kildare Town.

We are livving there 3 years having moved down from Dublin. It's actually quicker to get from Kildare to city Centre than it was getting from Lucan to city centre.

Most of the business premises on the main street have been refurbished and the county council have a plan for the two or three remaining derelict premises. There are lots of restaurants in the town, and these are quite good value. One thing the town needs is a decent pub. Most of the pubs in the town are terrible.

Since the town was bypassed there has been a huge improvement in the amenities and it's noticable. The new playground opened after Xmas and it's a great bonus.

With regard to drinking on street corners etc, that happens in every town. Read any of the local papers around the country and this is a common problem in Ireland, not just in Kildare.

The new Whitewater Sshopping Centre in Newbridge will be opening soon, so the cinema will be a great addition.

I think the town will have improved even more in another few years. House prices for 3 bed semis have increased substantially over the last few months and there is a shortage of large family homes in the area.

Best of luck with your househunting
 
Have to disagree with the bad publicity Kildare Town is getting.

I've lived in Kildare Town for the last 6 years and love it. It is far enough away from Dublin so that the houses at least have a bit of space but close enough to commute to.

I work in Dublin and it takes me 40 min to 1 hour to get to work in the morning and the same home. Dont know how you were travelling for 3 hours. The arrow service is good aswell every 30 in the morning I think

while there is not a lot to do in the town it is close to Newbridge for shopping and Dublin for stuff to do.

Nice restaurents Nice pubs I go to Graces but these are also available in Newbridge aound 10 min from my house

PS the children in the area are nice aswell and have never seen them drinking around corners
 
The 3 hours commuting from Kildare to Dublin was achieved by multiplying journey times of 1.5 hours each way by two. It took me 1 hour to get as far as the Red Cow roundabout and then another 30 mins into town. I had approx the same times on the return journey. I left Kildare at 7am each morning and got to work at 8.30. There will be many more houses to be built along the N7 corridor so I figure those times will get worse. Even if they remove the lights at Kill and Johnstown there will be a longer wait approaching the Red Cow.

If it only takes you 40-60 mins to get into Dublin in the mornings then you must be getting from Kildare Town to the Red Cow in say 20-30 mins. Even at quiet times of the day it takes around 20 mins to get from Kildare Town to Naas so having made this commute for several years I would love to know whether you have your own private traffic lane that opens up and allows you to speed past all the static traffic.
 
I have to disagree about Kildare town also. We've been living here for almost 2 years and find it great.
I was on maternity leave when we moved here and so I was out and about walking most days and I never saw any kids drinking or hanging around on street corners.

Locals are friendly and welcoming and it is a great place to live. It takes on average 45 minutes to get to citywest, and this should be reduced further when the roadworks are completed and there'll be 3 lanes in/out from Naas to the city.

The new shopping centre in Newbridge is a great addition and it's barely 10 minutes away, plus the large Dunnes & Tescos are on the Kildare side of Newbridge too, making them so handy for us. So we have all these amenities on our doorstep, but still live in a quiet country town - best of both worlds really!

Houses in our estate have gone up by over €60k since we moved here and there is seemingly a great demand for 3 bed semis.
 
Sallins is just a dormitory town - you might as well be in Lucan / Swords. Nothing wrong with Sallins, just loads of houses and apartments, with no real centre to the town

Clane is very nice, but a little inaccessible i.e. no train service

Kildare is, I think, an excellent area to buy in for FTBs - considering that it is 25 miles from Dublin, with Arrow and bus connections, and the new M7 to be opened in Sept, it's much better value than people would think. you can still get 3 bed semis for c€240-€250k. Also the shopping mall and Tesco will help improve the town. However I agree with former postings, that it needs a little more gentrification, and is probably slightly ahead of its time (Ditto for Monasterevin)

I'm surprised no-one has suggested Newbridge, right now it's impossible to get property in Newbridge. It has always been the main town for shopping in Kildare, sits on the River Liffey, right beside the Curragh, has greyhound stadium, Kildare County soccer club, St. Conleth's Park (GAA) number of golf clubs, has the same Arrow service as Kildare, and a number of private and public bus services run from Newbridge to Dublin. Nightlife isn't bad, and it's quite an easy town to move around in (once the Whitewater building works were completed, that is!)

At the risk of getting my head chewed off, I think that Naas is well-overrated. It has some very nice pubs & restaraunts, but has little shopping. You have to go to Sallins to pick up the train to Dublin ( that's why so many houses and apartments have sprung up in Sallins), it has very few sporting amenities (Naas rugby club, couple of golf courses), and the main street is a nightmare to drive through morning and night. I have noticed that the price differential for property between Naas and Newbridge has narrowed considerably over the past 6-12 months, they are almost equal at this point - possibly because all new developments are being built in Sallins direction. I believe there is a tendency for people to retain a 'snob' value with Naas, which now seems to be based on somewhat suspect rationale.

I have little or no knowledge of Celbridge and Leixlip, other than they are very built up. Maynooth is nice, historical, university town. The last place I would mention would be Athy, but this is quite a distance from Dublin (40miles), no train service yet to Dublin, very reasonable for property prices, but traffic in the centre of Athy is almost worse than Dublin city centre traffic (and that's what Athy people would say)
 
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