Anyone here live in Kilmarnock

and commute to Glasgow (west end)?

Trying to guestimate commute time!

multimap? google maps? michelin?

I take it you don't mean cycling

They give me distances. Distances only tell you so much. I used to commute 17 miles in an hour. I currently commute 8 miles in 20 minutes but at certain times it's 45, I'd like a bit of "local" knowledge. House prices out there are ~50K cheaper like for like, and there are more pleasant options that far out, but I'm not really willing to commute for hours a day if I can help it.

Should normally be around 45 minutes. Maybe an hour now and again.

Lived there for 21 years. Grim.

Re. commuting, while the M77 extension is a lot safer than the old A77 it doesn't vastly improve commuting times. Before they opened it there were bottlenecks on the A77 at the Eaglesham turn off and the point that it narrowed to a single lane before joining the M77. These bottlenecks drip fed the traffic onto the M77 so that you had a pretty free run up to about Plantation where it joined the M8.

Once the M77 extension opened there was nothing to slow down the flow of traffic so everyone arrives at Glasgow even quicker meaning the tailbacks are a lot worse than before. Whereas before the queue would start around plantation, it's regularly queued back to Darnley and often as far as Newton Mearns so ultimately the new motorway didn't improve travel times at rush hour.

However outside of rush hour it's fine. I can get from my place in Shawlands to my parents in Killie (16 miles door to door) in about 20 minutes.

I'd reckon at rush hour you'd be looking at an hour+ to get from Killie to the city centre

Cheers for that guys. 45 I could cope with, but I'll try to keep north of the area. What side of it makes it grim Bob? Looks pretty nice when I've driven through the area (not necessarily the town itself) and its right near the coast for kitesurfing 🙂 I'm actually looking for a cottage in the fields but the only affordable ones are in that area!

I'm pretty sure Gary_M lives there (or close by) too…

What side of it makes it grim Bob?

Go to the Asda in Killie it'll send shivers down your spine…

ck – on the commute times. I stay at Hairmyres (East Kilbride) and can go into town through Castlemilk or GSO/M77. If going the latter (as you would do from Kilmarnock) travel time by car from Jcn 5 of the 77 to Charing X is 5-10 mins when quiet and approx 20 mins at rush hour – this can go up massively if there is a traffic problem anywhere. So if you add on 10 mins (max) to get from Kilmarnock to Jcn 5 and 5 or 10 mins from Charing X to work in West End, then I would say that 40-45 mins would be a 'normal trouble free commute' at rush hour. I always go through Castlemilk if travelling at rush hour though, as 1 or 2 days a week there is a M8 problem, which leads you to be parked up on the M77 between Silverburn and town and unable to escape, often for upwards of 30 mins….

Coffeeking, am I right in saying you live up past Milngavie somewhere? And you want to live in Killie???? You must be mad. Once a week I cycle from Shawlands to work in Prestwick and I deliberately choose a route to avoid Killie, even though it adds 3-4miles to my route.
Have a look at Stewarton/Kilmaurs area. You can easily then take the 'back' roads to join the m77 near Mearns on your way into town and the areas are MUCH more pleasant then Killie. I'm not saying there aren't nice places to live in Killie, but you pay a premium for them as the 'nice' areas are few and far between.

i used to do stewarton to west of scotland science park (top of maryhill road) took about an hour going back road to neilston – crookston – paisley road west – clyde tunnel – balshagray avenue – switch back. it was ok but clyde tunnel could be a nightmare. quite fun on my motorbike though. glad i dont live there anymore. handy for the coast though.

What side of it makes it grim Bob?

It's a ghost town. There really is nothing of interest there and nothing to do. It went from being a vibrant town to a shell of it's former self. All the mass employers are gone with Walkers being the last one and we know it's going soon. There are no decent shops, there are no decent pubs. It's really just a commuter town now. A massive new estate sprang up at the north of the town and a lot of people moved there with the same intention as you i.e. its proximity to Glasgow.

What I would say though is the train service is very good and reliable. 40 minutes from Kilmarnock to Glasgow, so that's a decent option for commuting.

If you're looking at house on property sites give us a link and I'll let you know about the area.

Cheers all, thats great feedback. Yup, currently renting in Torrance but trying to balance the ideal (cottage with no neighbours in a decent location, near to sea and mountains – even if derelict/totally remote) with the cost implications of such. Torrance prices are a bit nuts (140K+ for a 2 bed mid-terrace) whereas 140K will get you a 3 bed detached in a village surrounding Killie with stacks of garden space but a long commute. Not much keen on the idea of a place where major employers have vanished, that could cause a few social issues in the area.

The commute looks "do-able" if a stunning property comes up, in the fields, but otherwise your comments are putting me off the area. Moon on a stick, cheap/good mutual-exclusiveness thing going on!

I grew up in the Irvine Valley, east of Killie. Further from the commute corridor, but less depressing than Kilmarnock. That said, I rarely go back, even though my folks still live there.

Oh, and I never found any decent riding in the area.

Used to live G1, Merchant City and work in Crosshouse Hospital
Commute = 35 minutes. BUT that was driving past all those cars queueing to join the M8 from the M77. I'd add around 20 minutes for that, and can't see using the Clyde Tunnel being any quicker.

BTW, never fancied actually living in Killie, but did come close to buying in Ayr. It looks (or looked back then) pretty cool and affordable. Less so, but still (IMHO) better than Killie was Irvine. I kept a boat there and only really ever saw the harbour and hospital (work again). All seemed nive anough and the harbourside pubs were ok
Both on the coast

These stories are depressing me now 🙁 I'm going to end up finding a grey 2 up 2 down box around here at this rate!

ck – south of the city but not as far out ? some nice areas that might fit the bill……

It was on Radio 4 yesterday about the closure of Massey Fergusson (loved going there as a kid in the lorries to get the combine harvesters)and the closure of Johnnie Walkers in 2 years time. I rarely go there these days (though I was born there)but areas of it don't look that nice anymore. Lived Loudon Valley side and most of family still do.

Property scene would have to be real bad elsewhere before Id' consider Kimarnock (and huge swathes of Ayrshire)

Hell, even Fifes better 😉

Depends what you're looking for though doesnt it, I personally would like to get as far from human inhabitation as possible while still being commutable to Glasgow. Not too many places fit that description without being 300K houses (not ideal for a first buy!)

What about heading west up the A82/83 route CK. You could commute to the west end from Arrocher, Cairndow in around an hr and its certainly quiet with cheap houses and good biking 🙂

Virtually everything is gone from Killie

Massey Ferguson
BMK Carpets
Glenfield & Kennedy
Johnnie Walkers
Glacier Metal

The only two that really remain are Hunslet Barclay and Biwater Valves but even they are a shadow of their former glory

I used to do the commute in the opposite direction from shawlands to killie, opposite the rush hour, but in the days of the nasty old A77 and it would take about 25mins door to door. I now live in Sorn and don't have to commute anywhere anymore, but frequently work up in Glasgow. 30 miles (with Killie at roughly the halfway mark). Its only 40 Minutes from here to the Kingston Bridge, so long as you are outside the rushhour. I finf the rush hour period is pretty short on the M77 compared to the M8 and the Great Western Road horror. I rarely find that the rush hour adds that much time getting the the same point, although the sensation is that you are in it for a long time, rarely adds more than 10 mins. The issue with moving south if you work in the north of the city is the travel times north to south across glasgow itself, same as it would be if you move to Shawlands really.

If you've got flexibility over your workhours then its fine. I'm usually either on filmshoots and need to be in the city for 7ish otherwise I plan my day around a 10am start/7pm finish and traffic is never really an issue. I'm perfectly happy to make the early start otherwise and sit and have a nice coffee when I arrive if i need to hit more conventional start time.

Killie itself is better than it was when I worked there, it was suffering from planning blight for a while and while it still has a few black holes it also isn't bad as a place to drop in and out of now.

If you are wanting rural in the killie area, rather than the town itself then the Stewarton area is worth a look, as is Fenwick. I just drove past a to-let sign near Waterside (look up CKD Galbraiths) but it looked like a pretty big place. Theres a house and a flat both available on the estate where I live, house is pretty pricy but perched on a cliff over a wee gorge, flat is crazy cheap and beautifully situated, but I've never seen inside.

I used to drive to Strathclyde Uni long before they built the M77 and that was horrific. Up the old A77, through Newton Mearns, Giffnock etc then onto the M8 at Plantation. Nose to tail from Newton Mearns onwards. 🙁

Hell, even Fifes better

eh? are you including south fife (methill and that area) in that? no, not even close.

ChubbyBlokeInLycra – Member

eh? are you including south fife (methill and that area) in that? no, not even close.

Is that not East Fife?