Good/bad areas of Cork!

FunkyMissMonkey · 07-10-2008 7:44pm #1

I'm relatively new to the city (and county, and country for that matter!) and have been living in a reasonable rented house in the Albert Road area. However, it's tiny, and overpriced, and I'm now looking for somewhere more reasonable.

Since I'm new, I don't really know the area, which are the areas to avoid and so on.

I'm working in Blackpool, with no transport, so got to be within easy access of buses. Any recommendations? Or just places that I should avoid at all costs! :rolleyes:

Many thanks.

cork1 · 07-10-2008 7:50pm

knocknaheeny hollyhill and farranree. avoid at all costs!!:D

FunkyMissMonkey · 07-10-2008 7:57pm

That's really useful, I was looking at a house in Hollyhill! I thought it was a bargain, makes sense now!

sunnyside · 07-10-2008 8:24pm

The good areas are Wilton, Bishopstown, Douglas but they would be very far out of your way for work.

Dublin Hill might be suitable for you, I'm not very familiar with it but it's near Blackpool. Isn't Blackpool only about 10 minutes walk from the city centre, maybe you could rent in the city centre.

Heisenberg. · 07-10-2008 9:37pm

This post has been deleted.

taram · 07-10-2008 10:00pm

As someone who lives in a "bad" area but on a lovely quiet street, check the streets out, there's estates in Douglas that are as bad as Hollyhill anyday.

Funkyzeit · 07-10-2008 10:14pm

Lads/Lassies
Depends what definition of 'good and bad' are - I'm an exile down here and love it - know people from so called 'bad' areas and nice people you couldn't meet. I wouldn't tar these areas with the same brush ! I'm sure there are places in Holyhill that are perfect (sorry don't mean to be preachy...)

OP somehwere like Glanmire might suit you?

Leadership · 07-10-2008 10:24pm

Tivoli is a nice spot, no pub though :-(

miss_shadow · 07-10-2008 11:40pm

oh so this is a stereotype thread to inflate those ego's of bishopstowns or whichever place you dwell in.
why didnt you let me know sooner..

tbh though im having loads of problems living in the northside, i have never ever ever known for an 11yr old boy to trespass my property and open my bathroom window while i am doing my hair in mirror and im livid, i felt like hitting the f8cker, invasion of my privacy to the max. next time it will not be a harsh talk...

avoid living near council estates thats the only advice i can stress, im not labeling all here, but a majority of asbos do live in the estates.

blackpool... the valley of darkness, im not sure if id want to live near there somehow.
how about somewhere near patricks hill, st.lukes, ...shandon street (im all out of ideas already)

Kold · 08-10-2008 12:29am

miss_shadow wrote: »

oh so this is a stereotype thread to inflate those ego's of bishopstowns or whichever place you dwell in.
why didnt you let me know sooner..

Pfft I live in Bishopstown but on the corner of Curraheen Estate so it's hardly a good area.

AFC_1903 · 08-10-2008 4:39am

All areas have their good and bad points.

I live near St Finnabarr's Cathedaral. Close to town, buses etc but you have to put up with stupid sh!t from students, esp at this time of year.
But no kids

goodcitizen · 08-10-2008 6:33am

no surprise with the previous replies there, yes? yeah, Cork is a ****hole for renting in and you'll have your work cut out to find a half decent place to live within it without costing the earth and that doesn't have fools with their piles of car **** racing up and down the street outside of your window.
Anyway landlords here are far from reasonable and they don't give a **** about their tennants.I remember a couple of years ago before europe brought in tennant rights in this country, they were looking for crazy money for **** holes you wouldn't put a dog in and I don't think things have gotten that much better here since.

sunnyside · 08-10-2008 9:00am

goodcitizen wrote: »

no surprise with the previous replies there, yes? yeah, Cork is a ****hole for renting in and you'll have your work cut out to find a half decent place to live within it without costing the earth and that doesn't have fools with their piles of car **** racing up and down the street outside of your window.
Anyway landlords here are far from reasonable and they don't give a **** about their tennants.I remember a couple of years ago before europe brought in tennant rights in this country, they were looking for crazy money for **** holes you wouldn't put a dog in and I don't think things have gotten that much better here since.

That's ridiculous, there are plenty of lovely houses to rent.

ampjohnny · 08-10-2008 12:42pm

I used work for a property rental company so condider myself well versed on where to live and where to avoid like a kick in the lambchops.

As a general rule of thumb I'd steer well clear of the Northside, yes this is a cliche but a cliche is a cliche because its true. I have friends who rent in Blackpool and they says its alright but I worked in the middle of Blackpool 'village' for a few years and it was a goddam Zoo... ie entertaining but there was always the danger of seriousharm.

There are areas on the SOuthside that can be pretty bad; Some parts of Bishopstown, Ballincollig, Mahon and togher (although thats improved immeasurably from what it was like previously)

Areas on the Northside to consider
Montenotte
Tivoli (rather far to walk/bike and rather dull)
Sundays Well (a personal fav)

Areas on the southside to consider
Wilton
Bishopstown
Glasheen - lovely quiet spot
The Lough
Rochestown
Douglas - near the village, not the wild wild west some of the estates further out have become

To be honest if i was moving again I would do my upmost to secure a place in the following for various reasons, location, amenities, house types and conditions (in general obviously)

Old Blackrock Road - especially in Rochelle, quality development
Deerpark - Suburban living 15 mins walk from Patrick St
Blackrock itself - nice little spot
Ballintemple
Ballinlough

If you would like a quick chat about it feel free to Pm me for my Tel number.

Good Luck
Amp

ampjohnny · 08-10-2008 12:51pm

ampjohnny wrote: »

I used work for a property rental company so condider myself well versed on where to live and where to avoid like a kick in the lambchops.

As a general rule of thumb I'd steer well clear of the Northside, yes this is a cliche but a cliche is a cliche because its true. I have friends who rent in Blackpool and they says its alright but I worked in the middle of Blackpool 'village' for a few years and it was a goddam Zoo... ie entertaining but there was always the danger of seriousharm.

There are areas on the SOuthside that can be pretty bad; Some parts of Bishopstown, Ballincollig, Mahon and togher (although thats improved immeasurably from what it was like previously)

Areas on the Northside to consider
Montenotte
Tivoli (rather far to walk/bike and rather dull)
Sundays Well (a personal fav)

Areas on the southside to consider
Wilton
Bishopstown
Glasheen - lovely quiet spot
The Lough
Rochestown
Douglas - near the village, not the wild wild west some of the estates further out have become

To be honest if i was moving again I would do my upmost to secure a place in the following for various reasons, location, amenities, house types and conditions (in general obviously)

Old Blackrock Road - especially in Rochelle, quality development
Deerpark - Suburban living 15 mins walk from Patrick St
Blackrock itself - nice little spot
Ballintemple
Ballinlough

If you would like a quick chat about it feel free to Pm me for my Tel number.

Good Luck
Amp

Just took a quick look on daft there

www.daft.ie/2556532

These aprtments are 10 mins walk from Patrick St and 10 mins from Blackpool, generalyl speaking the areas ok although bit deserted at night if you're walking home alone. Theres no bloody way they're making 1100 per month at the mo so haggle the f**k out of it with them. If memory serves that agency has the whole block so I imagine they reaaly need to shift a few of em...might be worth a look

Good Luck
Amp

FunkyMissMonkey · 08-10-2008 2:24pm

Many thanks for all the responses, and I apologise, I didn't intend for this post to turn into a "my area is better than yours" war!

Amp, those apartments do look nice, but as always, it's not quite as simple! We'd prefer a house, and they have to accept pets, I know, that's never easy!

I'm hoping to view one in Ballyvolane and one in Douglas, near Maryborough Woods. I saw a place in Blackpool which I really quite liked, except that the kitchen was so tiny, you could probably only fit half a person in it! All the kitchen cupboards were in the dining room, along with the fridge freezer .. Landlords have some strange ideas sometimes!

shoegirl · 08-10-2008 2:35pm

If you work in Blackpool and live on southside you'll have the commute from hell every day.

I have lived around St Lukes, Summerhill, Glanmire Rd, currently behind the hospice on Wellington Rd - nice with the added bonus that there are quite a few shortcuts that will get you to Blackpool without hitting traffic.

shoegirl · 08-10-2008 2:36pm

FunkyMissMonkey wrote: »

I'm hoping to view one in Ballyvolane and one in Douglas, near Maryborough Woods. I saw a place in Blackpool which I really quite liked, except that the kitchen was so tiny, you could probably only fit half a person in it! All the kitchen cupboards were in the dining room, along with the fridge freezer .. Landlords have some strange ideas sometimes!

Just to warn you that a lot of people call parts of Mayfield "Ballyvolane." Rule of thumb is if you can't walk to Dunnes in 5 minutes flat from it, its NOT Ballyvolane!!

FunkyMissMonkey · 08-10-2008 3:51pm

Nice tip Shoegirl, thanks!

08-10-2008 4:19pm

A lot of the north side of the city is bad. Though the St. Lukes area is one of the nicest parts of the city I've lived in.

Regards the south side, avoid Togher, Mahon and the general Ballyphehane area. Friars walk is ok, anywhere around UCC is generally expensive (for the same crappy houses as half the city).

If I had my choice I would live on the old blackrock road area or Ballinlough, it's got nice houses and it's far enough outside the city to allow for decent house sizes at fairly ok prices. Thats the south east of the city for reference.

shoegirl wrote: »

Just to warn you that a lot of people call parts of Mayfield "Ballyvolane." Rule of thumb is if you can't walk to Dunnes in 5 minutes flat from it, its NOT Ballyvolane!!

The exact same for Blackrock and Mahon. People say Blackrock when the house is clearly in Mahon, Mahon is not somewhere I would want to live being honest.

In my experience of living in Cork (around 17 years worth in all) I would have to say that St. Lukes was the nicest, though we had a really nice house (called Bawnmore) up beside Dillons Cross. The area was close enough to town and had a nice feel about it, though that could have changed since then as I haven't been up that part of the city in 12 or 13 years.
The Friars Walk/Turners Cross area is a close second, nice houses, cheap rent and it's close to town. Its sort of between good and bad areas but its well situated and the houses up there nearly always have parking too (I used to live on Doyle road).

AFC_1903 · 08-10-2008 6:58pm

As mentioned before, do haggle. A friend was looking at places a couple of months back and was told by an agency thet they'd knock a bit of money off as he passed all their checks. As far as I remember places at 1050 could go down to 950 for him.

And since then there's been all that trouble with banks. If the landlord is using rental to pay off their morgage, then I'd imaguine they'd rather take 10% less per month than have the place sit empty and not be paying itself off....

FunkyMissMonkey · 08-10-2008 7:15pm

Makes sense, I shall see what bargain I can get on the place I'm seeing tomorrow!

Balmed Out · 08-10-2008 7:16pm

Only ever lived on southside. Grew up on town side of douglas. It and ballinlough are good, certain areas of south douglas rd could be better. Id steer clear of large areas of grange, frankfield and donnybrook. At the moment im living in blackrock / mahon area and never have any probs. There are some dodgy streets in mahon (areas close to mahonpoint especially) but on the whole i find it safer then frankfield and grange. Blackrock and ballintemple grand but can see youth gangs infesting church road and parts of ashliegh.
Personally dont like the west side as think its a bit of a journey to town.
Have you looked into glanmire? Seems like a nice area and a little closer to work.

omerin · 08-10-2008 8:03pm

104494431 wrote: »

A lot of the north side of the city is bad. Though the St. Lukes area is one of the nicest parts of the city I've lived in.

Regards the south side, avoid Togher, Mahon and the general Ballyphehane area. Friars walk is ok, anywhere around UCC is generally expensive (for the same crappy houses as half the city).

If I had my choice I would live on the old blackrock road area or Ballinlough, it's got nice houses and it's far enough outside the city to allow for decent house sizes at fairly ok prices. Thats the south east of the city for reference.

The exact same for Blackrock and Mahon. People say Blackrock when the house is clearly in Mahon, Mahon is not somewhere I would want to live being honest.

In my experience of living in Cork (around 17 years worth in all) I would have to say that St. Lukes was the nicest, though we had a really nice house (called Bawnmore) up beside Dillons Cross. The area was close enough to town and had a nice feel about it, though that could have changed since then as I haven't been up that part of the city in 12 or 13 years.
The Friars Walk/Turners Cross area is a close second, nice houses, cheap rent and it's close to town. Its sort of between good and bad areas but its well situated and the houses up there nearly always have parking too (I used to live on Doyle road).

:mad:
its such sweeping generalisations about many areas of cork city and suburbs that has caused many people to enter false addresses on cvs, and it not alone applies to cork, but to dublin, limerick etc. i'm sure the vast majority of people living in those areas are decent, and spreading such pile on an open forum only contributes to the stigma.
i live in cork county and we have a percentage of bad eggs, just like st lukes, blackrock ....
if you had mentioned on your post to avoid an area that had a large contingent of foreign nationals it would have been racist, yet you can tarnish the reputations of people living in certain areas.
what a tosser.

Jimbo · 08-10-2008 8:31pm

Kold wrote: »

Pfft I live in Bishopstown but on the corner of Curraheen Estate so it's hardly a good area.

That place is like a little piece of hell dropped into the middle of Bishopstown

miss_shadow · 08-10-2008 11:02pm

omerin wrote: »

:mad:
its such sweeping generalisations about many areas of cork city and suburbs that has caused many people to enter false addresses on cvs, and it not alone applies to cork, but to dublin, limerick etc. i'm sure the vast majority of people living in those areas are decent, and spreading such pile on an open forum only contributes to the stigma.
i live in cork county and we have a percentage of bad eggs, just like st lukes, blackrock ....
if you had mentioned on your post to avoid an area that had a large contingent of foreign nationals it would have been racist, yet you can tarnish the reputations of people living in certain areas.
what a tosser.

blah blah blah

bill_ashmount · 09-10-2008 10:50am

104494431 wrote: »

A lot of the north side of the city is bad. Though the St. Lukes area is one of the nicest parts of the city I've lived in.

Regards the south side, avoid Togher, Mahon and the general Ballyphehane area. Friars walk is ok, anywhere around UCC is generally expensive (for the same crappy houses as half the city).

OP, the best thing you can do is ignore advice like this. He probably had his barbie doll laughed at.

99% of the city is fine. There are occasional bad houses. I've lived both soutshside and northside and bar a few clowns everything has been fine.

scaryfairy · 09-10-2008 11:47am

OP:

we are also new comers to Cork, and we moved to Blackrock, to a "new" (7 yrs?) development, between the castle and the St Lukes nursing home. So it is bordering Mahon. I see youths when I go to the bus, but they never ever enter this development (which is not gated, I have to add) and never seem to be bothered to bother me..

.
So it is very nice and quiet. We have two cats and the landlord was happy to accept them, and they can use the enclosed garden of the house, and there are many dogs around, too. (I suspect we were allowed in with the cats because the landlord found that the person who rented before us with a little boy did a lot more damage than a pet can ever aspire to.) It is hard to do your shopping without a car, however, and bus n2 can be a pain (aren't all buses?). We solved these two problems by getting home delivery from tesco, and by cycling to work, probably the fastest ever way of commuting (except flying perhaps).
I see now and then on daft places for rent here, and it is (of course!) much cheaper now than when we moved in, and I think it's good value for these prices. Anyway, good luck.

kingtut · 09-10-2008 2:28pm

ampjohnny wrote: »

Ballinlough

I live in Ballinlough and I give it the big thumbs up. Moved here last year. It is a quiet area. Within walking distance (10/15 mins) to the city (so you can get to the bus / train station and to the shops etc. Also walkable to Douglas. 5 mins from Turners Cross....

If you would like to know more just give me a shout.

kingtut

Dannyboy83 · 09-10-2008 5:28pm

ampjohnny wrote: »

Just took a quick look on daft there

www.daft.ie/2556532

These aprtments are 10 mins walk from Patrick St and 10 mins from Blackpool, generalyl speaking the areas ok although bit deserted at night if you're walking home alone. Theres no bloody way they're making 1100 per month at the mo so haggle the f**k out of it with them. If memory serves that agency has the whole block so I imagine they reaaly need to shift a few of em...might be worth a look

Good Luck
Amp

You won't get them down lower than E1000 per month, trust me.

Theres a few houses around spring lane for a reasonable enough price if you can get another girl to go in with ya.

Blackpool isn't that bad if you have a car, wouldn't fancy walking and getting the buses around though.
You have to go up the hill before it really gets scobey.

Any of them new apartments, forget about it, rent is a joke around Bpool.
I can't wait to get out of here to be honest.

And they've moved the tax office out here too, to Linn Dubh, so now theres an extra 500 cars on the road everyday too. Gridlock'd

RoosterIllusion · 09-10-2008 8:26pm

omerin wrote: »

:mad:
its such sweeping generalisations about many areas of cork city and suburbs that has caused many people to enter false addresses on cvs, and it not alone applies to cork, but to dublin, limerick etc. i'm sure the vast majority of people living in those areas are decent, and spreading such pile on an open forum only contributes to the stigma.
i live in cork county and we have a percentage of bad eggs, just like st lukes, blackrock ....
if you had mentioned on your post to avoid an area that had a large contingent of foreign nationals it would have been racist, yet you can tarnish the reputations of people living in certain areas.
what a tosser.

I wouldn't live in Mahon because it is even further out than Blackrock is. The furthest from the city centre I mentioned I would live is Ballinlough, which is closer to town than Blackrock and Mahon. I have never used a false address on my CV regardless of where I have lived. I neither mentioned nothing about the people living in those areas nor did I insinuate anything to that effect. I am from Cork county, when you say "we have our percentage of bad eggs" I assume you mean you live in an area populated by humans and that society has such features as good and bad people (by the way you raised the issue of areas being associated with good and bad people, I did not).

Tarnish the reputations of people living in certain areas? the personal reputation of someone is not changed by someone saying they don't like an area of a town or city which that person happens to be from. At no point did I mention any areas of the city being a haven from this "percentage of bad eggs".

As for calling me a tosser? I expressed a preference in areas I wish to live in based on my life experience and based on how suitable I think they are for me. Clearly your the tosser for not only putting words in my mouth but also raising issues that were not being discussed. :rolleyes:

bill_ashmount wrote: »

OP, the best thing you can do is ignore advice like this. He probably had his barbie doll laughed at.

99% of the city is fine. There are occasional bad houses. I've lived both soutshside and northside and bar a few clowns everything has been fine.

lol

Good/bad areas of Cork!

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