Is Dublin getting worse

dellytots

I've lived in dublin all my life. For the past year and a half Ive been living in the city centre. In the past few weeks some incidents have happened that have made me hate living here. Few examples:An egg was thrown at me(missed) while I waited at a bus stop in coolock.
Theres a homeless man that keeps getting into my apartment block.
Theres junkies everywere - I was waiting to cross the road with my boyfriend when 2 junkies started fighting one of the pushed us out of the way so he could cross the road (in front of a load of cars) Ive seen so many people passed out on the streets in the middle of the day not just at night time.
Its hard to find someone who speaks english when your lost.

For somewere that is so expencive to live, wages are sh*t and no one can afford a house unless you have half a million euro its really not a good place to live, raise children or have a good quality of life......

Is there anyone out there who actually enjoys living in Dublin?

grahamo

I'm originally from Dublin and would like to live closer to the city centre but like most Dubs I can't afford to.

ixoy

I enjoy where I am now (suburbs) a lot more than the city centre for many of those aspects that you're talking about. Too many drunks/druggies, noise, scumbags, and filth in a lot of the the city centre (or those areas that you can afford to rent in).

OP - what part of the city centre are you in?

mathie

I have to agree.

I used to go out in town twice a weekend. Now it's once a month if even.
M

Ishmael

I'm Sure there are people who enjoy living here.

I'm not one of these people myself but Dublin doesn't seem to be that much of a noticable difference in scumbagery here as in another town / city i've been in so don't give it too much thought to be honest.

I don't enjoy living in dublin but i don't hate it either, its ok.

nxbyveromdwjpg

dellytots wrote:

Is there anyone out there who actually enjoys living in Dublin?

Yea, me.

I'd hate to live anywhere else in Ireland.

bugler

I loved living in Galway - but 4 years was enough. It's not a big place and at times I really missed certain amenities that you may only get in larger cities. One thing I noticed in Galway was that there seemed to be less scumbags than Limerick or Dublin.

Dublin really isn't that much different than the rest of Ireland. Certainly, there are more scumbags about.

but Dublin doesn't seem to be that much of a noticable difference in scumbagery here as in another town / city i've been in

I'd disagree with that in an international context, definitely. Maybe Irish/Dublin scumbags are just more visible, but I've always thought petty scumbaggery (as we're terming it:-)) is quite high here. Our chances of getting robbed at gunpoint are probably close to zero, I'd imagine chances of being mugged at all are pretty low too, but I think the chance of being randomly abused or harassed are relatively high. What that says about the populace I'm not sure.

There may well be a grass is always greener element here. I wouldn't consider myself Dublin's biggest fan, but I'm still here, so I can't hate it that much. That said I don't see myself being in Ireland or Dublin for life.

When I try and look at it coldly I can't really put my finger on anything I like that is specific to Dublin as a city. The weather isn't very good, the transport varies from barely adequate to poor depending on where you live, and I don't rate the nightlife as anything great. As I've said before, this is applicable to perhaps much of the country. The things I like and that keep me here are my job, friends....things that aren't really Dublin at all.

whiskeyman

While there's always been a scumbag element around, there's no denying it's greatly increased in recent years.
By that, I mean people just having little or no respect for others, whether it be walking home at night, travelling on the bus or just minding your own business. I try not to let it detract from so many things I love about this city and the wonderful things to do (and have done), but it is getting worse. Maybe it's just down to the more people living here?

judas101

wouldnt live anywhere else*



(*until i finish college)

but seriously i do love dublin. of course its not without its fair share of problems but some of the stuff the OP is giving out about is more his/her personal circumstance than dublin itself me thinks.

there's an awful lot of good stuff going on here but people being people only talk about the bad. nay-sayers the lot of them!


EDIT: Also, i think most of the things ppl say are making dublin worse would be the forgien element (gypsies ect.) if you ask me but thats a different bag of fish.

rainglow

dellytots wrote:

I've lived in dublin all my life. For the past year and a half Ive been living in the city centre. In the past few weeks some incidents have happened that have made me hate living here. Few examples:An egg was thrown at me(missed) while I waited at a bus stop in coolock.
Theres a homeless man that keeps getting into my apartment block.
Theres junkies everywere - I was waiting to cross the road with my boyfriend when 2 junkies started fighting one of the pushed us out of the way so he could cross the road (in front of a load of cars) Ive seen so many people passed out on the streets in the middle of the day not just at night time.
Its hard to find someone who speaks english when your lost.

Where are you living? I live in the Docklands on Pearse St and I have never come across any of those things! I know my cousin lived in Smithfield and had problems with junkies/homeless people getting into their apartment block, but the worst I've come across down here is rowdy kids and drunks outside pubs.

Is there anyone out there who actually enjoys living in Dublin?

I both love and hate Dublin. I love that it's small and negotiable, I love the restaurants/bars, I love the people. I love the layout of the city centre with beautiful green and squares, and I love that the city is finally becoming more cosmopolitan and cultural. I hate that I can't afford to buy a house in any area I would like to, and I hate that inflation is far higher than my annual salary increases.

I freely admit that if I was older and had to worry about things like school places, traffic, mortgage repayments etc, I might not love living here so much...

lightening

Love Dublin, lived in the inner city for 12 years, never got a bit of hassle. Got egged in Sligo and mugged in Galway. I still love the Sligo, wouldn't let little things make up my mind about an area. Druggies are a thing in cities, you see them in all of them if you go to the right places.

judas101

pretty much the only major issue for me in dublin is the massive ammount of gypsies.

how i despise them gypsies.

good to hear some positive things being said about dublin in this thread. about time!

lightening

judas101 wrote:

pretty much the only major issue for me in dublin is the massive ammount of gypsies.

Just another thing with a European city. I never got any hassle from them to be honest, and I'm not just saying that. There was a thread locked because of this subject before, so I won't go in to it... but your not alone Judas!

OP if you are tired of your city you should get out and reintroduce yourself, without being patronising, can I suggest a few things?

Go sailing in Dublin bay.

Climb the Sugarloaf its only a hill.

Walk the full lenght of the Bull Wall.

Order chicken wings in Elephant and Castle.

Go to the botanical gardens.

Shoot the sluice rappids on the river Liffey.

Go to the Zoo.

Do the Kilmainham Gaol tour.

Go and see the bogmen in the museum.

Go to the National Art Gallery.

Take a trip to Irelands Eye.

Do the hop on hop off bus trip.

Do the Sea Safari.

Do the Viking spash tour.

Do the 1916 tour.

Do the Guinness hops tour.

I think there is a good whisky tour in Smithfield.

Tabnabs

lightening wrote:

Go sailing in Dublin bay.

Excellent post. Try these guys for low cost sailing:

http://www.sailingindublin.ie/

antoinolachtnai

I think there is an increase in issues that the OP mentions.

One big part of it is that the city centre has to absorb a lot of the problems of the surrounding counties. There are no homeless shelters and few facilities for addicts in Fingal for instance, so homeless people and addicts tend to find their way to the city centre. Some of them unfortunately become involved in begging and petty crime.

Getting directions is definitely getting tougher ...

lightening

antoinolachtnai wrote:

homeless people and addicts tend to find their way to the city centre.

They will do that no matter what. Its where the action is, opportunities, boose, drugs, money and shelter.

antoinolachtnai

If you put a hostel and other facilities in all the towns with more than 15,000 people in them around the M50 there might not be so many of them.

Also, if you sorted out just the junkies, you could make a big improvement. I know, it's like trying to herd cats, but there are fewer junkies in dublin than there are supporters at a typical League of Ireland match. Surely something can be done for these people? (junkies, not league of Ireland supporters)

Collie D

antoinolachtnai wrote:

If you put a hostel and other facilities in all the towns with more than 15,000 people in them around the M50 there might not be so many of them.

Also, if you sorted out just the junkies, you could make a big improvement. I know, it's like trying to herd cats, but there are fewer junkies in dublin than there are supporters at a typical League of Ireland match. Surely something can be done for these people? (junkies, not league of Ireland supporters)

Haha, like that little afterthought there. Figures are worng though, as far as I can remember there are something like 14.000 junkies in Dublin (can't be arsed loking up source but I'm sure it's out there)

Dublin's not the worst plavce in the world, true there seems to be a more visible element of scum than other cities (especially in city centre) but as someone said it's very unlikely you'd be mugged at gunpoint but probably more likely you'd be given some kind of grief. A hard stare usually works, most of them are just mouths with no balls

Marathon Man

I'd agree that there are a lot of undesirable individuals in Dublin, but that should not give one the impression that everyone is an enemy or potential attacker. There are lots of nice, decent people in Dublin (including on boards) but the scumbag element do tend to incline one to believe that everyone outside ones circle is a enemy. And that is a sad but real element of living in a big city.

Snickers Man

Dublin rocks.

And if you live near the city and can walk into town and stagger home in the early hours, it rocks even more.

misho

I've been to Ireland for 14 months now, living in Dublin all the time. I can't tell if it's getting worse. It's definitely not the ideal city (commuting, living costs, etc.), but it's sure not the bad place to live in either.

antoinolachtnai wrote:

Getting directions is definitely getting tougher ...

First thing, which really got me, is that bus drivers, people on the streets.. everybody is so willing to help you out with finding the directions, if you ask. On my very first day in here, we were on the bus heading to see a place to rent. We didn't really know where to get off the bus. The first person I asked on the bus gave me all the directions and even sketched a little map for me! Then I went to London for a holiday last September. It was everything but a nice place, people aren't smiling, everyone is in rush, all the time. Nothing to compare to Dublin.

judas101 wrote:

pretty much the only major issue for me in dublin is the massive ammount of gypsies.

I noticed the same. If I try to compare the last summer with this one, there are definitely more gypsies in the town. I don't quite understand what's the story as I don't see what could be the nature of their "business" with just hanging around the town doing apparently nothing reasonable. I hope I won't find it out some night by getting mugged or so :mad:

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lightening

Good to hear some positive feedback Misho. If your a bit street/citywise Dublin is one of the safest citys in Europe in my opinion. I am forever giving people directions, I have even given backpackers lifts when I saw them heading in what only could be the wrong direction.

Snickers man sounds like he's having fun.

irlirishkev

Snickers Man wrote:

Dublin rocks.

And if you live near the city and can walk into town and stagger home in the early hours, it rocks even more.

Ah now, here we are. I was trying to gather my thoughts and put them into a short sharp sentence. You've just done it for me.

I'll echo what you say.

Dublin rocks.

Anto McC

I live just off Pearse street(near enough to the Quays) and have done my whole life i do agree that Dublin is getting worse. Somedays i love Dublin,somedays i hate it but i do agree with the OP and almost all of what Raiglow said.

Although one thing i have always found with Dublin is that if you're not looking for trouble and know where you're going,you can almost always avoid it.

g-punkteffekt

it's kind of weird, because it's seems like Dublin is improving in a lot of areas, on the one hand the city is becoming more like a proper European capital, but on the other hand you seem to see even more junkies and scumbags around the place. I had been working in the Four Courts before I left Eire and during my walk or cycle down through abbey st etc. I was guaranteed to see lots of junkies and tracksuit clad young troublemakers who would start a fight with you if you made eye contact. That's pretty much all of the North Inner City for you though. I'd actually prefer it if all the inner city wretches were on heroin because at least that calms them down and makes them pretty much harmless, barring shoplifting etc. but that doesn't affect me or the public in any way.
So getting back to a point I've made time and time again - we have some of the worst areas in Dublin right in the city centre - and these produce tonnes of scumbags and junkies who roam the streets. No other cities in any country I've ever been in have their most run down areas right in the city centre, it's obscene. So knock down all the flats, and move them out to the suburbs. Don't bore me with the f*cking humanity of it all, but that's the way it is everywhere else in the world, should be the same in Dublin. And they do not have a right to be there, if they're getting council housing they should live where they're told to live. Just because their parents before them and their grandparents before them were also unemployed scumbags in the same slum doesn't mean they're entitled to anything.

Hannibal_12

dellytots wrote:

I've lived in dublin all my life. For the past year and a half Ive been living in the city centre. In the past few weeks some incidents have happened that have made me hate living here. Few examples:An egg was thrown at me(missed) while I waited at a bus stop in coolock.
Theres a homeless man that keeps getting into my apartment block.
Theres junkies everywere - I was waiting to cross the road with my boyfriend when 2 junkies started fighting one of the pushed us out of the way so he could cross the road (in front of a load of cars) Ive seen so many people passed out on the streets in the middle of the day not just at night time.
Its hard to find someone who speaks english when your lost.

For somewere that is so expencive to live, wages are sh*t and no one can afford a house unless you have half a million euro its really not a good place to live, raise children or have a good quality of life......

Is there anyone out there who actually enjoys living in Dublin?

There's alot of things I really dont like about Dublin, the transportation system is quite simply horrendous,it's unjustifiably expensive when compared on an international scale, is devoid of any "real" culture not counting the stereotypical craic agus ceoil sessions in some ghastly tourist traps,the main area to go out in is concentrated in about one square mile with abundant overcharging and nanny opening hours....etc
I do,at some stage,plan to leave and get a good sense of other capitals/cities are like.

g-punkteffekt

Just go to any city in Germany to see how a city should be run and how it's citizens should behave

g-punkteffekt

Just go to any city in Germany to see how a city should be run and how it's citizens should behave

Tabnabs

g-punkteffekt wrote:

Just go to any city in Germany to see how a city should be run and how it's citizens should behave

I've been to Hamburg, give me Dublin any day!!

Or were your referring to what might happen if ze citizens vil not behave!

lightening

g-punkteffekt wrote:

No other cities in any country I've ever been in have their most run down areas right in the city centre, it's obscene.

That's because you don't go to the run down parts when you visit them. Parts of Paris, Mumbai, Madrid, Saigon are much much worse than Dubin. Child sex markets, heroine, unpoliced massive areas, lawlessnes to an amazing degree.

Have been to German cities, give me Dublin any day.

Regarding walking on Abbey st. There is a lot of heads around, I used to walk in and out every day. Never ever got in trouble or in a fight, eye contact or not, don't know what I am doing right.

dellytots

Im living on Georges Quay by the way.

I do agree that there are some good points about living in Dublin as mentioned in above posts. But for me lately the bad points about this city have been out weighing the good ones.

Another thing to add about O'Connell St - It looks like Sh*t. Its ment to be one of the main streets of Dublin. Its were all the buses arrive filled with tourists stops. All the shops have closed or are closing down and all the buildings are run down. All it has left is Dr Qurkies with junckies hanging around outside and about 20 spars, centras etc.