Thinking of moving to Greystones - Kindlestown Park

snapper365

Hi all. Myself and the better half are thinking about moving to Greystones, and in particular Kindlestown Park. I've heard that it is a "rough" estate but these things are always relative in my experience. I was hoping anyone who lives in the area could give me some opinions or advice.

Currently living in South Dublin so I'm not that familiar with the area at all really, so general info would be appreciated too.

Thanks in advance!

jellybaby21

I grew up there not as bad as people make it out to be, the first road is prob the quietest most people own their houses on that one.

Very convenient place to live close to tesco and not too close to the town

boo-urns

My brother has been living in Kindlestown Park for the past 4 years and he's had no problems since he's moved in there.

snapper365

Thanks guys. I haven't heard any horror stories, just a few people from the area have mentioned that it is a "rough" part of town, but like I said these things are always relative. I'm sure I've lived in worse places!

bball1

it is the former rougher part of Greystones, but really in Greystones there aren't any bad spots. Its fairly central and there isn't any problems there that aren't in the other estates in Greystones!

The Bishop Basher

There's nothing rough about Kindlestown. It's a fantastic estate with a great community feel to it. The houses are built like nuclear bomb shelters, the way houses should be built, and everyone I know living there is happy to be there. It had a bad reputation in the past but that was 20 years ago so don't judge it on that.

You can great value for money there too. The houses are small but give me and older, small, well built house over a modern small but not so well built appartment any day !!

c'on

we bought here 3 years ago and were the same as yourselves (i.e. not from greystones and heard a few negatives about estate from people who were) but we took the chance as we liked the house, price and location. Three years on we are very happy with decision, neighbours all very friendly, have made some great friend in estate and have had no hassle whatsoever.

weebelly

Same story - been living in Kindlestown Park for a few years now.
Kindlestown is no rougher than anywhere else and most people just don't know the place as they have no real reason to go through the estate. Oldtime Greystones residents tend to be a bit sniffy about Kindlestown due to its reputation 10 years ago, and, by all accounts with good reason, hence much of the snobbery about the place.
But its a quiet enough estate, with a 24hr Tesco on the doorstep (plus late opening Donnybook Fair as well now), 10-15 minutes walk to the DART, a couple of minutes walk to a bus stop, roughly equidistant to pubs in Delgany, the Carrig Inn, Beach House and Burnaby. And if you get a house in the right place, it might even come with a seaview...

snapper365

Thanks so much to everyone, you've reassured me (and more importantly the girlfriend). Hopefully all going well I will be back on here in the not too distant future as a resident and not a prospective resident! I hope everyone living in Greystones is as helpful as you guys!

dr ro

i'm living in charlesland but reading this thread i'm considering moving to kindlestown.

Fiachra2

As a long term resident of Greystones I would wholly endorse the comments about Kindlestown park but would sugest a more practical note of caution. House there as with everywhere else in Ireland may well be dramatically overpriced. If you are in the enviable position of not having to sell your existing house there is a lot to be said for hanging on for 6-12 months when houses may be a lot cheaper.

weebelly

I take your point Fiachra2, but you can add a couple of hundred grand (plus) just to buy about 100-200m outside Kindlestown - presumably thats the sort of gap/differential that will narrow a bit first during this slump. I just had a look at myhome.ie - it's a long time since I checked and the prices look like they did about 2 years ago or so. But taking the price of property in Kindlestown relative to the rest of Greystones, it hasn't as far to fall.

FirstIn

I've grown up in Greystones and I can remember people saying Kindlestown was rough, but that is a legacy thing and I don't think the case anymore.

Smashing location kindlestown, would I be so brave as to suggest it has a better location than C'land, well there you go. I just did!

Oh, one other thing, why was it that in the "rougher" estates while the kids have bicycles alright they seem to be without saddles. Anyone else notice that?

There's a suggestion, drive round Kindlestown, if you see kids on bicycles with no saddles then stay away, it's still rough!!!!!!

Fiachra2

weebelly wrote: »

I take your point Fiachra2, but you can add a couple of hundred grand (plus) just to buy about 100-200m outside Kindlestown - presumably thats the sort of gap/differential that will narrow a bit first during this slump. I just had a look at myhome.ie - it's a long time since I checked and the prices look like they did about 2 years ago or so. But taking the price of property in Kindlestown relative to the rest of Greystones, it hasn't as far to fall.

I guess I would think long and hard about buying anywhere right now. Even if Kindlestown is cheaper than nearby it is still possibly very over priced.

But thats getting off topic.

MuffinsDa

Well at the risk of sounding like a snob/kill-joy I have to add my two cents to this thread.

We've been recently looking into trading up to a bigger house and we considered Kindlestown as well as it seemed to be very good value for money and location. We decided to drive around there a few times and get a feel for the place, and I'm afraid that the final verdict was "NO"! The main test, to my view, is to drive in an estate at around dusk and see whether there is hordes of teenagers roaming / sitting-on-grass-smoking or not. And there certainly wasn't a shortage of them the couple of times we drove around. In day time it looked quite nice (some parts of it in a state of slight disrepair but that's to be expected to a certain degree in an older state). At night most of it looks pretty quiet but parts of it are quiet dark as well, wouldn't fancy walking around those parts alone at night if I were a lady!

Another friend of ours recently sale-agreed a house there that seemed like exceptionally good value - but it flopped: turned out the house had serious structural raising damp issue that would cost a lot to fix...

We came to conclusion that we although they are cheaper than other parts of Greystones, they are not good value given our observation.

Of course your idea about value could be completely different than mine so best to check it out a few times yourself!

The Bishop Basher

MuffinsDa wrote: »

Well at the risk of sounding like a snob/kill-joy I have to add my two cents to this thread.

We've been recently looking into trading up to a bigger house and we considered Kindlestown as well as it seemed to be very good value for money and location. We decided to drive around there a few times and get a feel for the place, and I'm afraid that the final verdict was "NO"! The main test, to my view, is to drive in an estate at around dusk and see whether there is hordes of teenagers roaming / sitting-on-grass-smoking or not. And there certainly wasn't a shortage of them the couple of times we drove around. In day time it looked quite nice (some parts of it in a state of slight disrepair but that's to be expected to a certain degree in an older state).

Driving around an estate a couple of times is hardly a good way to get a feel for the place. I know this estate well. My wife grew up there, my inlaws are still there and I had a lot of mates from there growing up. We often hung out up there and we often were the "hordes of teenagers roaming / sitting-on-grass-smoking". I'd recommend you listen to the people who actually live there, not someone who's driven through it once or twice and made a few snap assumptions.

The only reason Charlesland hasn't got hordes of teenagers walking around it is because A) It's made up of first time buyers. ie. couples without children or couples with very young children and It's just too far out of the way for them to bother going down there. I'm not saying that to slag off Charlesland. It's just fact.

Wait till your young families have teenagers and see what it's like then.

MuffinsDa wrote: »

At night most of it looks pretty quiet but parts of it are quiet dark as well, wouldn't fancy walking around those parts alone at night if I were a lady!

That could be said about lots of places in Greystones. By this reckoning I wouldn't buy a house on Church Lane.

MuffinsDa wrote: »

Another friend of ours recently sale-agreed a house there that seemed like exceptionally good value - but it flopped: turned out the house had serious structural raising damp issue that would cost a lot to fix...

That's unfortunate, but could happen anywhere. I don't know of anyone living in Kindlestown who have had issues with their house. On the contrary, they are built to a far better standard then the modern mass built structures we see today.

The Bishop Basher

I meant to add at the end....

But obviously you're entitled to your view

MuffinsDa

Well, no need to be offended, everyone is entitled to their view. I'm sure there's lots of nice people living there and great families etc - like anywhere else! Do you think everyone in Moyross is dodgy?! No, I bet vast majority of them are lovely too, but a small number could make a difference in a estate.

Our verdict was that we didn't really like it for the reasons stated, and decided against buying in there. It didn't look particularly rough or bad, it just wasn't our cup of tea. It may or may not be relevant to others, I don't know. And I don't have a vested interest in there (don't live there or have relatives there), so what you get is my honest opinion. Of course people that live there are not going to come out and say it's not nice. But an outsider can have a different view.

On the subject of older-built houses being better built that recent houses, that's simply a sweeping generalisation that is not true at all. Ask any expert in building industry and you'll be told that building regulations have been improved and tightened in the past few years a lot, especially in the area of sounds and heat insulation. Yes, if a house is built 40-50 years ago or earlier it would be probably well-built, but stuff from 80s and 90s are usually appalling (I've lived in a few, very little insulation, shoddy standard - and that was in Killiney!). And if a house is 40-50 years old it still comes with many other problems due to it's age - which you may or may not like to undertake, depending on how much you like the house!

Eoin

I think Swanner and MuffinsDa both make good points.

I think you can get a feel for an estate by driving around in the evenings, but you shouldn't base everything on your initial impressions. There are lots of teenagers in our estate, but absolutely no problems from them. We're right beside the entrance to a park, so that's where they tend to congegrate, but never had any issues whatsoever.

We've had trouble on our way home once in 2 years, but it was from knackers from a different estate that is well known for trouble. And before the PC-brigade jump in, I call them knackers because of their behaviour, not their background.

Anyway, to cut a long story short - we drove around every estate we were looking at, and also asked friends of ours who had grown up in the area. In general, the feel we got for an area turned out to be pretty accurate when we asked around.

The Bishop Basher

MuffinsDa wrote: »

Well, no need to be offended, everyone is entitled to their view. I'm sure there's lots of nice people living there and great families etc - like anywhere else! Do you think everyone in Moyross is dodgy?! No, I bet vast majority of them are lovely too, but a small number could make a difference in a estate.

No offence was taken at all MuffinsDa. I just felt I should respond to set the record straight.

MuffinsDa wrote: »

Our verdict was that we didn't really like it for the reasons stated, and decided against buying in there. It didn't look particularly rough or bad, it just wasn't our cup of tea. It may or may not be relevant to others, I don't know. And I don't have a vested interest in there (don't live there or have relatives there), so what you get is my honest opinion. Of course people that live there are not going to come out and say it's not nice. But an outsider can have a different view.

I couldn't agree more. Your completley entitled to your view.

MuffinsDa wrote: »

On the subject of older-built houses being better built that recent houses, that's simply a sweeping generalisation that is not true at all. Ask any expert in building industry and you'll be told that building regulations have been improved and tightened in the past few years a lot, especially in the area of sounds and heat insulation. Yes, if a house is built 40-50 years ago or earlier it would be probably well-built, but stuff from 80s and 90s are usually appalling (I've lived in a few, very little insulation, shoddy standard - and that was in Killiney!). And if a house is 40-50 years old it still comes with many other problems due to it's age - which you may or may not like to undertake, depending on how much you like the house!

For the most part, I agree with you on this aswell. I've lived in old houses all my life. In fact we've just demolished our 70 year old cottage for the very reasons you mention above. No insulation, badly built etc. My point is that I know the houses in Kindlestown well and they are solid. When the estate was first built about 40 years ago they put in those terrible kit houses made of timber. They disintegrated within ten years and they had to rebuild the whole lot. They did it properly the second time round. They have reinforced concrete roofs, you can heat them with a fart and noise isn't an issue at all despite them being attached on both sides. I'm sure one or two have issues but that's the same anywhere.

Anyway, as always, it's different strokes for different folks

weebelly

Hmmm, MuffinsDa, am not as convinced that '...everyone is entitled to their opinion...' - driving around the estate a couple of times doesn't make you an authoritative commentator, sorry. Nor does living there make any of us residents a 'vested interest' - we're just better informed.

MuffinsDa

weebelly wrote: »

Hmmm, MuffinsDa, am not as convinced that '...everyone is entitled to their opinion...' - driving around the estate a couple of times doesn't make you an authoritative commentator, sorry. Nor does living there make any of us residents a 'vested interest' - we're just better informed.

Well. That is my opinion, if you think I'm not entitled to it that's fine, you're entitled to have that opinion.

But as eoin_s said you can get an idea about an area but taking a good look around - and I did that a couple of times, and based on that I didn't find it an appealing place FOR OUR FAMILY to live in. Obviously some may find it appealing and that's fine. I just didn't like it for reasons I stated.

As for vested interest, check the definition for it in the dictionary: vested interest :
3. A special interest in protecting or promoting that which is to one's own personal advantage.
Isn't promotion and protection of the area you live in not in your personal advantage?! Why wouldn't it be? It is completely natural if it is. And therefore the opinions you express can not be unaffected by it. It's human nature!

weebelly

Muffi - my point was just this - you're being very opinionated about Kindlestown when you know little about the place (as you admit yourself).
No wonder the place has a bad reputation amongst some people.

mikedragon32

I think Weebelly and Muffinsda just need to agree to disagree.

It's obviously not just about opinion but taste, it's not to Muffinsda's taste and that's fine.

I would repeat the remark made earlier that a structural defect can affect any house in any estate and because one house was badly affected by rising damp it doesn't mean that another will be. For all we know, that one house might have been badly maintained by its current or previous owner.

As for older houses V newer ones I would say that while regulations have become tighter over recent years this came about because some developers were using cheap materials and poor practice and something had to be done. When Kindlestown was built (much like the house I grew up in) there were relatively high standards employed. Back then, you didn't need a 10 year homebond guarantee to be sure your house would stay up of its own accord.

The more I think about it, Kindlestown is exactly like where I grew up (possibly nicer, actually!). Nothing wrong with it at all, imho.

villager

i know a lot of people who live in kindlestown and i have lived nearby for last 36 years. all i can say is that kindlestown is like any other estate with a reputation it is just a small minority which get the place a bad name and the same could be said for most estates around the country. i still think kinslestown suffers from being referred to as a "council estate" and being looked down upon by the snobbier element in greystones many years ago.

Eoin

Sure, Charlesland is looked down upon by the snobbier element of Greystones as well.

sagat

The troublemakers from Kindlestown who gave the area a bad reputation never caused trouble in their own back yard, probably cause they knew their old man would give them a hiding. Instead they ran rampant around the rest of the town. By now that generation is all grown up and have kids of their own most of whom would be a good 10 years away from being the troublemakers their parents once were. So the area should be grand.

foxy06

I moved into a council estate in Bray from Charlesland and I was dreading it. We needed to move back to Bray for several reasons but where we moved was far from my first choice. I have to say though it was the best decision we ever made. There are a few scumbags around but the majority are good decent people that are friendly and down to earth. I have made new friends and so have the kids and the house is grand too. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

jellybaby21

sagat wrote: »

The troublemakers from Kindlestown who gave the area a bad reputation never caused trouble in their own back yard, probably cause they knew their old man would give them a hiding. Instead they ran rampant around the rest of the town. By now that generation is all grown up and have kids of their own most of whom would be a good 10 years away from being the troublemakers their parents once were. So the area should be grand.

Have to say you are wrong there there were kids from all the estates going around together back in the day, including Burnaby Heights, Hillside, Heatherview and Applewood Heights, which are the so called 'upper class' housing estates.

Don't go stereotyping the kids from Kindlestown Park.

mikedragon32

Kindlestowner looks like a returning troll to me.

Banned until I get admins to look into his IP addy.

jellybaby21

The most memorable 'quiet' night was last year when the police raided a house and while inside, the occupants ran out with a mattress, stuffed it in to the cop car and set fire to it.

quoted from kindlestowner.

I grew up in Kindlestown Park although I no longer live there my parents still do,
that incident happened at least 10 years ago and everyone knew who it was and they were sent down for it.

They weren't young lads either only one of them was from Kindlestown too.

I would have NO problem walking through the estate at night time on my own, and I am a woman.

My parents house has never had a problem with damp either, it's a very warm house.

Most people own their houses in Kindlestown now at this stage very few council houses actually left in it.