'Best' housing estate to live near UL?

phnompenh72

Hi there,

I'm a mature student moving to Limerick in September and looking to do some advance research in terms of a nice place to live near the university. From you experience, what are the nice estates and what ones are to be avoided at all costs?!

The important considerations for me would be:

-Close to the college (less than 30min walk - ideally c.20 min)
-Well insulated - naturally warm ie. not damp!!
-2-3 bedrooms (ie. not a 5 bed 'student house/joint')
-Gas cooker (I like to cook with gas:-) hehe
-Quite area (how did I forget that?!) ie. not Plassey etc.

And that's it.. thank you so much for any advice in advance.. very much appreciated :-) Have a wonderful day/week/summer :-D

Ruairi

ninty9er

Cooking with gas is probably the most difficult one to track down.

If looking for something naturally warm you want to AVOID the following areas:
Elm Park
Milford Grange
Oaklawns
College Court
Briarfield

Some are colder than others, but none are particularly well insulated. Within 20 mins walk you have:
Curragh Birín
Brú na Gruadán
Woodhaven
Monaleen

If you give a price range it would be easier to advise.

phnompenh72

Hi Ninty9er,

Thanks for the info! Ammm.. I guess my price range would be €240-280 per month.. silly me.. forgot the 'other' most important thing! :-S

R.

zuroph

ruairiosborne wrote: »

Hi Ninty9er,

Thanks for the info! Ammm.. I guess my price range would be €240-280 per month.. silly me.. forgot the 'other' most important thing! :-S

R.

I live in Glenside, about 25 minutes walk, or a 5 minute drive to uni, have had lodgers here from the uni for last 4 years, lecturers and teaching assistants, Much quieter area, on bus route, across road from shops pub and restaurants. Houses are superwarm, and gas cooking/heating. my room is coming up soon actually, but its a bit higher than your budget, as I throw in a second tv/study room so the lodger has their own space if they want it.

savagecabbages

I'd put Curragh Birín and Brú na Gruadán on the avoid list. Both have suffered terribly from the 'regeneration' of Limerick by having undesirables moved into these areas. Elm Park and Briarfield have had a fair share appear in the last two years too but they are already on the avoid lists...

Other decent areas to add to the list are:
The Parks
The Hawthorns
(Both across from Superquinn)

Generally better built/quieter houses out this side of the University. There is an accommodation list available from the University through this office.
One final note of advice is try deal with someone who actually owns the house rather than an agent, as some of the agents are absolute gangsters! By agents I mean guys operating by mobile phone rather than out of an office.

mgbgt1978

Look towards the Annacotty side of Castletroy.
Woodhaven, bloomfield, Glenside, etc are all much quieter than the "student" estates such as College court, Elm park, Milford grange.

Of the above Bloomfield is the newest estate and about 25 min walk to UL, 10 min to Superquinn shopping centre and cinema, and 5 min walk to synott's bar and local shop.

ninty9er

I don't do a lot of walking, but there's a big difference between a 25 minute walk to the gate and a 25 minute walk to the University. I'd put Glenside or Bloomfield on the more 40/45 minute end.

Snobbery isn't going to do anything to take from the fact that there is regeneration everywhere. The regeneration tenants in Brú na Gruadán haven't really caused any issues. I live there so I'm pretty well placed to say. You'll get a bad neighbour in the most expensive places, but correlating regeneration and bad places to live is a bit nonsensical.

mgbgt1978

Woodhaven would be my choice. The newer houses are on the left as you enter the estate and have the lower numbers (1 to about 180).
Although it would be mainly rented houses the majority are rented by people who work in the area and post-grad students.
Can't see it being more than 20/25 minutes walk into the college when cutting through Elm park (thus giving you the opportunity to count your blessings)

Insect Overlord

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

^^^^ Em, nobody mentioned regeneration. yet.....

Read post #5...

zuroph

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

^^^^ Em, nobody mentioned regeneration. yet.....

savagecabbage did.

Oracle

savagecabbages wrote: »

I'd put Curragh Birín and Brú na Gruadán on the avoid list.....

I agree, if you're looking for a quite place to live avoid both.

As has been mentioned, there's are a few estates very close to the college that are small and quite and not student raucous. Nothing beats walking around and getting a feel for the places yourself. I suggest checking them out at the weekend, during the week many can be quite and peaceful, then turn into "Party Central" at the weekend.

savagecabbages

I did indeed. And at the risk of me being labelled a snob I'll stand by my guns on that one. Maybe this has nothing to do with the regeneration project, maybe it does. Certain non-student types started appearing 2 or 3 years ago. I just put 2+2 together. And to be honest I was really only talking about Curragh Birín where I have first hand experience with one family moving in and ruining a street. Cant speak for Brú na Gruadán I've only second hand information about that area.

Yes regeneration is everywhere, but certain tenants have been nothing but trouble for their neighbours, whereas others have been as good as gold. I'd certainly pass by a few times and suss the neighbors out even if I found a lovely house. Same for everywhere in Ireland.

mgbgt1978

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Read post #5...

Sorry , flicked through the thread too quickly.....in fairness i deleted the post within 3 minutes when I checked through to make sure it wasn't mentioned.