Cork questions

motylek

Hello!

I am looking at possibly moving to Cork in about 6 months. I have a lot of questions about it.

First, what are some good, safe areas to live in? (I'm a single female, and its likely I wont have a car at first, so something centrally located would be preferable.)

What additional costs to rent may I expect? (Rubbish, administration fees, etc)

What kind of heating is best to have? Approximately what are the yearly costs?

What broadband providers are there?

Are there any cafes with wifi that do not mind if you sit there for a couple hours with a book?

Can someone recommend a user friendly bank with online banking?

What are the most affordable supermarkets? Are they easily accessible?

Is it a bicycle friendly city?

Thank you in advance for your answers and any other information you can share with me!

Flesh Gorden

- City Centre might suit you or a house share out in the likes of Wilton or Shankiel, both areas would have working professionals living there

- Rubbish collection from Country Clean works out at €25/m

- Heating: Easiest would be to get a few 2.5kw electric oil radiators,
I've a few at home, no maintenance like you'd have with regular central heating when boilers and pumps give up

Last ones I got were €40 each during a special offer - clean, easy and up to full temperature in 2mins


- Broadband: UPC I think work out the best in price and quality,
I've the basic package phone and broadband, for me it averages at €42/m

- WiFi: most cafe's and the likes of the pavilion bar don't mind once you buy something

- Bank: Bank of Ireland have a very simple online service, they have quarterly charges, but it's easy to get around to qualify for free banking

- Supermarkets: Lidl and Aldi, but for regular supermarkets Dunnes have always worked out best for me in terms of deals.
Tesco and Supervalu can be very expensive

- bike friendly: not really - some of the cycle lanes defy common sense
lots of narrow streets with cars parked on either side

mik_da_man

Where to live depends on 2 things really, where are u working or need to go on a regular basis ect and your budget.
City Centre is fine, I've lived there for a few years an naver had any hassle, I'm a guy though...

If you can live in the suburbs I'd recommend Douglas, really safe area and has all you could need, including Tesco with Free wifi - if u have a clubcard

I'd agree with most of the rest above apart from Heating.

Heating wise i'd recommend a place with Gas, the electric rads are are ok but EAT electricity. The Apt i lived in the City could be heated for about €25 a month on gas in the Winter. If you live in a Apt block you got the chance of the people around you using their heating so u use yours less

yenom

No way is it bike friendly, it's all hills.

motylek

Thank you all for your answers!

How far is Douglas from the City Centre? Is it within walking distance? Or perhaps on a convenient transit line?

I'm not sure yet where I would be working - my application is still in the early stages - so it seems I can't figure out where would be the most convenient place to live.

I'm just trying to gather as much information as possible about living in Cork at this time!

eth0

Flesh Gorden wrote: »

- Heating: Easiest would be to get a few 2.5kw electric oil radiators,
I've a few at home, no maintenance like you'd have with regular central heating when boilers and pumps give up

Easy and cheap to install but probably the most expensive to run. At home we once decided to heat the house using only electric heaters, idea soon went out the window after the first 600e ESB bill

Try to get a place with a gas boiler if you can, oil not bad either but has got expensive in recent years (almost as expensive as night rate electricity)

TeletextPear

motylek wrote: »

Thank you all for your answers!

How far is Douglas from the City Centre? Is it within walking distance? Or perhaps on a convenient transit line?

Douglas has a good few bus routes to the city centre, the 206 and 207 will have you into the city centre in about 10 minutes. There are also busses to places like Mahon Point shopping centre.

There are two large shopping centres in Douglas, with Tesco, Dunnes, M&S, etc, as well as plenty of smaller shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs, and there are Aldi and Supervalu in nearby Grange so I find I rarely even need to go all the way into town for shopping, etc.

Dermighty

Gas heating is the way to go, I'd never swap back from it, having had oil, electric and an actual fire in various houses I've lived in. Regarding a previous poster commenting on easy maintenence compared to boilers, in fairness, how often do boilers or pumps go?

The city has a lot of suburbs (Douglas, Mayfield, Ballyvolane, Bishopstown to name a few). They're all connected by regular buses so don't worry too much about being central if you don't want to pay the city centre prices.

The Bodega don't mind you using their wifi if you buy a coffee or whatever.

Most places you rent will have managements costs included, it would be very(!) unusual if they don't. Garbage disposal is cheap, less than 100euro for 3 months.

In terms of bills, take me for example, I live with one other person and we have 3 computers and the oven and the washing machine on a lot, as well as an electric shower. My gas costs about 60 euro every 2 months in winter. Electricity is about 80 euro every 2 months in winter.

aujopimur

Take a house share or use a hostel for short period while you get a feel for what you may find suitable, use buses to see different areas at your leisure, co-workers would also be a good source of information.

Douglas is grossly over rated, the traffic can be very bad there, the village is trapped between two shopping centres, one not bad, one fairly awful, public transport to and from the city centre is limited to buses. Cycling to and from wouldn't be a bad idea but as mentioned Cork isn't flat and Cork to Douglas most definitely isn't. The village itself has a nice feel to it in fairness. I wouldn't like living there unless I had a car to be honest.

motylek

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to answer.

One more question. How does house-share work? Are there websites for this?
I have lived with roommates in the past but they have been people I knew already.

aujopimur

Log on to Gumtree Cork,there's regular adds for house share.

FTGFOP

Check out http://www.daft.ie/sharing too.

PhotoFireAir

motylek wrote: »

Hello!

I am looking at possibly moving to Cork in about 6 months. I have a lot of questions about it.

First, what are some good, safe areas to live in? (I'm a single female, and its likely I wont have a car at first, so something centrally located would be preferable.)

What additional costs to rent may I expect? (Rubbish, administration fees, etc)

What kind of heating is best to have? Approximately what are the yearly costs?

What broadband providers are there?

Are there any cafes with wifi that do not mind if you sit there for a couple hours with a book?

Can someone recommend a user friendly bank with online banking?

What are the most affordable supermarkets? Are they easily accessible?

Is it a bicycle friendly city?

Thank you in advance for your answers and any other information you can share with me!

Keep away from Wellington Road Area.

Solair

PhotoFireAir wrote: »

Keep away from Wellington Road Area.

Why, it used to be alright.

mawk

Solair wrote: »

Why, it used to be alright.

its still ok.

my gf lived there for two years and a friend still does. big fookin hill to walk up every day though

ABajaninCork

I'd keep away from Hollyhill and Knocknaheeny too...Not nice!

dardhal

I may have to move to Cork from downtown Dublin in some weeks, and I was wondering if the area shown in this Google Maps link is safe, confortable, drug-addicts/knackers/drunken free, and easy going (despite being quite expensive for renting, it seems). I wouldn't mind living elsewhere, but lacking private transport and having to go to the huge US company located beyond Ballincollig, I wonder if it is best to stay in the area (and take advantage of the company bus), or move elsewhere, provided public transport is available for a one-way commute at or below 30 minutes.

Any first hand advice about the above? We (two) would have enough with a small one-bedroom apartment, which would also be cheaper to maintain, but it seems there are not so many available apartments in the area matching those criteria.

gbee

The area encompasses Morrison's Island, it's a no go area of intense proportions, recently vacated aslyum ghettoes, former prostitution capital of ireland, recently sculptured by city manager, Joe Gavin, recently removed clamping, recently removed city centre, need I go on?

However, if you're on social welfare, community service or an imported homeless for the Simon Community, you'll fit in grand.

I've not mentioned the murders or head kicking as I'd don't to put you off entirely, we're the third city now, behind limerick, so you KNOW we've inherited ALL of their social problems as they actually BULLDOZED an entire city quarter into rubble to get rid of their undesirables, but you're welcome in Cork and especially Cobh.

54kroc

gbee wrote: »

The area encompasses Morrison's Island, it's a no go area of intense proportions, recently vacated aslyum ghettoes, former prostitution capital of ireland, recently sculptured by city manager, Joe Gavin, recently removed clamping, recently removed city centre, need I go on?

However, if you're on social welfare, community service or an imported homeless for the Simon Community, you'll fit in grand.

I've not mentioned the murders or head kicking as I'd don't to put you off entirely, we're the third city now, behind limerick, so you KNOW we've inherited ALL of their social problems as they actually BULLDOZED an entire city quarter into rubble to get rid of their undesirables, but you're welcome in Cork and especially Cobh.

Ah jesus, great post gbee, pmsl.

aujopimur

dardhal wrote: »

I may have to move to Cork from downtown Dublin in some weeks, and I was wondering if the area shown in this Google Maps link is safe, confortable, drug-addicts/knackers/drunken free, and easy going (despite being quite expensive for renting, it seems). I wouldn't mind living elsewhere, but lacking private transport and having to go to the huge US company located beyond Ballincollig, I wonder if it is best to stay in the area (and take advantage of the company bus), or move elsewhere, provided public transport is available for a one-way commute at or below 30 minutes.

Any first hand advice about the above? We (two) would have enough with a small one-bedroom apartment, which would also be cheaper to maintain, but it seems there are not so many available apartments in the area matching those criteria.

There is plenty of acc. available in Ballincollig

Solair

I've never understood what happened to that area around Morrison's Island.
It's within a 30 second walk from the South Mall and should be some of the most desirable property in Cork, yet it is an absolute mess full of derelict buildings and scary looking, badly finished apartment developments.

Also, if you are renting in the city centre, be really careful when you are selecting an apartment complex. I know this is probably true all over Ireland, but I have only rented in Cork, Dublin and abroad and I can assure you 'abroad' is far better run!

We had really bad experiences in both Cork and Dublin with mind-blowingly bad management companies and landlords who simply did not give a damn.

If you notice the communal areas aren't quite right e.g. don't look recently cleaned, smell funny, cracks, bins not managed properly, locks on doors that don't seem to work correctly, no matter how nice the apartment is, do not rent it!

Also, if you get a bad vibe from the landlord run a mile too, as I have found first instincts tend to be correct.

We moved into a place in the city centre in Cork which was about €1000/mth and there were unbelievably bad problems, all neatly covered up by the letting agent / landlord.

Open every cupboard, check for damp. Strip the beds and check for any stains / problems.. pull out furniture... test the heating system and ensure it works... check the shower ... if possible, get someone who knows about electrical installations to cast an eye over the electrical setup before you move in.

We found they've a tendency to show you places with sitting tenants so you feel bad about checking in great detail. There's enough property on the market not to feel pressurised, so take your time and feel absolutely no embarrassment about poking around and opening everything.

Also, run the address in UPC's database or call them, a lot of places put "cable tv" up on daft.ie when they don't have it installed in the building at all i.e. just blatant lies.

gbee wrote: »

, we're the third city now, behind limerick,.

We're not #3 city behind Limerick. Limerick City changed its urban boundaries, which have increased its official city population to about 91,000 (still a good bit smaller than Cork's official pop, even for the limited city council area)
In reality, Cork's still much larger, but the Cork City boundaries are ridiculously small it would be like defining Dublin as the bit between the two canals only. The actual urban population of Cork is closer to 399,216 people and increased substantially. The official city population shrank as there was increasing office space / commercial development in the city core and residential construction occurred in the suburbs, which are technically speaking, the county (even the really close in ones)

The census really needs to look at metropolitan populations, not the totally inaccurate populations defined by the local authority boundaries which distort things pretty dramatically and actually undermines planning for infrastructure if people get ridiculous notions into their heads about official pops.

lostinsuperfunk

The area encompasses Morrison's Island, it's a no go area of intense proportions, recently vacated aslyum ghettoes, former prostitution capital of ireland, recently sculptured by city manager, Joe Gavin, recently removed clamping, recently removed city centre, need I go on?

However, if you're on social welfare, community service or an imported homeless for the Simon Community, you'll fit in grand.

I've not mentioned the murders or head kicking as I'd don't to put you off entirely, we're the third city now, behind limerick, so you KNOW we've inherited ALL of their social problems as they actually BULLDOZED an entire city quarter into rubble to get rid of their undesirables, but you're welcome in Cork and especially Cobh.

I'd disregard this post almost entirely.
The Google Maps link displays (for me) almost the entire city centre area. This is a fine place to live as long as you don't mind the usual city centre issues like noise, traffic and parking and you follow Solair's advice on renting apartments. Morrison's Island is definitely not a great area, but it is only a couple of streets and there is very little accommodation there in any case. Arguably you should avoid Lower Oliver Plunkett St (prostitution), North Mall (drunks) and the area close to the old Fas building on Sullivan's Quay (more drunks) but I've never encountered any trouble in any of these areas.

There is good quality accommodation around the Douglas St, Sunday's Well, and Washington St. areas if you look for it, and these are near the city centre.

Look up the Ballincollig bus service on Bus Eireann. I think some of the buses go through suburban areas like Victoria Cross, Western Road and Model Farm Road and you might have more options in these areas. These areas are popular with students, so check carefully if student noise/antisocial behaviour is likely to bother you.

recently sculptured by city manager, Joe Gavin, recently removed clamping, recently removed city centre,

- what does this mean?

yenom

gbee wrote: »

we're the third city now, behind Belfast,

charlemont

gbee wrote: »

The area encompasses Morrison's Island, it's a no go area of intense proportions, recently vacated aslyum ghettoes, former prostitution capital of ireland, recently sculptured by city manager, Joe Gavin, recently removed clamping, recently removed city centre, need I go on?

However, if you're on social welfare, community service or an imported homeless for the Simon Community, you'll fit in grand.

I've not mentioned the murders or head kicking as I'd don't to put you off entirely, we're the third city now, behind limerick, so you KNOW we've inherited ALL of their social problems as they actually BULLDOZED an entire city quarter into rubble to get rid of their undesirables, but you're welcome in Cork and especially Cobh.

Wow ! You're really overreacting, Suppose you think Cork is like the Bronx or so !
Stay indoors and don't step out your door, Theres bad people around..:rolleyes:

Ludo

Lol. I actually took gbees post to be sarcasm. Was it really serious?