Willow Park in Athlone dangerous?

tokenv

Hi, I'm thinking of moving to Athlone and got some warnings from an agent that the area in Willow Park is somewhat "dangerous" or bad behaved, especially she mentioned Thornberry drive being in such a condition.

Anyone here who lives around there that can confirm/dismiss or give more information?

neil_hosey

you could always use google maps to get an idea of what the area is like..

This is thornbury:

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=Willow+Park,+Auburn,+Athlone&hl=en&ll=53.412116,-7.906251&spn=0.005679,0.017745&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=5.766735,18.171387&oq=Willow+Park,+athlone&hnear=Willow+Park,+Auburn,+Athlone,+County+Westmeath&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=53.412389,-7.905445&panoid=pVV5p4j4-8l3K8azzeHvjQ&cbp=12,283.82,,0,6.2

tokenv

Yes I did look with google maps but there aren't "people behaviour" overlay options..yet!

I don't care too much about looks, mostly just people being a pain and potential danger to myself or my property.

tubos

AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!

(although the first road or two may not be too bad!)

veryangryman

tubos wrote: »

AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!

(although the first road or two may not be too bad!)

As per above the first couple of streets are ok. Depends on location. Is ideal if your in college there and like to party. For quiet life I would recommend maybe valley court nearby. If you drive then anywhere in monksland or coosan is Better

Leo Dowling

Meadowbrook/Thornberry are the worst of it and they're way up the back. The parts of the estate nearer the entrance are alright, most of the people living there have been there since it was a good area.

That being said, if you have a bit of time on your hands to look then look elsewhere, if you need to go to the college there are plenty of other estates around within walking distance that aren't as much of a circus.

tubos

OP, are you looking to rent or buy. Do you have any preference as regards location?

tokenv

Sorry for the delay! Thanks for the feedback.

At the moment I'm looking to rent but I was also thinking about the possibility of buying (in case there was ever the chance).

In any case I didn't think it was that localized, I'm actually (thinking of) renting west of there, around Bonavalley.

I don't actually need the college at all, I'm working. I was just wondering because of how the agent was speaking about the place it seemed like there was robbery and the occasional rape every other day.

Is it just about students being retards? That'd be more manageable I guess. In any case if it's that localized it wouldn't even touch the areas I'm looking at for renting.

tubos

There are plenty of other places around Bonavalley but I'd recommend you have a look at Ard Ri which is right next to the town on the Bonavalley side. The rents are cheap and a lot of premises were freed up last month with another few due to be freed up soon, so rents really dropped.

cherryghost

Any of the apartments in the centre of town are very nice and prices aren't that bad all. Lived in Irishtown Central for a while before moving to Shannon Weir. Can't complain about either place.

tokenv

Guys just to clarify, I don't need to be in any place or area of Athlone in particular, I just happened to be looking at that area.

All I need is a place that is 1) quiet 2) safe and 3) covered by internet providers. Possibly within 2km of the Bus Station (or any bus stop on the route to Dublin).

I see you guys mention about certain places having good prices and I was wondering, what do you consider cheap in Athlone as a price range for decent houses/apartments?

cherryghost: funny that you mention that area (Shannon Weir), I was looking at some properties around there. Is it quiet there?

walrusgumble

tokenv wrote: »

Guys just to clarify, I don't need to be in any place or area of Athlone in particular, I just happened to be looking at that area.

All I need is a place that is 1) quiet 2) safe and 3) covered by internet providers. Possibly within 2km of the Bus Station (or any bus stop on the route to Dublin).

I see you guys mention about certain places having good prices and I was wondering, what do you consider cheap in Athlone as a price range for decent houses/apartments?

cherryghost: funny that you mention that area (Shannon Weir), I was looking at some properties around there. Is it quiet there?

Willow Park was once one of the town's most respectable and finest areas, now, being polite, a dump. Many of the original families left that area for other places along time ago.

No offence to the decent people in the area, but , avoid, if possible.

tokenv

I was wondering if you guys could provide me with what you believe are good areas (1-2 bedrooms, safe, quiet, internet) along with what you consider decent price ranges for those same areas.

Unless there's already a post with that info.

boredatwork82

Coosan/ballymahon rd area would be my first choice.
Also Woodville.

Although I doubt there is many 1 or 2 bedroom places in these areas.

You might get 1 or 2 bedroom apt in belhavel in the town centre, or the town centre apartments in the new shopping centre.

Not sure where they do be advertised though.

jamesd

Advertised here: http://www.cityquarter.ie/

Kurz

Would agree with Coosan/Ballymahon road. There are a few places that have apartments in those areas, Monksfeild and Waterville out by the Mill in Monksland are good too. That's if you have a car.

Cityquarter would be alright if you didn't have a car.

tokenv

I don't have a car but I don't mind walking/biking to do my shopping or other activities. As I said 2km radius from amenities would be totally fine by me.

I'd like to stress though that I want a place that is really quiet because I work from home, which is why I'm avoiding city center as I assume traffic in the area would make it quite noisy.

Yes one problem with Coosan and areas like that is that they only have giant (3+ bedrooms) houses there and thus they get quite expensive (€750+) but I also don't need all of that space given I live alone.

Kurz

tokenv wrote: »

I don't have a car but I don't mind walking/biking to do my shopping or other activities. As I said 2km radius from amenities would be totally fine by me.

I'd like to stress though that I want a place that is really quiet because I work from home, which is why I'm avoiding city center as I assume traffic in the area would make it quite noisy.

Yes one problem with Coosan and areas like that is that they only have giant (3+ bedrooms) houses there and thus they get quite expensive (€750+) but I also don't need all of that space given I live alone.

Yeah this is true about Coosan. It's always been quite a nice area so I suppose the prices are up a bit and there aren't a lot of apartments. Monksland isn't really within your area for walking and biking and cityquarter wouldn't be quiet.

More central but not too central would be the likes of Shannon Weir and Bastion Court on the Connaught side. I lived in the area for a while and liked it a lot, there are plenty of apartments with low rents. It is hit and miss in terms of who your neighbours are but that's the same with all apartment places.

flazio

I thought there was a lower level of the Town Centre Carpark exclusively for the apartments?

slave1

walrusgumble wrote: »

Willow Park was once one of the town's most respectable and finest areas, now, being polite, a dump. Many of the original families left that area for other places along time ago.

No offence to the decent people in the area, but , avoid, if possible.

Sad, but true

Eazzah

Personally I would recommend Sarsfield Square. Yes I know some people may say it's bad but I disagree, I've been here all my life and generally most people keep to themselves. The houses are very spacious too, it's around 400 euro a month to rent and you get 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and living room and kitchen. The back gardens are also very big. It would really be a good choice as you are walking distance from everywhere too.

anthonyos

i lived in willow park for 5 months got my car keyed apart from that it was ok but a ruff area there was all sorts going on just full of inbreed scumbags

veryangryman

anthonyos wrote: »

i lived in willow park for 5 months got my car keyed apart from that it was ok but a ruff area there was all sorts going on just full of inbreed scumbags

Aye you do see some fierce freaks there now. I grew up there and upto circa 2002, it wasnt a bad place at all. Slowly got worse and worse though. I left in 2007 and sadly its worse again these days. Embaressing sometimes to tell people im from there.

athlone town

i lived in willow park up to a year ago and never had a problem there,houses at the very back are a disgrace but are after been bought by some fella hoping to put students in(cant see it happen myself for a long time as the place has a VERY bad name)sad as it used to be one of the best estates in the town LONG ago!

Saint_Mel

Willow was just being built when my parents moved home from England. They has a deposit ready and were assured there was just the front row of houses being built!

Looking back now its lucky something else came up before they bought there.

achiman

Saint_Mel wrote: »

Willow was just being built when my parents moved home from England. They has a deposit ready and were assured there was just the front row of houses being built!

Looking back now its lucky something else came up before they bought there.

Why ?

veryangryman

Why?


1) If principal residence, you are stuck with some of the scummiest characters for the rest of your life. Be prepared to have sleepless nights, witness fighting and have your car wipers removed (happened me). Amongst other things.

2) If your trading up in a few years, you will almost certainly make a loss on the property as the park has such a bad rep

afkasurfjunkie

silverquay (apartments adjoining radisson hotel) is a pretty good spot. car parking included and management company are good. communal areas are kept spotless.

roosterman71

afkasurfjunkie wrote: »

silverquay (apartments adjoining radisson hotel) is a pretty good spot. car parking included and management company are good. communal areas are kept spotless.

Not really anything to do with the thread is it??
Also, isn't there a few "ladies of the night" operating out of there?

afkasurfjunkie

roosterman71 wrote: »

Not really anything to do with the thread is it??
Also, isn't there a few "ladies of the night" operating out of there?

op is looking for somewhere to live in athlone. i made a suggestion.

as for the 'ladies of the night'? havent come accross any yet. have you?

roosterman71

Don't live there, or have any need to pay them a visit. Been told about them by a few different people though. Apparently there's a couple in Shannon Weir and the new apartments behind there too.

tokenv

Maybe I should mention that I already found a place in Athlone and I'm living there since some time

Although admittedly I will very likely move to another town in a few months. It's just not as well connected to the dub airport as I hoped it would.

Jesus Shaves

tokenv wrote: »

Maybe I should mention that I already found a place in Athlone and I'm living there since some time

Although admittedly I will very likely move to another town in a few months. It's just not as well connected to the dub airport as I hoped it would.

What? The airport is only 1 and a half hours away with regular direct buses.

achiman

veryangryman wrote: »

Why?


1) If principal residence, you are stuck with some of the scummiest characters for the rest of your life. Be prepared to have sleepless nights, witness fighting and have your car wipers removed (happened me). Amongst other things.

2) If your trading up in a few years, you will almost certainly make a loss on the property as the park has such a bad rep

Sorry to here about your sleepless nights and your wipers but willow is over 40yrs old now and most of the old crew got plenty of warning as to what was coming and jumped ship, i know we did. ..anyway it was a great place as a kid believe me

tokenv

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

What? The airport is only 1 and a half hours away with regular direct buses.

Not if your flight is at 9 am which means taking a very early multi-stop bus (2hrs20mins)

DaZzEr95

What about the gate lodge? I'm looking for nice place to stay while I'm going to college, and the gate lodge is right next to the college.It's my first year and I've heard a lot of warnings about willow park.

TimeClock18

DaZzEr95 wrote: »

What about the gate lodge? I'm looking for nice place to stay while I'm going to college, and the gate lodge is right next to the college.It's my first year and I've heard a lot of warnings about willow park.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1390

Check the AIT section of boards. Lots of threads over the past 2 weeks about Accommodation.

X1R

I went to collage in Athlone YEARS ago and lived in Willow Park. It was grand, however, while leaving Athlone yesterday afternoon and passing the entrance I was just thinking back at the good times when the siren of a squad car could be heard ringing out. I gave it room and........ 2 marked cars and a marked transit scorched into the estate. This is while there are only a handfull of students around :rolleyes:.

Jebus_

I was going to post a thread like this, except its about Pearse Court. I'm after getting a job offer in Athlone and It's one of the closer, cheaper places.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Jebus_ wrote: »

I was going to post a thread like this, except its about Pearse Court. I'm after getting a job offer in Athlone and It's one of the closer, cheaper places.

Pearse court is grand, no worries there.

athloneman

This thread is completely OUT OF DATE and does not reflect the present community in any way. I have been living here for seven years now and find everybody, including the Irish and International Students to be very well behaved in Willow Park, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland. Willow is wonderful family based community and does not deserve internet throlls turning it into something it is not. Forgive my grammar.
If you want up to date of any road/part of the Park please contact me and I will oblige.

athloneman

This thread is completely OUT OF DATE and does not reflect the present community in any way. I have been living here for seven years now and find everybody, including the Irish and International Students to be very well behaved in Willow Park, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland. Willow is wonderful family based community and does not deserve internet throlls turning it into something it is not. Forgive my grammar.
If you want up to date pictures/references for any road/part of the Park please contact me and I will oblige.

athloneman

Just another point on this topic.... Google Street View is years out of date regarding this area and badly needs to be updated. I have beautiful up to date pics of any road you wish to see,,,, just contact me and I will oblige. The Celtic Tiger has made this a fantastic eclectic place to live.

Angron

Please don't bump threads that haven't been posted in in 4 years, especially if it's just to say they are out of date.

Thread locked.