Where to live in Cork City?

steel_spine

Hello,

I'm going to be moving down to Cork city at the end of August with my girlfriend, and though I've been to Cork to visit, I don't know what it's like for living in.
She's from the Cork area, but has only lived in the one spot in Ballintemple and hasn't lived there for a long time.
I was hoping to get some boardsie advice on which areas are good spots and where to completely avoid when househunting.
Looking to avoid big noisy student areas, we want a quiet enough 1-2 bed. Price will be a factor though, so the really fancy areas will probably be out too :pac:
Walking distance to town/UCC would be a definite plus.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: A casual browse on Daft shows a lot of apts around Glanmire Road. Any opinions?

Outkast_IRE

steel_spine wrote: »

Hello,

I'm going to be moving down to Cork city at the end of August with my girlfriend, and though I've been to Cork to visit, I don't know what it's like for living in.
She's from the Cork area, but has only lived in the one spot in Ballintemple and hasn't lived there for a long time.
I was hoping to get some boardsie advice on which areas are good spots and where to completely avoid when househunting.
Looking to avoid big noisy student areas, we want a quiet enough 1-2 bed. Price will be a factor though, so the really fancy areas will probably be out too :pac:
Walking distance to town/UCC would be a definite plus.

Thanks in advance.

Best for walking distance to UCC and town would be Glasheen, Wilton, these areas would have some students but are mostly families.

Your biggest problem will be finding a 1 bed in these areas and I would imagine 2 beds will be around 700-800 per month.

Be careful there are loads of 1 beds that are in a bad state with no insulation to speak of and electric heating, come winter you will be sorry you rented one.

The electric heating is actually fine if the place is very well insulated but if its not insulated well it will cost a fortune.

steel_spine

Thanks for the heads-up, 700eu would be our absolute max as looking to save money. Don't mind a small enough place for the short-term, but you bring up a good point about the insulation - I've had enough of shivering in the galway damp!

Outkast_IRE

steel_spine wrote: »

Thanks for the heads-up, 700eu would be our absolute max as looking to save money. Don't mind a small enough place for the short-term, but you bring up a good point about the insulation - I've had enough of shivering in the galway damp!

Look for one beds and studios so but hold tough if you can for a decent one.
They might be scarce this month as I heard that theres a lot of people on contracts starting in the CUH this month and they would be looking in the same areas as yourself.

who_me

"Walking distance to UCC" and wanting to avoid studenty areas are kind of mutually exclusive... As above, Glasheen/Wilton are fine for UCC but quite studenty, and Wilton in particular is a good distance out from town.

Around Magazine Rd, Barrack St., Evergreen St. would be very handy for UCC and close to town (and probably cheap) but would be very studenty. Maybe somewhere along Friar's Walk, or near the Lough. There are some nice places on Sunday's Well Rd, but there isn't a huge number of houses there (on the river, across from Fitzgerald's Park).

Lots of older houses in those areas, which I prefer (more character) but be wary of insulation/damp issues.

steel_spine

who_me wrote: »

"Walking distance to UCC" and wanting to avoid studenty areas are kind of mutually exclusive...

Haha, yeah I thought that might come up. Closer to town would be the priority, but my gf gets work at UCC so it'd be nice if it wasn't a huge trek for her. I guess what I mean is I'd specifically rather avoid the happening party areas for 1st/2nd year students and the like :pac: Really noisy neighbours can spoil the nicest apt, and teenagers who've just flown the nest can get a tad excitable

Bacchus

Pretty much what who_me said. Wilton is about a 20 minute walk to UCC (I did it for 2 years) but it's a looong walk to town (30-40 minutes).

Areas around The Lough, Deerpark, Evergreen St/Rd would be perfect. There are a couple of not so great estates dotted around but most are fine... I'd avoid any place ON Barrack St. though. In the college year your head will be wrecked with drunk students walking into town at 11pm and stumbling home at 3am.

Bacchus

steel_spine wrote: »

Haha, yeah I thought that might come up. Closer to town would be the priority, but my gf gets work at UCC so it'd be nice if it wasn't a huge trek for her. I guess what I mean is I'd specifically rather avoid the happening party areas for 1st/2nd year students and the like :pac: Really noisy neighbours can spoil the nicest apt, and teenagers who've just flown the nest can get a tad excitable

I'd really recommend around Evergreen St./Rd. so. My girlfriend and I used to live there when I worked in UCC. 15 minute walk to UCC, 10-15 minute walk to town. Perfect. Quiet enough street too, bar the rare group of lads wandering home on a Saturday night

Faith

steel_spine wrote: »

Thanks for the heads-up, 700eu would be our absolute max as looking to save money. Don't mind a small enough place for the short-term, but you bring up a good point about the insulation - I've had enough of shivering in the galway damp!

Just to say, we recently looked for a 1 or 2 bed place, with a maximum rent of €750. Every 1-bed place we saw wasn't big enough to swing a cat, and 2 beds, on average, cost €750 upwards. After looking for WEEKS, we took a 2 bed place for €820 - bargaining down the landlord from €875.

We were looking in the city centre, Douglas, Blackrock, Ballintemple, Turner's Cross and Ballinlough areas, though. It might be cheaper out Wilton way, or anywhere where you wouldn't easily walk to town. Evergreen Street/Road area is good, but it's all on-street parking which was a pain for us.

steel_spine

Faith wrote: »

Just to say, we recently looked for a 1 or 2 bed place, with a maximum rent of €750. Every 1-bed place we saw wasn't big enough to swing a cat, and 2 beds, on average, cost €750 upwards. After looking for WEEKS, we took a 2 bed place for €820 - bargaining down the landlord from €875.

We were looking in the city centre, Douglas, Blackrock, Ballintemple, Turner's Cross and Ballinlough areas, though. It might be cheaper out Wilton way, or anywhere where you wouldn't easily walk to town. Evergreen Street/Road area is good, but it's all on-street parking which was a pain for us.

That's a little disheartening, I'd heard rent in Cork was meant ot be a lot better than Galway. Still, parking isn't an issue for us, and we'd sort of resigned ourselves to living in a shoebox anyway . We do have somewhere to stay while we flathunt though, so at least some time pressure is off in that respect.

the beer revolu

While UUC may be on the South side of the river, don't overlook the City Centre North of the river. Areas like Pope's Quay, North Mall, Sunday's Well, even Shandon, are all in town and 25 minutes walk from UCC. Also look at the City Centre itself.

who_me

I was renting for a good few years in a nice 2 bedroom apartment on Frenches Quay, 5 minute walk from the Grand Parade and a short, nice walk from UCC; very quiet. In that building would be ideal, but the price (about 6 years ago) was almost 900 euros. If your budget is 700 you'll probably have to shop around quite a bit.

Bacchus is probably right above, avoid Barrack St. above, Tower St. might be another option.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

Faith

steel_spine wrote: »

That's a little disheartening, I'd heard rent in Cork was meant ot be a lot better than Galway. Still, parking isn't an issue for us, and we'd sort of resigned ourselves to living in a shoebox anyway . We do have somewhere to stay while we flathunt though, so at least some time pressure is off in that respect.

I was unprepared for how expensive it would be. We thought we'd have loads of choice at €750. However, we were massively affected by having a car so without having to look for parking, you'll be in a much better position. Also, my OH works from home so we needed a bit of space to fit a desk in, so if you don't need much space either, you'll be grand.

Consider the Jewtown area too - Albert Road, Victoria Road, etc. Nice quiet area, lots of very small houses perfect for a couple. You've got everything from cheap and cheerful to gorgeously furnished.