Knocknacarra

Mahell

My wife and I are looking to buy a house somewhere in Knocknacarra. While I know that it's generally considered a "good" area, I was wondering if there are any particular estates/roads with antisocial problems that we should avoid.

We have a young family so we'd be looking for somewhere child friendly and not a student or party area.

Thanks

Storm 10

Personally think its very unfair with a post like this looking to find out which area is better than the next, there are very decent people living in all estates in the City, no estate can be guaranteed to be trouble free no matter what part of the City it is located in. Galway is generally a very trouble free City a a very nice place to live in.

Mahell

Well that's one way to interpret it. The other would be that I don't live in Knocknacarra and don't know a lot about the area from a residents point of view.

Is it unreasonable to research a place you're considering moving to because you don't want to find yourself dealing with a lot of hassle for the want of simply asking a question?

Taking that to mean that I'm bringing the names of the "decent" people into question feels like someone looking for an argument just for the sake of it.

Storm 10

Mahell wrote: »

Well that's one way to interpret it. The other would be that I don't live in Knocknacarra and don't know a lot about the area from a residents point of view.

Is it unreasonable to research a place you're considering moving to because you don't want to find yourself dealing with a lot of hassle for the want of simply asking a question?

Taking that to mean that I'm bringing the names of the "decent" people into question feels like someone looking for an argument just for the sake of it.

You could move into the nicest estate in any area then find that you have the neighbor from hell next door, as I said you cant guarantee any estate will be hassle free, check back this question was asked here before.

runawaybishop

Storm 10 wrote: »

Personally think its very unfair with a post like this looking to find out which area is better than the next, there are very decent people living in all estates in the City, no estate can be guaranteed to be trouble free no matter what part of the City it is located in. Galway is generally a very trouble free City a a very nice place to live in.

Its not unfair. Some areas have deservedly worse reputations than others. Only a fool would do no research on an area before buying a house.

Mrs OBumble

Storm 10 wrote: »

You could move into the nicest estate in any area then find that you have the neighbor from hell next door, as I said you cant guarantee any estate will be hassle free, check back this question was asked here before.

Yeah, but the probability of having three neighbours from not-quite-hell-but-pretty-close (with one family member currently "visiting family" over in Roscommon) is lot higher in some areas than others.

That said, these threads are often better if they start from the perspective of "What are the best estates in Knocknacarra for a young family?". That way responses can name the best ones (that they know about) and damn the rest with faint praise.

biko

Asking for bad areas will just get people's backs up, and what if someone mentions a street someone else lives on and likes?

How about you give us a few streets you are currently looking at OP and we'll see what people say?

Generally Knockers is perfectly fine, there is no area I wouldn't feel safe in.
Around the parks and shops you get the usual "teen gangs" hanging out if that's a concern.

runawaybishop

biko wrote: »

Asking for bad areas will just get people's backs up, and what if someone mentions a street someone else lives on and likes?

Then they can post why they like it.

Mahell

Storm 10 wrote: »

You could move into the nicest estate in any area then find that you have the neighbor from hell next door, as I said you cant guarantee any estate will be hassle free, check back this question was asked here before.

I didn't ask for a guarantee. I asked what, if any, might be considered an unwise area in which to buy a home in Knocknacarra. That's not eliminating the possibility that a lunatic will subsequently move in next door to me, I'm simply looking to avoid buying in a specific part of Knocknacarra that I might otherwise avoid if advised to do so by people more knowledgeable about that part of town than I am. And that most recent thread I could find that was any way comprehensive was from 7 years ago. If there's a more recent one, then please post it here and I'll take a look. Thanks.

biko wrote: »

How about you give us a few streets you are currently looking at OP and we'll see what people say?

Cimin Mor
Manor Court
Garrai de Brun
White Oaks
Sli Gheal
Tor Bui

biko wrote: »

Around the parks and shops you get the usual "teen gangs" hanging out if that's a concern.

It would be.

runawaybishop wrote: »

Then they can post why they like it.

Indeed they can.

Paddyfield

When I moved to my current home, I was armed with a few pointers:

I didn't want to live too near (500 meters) of any commercial activity (shop. take away, pub etc).

I was also very wary of a prospective home being too close to a laneway, park, playground, bus stop, traffic lights. These are noise magnets.

I got a friend to knock on the door of the immediate neighbours to ask for directions. You just got to judge books by covers in these situations.

I hope this helps.

bonzodog2

I'd avoid an end of row house adjoining a green area. I lived in one in Knocknacarra and the local kids were forever kicking balls against the side of the house or the garden wall, or knocking to ask for the ball back. Or not asking, and just coming in to get it.

biko

White Oaks is next to Clyboan Stores and Sheridan's pub so can get noise.

Cheshire Cat

biko wrote: »

White Oaks is next to Clyboan Stores and Sheridan's pub so can get noise.

It is also used as a short-cut to get to Knocknacarra NS. There's a small foot path at the end of the estate leading to the school.

beardybrewer

General pointer: if an estate with kids then a green space is a must. Not only does it make for a fine view and sense of space, but it's the built in park and social scene which you're kids will ideally get a lot of use out of. When the weather is ok and the kids come out you can also judge a lot by the types of kids you encounter, typical ages, etc. Try to find a majority owner occupied estate. Also, make sure your garden has a western exposure.

Red Pepper

The problem is that many of the estates in Knockers are relatively new so there are many children hitting teenager years at the same time (i.e. now). The aim when buying in an estate is to pick an estate with a mix of age ranges i.e. elderly, middle aged and young families. An estate usually needs to be over 40 years old to achieve this. So avoid recently build estates (5-10 years) but also watch out for estates build when building regulations were poor and the build quality was bad (BER ratings will help there).

_Whimsical_

Someone told me recently they liked Ashleigh Grove a lot. She said it was quiet and has a large green park right in the centre so you can see your kids playing from the window from pretty much every house. Infact as long as they're inside the estate at all you would be able to keep an eye on them from your house from the way the estate is laid out.

It might be something you'd appreciate as a parent. I realise that's second hand info but seeing as you're not getting lots of useful replies I thought I'd throw it out there.

I'd say pick some place that your kids can walk to school from and somewhere close to a bus route in case they want to go to secondary school in taylors hill/salthill/town.

biko

If you do a search of the forum you'll find a few threads that mention knocknacarra, for instance this one has some good info about an area not previously mentioned.
Good luck and do go driving around the areas yourself at evenings/weekends to get a feel for the place.

jkforde

OP, sent you a pm re. a house for sale in the area that you may be interested in.

ongarboy

My two sisters own houses there. Never knew it was called Knockers - must slag them about that!!:D

One lives in The Rise and the other in Sli na Sruthan and neither have had any issues and they love living there. Anytime I visit there, it always feels very safe and settled with a lot of greenery/mature trees in the common areas. The Rise is older and perhaps the residents more middle aged while Sli has more families with young kids. The Sheridan's pub, the hotel and Joyces are great to have locally.