Opinions on East Wall

How about D7? Right across the Liffey from D8 and still some deals to be had.

Would be looking there long before East Wall.

My wife and I bought our house in East Wall last year and love it.

It was a rough enough area in the 90s/00s but given its proximity to the silicon docks it is gentrification central. Of all the numerous places we have lived over the years its actually one of the quietest areas we've lived in, We spend quite a lot of time here before we bought, on weekends, evenings, Halloween night etc and there has never been any trouble.

I have friends, family and colleagues who live/have lived here for up to 20 years and none have ever experienced any anti social behaviour. Thats not to say it doesn't exist at all but no more so then any other central location in any major city in the world.

The area suffers from its history/reputation of being rough - but most of the criticism of the area is from people who have either never set foot in the place, or haven't been here in decades. The protests last year painted the area in a negative light despite being orchastrated by people that are nor from here. The 'East Wall' protestors as they became known are now doing the same thing in Ranelagh, Ballsbridge, Ballina etc. yet they are still referred to as the EW protests. Lazy journalism I suppose.

There was a flood in the early 2000s (Tolka River) that many will point to and say you can't get house insuranance with flood cover, but the area was declassified as a flood risk last year and policies are readily available.

Pros:

• Proximity to the city center
• Transport links (bus, luas and rail)
• Amenities (there is a large Lidl, Aldi and newly opened Dunnes Stores)
• East Cafe and the 112 are both great places for a coffee/chat
• Fairview Park and Clontarf Promenade are beautiful and within walking distance
• Community - it is quite a settled area, especially the West Road side.
• There are no roaming gangs of youths terrifying the local.
• Gentrification: They are building more apartments, hotels etc , with that comes further amenities. Marshalls Yard, The Comfort Inn etc are all due for completion over the next 24-36 months
• Walking distance to the Three Arena and Croke Park for events.

Cons:

• There is a lack of greenery around for sure. DCC cut down the trees on West Road and its surrounds a couple of years ago unfortunately.
• There is a younger population, and that scares some people.
• If you are bringing up a familiy like we are you may need to look further afield for schools.
• Sea level rises - could be an issue down the line, but given the proximity to the most expensive real estate in the country they will invariably have to build sea defences, but that will be a global issue not localised to here.
• Like anywhere there are some areas that are preferable to others. Probably avoid Island Key in that regard (not that there aren't nice people there too).

Don't want to take away from the area you are living, but there a chance you might have just 'gotten used to it' to a degree.

I lived in D1 on Gardiner Street for 7 years. By the end of it I was telling everyone it was fine, 'Gentrifying' and so on. All I could see was the new buildings going up, how a few bits and pieces had changed since I'd moved in initially and was hugely optimistic.

Bought in Stoneybatter a couple of years ago (which is IMO a genuine gentrifying area) and now anytime I go back to D1 / D3 I can't believe how rough the areas look.

There's so much social housing that I don't think it will ever truly gentrify as you have generational poverty and social issues just dug in and not going anywhere.

Even the newly developed docklands area with loads of people living in fairly pricey accommodation looks rough.

It's unfortunately as infrastructurally there are some great houses/buildings around the area.

I know what you are saying 100% - but we haven't been here long enough to be used to anything really (we are here just over 12 months) and knew what we were getting ourselves into having spoken to residents, DCC, the community officer in Store St (who is very sound) and a few other 'characters' who would be well known enough around.

We did our due diligence, and chose to be here having previously lived in places like Ringsend, Donnybrook, Rathmines, Blackrock and Dundrum/Ballinteer.

I have friends and family who live here now who love it (none are from here originally), our house is great, its quiet and our neighbours are lovely. We are on the quieter 'half' of the area as I mentioned above. but we targeted the exact area based on the feedback of others who basically drew us a map and said here is good, here not so much etc. Our commute is under 10 mins into town, we have off street parking and a back garden.

I am not naiive to think that there is nothing bad going on around, or that nothing bad will ever happen in the area again - but that doesn't frighten me at all really and I suppose that is the trade off for the house/life we wanted.

As an aside the Mrs and I were down here 5 years ago and she remarked at the time that she would never live here when I suggested it ... now she's refusing to entertain the thought of ever moving in the future.

Young lad stabbed and killed there a few years back, after his mates attacked a chap who was working in the area.

Edit: I see it's been mentioned above.

There was a fatal stabbing in Dundrum around the same time - are you suggesting that people should be weiry of moving to Dublin 16 🙃

I'm just back from a full loop of EW with the dogs - didn't see any of the illegal dumping you are referring to.

Tbf ray you're talking our your arse. I'd a neighbour shot on his doorstep 20 years ago in an affluent area.

Because like many fool hardy middle class guys he decided making big big money was his priority over running his dad's normal functioning business.

Do people remember it.. no. Do people tell others not to live there because a hit happened ? No.

Wasn't the general gunned down in Ranelagh.....

Huge difference between a hit and a teenager having access to a gun to shot somebody who stopped letting them smoke weed in their house. If you don't see the difference that is your issue.

I personally wouldn't want my kids going to school or living close to peers who's parent are part of organised crime. Are we going to say Sheriff Street isn't there?

Ah yes. The person I just said that was shot was not part of organised crime... at all ever... hence they were shot for... nothing.

Point stands you're talking out of it.

People are fleeing rathgar because the general lived and was killed there. Oh he's buried up the road in mount Jerome too. Crazy crime stuff. Makes you think.

Rented on Church Rd for 2 and a half years back from 2018-2020. Really enjoyed my time there, close proximity to Fairview Park, 3 arena, public transport links through bus and Luas and a short cycle into town. I was in my mid 20's at the time and it was ideal for me.

Would I choose to raise a family there? Personally, I wouldn't. There isn't the village feel that the OP was asking about, couple of cafés and a Centra near East Rd but that's pretty much it from what I remember.

As for the safety aspect, I never felt unsafe as a mid 20's male but my partner said she never liked even walking from the carpark to my apartment during the day. There are some nicer areas but I can understand why some felt unsafe around where I lived, always seems to be groups of young lads hanging around that I know some people find intimidating.

I'd happily live there again myself if I wasn't planning on having a family but it would be down the list if I was planning on buying near the city.

The best people to ask are the deliveroo cyclists. Ask them where they like to avoid when making deliveries. They have up to the minute information on rough, tough and unsafe areas.

As long as it's getting worse the further you move away from your house you're doing alright 😁

When I was looking for a new place a couple of years ago there was a gorgeous ground floor Georgian apartment with its own front door going on Mountjoy Square for a reasonable price (I think it ended up selling for north of 400k in the end) that I was incredibly interested in and was nearly going to stay in the area if I could nab it, but was told on no uncertain terms by the wife that she was leaving D1 with our without me. 😁

As an aside - and not at the risk of pointing out the obvious... Sheriff St and East Wall are not the same place despite the geographical proximity. This isn't a thread about Sheriff St.

And even at that, there is a marked difference between the five lamps > luke kelly side of Sherrif St (we can all agree thats not a great place to be) and from the bridge > Dublin port side which is primarily expensive apartments populated mostly be tech/finance workers.

That expanse of redevelopment, combined with the train tracks do form a significant filter from what happens 'up there' and 'down here' for the most part.

Now, I have not once said that East Wall is perfect, that there aren't any mad heads living here or that there arent parts of it that are nicer/safer then others. Nor have I said that nothing has ever happened here or that nothing will again. But the same can be said for many areas.

We all have our own perspectives on life. my wife for example grew up in what would be considered to be an underpriveledged sh*t hole (Jobstown!) but you wouldn't know it to meet her or her siblings because they were raised well. I don't know if we will live in East Wall forever - but we certainly have no fear of raising children down here the same way we were raised ourselves.

Of the three houses on our road here that have sold in the past 24 months two have young children and we have one on the way. The parents all work and are lovely so I guess we aren't the only ones with the same idea , even if we are all blow ins 😄

you're one of these "omg the city is out of control o'connell st is a no go zone!" types though. east wall is in the city centre almost so the garda will have to deal with stuff there sometimes of course.

i live in north strand OP, but a few mins walk from lidl and aldi in east wall. it's a great area. lots of different nationalities, people walking around everywhere all the time so that always gave me a feeling of security in places, not that i'm one to worry about safety anywhere in dublin though.

the only noisy thing at night for me is trains going past. parts of east wall are pretty secluded too and very quiet. you can nip over to clontarf in about 5 minutes on a bike, town is on your doorstep, and fairview park is lovely when the weather's nice.

i absolutely love living in the area and can't recommend it enough.

@Ray Palmer i went to school in fairview with people from east wall and sheriff street who were absolutely sound and am still friends with some of them today, you know nothing of the area it seems.

OP - what are your alternatives? Personally, I would much prefer to live in East Wall than lots of other areas in Dublin but equally there are lots of areas that I would prefer over East Wall. Living in the city centre would appeal to me more than some distant suburb. My big worry would be schools for your child.

My main worry would be where are your kids and who are they hanging out with when they are 14, 15 or 16.

Im sure the majority of kids will be fine, but it is dangerous for some and best not to put them in that situation.

Consider that when you are looking to buy in any area.

Have a walk around the surrounding areas at night and see how you feel about it. Do it a few times. Ask your wife, daughter or girlfriend if they would be comfortable walking home at night on their own around there.