Cardiff Neighbourhoods

cheddah

I'm about to buy my first home! I'm looking for a 2 or 3 bed terrace in Cardiff for about £150k. I currently rent in Adamsdown, which is ok apart from it's proximity to Tremorfa and the resulting car crime. I am a bit nervous about moving away from this area because I don't really know whether other areas have worse problems. I would really appreciate your advice and any local knowledge you can share. Apart from the price and the size of house, my other criteria is walking distance from town, space to park and a proper neighbourhood feel (local shop, pub etc).

I like the look and feel of Riverside with it's range of ethnic shops etc. Trouble is, it's a small area without much in my price range. I've heard mixed things about Grangetown and I'm guessing some bits are safer than others?

Then there's Splott, but will I get the same trouble with the Tremorfa kids or maybe worse trouble with the "trade" down by the magic roundabout? Again, is there parts of Splott that are better than others?

I would really appreciate your help. I've not lived in Cardiff very long and it's sometimes difficult to get a proper feel for a place if you're new to it.

Many thanks

pavlovs_dog

THIS THREAD might help

for what its worth, im currently living in grangetown and whilst it aint no pontcanna its far from being the hell hole people make it out to be. i feel safe here, and despite the fact that we are in spitting distance of one of grangetown's most notorious pubs we never see or hear any trouble. other things;

*parking is a nightmare if city are playing.
*car crime is an issue (but then i think thats true of several parts of cardiff sadly).
* there's very little here in the way of shopping opportunities but we do have some fab takeaways :drool: and city centre/canton are both a 20 minute stroll away
*conveniently placed for access to the a4232/m4
*in terms of nightlife, city centre and the bay are a short walk away
*there's never a shortage of taxis - every other car in grange is a taxi
*the rules of the road dont apply to grangetown. no one can park normally. double and even triple parking is quite common, even if there is enough space by the kerb to park a limo :rolleyes: equally annoying are the people who seem to think its ok to stop their car in the middle of the road to have a chat oblivious to the growing queue of traffic behind them

TJ27

I think you're right about bits of Splott being better than others but I do like the good parts. I think Splott has a fairly poor reputation which it doesn't really deserve.

You could always look a little further afield but still be within 10 minutes of town. I live in Cyncoed but can cycle to town in about ten minutes. I know people who live in Whitchurch specifically because the Taff Trail isn't far away and they can cycle to work. Even Radyr is only twenty minutes from town by bike. (Although I suppose you can't buy houses in those areas for 150k. Well not yet anyway.)

I work quite a lot in Grange and Riverside and think that it's lovely on the whole. I've never lived there though, so I'm sure PD knows more than I do.

ecsb

Hi
We have lived in grangetown for 15years in 2 houses.Agree with all mentioned by PD, not forgetting lots of parks and open spaces.
Like all areas there are some roads i would not live in but then some great roads.
ECS
check out
https://www.grangetown.co.uk

cheddah

Thanks for the responses guys. Are you guys (namely ECS and TJ27) allowed to name the streets that you consider to be most dodgy. That is exactly the sort of information I need. I don't even know which pubs are notorious so I feel I'm doing this blind. Is there a good way to get to know a neighbourhood without actually living there? Thanks for all that info PD. It drives me mad when people park in the middle of the road here, so I'm guessing it's worse in Grangetown for you to mention it. Can I ask, do you live closer to the bay or closer to town? Cheers )

pavlovs_dog

cheddah wrote: »

Thanks for all that info PD. It drives me mad when people park in the middle of the road here, so I'm guessing it's worse in Grangetown for you to mention it. Can I ask, do you live closer to the bay or closer to town? Cheers )

we can stroll to both in 20 minutes, we're not far from clare road so are smack bang in the middle. its one of the things i love best about grangetown - its so conveniently placed

as for what streets to avoid, i always get twitchy if there are several houses up for sale in the same street, or several streets in close proximity with a lot of houses up for sale (use multimap).

i dont really know enough about individual streets to be able to name them. quite often you only need to drive down them to get a feel whether it is right for you or not. rows of scruffy, unkempt houses are a no no for me and an indicator of trouble - i run a mile.

poisondwarf1

I have lived in grangetown for 12 years and as PD has said it is not a hell hole that other people who don't live here will say! I live in Paget Street which is nice and wide and I describe as a tree lined avenue. I have never had any problems with car crime. The only real problem I have had is with trick or treaters one year who threw an egg at my window as there was nobody in when they knocked! There are a couple of houses for sale in the street at the moment. Short stroll to The Bay and the link road( which they have just removed the speed cameras from!).

In_Search_Of_Me

hello there! I've lived in various parts of cardiff since moving here 15 years ago..so heres my tow penneth!
Roath...lived her for a couple of years and imo its overpriced...many residents gone and in their place student houses so its quite noisy with not that much community...
grangetown - good muticultural but parking is a mare, esp when theres a match on/christmas etc...
cyncoed/health/rhwibina...nice areas if you can afford them
Ely...some nice bits but you need to hunt them out..
tremorfa..more dodgy than not
splott...my own area and have lived here nearly a decade. Wing mirror broken once in all that time and lovely sence of community and lots people whove lived here for years. I would avoid close to tremorfa end and by the roundabout/estate as there are a number of issues...rainway street/carlisle street areas are ok...I would just avoid either end! the further towards newport rd means a bigger house...towards town smaller!
In any area have a look in day and night; think about the flood issues due to the barrier; find out re parking etc and local ameneties...drive around and ask neighbors/local shops etc what the area is like - not the person selling the house who is biased!! One woman told me a flat was great and I've since observed that its just a hangout for teenagers so pleased I looked at various times of the day and didnt buy it...!
good time to buy though...