Where to live, Belfast?

cashidiot

Im a 30ish young professional who is interesting in buying an apartment/house in Belfast, whilst I want to avoid the student areas, i still want to be close to pubs, restaurants and shops, any suggestions.

Im looking 2+ bedroom and looking to spend upto £140,000.

I would appreciate more info than just South Belfast.

Thanks

Ex-Spendaholic

What about Ballyhackamore? It meets your criteria and Im sure you would get something well within budget.

doyouwantfrieswiththat

cashidiot wrote: »

Im a 30ish young professional who is interesting in buying an apartment/house in Belfast, whilst I want to avoid the student areas, i still want to be close to pubs, restaurants and shops, any suggestions.

Im looking 2+ bedroom and looking to spend upto £140,000.

I would appreciate more info than just South Belfast.

Thanks

You would have no probs getting a decent house in east/south belfast with 3 beds with that budget.

caz2703

Depends what you mean by close. If you want to live near decent restaurants & pubs then I'm guessing you'll be wanting an apartment in the city centre. If however you are happy to pay a few quid to get into Belfast by taxi then East Belfast is probably a good bet e.g. Ballyhackamore/Belmont close to Holywood Exchange, Connswater and Knocknagoney or maybe Castlereagh and be close to Forestside.

belfastgirl23

If you want to be away from student area then Ballyhackamore is where it's at. But you wouldn't walk home from town at night if you lived there, you would be walking through some areas that wouldn't be ideal. South Belfast is better from that point of view, you could fairly comfortably walk to many of the residential areas.

I know from friends who live in Ballyhack and are keen arts people, they miss being in South because that's where you find many cultural highights (that and cathedral quarter). But that's just an observation.

Lots of nice bars and restaurants in Ballyhack though if you like that sort of thing

Cregagh Road might also be a possibility....

leftieM

I would be a vote against Ballyhack. It's a lovely area and has a lot going for it but it is not as vibrant as south Belfast. When I was younger I lived there and we ended up getting taxis across town all the time. We moved to south Belfast because Ballyhack was too out of the way. I also think it's less attractive if you're not from the area. My in-laws live in Ballyhack so I'm there a lot and not much has changed in the last ten years to convince me that leaving the area was a bad move.
I'll put in a vote for Finaghy. It has brilliant transport links and although short of good pubs itself, it's really close to the Lisburn Road and it is really handy for town. We were looking to move house recently and considered a lot of areas but it was hard to find an area with more going for it than here.
It depends on what enhances your quality of life. For me, not being stuck in traffic is important as is being close to the motorway and being able to get a bus into town when I'm going out (I hate paying for taxis).

totallybroke_2

Ballyhackamore is where its at!! buzzing at the weekends

cashidiot

So its Ballyhackamore or South Belfast. To be honest coming from the country close links to the motorway would be nice. The only problem with South Belfast is that I have been told the streets even in close proximity vary greatly. Any street suggestions?

Still open to Ballyhackamore so keep the arguments coming

Thank you all for your help thus far

caz2703

I don't and haven't lived in Ballyhackamore (I was more Belmont area) but I find East Belfast very handy. Head East and you have lovely beaches and walks in Crawfordsburn then down to Bangor (ignore the Jeffers thread or you'll realise there's not much left down here!). A few minutes should get you towards the M3/Sydenham by-pass and outside of rush hour again you're only a few minutes from the Westlink, M2 and M5. The city centre can be easily reached by bus although I will admit that getting a taxi back to East Belfast could be tricky - not sure if that's still the case. I was told it was because there were too many traffic lights making a long journey not very luctrative compared to several minimum fares to the students area in the same time frame.

Campo1973

Hi I'm a newbie on this forum but I thought I'd add my suggestions for where to live in Belfast.

Any of the roads off the Lisburn road from Cranmore Park to Stockmans lane are nice on the left hand side coming out of the city.

I live in BT7 which is great for bars and cafes on the Ormeau Road. Suggested roads are Park Road, North Parade, South Parade, St Jude's, Ravenhill park.

Hope that helps.

leftieM

Campo1973 wrote: »

Any of the roads off the Lisburn road from Cranmore Park to Stockmans lane are nice on the left hand side coming out of the city.

I live in BT7 which is great for bars and cafes on the Ormeau Road. Suggested roads are Park Road, North Parade, South Parade, St Jude's, Ravenhill park.

140k won't get anything in any of those roads (I wish it did!)
There are some lovely houses off the Ormeau Road around the back of the Parador. They must be in the 140k bracket now.
140k will buy a house on the Village side of the Lisburn Road (behind Tesco's). I reckon some of those streets on that side must be pretty decent now.
In Finaghy there are some nice houses around Creightons that must be coming into the 140k bracket.
There are good apartment blocks up and down the Lisburn road if that's what you prefer, although I think a 2-up-2-down with a yard would be a better bet than a 2-bed apartment in the long run.
If you are happy with housing estates then in off the Sandown Road in Ballyhack (is that Orangefield?) or Erinvale in Finaghy would offer bigger houses in your price bracket but are further away from the main roads.