Apartments have proven a tough sell to Irish families - but in the future, many of us will have to resist the urge to flee to a house with gardens in the 'burbs to settle down. In an effort to build sustainable communities and combat urban sprawl, the message local authorities are sending families louder than ever is - there's more to life than a garden, especially if the long commute means there's little time left to spend in it.
It's been a slow burner but there are already some pioneering Irish families currently choosing an apartment over a house. Others are finding themselves thrown into apartment life as tenants in the private rental market and in social housing blocks, with mixed results. The happier ones seem to be living in a new generation of apartments with storage, utility space and lots of well designed living space.
Dublin City Council has published guidelines on achieving liveable sustainable and family-friendly apartments for the city. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) also has a policy of providing spacious family-sized apartments in new developments and has prepared playspace guidelines which look at the different recreational needs of different age groups of children.
For the moment, finding a family-friendly development and apartment big enough to accommodate the accoutrements that come with raising a family in an area that has the right kind of facilities can be a challenge, but they are out there. It can be tricky marrying apartment living with family life - developments with a laundry room, efficient waste disposal, basement storage and quality communal areas or a concierge living on-site come at a price - a relatively high service charge.
Here, four families and their experiences of apartment living.
PAULINE BRADSHAW lives in a spacious duplex apartment in Gallery Quay at Grand Canal Harbour in Dublin's docklands with her husband and three children. She didn't set out to buy an apartment but happened on it one day "when she went for a nose".
Her former life was in a large detached five-bed house in Drogheda for several years which was "a fabulous place but very lonely. Myself and my husband are both from the Pearse Street area, and we decided to move back to Dublin.
"When we heard about Gallery Quay we decided to come for a look, it never entered my mind we'd end up living there, but then I saw it had an upstairs and downstairs and the space is unbelievable for an apartment. It has three bedrooms and a huge en suite. I fell in love with it and, since I've moved in, my social life has picked up again."
She says she could count the number of children in the private apartments at Gallery Quay with one hand apart from "the odd couple with a very young child". She was worried her seven-year-old daughter Niamh wouldn't have anyone to play with but she gets on "like a house on fire" with the children from the social apartments. "There's a play area so I don't have to worry about traffic and the playground has a slide, climbing frames, and the ground is soft foamy stuff, so it's very safe."
For her two teenage sons, however, there isn't a whole lot to do. "They are at a loss, I'd like to see something around for them, some kind of play area, they need somewhere to hang out and kick a ball.
"Doing the laundry is hard, to be honest, I had to invest in a good dryer. Before I used to shrink everything. There's a wall in front and I use a clothes line, that retracts so it's discreet." She says storage in the apartment is good, and she paid €3,000 for underground storage in the car park.
Her advice to parents considering moving to an apartment is "if it is the right place they should be open minded.
"I never thought of it but once I saw the space, I decided to give it a go. They are not building houses in the city centre any more, so go for it."
Her experience is poles apart from a woman (who declines to be named) living in a two-bed apartment in a social and affordable development in East Wall with her partner and son. She says the management company is run by members of the community who have "no training. At the beginning we thought it was great moving into a new development but before long kids started congregating in the hallway and my son couldn't get to sleep." The play area is not supervised, so she has to watch her son from her apartment window.
"We can't afford to buy a house and are on Dublin City Council's affordable housing scheme list. We have no choice but to live here. There's no storage, so our Christmas tree is in my mam's shed and my son's bike is in the hallway. I'd love to move because there's problems with damp from trying to dry clothes.
BERNIE lives in a social apartment in Hanover Quay in the south docklands with her husband and three grown up children and says as a mature lady "it was the right move for me. I don't know how I'd feel if the children were younger though.
"I'm on a high floor so there's the balcony which is risky, but I like it compared to where I was living in a local authority flat dwelling.
"It was a goldfish bowl with no privacy. This place is very secure and private.
Her block is all social tenants: "There's a mix of young and older tenants, single gents and ladies along with family, although not that many with very young children.
"Everything is very regulated, no pets are allowed and children must be supervised in the playground. The downside for very young kids is that unless their parents go and sit with them in the park there's very little space for them."
Her apartment is spacious, a three-bed with a large main bedroom en suite. "You have to dry everything inside and storage is to a minimum. We have to be minimalist, and the two girls aged 20 and 15 share a small enough room. It's not really suitable for younger children with toys, there's nowhere to put play stuff."
Noise isn't a big issue. "You get the odd reveller at night and during the day you can hear the din from the building site, but as a rule we don't get disturbed that much. Reasonableness is called for in apartment living. My apartment is on the fifth floor, so it's very quiet mostly except for the sound of the lift and doors closing.
"We have less interaction with neighbours, we rarely see them from one end of the week to other, which is good in a way. It's all about quiet and peaceful enjoyment."
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