Inner city Living

You'd be hard pushed to call Waterford a city but technically it is and by virtue of this technicality I am in turn a city dweller. Other cities have culture or interesting bars or notable landmarks. But here we have Waterford, Ireland's most disappointing tourist destination and I've somehow got stuck here. Down in the South east (lets not call it the sunny south east as with the abysmal weather of late its a bit of a touchy subject) we brag about our blas ( like a bread roll with more flour on it), we have the same chain stores that mark the way in every city but slowly they are closing their doors, and Soon I may be living in a ghost town, ahem city. I live in the inner city, five minutes from the city centre on a big hill that if i had the misfortune to roll down would take me right into the cluster of bars and shops we call a city. its called the top of the town because it is the top of the town, demonstrating perhaps that the natives are not familiar with nuance.

I grew up in Clonmel, a 45 minute drive from here but my parents house was situated close to town and yet almost in the countryside. We had a decent sized garden and were far enough away that we seldom heard out neighbours nevermind saw them. So I was used to pitch dark nights and barely any night time traffic and the silence that falls around sleep time, leaving me ill equipped for city living.

Now I Live in an apartment, not far from where this picture was taken in an old building that is resistant to both heat and mobile phone signal and I'm not sure I like sharing this building with strangers I never see but frequently hear, their footsteps on the stairs above me, the vague murmurs of conversation and television, their laundry in the communal dryer and the occasional bit of Irish dancing from the guy who lives above me( thats an educated guess based on the loud traditional music that's accompanied by noisy jumping). Personally
Id much prefer a house but feel houses are too expensive for me to rent alone and house sharing is too much of a gamble, one I am not willing to take since my two month stint living with crazy pill head from Carrick and her incontinent dog so apartment living goes on.

I find I'm lucky in that my apartment doesn't face the street so for once I don't have the glare of street lights in my eyes when sleep beckons but the noise they call music often leaks in from one of the many pubs along the street and I hear many the drunken shout in the small hours. I also have the benefit of living just down the street from the local post office and often see the most depressing specimens queuing for dole money almost an hour before the post office is due to open. The apartment is fine for my needs and I enjoy my own space but the cold that hangs from the walls and seeps in under the doors makes me not want to linger here when I have even the hint of a day off, the storage heaters that come as part of many inner city dwellings do not serve their purpose and seem to be better at driving up my electricity bill than doing anything to keep me warm.

When I lived in Edinburgh for a few short months I hated the fact that I spent almost two hours of my day commuting to and from work, even though it was a city with much more to offer. Now I can get to work in less than 5 minutes Im pushed for time and home again in less than 10 which makes for an easier life. If I went out more Id be delighted at being so close to town that taxi's are a luxury I have no need for but it is a rare occasion that puts me inside a pub down here. Every time I go home to visit I find the skin crawlingly slow internet my parents rely upon drives me crazy because one benefit of living right in the centre of this so called city is the super fast cabled in broadband you quickly come to depend on.

Im not sure Id cope in a real city so I'll go on living in my pretend one for now