Hi NewYork,
I used to live in Esker Meadow (just sold my house there in 2005). As an estate, it's great!
The houses are very well laid out - in particular the 3 bed ones. My house was open plan throughout the downstairs which made the living area very spacious. Although a lot of the houses have a wall between the kitchen and dining room which makes the kitchen quite narrow and might prevent you from putting in a kitchen table if desired. It just meant that I used the dining room all the time....rather than for just the formal occasion. The sunroom is standard in all houses and was probably my favourite room in the house, particularly since it got the sun all day. Some neighbours had roofed this portion so that they could use it all year round...it could be quite draughty and cold in the winter.
Upstairs, both the master and second b'drooms were roomy and the boxroom was bigger than a lot I've seen - I used it for an office but it could easily fit a bed etc.
Location wise it is great....the 25A, X and N stop right at the back of the estate with pedestrian access to these stops...very handy for the 3am return after a night out!
It is in St. Mary's parish so has access to all the good schools and it is within walking distance of Eurospar, Superquinn and Lucan village (20 mins over the flyover)...of course driving is even quicker but I abandon the car whenever I can.
They have a v. good residents association which hold regular events such as a table quiz, summer party, estate clean up and santy over the year. Subscription was about 25 euro. I had great neighbours too. No abso problems at all....the cul-de-sac entrance helps.
Yes, there is traffic - but that is all over Lucan and the N4 as the posters above have mentioned. Will it get better...perhaps...but that's a good couple of years away yet. Maybe with the intro of Luas.
In summary, I loved Esker Meadow and it was a great estate to live in. Why did I leave after such a glowing description? Well, I'm a country girl at heart and have managed to get out of Dublin before it sucked all the life out of me. 15 years was enough! Back to country living and no rat race! But, I did find leaving Esker hard - would defo. recommend buying there!
Good luck,
C71