Open drug use, filth, discarded drug paraphernalia and sometimes unconscious drug addicts are not conditions to raise young children in.
However, one young family faces this "nightmare" on their doorstep every time they leave their city centre home. For the last 18 months, Karol Wisniewski, his partner Paulina Kepinska and their children Julia, 7, and Sabina, 4, have been living in what they describe as a "dump".
They were homeless for two and a half years before Dublin City Council offered them the city centre apartment. They thought their dreams had come true but it quickly became a nightmare.
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Karol said: "They offered me this but nobody told me the road was full of drug addicted people, there is a homeless hostel nearby and that people regularly pee and poo on the street."
"There is pee and poo everywhere", he said. Karol has a collection of over 200 videos of the filth, the needles, people smoking crack and shooting heroin as well as a shocking incident of a woman being resuscitated by the emergency services.
"My girlfriend is even afraid to go on the street during the day and we never go out during the night - we are stuck here."
The floors were level when they moved in but it has started to sink in places. So much so, that a bottle of water rolls down the floor by itself.
The walls have also started to crack in places and the heating doesn't work. They rely on an electric heater to heat the apartment.
Now, the desperate dad and mam are at their wits end after living in the "dump" for a year and a half.
The curtains of the apartment have to be closed during the day so the two young girls don't see drug addicts shooting up, pissing and sh*ting on the street right below them. It is not usual for ambulances to be called down their street to resuscitate an unconscious drug user and on one occasion a dead man had to be removed from the street last summer.
The Approved Housing Body managing the building, Focus Ireland, said they were "aware" of the "ongoing concerns" but added they were not responsible for drug-related issues which they called an "external nuisance".
Focus Ireland's Director of Advocacy, Communications and Research Mike Allen said: "We are aware of street-level drug use and disposal of drug paraphernalia outside the building. In relation to this external nuisance, as a landlord, we have contacted Dublin City Council, Merchants Quay Ireland and encouraged the tenants to make direct contact with An Garda Siochana to help address some of the drug activity on the street, however, this is ultimately out of our control and is a regrettable factor for many people living in a city centre location.
"Further, we have a high-quality secured entrance into the apartment block where the access code is changed regularly to ensure that those outside elements don't spill into the complex."
The floors are "paper thin" as Karol can hear his downstairs neighbour open a can of coke and every word of a normal conversation. The television two floors down can also be heard from their living room.
Karol said: "We don't have privacy. When the neighbour is talking, you can't hear the telly. You can hear them flushing the toilet and the microwave - you can even hear them open a can of coke. You can hear everything."
"When my kids start to play, the neighbour sometimes smashes the door and ceiling so my kids can't even play in the home.
"I can't sleep. My kids are scared. The road is a dump and it is full of pee, poo, drug-addicted people and very dangerous people. I have a video of a man dying on the street last summer."
Bernadette Shanley is also living in the complex and has many of the same issues. The 50-year-old has epilepsy and suffers from depression and panic attacks which have been exasperated by her current living conditions.
She said: "I moved in June or July of last year. The problems started about a week after I moved. The street outside is filthy and we are dealing with drug addicts injecting and sitting outside the front door.
"A few times I've had to move them... This [moving in here] is the worst mistake I have ever made." Living in the apartment has led to increased stress on Bernadette which results in panic attacks.
Regarding the noise complaints, Mr Allen said: We have received a number of complaints about noise from tenants in all three homes here and have investigated them fully to try and limit disruption to each household. As noted, the building was only recently entirely reconstructed and is in full compliance with all the insulation and construction regulations in place at the time.
"The options for reducing noise between apartments are limited, but carpeting the units is one effective option. To facilitate this, we took the unusual step of offering to install carpets throughout the top and middle properties at our own expense, but this was refused."
Mr Allen said that they are working with DCC to facilitate a transfer for the tenants but added they have not met the 2-year eligibility threshold for transfer to alternative housing. He added that DCC are ultimately responsible for what transfers are possible.
Some of those using the street for illicit purposes have decided the young Polish family are their enemy and regularly harass them. Karol has to do his grocery shopping in a supermarket seven kilometres away due to threats to his life he regularly receives while going about his life.
In one chilling incident, a man threatened to "slice his face" just a few hundred metres from his home. Karol stayed inside for five days after the terrifying incident.
Despite the obvious issues with the environment for a family and countless complaints to Focus Ireland, Karol and Paulina will have to wait another six months before they are put on the transfer list. Even when they are put on the list, they will probably have to wait at least another few years to get moved elsewhere.
The family of four had been living in emergency accommodation in the same area for a number of years. Before then they were renting a private home for ten years until Paulina was badly injured while giving birth to their youngest daughter.
She is now on medication for depression as well as her damaged back which means she can't lift heavy objects. Karol had to work part-time to help take care of his kids at home.
They became homeless shortly after the birth because their landlord was selling the property they had rented for ten years. The family were living in emergency accommodation for two and a half years after they were evicted from their home.
They were then offered the apartment they are living in now. Dublin City Council said they do not comment on individual cases.
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