What's the real deal on the Maize-Morse Area (Norwood Street) (Dublin: rent, buying a house)

[KatieMP]

My boyfriend and I are currently renting a townhouse in the outskirts of Dublin. We live right off of Sawmill and we hate the constantly busy and congested traffic. When we moved down here about a year ago, we loved the idea of being so close to restaurants and shopping centers because we both came from pretty small towns with not a lot near by. Well, guess what? We never go to those places anyway. Well, our rent is going up, and we've been talking about buying a house for a while now and have finally saved up enough money to make a down payment on a house around $100,000. Ideally, since we are young, unmarried, and not having children anytime in the near future, I wouldn't mind being closer to downtown in a walkable neighborhood with character homes like Grandview or Clintonville. It doesn't look like we'll be able to afford what houses costs in those neighborhoods, so we've been looking elsewhere. I found an adorable house that I love on Norwood Street off of Karl Rd. I am aware of Karl Road's reputation, but I was just wondering if anyone who actually lives in this area can let me know what this area is really like? Is it safe? Can I walk my dogs? Are there nice grocery stores I can go to by myself? I am a young, twenty-something, smallish female who wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. Please be honest; I already had my dreams crushed by the Westgate neighborhood. (cute houses, bad bad bad surrounding area).