Shophouse Walkup Living - What are your thoughts?

[Nihility]

Looking for positive/negative experiences of shophouse walkup living in Singapore.

Have you lived in one before or still do?

Noise issues a concern?

Have you rented above a shop or both levels?

Any tips for finding the right one?

Any great websites to view possible listings?

Any feedback most welcome. Prefer from those who have done it/doing it, rather than what it 'may be like'.

Thanks.

[taxico]

what sorta shophouse?

some have 2nd floor dedicated entrances. those are great.

if it's a rear entrance from the first floor (eg, hdb shophouse), that can be bad as it is beside the chute. lotsa roaches during fumigation.

some people don't mind it as it's just a 10 second thing, unlocking/locking the door...

[rajagainstthemachine]

I live near a bunch of shophouses ( HDB type) noise levels can be nightmarish i think, because below theres a coffee shop and a bunch of eating houses. and invariably like taxico said at the back of these eating places there are many insects, rodents, smell of rotting food etc.
Now i live in a walk up ( non HDB type) , house is on the 4th floor and there is no lift, the shops on the levels below are not noisy at all, but there are other disadvantages like climbing steps as there is no lift, hauling goods, grocery shopping etc can be quite a pain.