The houses in Clarkson seem to be a lot more affordable than most of the other Perth suburbs NOR - is this just because it's further away from CBD?

Would anybody on BE recommend / not recommend this suburb? Anybody live there? We were just a bit pleasantly surprised at the prices there (we are looking at somewhere close to a station).

Thanks

The blocks are also small in size from what I can remember [I used to travel from Clarkson station a few years ago] which is reflected in the prices. Not many trees either...

We rented for over a year in Clarkson - on Liberty Drive and Grandoak Drive - and never had any problems.

The houses there are very affordable.

I think you would need to have a drive around Clarkson when you get here to see what you personally think.

There are a lot of rental properties in Clarkson (or Somerly as the new part of Clarkson is called) so you might find that on one street, 75% of the houses will be rentals. This was definitely the case on Grandoak Drive. This would put me off buying there but that's a personal opinion.

Hope this helps. You could perhaps consider Butler and Kinross also - they are also affordable good areas.

Also look at the MySchools website, search under suburb for Clarkson, gives you the primary and high schools, govt and non-govt:
http://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolSearch.aspx

Also look at the "student background" index on the right hand side of the screen.

If you like the suburb, as it's cheaper you might have more disposable income to pay for private school fees. Sometimes, suburbs are cheaper for a reason ...

It's other name is Balga-by-Sea to Perthies, a lot of Homeswest and associated problems, do you research carefully about living there

HI Clarkson is lovely, nice houses and near station, but I would be careful about living there, as someone else said there is a lot of rental properties there homeswest people and I believe a lot of African people walking around in gangs which can be quite scary, there are also a lot of hoons too. If you get a nice street (away from shops and station) you might be OK, but just be careful. Also I worked at Clarkson High School and the kids there TERRIFIED me, it was very rough to say the least and I wouldn't like to send my kids there. I have 2 friends ho live there, one hates it and cant sell her house the other thinks its ok, had another friend who moved away from there as she thought it was horrible too.
Have you tried Heathridge - we live here, its cheaper than the other neighbouring suburbs and its really up and coming here, lots of rennos going on, also Craigie is supposed to be a good hot spot at the moment.

Good luck

I'm an African person but I don't think I'm scary.

I guess it isn't compared to Jo'burg.

I thought most of the Afro gangs were in Mirabooka?

I have no idea. Do Afro gangs exist in Perth?

Heathridge is nice, I've got good friends there. Don't know if OP had kids but doesn't it mean they have to go to Belridge High? It's almost as bad as Clarkson High.

Mainly Somalis, but Sudanese too:

"Somali crime wave

Although there are only about 3,500 Somalis in Perth, they are responsible for a mini crime wave. Numerous violent crimes committed by Somalis have hit the headlines over the past three years.

The Somalis have introduced violent car-jacking to Perth. The perpetrators, mostly with links to the African Kings, a dangerous criminal gang, have carried out a series of violent carjackings, assaults and robberies. Some examples:

* Somali refugee Abdirak Mohmd Hassan was jailed for seven years after being convicted in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 28 May 2004 over a series of violent carjackings, including two knife-point attacks committed between October 13 and 25, 2002. In sentencing, Justice McKechnie said Hassan's carjacking crimes indicated a disturbing pattern of criminality "largely alien to our society".

* Then in August 2005, Hassan again faced a Supreme Court trial over another violent carjacking. The victim, a young student feared she was going to die after the car she was driving was hijacked by Hassan and another Somali.

* Somali refugee Dhaqane Alim, 19, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 6 February 2004 to charge of armed robbery with violence in company. The court was told that on 20 May 2003 Alim and two co-offenders followed the victim from the Burswood train station before mugging him. Alim's co-offender, Jye Horton, who also faces an armed robbery charge, threatened the victim with a 15 cm knife while Alim grabbed the man's arms and rifled through his pockets, stealing a mobile phone and a wallet. The court was also told that Alim was a member of the African Kings street gang.

* On 22 March 2004 five men were taken to hospital after a violent clash between Somali and Aboriginal groups armed with knives and clubs in Perth's Northbridge area. One Aboriginal man received seven stab wounds and a suspected punctured lung after being attacked by a group of Somali men.

* Police were called to break up a violent brawl between a large number of Africans and Aboriginals in the Perth suburb of Mirrabooka on 27 December 2005. Police Commissioner O'Callaghan said police were called out 14 times in the last 12 months to similar brawls between Africans and Aboriginals."

http://www.australian-news.com.au/Et...me_African.htm

Sorry, hope I haven't offended you. I wasn't suggesting africans were scary only the gangs of them, yes there are a few of them there. Think that they are in homes west housing maybe?
I noticed when working in the school There were many African children at Clarkson High school, who were gorgeous kids but not cared for properly, it was heartbreaking. Think they might have been boat people (don't want to get too political here) But my cousin who bought and built in Sommerly - near the station hears them all hanging around at night and they walk past her house all the time, these gangs appear quite threatening. She tried to move not long ago but couldn't sell the house (which is gorgeous) so she is stuck there for now.

Its not just the African gangs though, there are all kinds of dodgy folk hanging around there.

Renth - I agree with you about Belridge HS, hopefully we wont have to worry about that cos we will be living in Cottesloe by the time my kids are going to school

True, But what would worry me is that they could be your neighbours Luckily we have no Belridge kids in our street

Lend us a tenner!

I really, really appreciate all these replies - thank you - especially the suggestions of suburbs which might be good to look at, keep them coming

We will be looking at both primary and high schools, and I very much doubt we will be able to afford a private high school.