THYE.A.

Hi there !

I have been looking for a ` suitable ' suburd to live in Melbourne, and I find Frankston, a suburd at the beginning of MOrnington Peninsula, for the following reasons :-

1.lifestyle.It is sea facing and have nice marina , beach and golf course.
2.shopping.It has the biggest shopping centre outside Melbourne CBD.THe shopping complex also housed Myer.
3.Education.It has one of the best state school in Victoria.Some said Frankston High is at par with Balwyn High.
4.Affordable housing.THe median price for a house is approx A 250,000, and a small unit can be less than 150,000
5.Public convenience.It has the train station, good hospital,many gov agencies ...

The only draw back is its distance from CBD, which is an hour by train, which is not that far anyway.

I appreciate any input from those who have been there or are currently staying there.

Sue from Manchester

My sister lives near there in Mount Eliza and I have visited a couple of times. I have heard the suburbs are nice and I quite liked the shopping precinct. Did see some druggies though. It's the last stop of the train line, pity it doesn't go on further.

lauralollipop

sounds good,ill have to add to my list to check out when we get there

counting the days..........

laura
xx

melbournehelp

I would caution you making decisions based on house prices, there is a reason why prices are below the average.
I would also caution against making decisions until you have actually seen the suburbs .
I have never recommended to my clients to live there .Yes , there are some english living there and south Frankston is a great area, but as a youth worker here I have to say to you that your teenage children's biggest influence will be their peers , not you . And the pot they mix in will have a great influence on those teenage years.

hevs

Frankstons cheap for a reason, most Aussies I've spoken to who know the area well say they try to steer clear of it!! (Frankston south is not so bad apparently )

SpinWolf

A resident of Frankston was on the local radio station and was asked what Frankston was like? She replied "It is where the children have no fathers".

Frankston however is on the up, but starts a long way down the ladder so to speak. In contrast South Frankston and Mt Eliza (neighbouring 'burbs) are very green and leafy.

HUP

What bigger than Chadstone?

melbournehelp

Er, no Frankston does not have the biggest shopping centre o/s Melbourne.
The local council last year started to play classical music in the streets and train stations to keep the gangs of youths away..apparently it worked as they now go on the train to ....have fun.

THYE.A.

the shopping complex housed Myer,Target,ToysRus,Coles,Rebel Sports and 170 speciality stored...

kirsty&al

Hello,

I live about 15 minutes away from Frankston.

The centre is not fantastic although it is functional. In comparison to UK shopping centres, Frankston is like Lakeside (Essex) whereas Chadstone is like Bluewater (Kent). They do have a drug problem in Frankston. If you go night-clubbing in Frankston you are bound to see some fighting; although of the three fights I saw one night they all seemed to be domestics or mates falling out.

The Frankston Marina is new and they have recently done up the area around the pier. This all looks good. I have been to 3 parks with excellent playgrounds (Foreshore, Ballam and one behind the hospital).

As others have said, Frankston South is a nice area and is almost indistinguishable from Mt Eliza, except for the price of houses.

The train journey is about an hour into the CBD, but can take 1hr 10m off-peak. The train doesn't seem to go very fast so this makes the journey seem longer than it is. You can park at the station for free although it may be hard to find a place. I know a few people who go onto the next station, Kananook, as it is easier to find parking. There is a high rate of cancellations on this line (low rate compared with trains in SE England). This is because the line has recently (last year - I think) been taken over by Connex. The previous operating company went bust and while they were in receivership, no new drivers were being trained. This should hopefully improve. There is talk about extending the line down through Baxter to Mornington, but I would not hold your breath on this one. There is also another plan to make the Frankston to Mornington line a regular Tourist steam railway; replacing the current irregular Mooraduc to Morning Tourist railway.

There is a short motorway starting at Frankston and this will be joined to the Frankston Mitcham FEEway due for completion in 2008. I have also seen plans for the extension of the current Motorway into Kingston up to the Dingley (Dell ) bypass.

Finally Frankston recently came second as the most liveable city in its class (size) in the world. Some place in Germany came first. I would not read too much into this as much of the substance for winning this prize was based on the plans for the marina and other improvements.

Regards
Alistair

jodesmc

I have to say that I have spent most of my youth in Frankston except the five years in UK/Ireland, and have returned, I went to Frankston High School(excellent school) went to the Uni in Frankston and work at the Frankston Hospital, so feel that I knwo the area, I am not defending Frankston to the hilt, but there are some good areas and it has improved out of sight since I've been away, It does have some dodgy areas, but I would say that it is definitely an area on the improve,a nd so close to the gorgeous Mornington Peninsula. I grew up in the area, and have never been a druggie, nor are any of my friends, in fact they are mainly very successful in their careers and have all done well for themselves, so it is possible to survive the experience well.....I would say that if you are considering to live here, to visit first, the shopping centre is no different to any other around, and has all the usual shops, but no specialty shops. There are some other quieter areas nearby,

OzTennis

I'll second Jodes and Alistair's comments. My brother and sister in law and their 3 children live in Frankston. They chose it because my sister in law's parents come from Wonthaggi and my brother from Williamstown and he works at Monash (including their Frankston campus at times) so it suited them as being in between both sets of parents and handy to work and the property was good value for money there. I visit Frankston every year and it has good parts and not so good parts it is true.

My brother has lived in 2 parts, one up the hill (near Kingsley Park PS) and a few years ago they moved down the hill to be closer to Frankston HS where 2 of his children go. Frankston HS is an excellent school and is particularly noted for its 'laptop' program. The school is all networked, laptops are provided by Toshiba at a cheap price and much of the curriculum, homework etc is delivered by laptop (parents opt into the scheme if they wish). His children on the program are incredibly I.T 'savvy' as a result.

It is a long way from the city, it is on the doorstep of the Peninsula, it is below average property values for a reason (and yet you can get an excellent property for a good price if you look around), it has good parts, it has good amenities, only a small minority might be druggies and it has a lot of shops as in a shopping strip rather than a mall.

OzTennis

THYE.A.

I read somewhere that the Shopping Centre in Frankston is the largest outside CBD.

However, the web site of Novotel Glen Waverly states Chadston is the largest in south hemisphere .

So ...