Irish Gal

As the thread title suggests, I need to pick someone's brain about living in East Melbourne.

Everything from schools to food shopping etc
Anyone care to volunteer?
Regards
Sally

Shakmaty

Are we talking about the suburb of East Melbourne, or East Melbourne generally?

Irish Gal

East Melbourne please

Shakmaty

That doesn't exactly answer my question, so I'll assume you're talking about East Melbourne, the suburb, and if not, then at least the info is there

East Melbourne is right next to the CBD, so shopping isn't a problem. Also, it is parked next to Richmond, and you have Collingwood not far to the North and South Yarra not far to the South, so it is in perfect position for many of the desirable suburbs.

Fitzroy Gardens are beautiful to wander around, and all the stadia are on your doorstep...MCG, Rod Laver Arena, Olympic Park.

Schools....it will depend on your budget, and whether you're interested in state schooling, religious schooling, private schooling....and also whether it is primary or secondary level.

Kapri

Hi Irish girl.
There is one suburb called "East Melbourne" but there is also a huge geographical area of East Melbourne which incorporates lots of suburbs

Shakmaty

Well said...I wish I was as lucid as that at the moment

And perhaps this thread would be better suited to the main oz forum, where it less likely to be hijacked, and more likely that Melburnians will view it?

Kapri

Yep. I missed that

Irish Gal

Duuuhhhh! Sorry I didn't realise that it was the name of an official suburb. My sister lives in Glen Iris and wants us to live quite near here but everything seems so expensive (property wise that is) so want to move out a bit East direction.

Schooling - We'd like Catholic but would settle on the cheapest!!! Primary.
Thanks for the help so far

Shakmaty

Glen Iris is expensive...it is apparently the geographic centre of Melbourne now so there are plenty of suburbs to the east, and the further you go out the less expensive they become.

I suppose it depends how far east you want to move, which will depend on where your work is based, primarily. The North East is quite attarctive as a lot of the suburbs are quite cheap, but with the Eastlink open, it will be quite quick to drive to the bay. Every suburb has its own local shops and there are usually big shopping centres not far away. For example, if you lived in Park Orchards there is a nice set of local shops, but Ringwood is only 10 minutes drive away, and Box Hill is probably 15 minutes.

There are no shortage of Catholic Schools around Melbourne, http://web.ceo.melb.catholic.edu.au/...p?sectionid=60 but the state education is generally fine, although a bit hit and miss. Basically, if you choose the right suburb, then the schools should be ok.

BTW, are you already in Melbourne?

@boy

Interesting point here...Your sister lives in Glen Iris and wants you to live quite near her, but you have quite correctly observed that this is a particularly expensive part of the world now.

It may not have been when your sister moved there - when was that ?
What made them move to Glen Iris at the time ? Is your decision to move to that area just based on the fact that your sis lives there ?
Would you say your sisters household income is equivalent to what yours will be ?
How is their mortgage situation compared to what yours will be ?


Worth posing these questions as it is a common thread you see here.
i.e. A family member has moved out to Oz pre property boom and sends home nothing but wonderful stories as to their life here now, encouraging their bro/sis to move out. Bro/sis then moves out and struggles hugely as things have changed so much in the last 10 years.

Irish Gal

No, not in Oz yet but dreaming while I'm waiting.

Thanks for the link. My sister is there 10 years now so she got on the property ladder early. Lucky thing. We've been looking at places like Heathmont, Bayswater, etc. The houses there seem to be in our price range i.e. under 500,000 AUD. And they have good rail links, etc - and within 30 mins of where she lives. I suppose at the end of the day, we'll just end up wherever my husband can get a job (Service Engineer - photocopiers, etc)

She's desperate for us to get over there and tends to paint pictures of living there with rose tinted glasses - so its great to get opinions from those who live there too. Unbiased and all that.

At the end of the day, we just want to know that it is affordable. I know that property prices have sky rocketed but as long as the other costs of living haven't gone up too much we should be grand. We're not expecting to be millionaires but want good quality family life (who doesn't huh!)


Are school fees expensive for catholic schools?

Irish Gal

Thanks for all that. Good questions. I suppose at the end of the day we just want to give it a shot. My sister's husband has a fantastic job and they live in a fabulous house. We'd be quite happy in a regular house with enough money to get by comfortably and afford a holiday each year.

Another big factor is the low crime rate in Australia, anti-social behaviour and opportunities for kids (in that they don't have to sit and watch TV for 9 months of the year as its raining outside)