Melbourne commuting
 

We are due to be moving to Melbourne in approx 4 weeks and I have been given the task ( by the missues) of finding a NICE place to rent within approx 20km of the CBD. I think she is taken back ny Boxhill, Eltham however I am unsure as to whether it would be cheaper to drive us both too work or whether to take a train/tram. Any advice?

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

Where will u be working? CBD? Both are miles out.....Boxhill has a train and tram.Eltham? cant remember. Went to uni in Footscray with a guy who lived in Eltham...he drove and had to leave at least 90 mins before class started. That said, it was before the ring-road...

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

Boxhill has trams and trains and on the whole has a lot better accessibility. Eltham has one train line, and it's far. If you intend to drive then be warned, there is no freeway or highway from Eltham and it's single-lane traffic for a good section of the journey. That said, in terms of the suburbs, I think Eltham is much nicer, it's pretty, more spacious, hilly and the houses are bigger. A colleague of mine lives in Eltham and claims he can drive to the city in 45 minutes,in morning traffic but I am a little sceptical but I could be wrong.

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

The Green Answer would be to commute.

What do you mean by a 'nice place' with regards to area/ prices etc and whether you want a family place etc.

Louise

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

Box Hill is very popular with the Chinese community – has good links into Melbourne for both train & tram – something like 20 minutes on the train, about twice that on the tram.

Whatever you do don’t go north or west –both are grim, especially if you’ve got kids.

Avoid any place where you have to use the Westgate Bridge in the morning – the horror stories I get from the people from work who have to use it to get in from places like Williamstown are a daily occurrence

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

I live in the west and there are plenty of kids in our suburb so I think the above is a bit of an unfair generalization. some suburbs out here are pretty grim it is true but not all.

The bridge is a nightmare, I much prefer the train, although that in itself can be a bit of a nightmare!

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

I dont know where people get their ideas from about the North being Grim and dire, and as for kids, I'll go hee in a game of tiggy (nice aussie expression that) if we dont have more facilities for kids around here, within 1000 metres or easy walking distance than any other part of Melbourne that you care to mention. We got the faclities courtesy of Bob Hawke, being our local MP, when he was PM, as a payoff for being an absent/busy MP

Coburg 18 mins to city by Train, about 15 mins by car on a quiet run, 25 mins when busy...

8 ks from the city, Longest shopping strip in australia. Sydney Rd.

Heres a couple of pictures from the park 150 metres down the road from me,... try this for inner city... The walk along the Merri Creek trail, stretches down to the Yarra, about 15 ks, and up past Craigieburn about 20 ks, so thats 35k's of interconnecting bike track, all along creeks and rivers. Nothing Dire about any of that.

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

If you are ventureing over this side of town, and want to be within 1/2 hour of the city, want open space, modern homes, plenty of green with your proxmity to the CBD


Try Greensborough and Bundoora..... Bonus is for the same distance out in the overcrowded inner eastern suburbs, you will be paying about 80 bucks per week less rent.


I'm a little bit annoyed now lol ...

Oh and much much cheaper and easier to catch the train. Bundoora also has the longest tram service in Melbourne.

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

sorry I think this honour now goes to the 70 (or 75?) which goes from the city to somewhere way out east, like Ferntree Gully- or so it seems.

Not that this useless fact helps the OP. :D

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

Thats news to me.... hang on must check this out.


Hey all transport news has to be of some interest to people moving to Melbourne.


:)

Apparently at 21 kilometres the No 86 tram route is listed at present from Bundoora to Docklands is the 2nd longest tramroute in the world, and the longest in Melbourne.

Dammit you made me wear my anorak ;)

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

Yes. I agree! From someone who is considering commuting by public transport from the Mornington Peninsula to the CBD!!!

Cheers

Buzzy

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

I dont know a great deal about Mornington way I'm afraid.

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

I get the train from a couple of stopd on from Box Hill to CBD, it takes about 20 mins on an express train in the morning and they tend to be regular & reliable, no comparison to the Connex in London!

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

I hear you right! Glad to hear that, really. I'm pretty taken off by the general view of the north. Heard so much nice things about the east but not much from the other side. IMHO, there are lovely suburbs out there. I'm eyeing Essendon North/Strathmore or Aberfeldie come July as we have rellies/friends there. These burbs are more northwest. From what I heard and some pics they sent, its lovely! Been to Coburg and its lovely, too.
Thanks and cheers!

Hannah

Re: Melbourne commuting
 

Westgate Bridge is not the only way from Williamstown by road. Via what used to be called New Footscray Rd (now Docklands Hwy) or Dynon Rd are other routes. I could 'do' the city in not much over 20 minutes from Williamstown in peak hour morning traffic (as recently as last August on last visit, did it regularly). There are plans to build a tunnel under the river and Westgate Bridge which obviously won't be ready tomorrow but it will be a long term solution to the bottleneck on the bridge which to be perfectly honest is nothing compared to what I have experienced in UK cities. Williamstown is served by trains every 20 mins which take 20 mins to get into the city - beat that from most south east and eastern suburbs!

"Whatever you do don’t go north or west –both are grim, especially if you’ve got kids." How many times do I see on BE's and BritVics this advice! We'll just have to disagree on that one. Have a look at my W'town pics in this thread and tell me it's a grim place! :D

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...9&page=3&pp=15

Just returning to the topic I was surprised to see people say the trams go out to Box Hill but they must.

(Quick check with Metlink) http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/ Yep, can be done by tram from BH and they quote 1 hour in the morning to the city by tram.

If I was given a choice between Box Hill and Eltham I'd opt for the latter but it is admittedly further out from the CBD. Places like Donvale, Templestowe, Lower Plenty and closer in and nice but they aren't served well by train/tram and are the domain of the motorist commuter.

OzTennis :)