Re: Melbourne to live.
 

thanks jaykay,

we tried to check this out before as liked the look of croydon and ringwood areas but couldnt find the nearest stations...this will help us now. think we are gonna be sorted in no time...

So in Ringwood, am i correct in thinking that there is a big shopping mall, parks,cinemas, bars and resturants, so we dont have to go into melbourne city it self if we want to go out?

laura
xxx

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

It does have a large shopping complex up the Maroondah Hwy from the town centre and shops in the middle as well as some cinemas, bars, restaurants (not all under the one roof though as in a mall) I can't remember the exact stores but the one up the hill has the likes of K Mart, Target, Coles New World etc, etc they even have an Aldi supermarket. There are bigger complexes not too far away (eg Knox City) but there's no two ways about it, you'll have to go into the city from time to time for things you won't be able to buy locally or to get a bit more variety.

There's a huge tennis club at North Ringwood too! (they have a team in State Grade, the top grade of Victorian tennis).

OzTennis :)

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

sounds good,
also like the look Geelong and wiribee, i got a few websites from the britvics forum, and instead of doing my last assignment, that needs tobe handed in tomorrow, i am looking at the pictures of Geelongand Torquey and i am almost pissing my pants with excitment!

I cant wait to get there,i just cant decide where i want to live,they all look so nice!

Roll on Feb.... :)

the websites are:
http://www.intown.com.au/
http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/
just incase anyone else wants to have a look!

laura
xxxx

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Cheers Alan :)

Not sure where I really want to live yet - will have to be on the West of the CBD, as that is where my work will be (probably Sunshine or Western Hospital)

Thinking seriously of Williamstown, or some nearby - anybody got any comments or suggestions?

Cas

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Hi

Can anyone tell me much about Sunbury and surrounding areas as that is where we are looking at as we don't really want to be near the city and would like to be near the country and also I have family about 40mins north of Sunbury and we would like to be fairly close to them. We also have 2 small children and the eldest is school age so we need somewhere with a good primary school.

Hope you can help.

Michelle :)

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

I can tell you all ,from my clients experience ,that you cannot make a decision as to where to live until you get here.You have to go and visit these areas.
Williamstown is great but very expensive, Sunbury is ideal for the country life, access via freeways ,good schools and nice people

Sunshine sounds nice but is full of junkies .

Melbournehelp can meet up with you on your arrival and talk about all the suburbs, what they have to offer and importantly find the areas that meet your individual needs .

Regards,

Steve Bowes and Melbournehelp

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Hi Jad and rich!! Nice visit then :D

OK, your observations differ from mine in some ways.......

Traffic same , pretty shocking, if you intend working in the CBD, live near a train line, otherwise live in the city. Beach traffic, very hit and miss, can go either way.

Weather funny?? yep its Melbourne you know and after Brisbane which is tropical, course its gonna feel colder you divvy :D

Flies. NEVER had a problem with them here, just very occasionally late evening a few buzzing round, but no where near as bad as in other places!! (but not Brissy obviously)

Housing, we paid around the $300 and it is "awful old crap", but on over 1000 squares and in my opionion much nicer in character to the "awful new crap" on 600 squares and spittable distance to next doors barbie!! (and at least i can make it my own with the money we saved) (it is brick though!!) If you like the Dandenongs try Belgrave south, Sassafras, Sherbrooke, Ferny Creek aswell??. Also other nice areas are Lysterfield, Upper Beaconsfield, Pakenham Upper.


Shops, yeah, big, great, never need to go to the city!!

Gangs,Yep, same world over, only where we lived in UK they started at 11!!

City, few nasty surprises??? What do you expect, its a city, don't junkies live in every city??

Schools, Our local state school is (by the blurb) excellent, and they wear navy blue, the private school here wears green and yellow. (my daughter swears if i send her, she'll leave home, so guess where she's going!!)

So good luck guys with your search pm me rich if you want specifics. :)

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Send me an email if you want friends of ours to send you details of their apartment in Torquay, which is about 5 minutes from the beach ...

Best regards.

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Cas

If you are going to work in Sunshine or Footscray (Western General) I would strongly recommend that you don't live in Sunshine or Footscray but as you say you will probably need to be west of CBD but I would include north as well.

If you want to live further out and travel in the Calder Hwy (Bendigo road), the Western Hwy (Ballarat road) and the Princes Hwy (Geelong road) give quick access from places like Sunbury, Gisborne, Taylors Lakes, Caroline Springs, Sanctuary Lakes, Point Cook, Hoppers Crossing, Werribee, Melton, Bacchus Marsh, Sunbury, Bulla, Gisborne, Macedon etc will all be just under or over 30 mins commute to Sunshine or Western General Hospitals.

If you want to live in the metropolitan area some suburbs within easy striking distance of work worth considering could include Yarraville, Newport and Williamstown 'southish' and Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Strathmore, etc 'northish'. Williamstown is expensive on average but it all depends what type of property you are looking for and whether you are going to buy or rent.

OzTennis :)

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Michelle

Sunbury probably started out life as a place one day's walk from Melbourne towards the goldfields at Bendigo. The oldest building in Victoria is a tourist attraction nearby (Emu Bottom Homestead would you believe!)

http://www.emubottom.com.au/ (nice website)

It then became a rural centre for the surrounding farms but about 40 years ago with the advent of more motorcars and with Melbourne now being striking distance away by car, much of the farmland around the town was subdivided for estate housing. Sunbury was a popular place with British immigrants in particular - Sunbury soccer team was always full of English and Scots in particular. I did a teaching practice for 3 weeks at Sunbury and thoroughly enjoyed it. Latterly Sunbury has expanded rapidly with people seeking lower than average cost housing (Sunbury $240K median, all Melbourne $350K); semi-rural living a reasonable striking distance from the city.

Sunbury now how as a good range of shops, schools and other amenities. You say you have family 40 mins north of Sunbury. That could be on the road up to Heathcote so at a guess Lancefield (lovely little place, great baker and monthly market)? Or it could be on the Calder Hwy to Bendigo so could be Woodend or Kyneton? On the road which leads up to Lancefield on the eastern side of Sunbury is some new subdivisions with very large blocks (1 acre and more) with large houses being built on them. Personally, if I was buying in Sunbury that's where I would look. A bit of room for the kids and plenty of sky to look at.

I can't tell you anything about the schools I'm afraid but I found this:

http://www.sunburyps.vic.edu.au/ (good little site)

There's a well known private catholic school at Sunbury, which was established at Rupertswood mansion, the birthplace of 'The Ashes' (the thing the Aussies beat the Poms at all the time :D ) and I'd thoroughly recommend a tour of it and Emu Bottom to everyone:

http://www.scr.vic.edu.au/
http://www.rupertswood.com/

OzTennis :)



http://www.dc.com.au/tourism/ (some other links there)

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Interested in your comments on Croydon, we're hoping to be in Melbourne around Easter 2006 and our kids will be aged 4 and 2, are you able to offer any advise about its suitability for a young family. Have been looking at the house prices and they seem more in our favour than some of the other suburbs we've been recommended.

Any help will be much appreciated!!! It's so hard to know where to look!

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Hello,

Are you sure you mean 1000 squares and 600 squares? Just that 600 squares is 6000 square metres which is about 1.5 acres; which I think is quite big.

Regards
Alistair :)

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

Croydon is quite an old suburb, so you will find alot of weatherboard houses, but there are also newer areas, so some modern brick houses around too.

It has plenty of parks, there are many schools in the area, lots of things for kids to do i.e. Little Athletics, Gymnastics, Netball, Tennis, Basketball, Swimming, etc etc.

There is a train station at Croydon, plenty of buses going in different directions, there's a shopping centre directly opposite the station which has an Aldi, a large Coles Supermarket along with plenty of smaller shops. There is also a market open on a Sunday and Monday. There's also another Shopping Centre which has a Safeway, along with some smaller shops in a strip. It's also close to the Leisure Centre, where there is a gym, and plenty of activities for kids (see above).

Croydon also has a main street which is where all of the banks are located, the Cinema is at the top of the street, another supermarket, lots of jewellers, bakeries, chemists.....you get the picture!!

Hope this helps

Regards

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

I agree, Croydon is well worth a look, I was looking at buying there last year.
There is still some affordable housing there and the place has a quite laid back feel with a stunning backdrop to the Dandenong ranges.

Re: Melbourne to live.
 

You've confused me now, doesn't take much :D

All i know is my size block is 1038, this to me is a good size block (apparently 1/4 acre). A block that is 600 (whatevers!!) is poxy and i would feel like i was living in my dads old veggie patch :p