ozzieeagle

Moonee Ponds is the best part of Essendon, which has definitely got a good name, I've been scratching my head trying to work out what you've seen. My guess is down the bottom of Epsom Rd, around the Ascot Vale Commission area... near the race course.....Probably just over 1 kilometre from Puckle St shopping centre.

You've got me really curious as to what you thought was a good area... Did you see anywhere that you really liked ?

EandE

That's amazing, you're spot on. I had to look it up as it is a while ago, but you're right. I must say I didn't like Puckle street* too much either, except for the athletics-store that was (and most probably still is) located there.

I also recall a tram/train station whith an underground passage that didn't give me a safe feeling, but that may have been another suburb?

*) Totally off topic but the word "Puckle" might have a something to do with it, it brings up the wrong kind of associations. I am from the Netherlands and in Dutch the word for "pimple" sounds like "Puckle" .

Anyway, back on topic as the OP has raised an interesting question!

helen roberts

We stayed in Bayswater when we did our reckie - sold by the fact it appeared to be "at the foot of the Dandenongs!" It wasn't nice. Also didn't like Frankston - not really our sort of people there!

Australia_bound?

Hoppers and Werribee aren't the worst places, both get a lot of bad press on here, but have family in both areas and visited them and they shouldn't be written off, very affordable housing and quite a few things to keep the family round and about, good train links to CBD.
Been to footscray and apart from the lovely cheap shops that seem to sell everything I'd not have gone there after dark, wasn't a good place.

flip

For some areas it's really subjective - a friend doesn't like Croydon and I suppose it's not quite as nice as other areas but I come from Rochdale and Oldham originally and would choose Croydon any day of the week and it's great for the movies - a family of 4 can go for less that $20 though the queue's pretty long in the holidays

I don't personally like Box Hill or St Kilda as places to live though others would really love to live there - Box Hill because of parking and shopping and overcrowding (though it has great schools which we're hoping to make use of and access by rail to the City and fantastic restaurants) and St Kilda because of the flies and the drug culture (though its proximity to the City, the cafe culture, theatres and lovely village atmosphere are tempting to many).

I don't mind Bayswater - great access to shops (best English sweet shop I've found, cheap Debortolli wine on a Friday, and plenty of DIY/electrical/car hire type retailers) though my friend just removed her kids from school there because one of the primary schools has, in her opinion, just gone downhill recently.

As for Dandenong, for anyone who doesn't know, this is very different from "the Dandenongs" with its lovely tourist villages like Olinda and Sassafras.

To add another couple of suburbs to the pile, I spent an hour in a place called Clayton recently and hated it but admittedly I was waiting for my kid to come out of surgery so wasn't too well disposed and from what I've heard Boronia has a similar rep to Dandenong.

BadgeIsBack

But next to Boronia is some great places. Only shows it can be a mixed bag.

The Crow

Boronia shouldn't be compared to Dandenong. It is predominately white Australian. It does have its problems. Apparently, residents used to be called Bogans from Boronia - so it does have working class/trade roots. It also has a number of drug rehab clinics.

However, I have never seen any crime and I shop there at least once a week - I have seen a couple of minor domestic disputes. That being said, I wouldn't hang round the train station after dark (but then I wouldn't hand round any station if I didn't have to!). It does have higher crime figures, along with Bayswater, than surrounding suburbs.

There are also some very nice parts of Boronia.

Petals

I live on the Peninsula and go into Frankston a bit and its fine nothing wrong with Frankston, the Pines has some dodgy people but its being sold off too and improving. South Frankston, Marylands, Lakewood nice homes and bigger blocks of land a lot have views of the bay.

Frankston and Dandenong are transit cities and have large public hospitals, centre link offices etc and people get the train down to use these facilities in both places. There is a drug problem and needle exchanges are in Dandenong and Frankston as well as chemists who dispense methidone so there are adicts about.

My mother used to live in a unit in Frankston for years and one day she fell on the Street, two young men (some would call hoons or boguns) stopped their car got out assisted my mother, she bled all over them and they took her to her doctor up the road and stayed for a while to see she was ok. I just wish I knew who they were to thank them.

You cannot judge a book by its cover.

Often its the people one perceives as undesirable who are the most friendly and lovely people and the people we are supposed to admire are selfish and up themselves.

flip

Obviously you know the area better than me - mine was only hearsay. My only nearly personal experience is that it has a great swimming baths nearby and that my friend was sitting in zugame's with her kids when a guy got beaten up outside in full view. I wouldn't expect that would be very common!

The Crow

Obviously one bad experience can colour someone's view of an area. However, I've been to Zagames lots of times and not seen any trouble (but it wouldn't be my choice for an evening - pokie bars will always attract the less savoury! That's why I rarely venture further than the lovely pub in The Basin!). For example, Rowville has had a spate of violent attacks and vandalism over the last few weeks - but I still wouldn't consider it a bad area.

flip

Agreed - for all we might nitpick I haven't been to a suburb out here yet where there hasn't been something good about it - so what's this about a lovely pub? I've never been to the Basin (don't exactly know where it is) but would love to find a great pub - so tell me more (sorry for the brief thread hijack).

OzTennis

Suburbs are transient. When I was young you would have put Carlton, Fitzroy, Collingwood etc in the suburbs to avoid, now the socio-economic profile of each of these has changed radically. Footscray I'd agree with many comments but it is changing rapidly. The drug problem of the past has been partly moved to other suburbs - personally I see more evidence of it in the CBD or St Kilda than Footscray. Some of you probably won't say it but the problem with Footscray (and parts of Richmond) is that to many they feel alien (i.e. Ho Chi Minh City rather than Melbourne).

Yarraville and as said, Seddon have been 'yuppified', Footscray will follow. Altona isn't a suburb to avoid at all, I'm not sure, other than unfamiliarity or hearsay why anyone would include it in this list (North Altona has more of a case). As said, Hoppers and Werribee similar comment, not 'burbs to avoid at all costs. Inner north suburbs like Essendon, Moonee Ponds, even Coburg, you'd put on your list of good suburbs to think about living in. Much of Frankston is fine, even desirable, you can only put small parts of it down and not the whole suburb.

OK, bite the bullet time - personally I wouldn't live in Broady (Dallas etc), Dandenong, Springvale, parts of St Kilda. However, I've seen 10 times worse than these in most UK cities and parts of London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle etc - no go areas, in broad daylight, with police protection and bodyguards.

Petals

Once people actually arrive here rent in an area and have a look around the places being my/our individual choice will probably turn out not others choice its so individual and bad neighbours abound everywhere and fortunately they usually move on I have had my share over the years

The Crow

The Basin is the next suburb on from Boronia, right at the foot of Mount Dandenong (up Forest Road, towards Mountain Highway). The Oak Tree Tavern is on Forest Road:

http://www.oaktreetavern.com.au/

There is also a nice wine bar, The Acorn, a few doors down (English owners, he usually has some interesting UK bottled beers).

http://www.acornonforest.com.au/

Other favourites are The Pig & Whistle in Olinda:

http://www.pigandwhistletavern.com/Home.html

and Kelly's - also in Olinda

None of the above pubs have TAB or pokies - which is great.

Another nice pub in the area, especially in warm weather as the garden is just beautiful, is Micawbers Tavern just outside Belgrave:

http://www.micawbertavern.com.au/index.html

Above pub is a good stop-off if you are going to feed the parrots at Grants Picnic Ground, Sherbrooke Forest.

Hope that helps!

Rachel

sr71

I'm not convinced about Footscray, if anything it is worse than when I last went there 8 years ago (just went at the weekend). Much less Vietnamese and Asians there now, it seems to be being taken over by African/Indian immigrants and I would expect the crime rates to go up accordingly. (quite a few Somalians)

Unfortunately I witnessed someone get dragged from their car and get beaten up by 4 men (all ethnics) so am not in a hurry to go back there.