naomilondon

Been looking mainly SOR, at Baldivis etc but my husband thinks it may be a bit far out for him to travel to work in the CBD.

NOR - Tapping, Carramar, Ashby look affordable and schools in Tapping and Carramar look fairly good.

Anyone in these suburbs can give me a better idea of what they are like, also commute times into the CBD and distance to the coast would be great.

Is there much in the way of extra cirricular activities? Our son does tennis, rugby, football and swimming lessons here and want to maintain as much as possible.

Also have a 10 week old and 20 month old so is there much in the way of mum and baby groups, music classes (jo jingles style) etc.

Thanks

h2oskineil

Hi ya

You'll really need to come and have look for yourself, as I might think Carramar is nice and you may hate it!

Here's a good private school in Carramar http://www.ststephens.wa.edu.au/
Public primary school http://www.det.wa.edu.au/schoolsonline/main_page.do

Not sure what public secondary school would be your catchment. STRONG ADVICE - Pick your suburb around the school you want your kids to go to. If you are not in the catchment, you may end up at a school that is not ideal for your situation.

Carramar is approx 20 mins to the beach, depending on which one you want to go. Close to lake Joondalup http://www.yellagonga.org/park-infor...ndalup-circuit

Carramar has a golf course http://www.carramargolf.com.au/welcome/index.mhtml

Your closest shopping centre - 5- 10 mins http://www.lakesidejoondalup.com/

Also your closest train station to get to the CBD http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/Home.aspx

Jungle Gym for the 'young kids' in Joondalup http://www.junglegym.com.au/Welcome.html

Really nice BIG sports centre in Joondalup http://www.venueswest.wa.gov.au/1/43/29/go_swimming.pm

Should just add..... we were in Ashby recently and it too looked a very nice 'newish' suburb.

Hope this has given you a few ideas.

Cheers
Neil.

Perthine

Have a look in Edgewater, old established, family friendly, leafy suburb, next to the Yellagonga Regional Park and Lake Joondalup. Has its own train station in walking distance, depending where in Edgewater you live, which takes you in 23min to the CBD. Mullaloo Beach about 8min by car.

Perthine

If you are looking to buy, Edgewater is pretty good value, for example see this: http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...ater-110150553

naomilondon

Thanks to you both for your replies, Edgewater does look nice too. We came out in 2010 but didn't do enough research before hand really around what suburbs to look at, and the beach at Mullaloo refused to let me escape until we had spent at least a few days on it!

Oh well we arrive on Nov 6th and will spend the first week looking at suburbs and schools before we try and secure a long term rental, hopefully that will be sufficient time as really want to get our eldest enrolled in Primary so he can start with everyone else in Feb.

The transperth site showed the commute from Carramar to Perth cbd as nearly an hour? Does that sound right, sounds like driving may be quicker?

Perthine

Yeap, this could be right as Carramar (28km's from the CBD) is not next to a train station so by the time you get to one, park your car etc. From the Edgewater (23km from the CBD) train station it takes you 23min by train and you wouldn't have a long commute to the train station.

I doubt it would be quicker by car. The Mitchell Fwy is pretty busy at rush hour and so is the Wanneroo Road, it would be stop and go for an hour and then you will need to find a parking in the CBD too which is by the way not cheap.

Padbury and also Beldon is not a bad suburb, if you are looking for something cheaper and it is a bit closer to the Mullaloo Beach. And of course the suburb Mullaloo is nice if you can afford it. Good luck with the move.

breezeboylan

Train from Joondalup to Perth is 25 mins, there's no station in Carramar. You have to go to Joondalup or Clarkson

naomilondon

How far is the commute from Tapping?

Perthine

Not much better than Carramar, really. The closest train station is Currambine and you are on the other side of the big lake Joondalup so it takes a while to get there. Have a look on Google maps https://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=e...ed=0CBkQ8gEwAQ and also here for distances reg suburbs: http://www.aussiemove.com/sub/suburb.asp?f=9&c=7&a=245 The Wanneroo Road itself is quite busy too.

Family of 3

It's right next to Carramar, so about the same.

Have you looked at Kinross? About the same distance north but nearer to train and freeway.

dave99

try morely, balcatta, inglewood, all about 10 or 15 mins to city on the bus

Perthine

If you would like to be closer to the Freeway, the train station, CBD and not so far from the ocean, have a look also at Kallaroo, Woodvale, Kingsley, Greenwood, Duncraig. If it should be 10min by bus then Dianella is pretty decent.

hoofie2002

Note that the car parks at the stations fill up very fast in the morning despite a number of them having been recently enlarged.

If you want to live closer than Tapping etc the rental/house cost will go up also. Ocean side of freeway costs more than Eastern Side. if your husband is going to work in the CBD then if at possible you want to be within walking distance of a station or at least a short bus ride ( bus routes radiate from the stations esp at Joondalup, Warwick, Whitfords)

School catchments are a major issue for High Schools. Duncraig High School are enforcing theirs now and the private schools have waiting lists extending for years. ( we've been on 3 lists for 6 years and only one of them has offered us a place so far ). Not all state High Schools are the same, a number have bad reputations, deserved or not. I agree with h2oskinhell - the school is your number one choice; find out what primaries feed into the High School you want; my daughters primary school has reversed its declining role in the last 2 years mainly due to new arrivals wanting to feed into Duncraig High School I'm told.

As for the kid sports, lots of those all over the North. There are a number of council leisure centres with pools and a number of private swim training places.

northernbird

Plus even if the primary school is advertised as a feeder school for a particular high school you still have to live in boundary for that high school. My daughters PS is a feeder school for Ocean Reef SHS yet we are out of boundary. To the OP, be very careful if high school education is something you need to think about.

hoofie2002

Thanks for adding that northernbird, I wasn't aware of that additional restriction since the primaries do have catchments also.