MarkMyWords

Picking names off the map are you hevs? (Sunshine is not what its name would suggest, I'll grant you.) But still there are plenty of unattractive/soulless suburbs all over the place (and many people on this forum live in them quite happily!). It's hardly peculiar to the inner west or north, so to suggest that newly-arrived immigrants should avoid entire broadly-defined areas is a little unfair.

P.S. sober yet?

spuds

Hi Mark,

Nice to see you defending us Westernites! I must be honest, when I moved to Melbourne I had absolutely no intention of moving to the West. The reputation alone was enough to put me off and I was happy in the SE - Camberwell, Hawthorn and Armadale for the first year - until we started looking into buying.

The fact is your dollar/pound goes a hell of a lot further the other side of the city whether you are buying or renting and when I saw the sort of house and lifestyle I could have the other side of the bridge I quickly started replacing hearsay with research! I really like the SE suburbs but I certainly don't miss the traffic jams, parking tickets and noise. We would have to live even further from the city in order to afford something decent and even then it's pretty pricey.

We moved out to Sanctuary Lakes, Point Cook 6 months ago and are renting a beautiful house on the river while we build our own across the rd near the golf course. It's probably not for everyone but we adore the place and it's super-family friendly. The main thing we noticed was the masses of open space and it's so quiet! Coming from the UK made us really appreciate this. Our homes in the SE had been lovely in their own way but there was certainly no more room than we could have afforded in the UK. Point Cook is also right on the coast and close to the country so you can't really go wrong IMHO!

You should also bear in mind that geography doesn't necessarily dictate commuting time. When we lived in Camberwell it would take me an hour to get into the city if I drove. Armadale was pretty much the same and while it is admittedly only a short journey on the train, that definietly has it's downsides too! These suburbs are only a few kms from the CBD but the conjestion and tram-situation is so horrible it takes an age to get anywhere. We now live 20kms from the city and it takes 35mins to get in and that's in rush hour!

In retrospect I'm glad we started out in the SE as it's probably easier to integrate there at first due to the social scene- that's a bit lacking where we are now, as it's not yet very established- but I certainly wouldn't want to live in the SE again. We were lucky as we don't have kids so there wasn't much upheaval but that would be more difficult for you I guess.

At the end of the day it's a purely personal choice. I have friends who adore the suburbs and think we are quite mad but I can't stand to live in such a confined space having tried something else. If you want serious value for money, a great lifestyle and the type of house I had only seen in magazines, look at spending your bucks in the West. If a thriving society and busy space interest you, you might like the SE more.

Sorry, I've waffled on quite enough! Off for my lunch now.

luverly

Hevs I usually really enjoy your posts but this one has really got to me.

Speaking as an expat who has been living in Melbourne for the past 5 months I live in Essendon ( go the bombers!), we chose to live in this suburb prior to moving over here as the location is midway between the areas both of us work in. ( Moonee Ponds for me and Broadmeadows for my boyfriend) Essendon and Moonee Ponds are both lovely places to live with great communities with great restaurants, cafes, bars etc. and 15 mins from the CBD by train.

I grant you that Footscray, Sunshine are not the greatest of areas however Altona and Altona Beach and Carlton are nice places where i happen to know a lot of british expats and aussies choose to settle down. Williamstown and Port Melbourne are also classed as being in the Western Suburbs and they are both renowned for being popular places with expats to live.

Also I am very familar with the job situtation in the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne being a recruitment consultant for these areas. There is generally no problem in finding work in any of the suburbs in the northern or western suburbs or for that matter in the south eastern areas either. Many of the people I speak with on a daily basis are looking for work in either the CBD or the suburbs closer to home. I wouldn't say that this was too much of an issue, you just need to be realistic about how long you want to travel everyday to get to work.

It is really difficult to get to know what the suburbs in Melbourne are like until you are here - they all have their own distinct feel and they all have their pros and cons. Basically what i really object to is people looking on this site before they come over here and getting the idea that the Western Suburbs of Melbourne are not a good place to live.

I'm not trying to annoy anyone or get at anyone, I just want to make sure that people are getting a clear picture of everywhere in Melbourne - not just the areas around the south east ( which I agree are absolutely beautiful but not right for everyone - just like the northern and western suburbs.

ozzieeagle

Yes definietly the wrong burbs, with the exception of Carlton, You probably havn't seen Gratton st, Rathdown st, and the other parts of North Carlton around Princess park that I'm alluding too. If you can pick up a house in Carlton for less than 600,000, even a small single fronted terrace you will be be very lucky and if you do find one, buy it do it up and you will double your investment. House prices in Carlton range right through to close to 2 million.

With the west, I mean places likely the newly gentrified suburb Of Kensington, plus the established ones Moonee ponds, Ascot Vale, Essendon Maryibynong, and Avondale heights, (along the marybynong in AV H, that is). and even Newport, and Yarraville through to Willi, Altona once one gets past the industrial strip isn't too bad, but doesn't have the transport infrastructure, that one needs, (in my opinion) to make establishing ones self easy.

BTW, Hevs you made a very "naughty" analogy in your 1st post when you came back slightly p...eed from the Grand prix. I've been here for so long, and that kind of thought pattern is alien to me now, that it took me two days to work out what you were getting at. S'ok I've Drank and surfed plenty of times as well.

Shellfish

I really am not fond of the W/NW parts of Melbourne. I just find them too industrial for my liking.

Same goes for Geelong, I am sure that there are some really nice parts, but on the whole, I don't like it (least of all the traffic lights and if you have ever been there you will know what I am talking about).

I know people who live in Brunswick and Fitzroy who say that they hate areas like Camberwell because they have no soul...well, if by 'soul' they mean seeing people buying drugs openly, shops and houses with graffiti and trams that smell like urine, then by all means, they can have their 'soul'. And let's be clear, these aren't cheap areas. I think we would struggle to afford a house in either Brunswick or Fitzroy, so we have chosen to buy (when we eventually do buy) a little further out in the East/SE suburbs. At the moment we are in Glen Iris and I would love to buy a place here but that's probably never going to happen but we can dream.

ozzieeagle

Hi Luverly, Your post prompted me to say, Re the Broadmeadows reference. One of the funniest things I've ever overheard, came from an old 55+ Ocker type, Down at the Broadmeadows hotel, In Westmeadows, He lamented to his freinds, in the polished wooden floored main Bar. "Broady just ain't f...ing Broady anymore"

I Had to really contain myself to stop myself laughing aloud.

That Old broady hotel, was the first pub when I first Holidayed in Aussie, (I think my cousin was trying to give me culture shock) back circa 78 it had Concrete floors, and was about 100 pct nutcase and there were probably about 3 punch ups a week.


Just shows how far It's gone over this side, With the broady railway line having gone from the roughest to now one of the safest on which to Travel. With apparently the Lilydale line being the worst, followed by the Epping line, then Dandenong.

Shellfish

We had a look at Santuary lakes and I thought it was really nice but the public transports (or lack of) has put me off. I have a friend who lives there and he won't take the train because of 'the ferrals' (his words not mine).

spuds

Hi Shellfish,

Yes, Sanctuary Lakes could do with train line that came a bit closer though there is a bus and the park and ride is not very far away at all. I don't take the train either though I can't say it's any worse than the other lines I've been on.
As was just mentioned - Lilydale has it's fair share of utter nutcases and that line goes through Armadale! :scared:

I agree I wouldn't personally like to live in some bits of Footscray or Yarraville but I feel safer here than I ever did on the main rd in Armadale or Camberwell. Souless they may be - grafitti, drug and crimeless they are not!

And as for the 'Bohemian' suburbs of the North... call me a fuddy duddy but it seems to be quite hard to integrate unless you join the great unwashed and get yourself a scabby dog on a piece of string! Actually my brother lived there for a while and it is quite cool but all a bit too hippy for me.

I think the really good thing about the West is that it's so up and coming. Yes some bits are still not great but the development out there is massive and the prices are booming. There may be a bit of a role reversal for the North and South suburbs in the next few years. Once you get past the stigma it's a pretty decent place to live. I wouldn't trade my views, land, lifestyle and huge house for the prestiuge of a SE address. It must be the tight-fisted Welshwoman still evident in me!!

MarkMyWords

Yes there are scummy parts of the inner N and W areas. But so there are in other directions (Dandenong anyone? Not even an inner suburb either, so it loses on two counts). And let's compare like with like. If you want to find somewhere to compare with (say) Berwick, look further afield. By distance and travelling time you're not even in outer Melbourne any more. A quick glimpse at the map shows places like Melton, Whittlesea and Gisborne.

There's a lot more to the Greater Melbourne area than the endless dreary homogeneous SE suburbs that sprawl further every year.

Phoenixuk2oz

And what's wrong with Bradford may I ask

hevs

No I'm not actually, i do leave my home from time to time. (The reason i asked if they were the correct burbs was to clarify that i was in the right area of the discussion)

I have an Aussie friend in her fifties who was born in Maidstone (western burb, not kent!). She has since lived in Warragul, Omeo, Sydney, and Thomas Town. I asked her today where she would steer clear off and she said Sunshine, Altona, Carlton, Footscray etc. To her the best inner burb would be Port Melbourne and Fitzroy etc.

hevs

Hi Emma, good to see you back!

Do they not have parking tickets there then?
Is santury lakes a place, or a new burb??
A point i was trying to make, though not succesfully it would seem...
I don't live in a confined space, far from it

As you say its personal choice.

hevs

Then i humbly appologise, it was not my intention.
Yep, as i said MOST immagrants are families so maybe they are trying to move away from city life?
Thank you, thats excellent information, better than sweeping statements about the inner north and west burbs being great!
I never said there was a problem, all i said was that you didn't HAVE to live in the city to find work as was being suggested.
Agreed and if i did that then i'm sorry. However insted of people saying come live in the western suburbs its great, how about some balence of where is more desirable?

hevs

Thats better, now we all know where to go then
I'm sorry but i'm lost. I was a way away from analogys mate, seeing the key board was a struggle

hevs

Which ones to avoid then?
Here we have a similar thing in Belgrave, Upwey and Tecoma, but i kinda like the bohemian feel, though i have been known to shower
LOL, i didn't know i was considered as having prestidge. You've made my day