getoutofhere

Hi

I'm looking for advice/opinions on Melbourne suburbs please.

I'm looking for 3-4 bed family house with large rear garden in nice family areas. With nice Primary (and I guess one day Secondar) school.

Is there any areas that are Expat British? Or are you all scattered all over the state?

Any candid opinions on these suburbs welcomed:

(please rate for: a) family-friendly; b) schools; c) price; d) stuck-up-snobs rating:

o Brighton
o Sandringham
o Glen Iris
o Glen Waverley
o Camberwell

Thanks!

We got to get out of this place!
London

katyjoy

Have you looked on www.realestate.com.au to get an idea of areas and prices as the areas you have chosen are some of the most expensive and snobbyish. Don't get me wrong they are lovely areas with some great schools, but you gotta have the dosh to live there! An area i notice where a lot of ex-pats live is Narre Warren, Berwick, surrounds and Ferntree Gully. These are newish areas with a lot of new build and really affordable housing and good schools. They have great shopping facilities. Berwick has a more country feel as opposed to Narre Warren, which is more spread out and suburban.

I have family that live in two areas you mentioned and i have lived in some myself. So i do know 4 out of the 5 areas you have mentioned. I don't know if you are aware but over here schooling isn't free, in the sense you pay school fees and books, sports kit, uniform, pretty much whatever is required.
Just thought i'd let you know as a lot of expats don't realise that till they go and register their kids with a school.

Good luck with chosing where in Melbourne, its best researching, by asking any questions and also comes down to what you are looking for and what you can afford.

Kate

Ps i hope that was of some help

MarkMyWords

Do you want to know where all the expats go in order to live near them or get away from them?

Seriously, I'm concerned about expats tending to want to live together. This creates a ghetto mentality which doesn't help with integration. You can see it all over the world with immigrants of all nationalities, so I'm not particularly needling my fellow British expats in general or getoutofhere in particular. But why come all the way to Australia just to live with a (different) bunch of Brits?

As for Narre Warren versus Berwick, well, looking at the rate of building, Narre Warren now is what Berwick will look like in a couple of years, so I wouldn't set much store by its current country feel, sorry.

wombat42

Ramsay street, Erinsbrough.

melbournehelp

You really need to search this forum,guys.
This question has been raised so many times.
Many expats settle in the bayside suburbs because of the beach,city access and midle class lifestyle.
Mornington is also popular

Smudgo

have a search also on http://s7.invisionfree.com/BritVics/index.php?act=idx site just for victoria

ta

smudgo

Rose12

Hi There,
Where to live in Melbourne also depends on how much money are you willing to spend, if everybody on the family has a car, etc. All these suburbs you listed are excellent. I would add Carnegie, Caulfied (mainly jewish neighbohood),. Sandrigham and Glen Waverly are zone 3 and very far away from the city. Just to give you an idea, a monthly ticket for public transport on zone 1+2+3 is 173 dollars .If you buy a zone one is 96 dollars.
So, keep this in mind before renting, unless you have enough money to buy a car. Also make sure the area you are in has public transport near by. At some places the public transport is really far away and in some areas there are no buses running on Sundays (it sounds stupid but is the way it is).
Hope it helps and good luck

getoutofhere

Thanks for all your replies to my husband's mail. He's an Aussie - he's just worried about me. We lived in Perth for 5 years (that's where he's from) and i HATED it. So small town, narrow minded, if you weren't 5th generation you don't belong, didn't even think Eastern State people were real Aussies like them... Get my drift. (Well ok I did make some friends who are trying to convince me Perth has changed in the last 7 years but I don't believe them.)

But after 7 years in London with a Blair Government we feel Australia holds a better future for our sons. They both have mild Autism and you won't believe how much crap we have been throught to get them the education they are legally entitled to.

Anyhow we have researched as much as we can on the web but will search this site as well. My husbands going over in Feb to check out all the school's we've written to. I just want a nice friendly place with non judgmental people. Not much to ask huh.

OzTennis

Recent median property values if it helps:

Brighton $970K
Sandringham $720K
Glen Iris $635K
Glen Waverley $394K
Camberwell $665K

Brighton and Glen Waverley stand out in this group of suburbs in terms of property values! Brighton and Sandy bayside; the rest inland; Glen Waverley a fair bit further from CBD.

OzTennis

OzTennis

For infor - Wednesday 12 January Sky Channel 250 (Real Estate TV), Location, Location @ 10.30 am, 1.30 pm, 4.30 pm, 7.30 pm, 10.30 pm 'quirky' house in Glen Iris is auctioned (on behalf of 'quirky' lady).

OzTennis

anya4oz

Have been here in Melbourne for more than 5 months now & find it a pretty cosmopolitan place - in that respect, it reminds me of New York, where all comers are welcome and their contribution is acknowledged. As with all multicultural cities, there are a few smallminded racists & bigots, but the vast majority of people here are very welcoming, and seem keen to help us fit in. For example, as a Jew I was amazed at how many non-Jews (including a Muslim!) were keen to tell me where the synagogue is, in case I wanted to go worship!

The large immigrant population also means that people love kids & family get-togethers; it's a lot more 'family friendly' than many places in the UK. I feel sure that you & your family will all be made welcome here.

Hope your plans work out, and best of luck with your escape from TeflonTonyLand

Cheers,
Anya.

Bordy

Feels more like 5 years.

MarkMyWords

Feels more like 5 weeks to me!

getoutofhere

Thanks to Mark for the mail. Sorry didn't realise the mails in 'My Profile' dissapear so can't remember your logged in tag. Did do a search on autism but unfortunatly got stuck in a thread on immunisations. I'd just love it if all thoses ignorant people that go on about herd immunity educated themselves. But I'll keep searching. Jo

MarkMyWords

Hi Jo, I've just PMed you a couple of old threads that a search on ADHD threw up and that I remember. Probably not quite what your sons have (autism covers a wide range of symptoms and conditions of course including Asperger's, ADHD and dyspraxia) but I hope they're of some interest.