Marlo

Can anyone who has lived in Melbourne for sometime tell me what they think of life there for a family, community, social life, crime etc?

:PARTY:

willywh3r3

Hi Marlo,

I am also doing some research on this. But have not yet decided which city is suitable. Sydney is too expensive for me.

Regards,
Wil

Marlo

Hi Wil,

I have done a lot of research on Melbourne and it seems the best place for us, we hope to go out there sometime next year to visit. Poggle is very informative on Melbourne, she`s been there and has relatives who have been living there for 20 years. My favourite real estate site is www.property.com.au
you may find it helpful with property prices. I`ll look up my other threads because people have told me good areas to live in Melbourne.

Hope this is of some use to you

I`ll be back soon
Marlo

Marlo

Hi again Wil,

Ok, here are some areas that are supposed to be nice in Melbourne, you can then look them up to see if they are in your price range:- Armadale, Hawthorn, Kew, Glen Iris, Camberwell, Balwyn, Canterbury and Malvern, all within 12 kms of the city so I`ve been informed. Toorak is the most exclusive too.

Some people on this forum are very helpful, others you can just ignore, I`m sure you`ll find those ones out soon.

Bye for now
Marlo

stay or go ?

i live in williamstown, and have done for about two years now. nice place, quiet like an english village. leave for work at 0730am (car) and arrive at my desk at 0815 - this includes parking, walking 1km to the office and getting coffee !


great place for a family. not the cheapest on the block ($1500's for a three bedroom semi opposite a railway station). schools seem well protected etc etc. So all in all, a nice place.

we are moving up to Rye (if we dont come back to the UK) as it is closer to the diving areas we frequent, and the rent drops to c$1k for a 3 bedroom fully detached, facing Bass Strait. Rye is NOT the area for kids etc etc - isolated, interbred and a bit like Brighton (UK) really !

Brighton, Toorak, St Kilda (where the Red Light Districts are) are far too expensive for expats of an average background (i.e not UK Millionaires) to settle and be comfortable - most expensive house in melbourne is in Toorak - $12.5mAUD. There is a culture of "Westies vs Easties" over here, that is reasonably serious amongst some of the toffee nosed idiots over here - but if you can let that slide, you will be ok. goods and services tend to be a little (only 5-10%) cheaper in the West than the east - dont know why.

re: social life - you are going to have a HARD time wherever you go in Melbourne. Having spent a considerable amount of time in both cities, Sydney is more "user friendly" to expats, and Melbourne is a hell of a lot more cliquier (if that is the correct spelling). Dont bank on a "Neighbours" style of G'Day Mate round for a Barbie !

No doubt lots of people are going to jump on this and go "oh no it isnt". Cant be bothered arguing with them - I live here, and have lived here for a while. Just tellin ya how it is !

Bourbon

Hi

What abt suburbs such as Spotswood, Yarraville and Caulfield?
Thanks...


"stay or go ?" wrote in message
news:412682.1031784183@britishexpats-
.com...
    > i live in williamstown, and have done for about two years now. nice
    > place, quiet like an english village. leave for work at 0730am (car)
    > and arrive at my desk at 0815 - this includes parking, walking 1km to
    > the office and getting coffee !
    > great place for a family. not the cheapest on the block ($1500's for a
    > three bedroom semi opposite a railway station). schools seem well
    > protected etc etc. So all in all, a nice place.
    > we are moving up to Rye (if we dont come back to the UK) as it is closer
    > to the diving areas we frequent, and the rent drops to c$1k for a 3
    > bedroom fully detached, facing Bass Strait. Rye is NOT the area for kids
    > etc etc - isolated, interbred and a bit like Brighton (UK) really !
    > Brighton, Toorak, St Kilda (where the Red Light Districts are) are far
    > too expensive for expats of anaverage background (i.e not UK
    > Millionaires) to settle and be comfortable - most expensive house in
    > melbourne is in Toorak - $12.5mAUD. There is a culture of "Westies vs
    > Easties" over here, that is reasonably serious amongst some of the
    > toffee nosed idiots over here - but if you can let that slide, you will
    > be ok. goods and services tend to be a little (only 5-10%) cheaper in
    > the West than the east - dont know why.
    > re: social life - you are going to have a HARD time wherever you go in
    > Melbourne. Having spent a considerable amount of time in both cities,
    > Sydney is more "user friendly" to expats, and Melbourne is a hell of a
    > lot more cliquier (if that is the correct spelling). Dont bank on a
    > "Neighbours" style of G'Day Mate round for a Barbie !
    > No doubt lots of people are going to jump on this and go "oh no it
    > isnt". Cant be bothered arguing with them - I live here, and have lived
    > here for a while. Just tellin ya how it is !
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Devlin

Spotswood is a dump, Yarraville is in the process of gentrification and Caulfield is a nice expensive leafy suburb that is a bit far out for my liking.

Belinda Park

Spotswood is an industrial area - but cheaper than say Williamstown.
Don't know anything about Yarraville. Caulfield is ok - quite a large
Jewish contingent - certainly in Caulfield South anyway. The only
thing I know about Caulfield is that there is an excellent Montessori
school and that Monash Uni has a large campus there. There is easy
access to trams in Caulfield. I may be wrong but I don't think that
Spotswood - or Williamstown for that matter, has trams. They are on
the railway line though.

Sorry I can't be more help :-(



    >What abt suburbs such as Spotswood, Yarraville and Caulfield?
    >Thanks...

JPW

Hi all

I lived in Melbourne for 17 years until 1996 - and have been back twice since to visit my family.

I'm pretty confident that you can find affordable family frinedly areas to live and have a good social life. THough the social life you will maybe need to work hard on at first - try and get involved as in as many things as possible. If I were to pick one key downfall with Melbournians it that it takes time to develop good deep frienships with people - I've found it much easier in NZ and the UK - but that is just my personal experience.

Which suburb depends on what you like really. Melbourne has MASSIVE urban sprawl. So you can live in the suburbs and be 5 minutes from town and by the sea or you can be 1.5 hours out and by the mountains (big hills).

I lived in Knox for quite a while and there are some nice new family sububrbs around there - Rowville is very nice and average to slightly above average price wise. I lived in Mentone (on the beach) for a while to - its quite a bit busier there but would compare very well with any UK "family" area - but a bit more expensive.

What kind of thing are you looking for - distance from town? Distance from beach? distance from hills/country side/wineries?

Let me know if you wnat to know anything & will try and help if I can.

Good luck all.
J

Bourbon

Hi again

We are moving to Melb by next month, and are not sure which suburb to live
in. I'll be working in the CBD area, looking at about 10km radius. Which
areas will u suggest with a budget of $250p/wk?

Thanks again..




"JPW" wrote in message
news:419642.1032434597@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Hi all
    > I lived in Melbourne for 17 years until 1996 - and have been back twice
    > since to visit my family.
    > I'm pretty confident that you can find affordable family frinedly areas
    > to live and have a good social life. THough the social life you will
    > maybe need to work hard on at first - try and get involved as in as many
    > things as possible. If I were to pick one key downfall with Melbournians
    > it that it takes time to develop good deep frienships with people - I've
    > found it much easier in NZ and the UK - but that is just my personal
    > experience.
    > Which suburb depends on what you like really. Melbourne has MASSIVE
    > urban sprawl. So you can live in the suburbs and be 5 minutes from
    > town and by the sea or you can be 1.5 hours out and by the mountains
    > (big hills).
    > I lived in Knox for quite a while and there are some nice new family
    > sububrbs around there - Rowville is very nice and average to slightly
    > above average price wise. I lived in Mentone (on the beach) for a while
    > to - its quite a bit busier there but would compare very well with any
    > UK "family" area - but a bit more expensive.
    > What kind of thing are you looking for - distance from town? Distance
    > from beach? distance from hills/country side/wineries?
    > Let me know if you wnat to know anything & will try and help if I can.
    > Good luck all.
    > J
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

stay or go ?

[QUOTE][SIZE=1]Originally posted by Bourbon:
Hi again

We are moving to Melb by next month, and are not sure which suburb to live
in. I'll be working in the CBD area, looking at about 10km radius. Which
areas will u suggest with a budget of $250p/wk?

Thanks again..


1)10km doesnt mean anything. How long do you want to commute ?
2) you can get one bedroom flats for $150 p/w, or a 3 bedroom house for $300 p/w. need to be more specific mate, otherwise the "length of string" comes out.

cheers

a

Bourbon

Considering a townhouse or house with 2 bedrooms, driving time of about
10-15 mins to CBD, budget abt $250p/w.

Thanks



"stay or go ?" wrote in message
news:420238.1032486181@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Originally posted by Bourbon:
    > > Hi again
    > >
    > > We are moving to Melb by next month, and are not sure which
    > > suburb to live
    > > in. I'll be working in the CBD area, looking at about 10km radius.
    > > Which
    > > areas will u suggest with a budget of $250p/wk?
    > >
    > > Thanks again..
    > >
    > >
    > > 1)10km doesnt mean anything. How long do you want to commute ?
    > > 2) you can get one bedroom flats for $150 p/w, or a 3 bedroom house
    > > for $300 p/w. need to be more specific mate, otherwise the "length
    > > of string" comes out.
    > >
    > > cheers
    > >
    > > a
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Chuck

You will be struggling to find anything that close to the CBD in that price
range.I am currently paying $230
for an old 2 bedroom house 22km from the CBD.
-Steve
"Bourbon" wrote in message
news:[email protected]
g...
    > Considering a townhouse or house with 2 bedrooms, driving time of about
    > 10-15 mins to CBD, budget abt $250p/w.
    > Thanks
    > "stay or go ?" wrote in message
    > news:420238.1032486181@britishexpa-
    > ts.com    ...
    > >
    > > Originally posted by Bourbon:
    > > > Hi again
    > > >
    > > > We are moving to Melb by next month, and are not sure which
    > > > suburb to live
    > > > in. I'll be working in the CBD area, looking at about 10km radius.
    > > > Which
    > > > areas will u suggest with a budget of $250p/wk?
    > > >
    > > > Thanks again..
    > > >
    > > >
    > > > 1)10km doesnt mean anything. How long do you want to commute ?
    > > > 2) you can get one bedroom flats for $150 p/w, or a 3 bedroom house
    > > > for $300 p/w. need to be more specific mate, otherwise the "length
    > > > of string" comes out.
    > > >
    > > > cheers
    > > >
    > > > a
    > >
    > > --
    > > Posted via http://britishexpats.com
    > >

Adrian

Hi,

We're renting a 2 bedroom, modern apartment in Armadale for $290pw.
Armadale is an upmarket suburb, about 8km from the CBD and on a bus
and tram route.

Use www.domain.com.au,
www.realestate.com.au or
www.realestateview.com.au and look for
these suburbs: Armadale, South
Yarra, Malvern, Hawthorn, Richmond, Toorak (the most expensive suburb
to buy in & might be a bit hard to find something under $300pw) and
South Melbourne etc. These should give you a good start. They're all
within access of public transport and within a 10km radius of the CBD.

Wendy


"Bourbon" wrote in message news:...
    > Considering a townhouse or house with 2 bedrooms, driving time of about
    > 10-15 mins to CBD, budget abt $250p/w.
    > Thanks
    > "stay or go ?" wrote in message
    > news:420238.1032486181@britishexpa-
    > ts.com    ...
    > >
    > > Originally posted by Bourbon:
    > > > Hi again
    > > >
    > > > We are moving to Melb by next month, and are not sure which
    > > > suburb to live
    > > > in. I'll be working in the CBD area, looking at about 10km radius.
    > > > Which
    > > > areas will u suggest with a budget of $250p/wk?
    > > >
    > > > Thanks again..
    > > >
    > > >
    > > > 1)10km doesnt mean anything. How long do you want to commute ?
    > > > 2) you can get one bedroom flats for $150 p/w, or a 3 bedroom house
    > > > for $300 p/w. need to be more specific mate, otherwise the "length
    > > > of string" comes out.
    > > >
    > > > cheers
    > > >
    > > > a
    > >
    > > --
    > > Posted via http://britishexpats.com
    > >

Belinda Park

www.realestate.com.au or more specifically
http://w-
ww.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=sf&s=vic&t=ren&snf=bs
may help. As a general rule, you get what you pay for - same as
anywhere.


    >We are moving to Melb by next month, and are not sure which suburb to live
    >in. I'll be working in the CBD area, looking at about 10km radius. Which
    > areas will u suggest with a budget of $250p/wk?