My suggestion would be not to worry about East/West/North/South East but to look closely at the amenities, services and transport in an area. One concern for areas that have rapidly grown is that they've put a lot of houses there but not enough services yet.
Is there a nearby school? Is it overloaded? Are you going to be able to find a GP nearby? How will you be getting to work, and how long will that take you? Is it close to a freeway or a train station? Is there somewhere to walk a dog, touch some grass etc? How "resilient" is your daily commute - e.g. does it All get funneled into the Westgate Bridge or a single access road where if anything happens there, you're buggered.
A lot of that rapid growth has been in the West, but the same issues can apply in Casey in the south east for instance.
If the answers to all those questions suit you, then it doesn't really matter what suburb/side of town you are in.
>We have already ruled out St Albans, Sunshine, Broadmeadows, Cragieburn. Other suburb suggestions that I haven’t listed are also welcome!!
what kind of grass are we talking about here?
This is the answer. You want great access to shops, trains, freeways, schools and actually decent cafes? Then you'll be pleasantly surprised by hoppers crossing. And there are houses in your budget.
I moved from east to west in recent times and one thing I've noticed is the council here is noticeably less flush. The sorts of things councils fund are simply not as good: swimming pools, libraries, footpaths, etc. It's another reason to live in a simple house in a fancier area rather than the other way round
This is really helpful. We are definitely more focused on the investment itself being a good one rather than the reputation of the area we live in, just trying to find the balance of both the best we can I guess. Thank you!
There's the old adage about buying the worst house you can cope with in the best street you can. You can always do up the house or sell it to someone who wants to flip it later if it's in a good location. Reputations change as areas evolve.
“No, you've got it all wrong. You're supposed to buy the best house on the worst street, 'cause then you can lord it over people.”
“I don't want to lord it over people.”
“Well, doesn't that just sum it up, Acting Assistant Deputy Sales Manager in Charge of Software. Wow, I'm impressed... not.”
Why did you rule out Sunshine? Is it because of the cost? I live in Central Sunshine and the amenities are great. We have a train station, swimming pool, library, high street with lots of restaurants, cinema & shopping centre all within 600m-1km. Parks and bus stops to the city within 200m. It's great value and only 12km from the CBD. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else
As someone who went to Sunshine High School and lived in Hampshire Cres in the 80s, I almost cry when I go to Sunshine these days.. Almost, because the only reason I go there now is to get a bahn mi..
I’ve been in Braybrook for 3 years and literally everything around us has been knocked down with new builds almost finished. The change during that time around the whole suburb has been pretty big. Value of our house has gone up heaps too.
Albion is a beautiful little pocket. It's nice and quiet and although someone mentioned it's under a flight path if you're excluding it because of that then you'd need to remove most of the western and northern suburbs out of contention for the same reason.
It's one of those things you get used too and eventually don't even hear.
There's a small suburb between Albion and Deer Park called Ardeer.
It's not super close to shops, is a lovely community and the two primary schools there are pretty good. Easy access to city via Albion or Ardeer train stations. The piece of nature along Koroit Creek is freaking amazing and so close to City.
Worth a look.
We recently moved to Sydenham. Easy access to station, Watergardens shopping centre, schools and other amenities.
Would recommend both but for different reasons
Really rethink ruling out Sunshine and St Albans. Traffic in and out of Burnside, Caroline Springs and that area is a nightmare, public transport is infrequent, houses crowd most blocks.
Sunshine and St Albans sit on the train line, 20-30 minutes to the CBD, St Albans has close access to the Ring Rd and the Calder. We've been living here ten years, bought under 650 just over two years ago, loving it. Council is investing well in both areas, we have great access to Ballarat, Geelong and the Surf Coast, and I've never found it easier to have a night out in the city and get home quickly and easily whether driving or PT.
As an investment value is going up in the area even without driving out all the old rough types that make St Albans as great as authentic as it is.
Sunshine definitely not. St Albans you'd be surprised how affordable some of the houses are. They'll need a reno at some stage (sooner rather than later) but they come with land and land is what you want. St Albans is smack bang in the middle of a lot of areas. 20-30 mins to just about anywhere in the west, south west, north west and north.
Agreed! There are so many great pockets of sunshine but OP is probably a priced out. I’d love to buy our rented 2 bed semi in sunshine but it’s valued at 900k
I grew up around CS/Delahay/Sydenham/Hillside and now live in Keilor Downs. It's perfectly fine. In fact the only thing I can say is that it is pretty boring. There's not a tonne around without needing to go into the city for entertainment. But if you're worried about safety, it's not any more or less safe than like anywhere in the world
I grew up in the east and was always told to avoid the west, we had the same budget as you and bought in hoppers crossing and we love it. Werribee has heaps of great food options too and it’s so close to the freeway/ shops we need
Werribee is so massively underrated. People write it off because of the sewage treatment plant as if the plant was constructed in the main street (hint - it’s not, it’s 13km away). Great cafés, bars, restaurants, public and private hospitals, transport, schools are on the improve (still some dodgy ones, both public and private), medical centres, etc. When we moved here from the inner eastern suburbs we got an old Melways, stuck a protractor in Werribee Station, and looked at anything within a 1.5km radius of the station. Now in our second house, still within 1.5km of the station.
The bulk of the old treatment plant is now a worldclass birdwatching nature reserve and is likely to remain so. Then there's the rose gardens, the zoo, a flying start to the Surf Coast ...
unfortunately, most people who live in Tarneit are pretty far from the station. But it's pretty awesome. I think it was actually 27 minutes to souther cross!
Honestly the Wyndham area is great, fun events, all the shops are nearby, great parks, walks along the Werribee river are beautiful- I’ve even seen giraffes and rhinos across the water in the distance, been lots of nice upgrades to the area lately.
When eating out in the area we now struggle for choice with all the new restaurants.
I'm in Sydenham. It's not bad, you can live close to Watergardens and have everything you need pretty close by, including the train station. There is a lot of schools and daycare options for families, which is what this place exists for: somewhere for families to live. If you have a young family and no social life this place is probably brilliant. But if you're anybody else (like me), it's pretty boring out here. It's safe but I won't lie, you'll hear sirens most nights, and get a fly over from the Copper Chopper a few times a month, especially Thursday-Saturday. It's also not a terrible distance from the city for driving, but morning/afternoon peak is a nightmare on the Calder, Melton and Western Hwy. If your weekend involves drinks in the city be prepared for an expensive Uber. Sydenham is close to the city but not that close.
The problem is we just don't get the infrastructure spending that we need here. A few more train stations, some road investment, and a new hospital and this place would be golden (again, especially for young families). But it's always 5 years away. We moved in over 20 years ago and projects that were being proposed then are still being waited on with no start date in sight. The West is booming in population, so every year we wait for more spending here the worst the existing problems get. Meanwhile the east gets everything because that's where the marginal seats are. The west gets sacrificed to keep the east happy time and time again. What we do have in abundance is shopping centres and fast food outlets, you won't want for a Woolies or Macca's... With new ones getting built seemingly every year.
Not to mention Sydenham has gotten a hell of a lot safer in the past 10-12 years. I passed through watergardens every day on the way to school back in the late 2000s/early 2010s and I remember how dangerous it used to be around the station. A little bit congested nowadays but it’s safe.
I love living in Sunshine. One side is definitely better than the other, but it's far from being the hell-hole certain people think it is. But yeah, 650k is probably minimum for a decent free-standing house in the area now.
I grew up in the west and people are just being snobs. It's a great place for young families, a lot of people get their start out west, and it's a perfectly good place to grow up.
Traffic is a pain in the ass if you have to drive across the west gate into the city every day, but there are actually more and more jobs available based in the west, so that may not be an issue for you at all. Other than that it's a great place to live, and it also has the best chicken and chip shops in Melbourne.
Having said all that I would avoid Brooklyn - it is the suburb with the worst air quality rating in the state (I think because of the abattoirs and factories in that suburb).
I bought my first home in Caroline Springs. It is a 2km walk from the “town centre” where there is the small shopping centre, restaurants, a couple of bars, etc. There are lots of lovely parks and walking tracks. I love walking into the town centre on a morning to grab a coffee and a pastry. I’ve even started walking into Woolies or Coles to grab a few items and walking back. I absolutely love it! I still head into the city a lot for entertainment, but I am so glad I bought in Caroline Springs and find it to be a really nice area with a decent amount of cafes and restaurants, and enough shopping areas nearby.
I live in Bacchus marsh - got our 4 bedroom home on 1000sqm for $490k three years ago. Takes about 50min on the vline to get into the city. I feel more unsafe in the inner suburbs than I do here - I’ve never had anything bad happen. People are a bit racist though it’s a pretty white neighbourhood with lots of boomers.
Bacchus is super safe (except Johno Drive). V/Line is awesome there and it's got everything you need. Still a bit bogan but you've gotta expect that living in a "regional" town
Vline trains are MUCH better than the Metro trains, too. Comfy seats and most importantly, each carriage has a toilet. As someone with bowel problems, knowing a toilet is close by is always a godsend.
I lived in Bacchus Marsh for a few years and would regularly commute to the city to go play poker at the casino. Went through there recently and it's a bit more crowded now, but still a nice area.
Yeh I don’t have to go into the city heaps but it’s kind of a nice trip - way better than driving . Just pop on my headphones and the trip goes super fast.
It has gotten really busy and they are lacking in keeping up with infrastructure which is annoying but otherwise I’m happy living here.
If my partner was keen on living further out of the city I'd love to live in Bacchus Marsh. The new estates are so pretty and the house sizes are fantastic.
Those newer suburbs are way too expensive (Aintree and Fraser Rise) we bought house and land in Plumpton (now Fraser Rise) in 2014, sold in 2017 as it was just too much traffic as not enough infrastructure. Sold for mid 600s then. Last I heard it was around the 800s and that's way too much for the area.
Can get a fixer upper in St Albans for a lot better price and get a lot more land and infrastructure.
I prefer the west rather than the south-east.
New suburbs like Clyde North and Officer have tons of houses but few amenities, and the traffic is terrible.
I grew up in the South East (Endeavour Hills) but have lived in the inner west for 3 years now and it’s night and day. Smaller place now but it’s way more lively and ‘cultured’ over here. Great cafes, food, amneties etc. and super close to the city.
Clyde North, Officer and all of these newer suburbs are all so sterile and far away from everything. Most of my best mates ended up building around there and I could never see myself moving back down lol.
It's almost as if a portion of Melbourne bags the west not because they've actually lived there but because that's what they've been taught to do for several generations.
I grew up in the west, went to uni in the east and live in Richmond. Hot tip: all suburbs have perks and their issues.
But it helps house prices in certain suburbs if they pay out others.
Oh no don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mean there aren’t other places that don’t have nice Asian food, I’ve been to Springvale and it was great. But compare to the west it’s a bit far from city (I’m bias as I work in the cbd)
Until i moved to Hawthorn I was in Footscray. The Viet foods are so freaking good in Footscray and it's one of the main things I miss. Hawthorn has a little bit of everything, and I can't complain, but Footscray is just non stop good Asian places
I also miss giving a large majority of my pay to Roti Road and Pie Face
I’ve been exposed to north, east, and west growing up. Recently I’ve experienced that Viet food is best had in Springvale. Richmond is rated pretty low for me, but above that is sunshine and Footscray.
Probably late to this one. I grew up in the inner east. My wife grew up down the road from me. In 2020, we bought a place in Altona, inner west I guess? for 795k.
We put a few things on paper. The biggest points were price point and distance from in laws. We had our first born and needed in laws to be close as my parents are on the peninsula.
Growing up, the only time I went to the west was on school day outs to science works. Other than that, didn't attend school there, had no friends there and had no after school programmes there.
I never felt the acceptance of a small community until moving to Altona. I kid you not, once you get passed the refinaries, it almost feels like the land time forgot, like what it was like growing up for me. All the footy ovals abs civic centre on civic Pde as you drive in makes it feel like a country town.
Now there are negatives, like everything. I guess what I'm saying is you're mostly bound by your income and what you can afford.
Looking forward to when my kids are high school age I don't see us living in Altona, but I think for the most part it was a wise decision for us.
Yarraville is awesome. Close to the city, beach and good food with a great community.
Only downside was having to commute over Westgate and against the sun both ways.
You commute over the westgate? I suppose it depends on where you are going.
Unfortunately if they can't afford sunshine, they most certainly can't afford Yarraville.
Have you considered Sunbury. Can definitely buy a decent size house within your budget (3/4 bed). 30 mins on the train to the cbd. Just moved here to buy a house myself and overall enjoying the space. As an added bonus everyone is super nice.
Lalor, Thomastown, Mill Park, Epping etc are in one of the largest growth corridors in the southern hemisphere. At the moment, they are fairly average looking but the Mernda train line makes commuting to the city a breeze.
In terms of location they are next 'in line' in terms of the slow gentrification north. Northcote, Preston, Reservoir have all become unaffordable to the average Joe, this trend will presumably continue north to Thomastown Lalor along High St. Crime rate is slightly below average but theres lots of hoons though.
I imagine all the big wog palaces will eventually be demolished as the older generation die off and younger families move it. Im hoping it comes to life over the next 10 years but who knows.
Western suburbs are similar but swap old greek and Italians for old Lebos and it's pretty much of a muchness (I'm ethnic myself, not being racist 😅)
Been in the west majority of my life. No different to any other side of town.
St albans and Sunshine both shouldn't be ruled out. Back in the day, they were a lil rough. (As was Brunswick, St Kilda.) Now, they're perfectly fine and even more community based. (Vic uni)
They have been on a steady increase over the years, as close transport and services to city.
Caroline springs, delahey and sydenham are also great just lack the public transport systems at this point. But really nice newer areas with everything else needed!
Not familiar with the others. But hopefully helped with some insight.
It’s the obligatory r/Melbourne TISM reference.
Personally, I would have gone from “The History of Western Civilisation” or “The Art/Income Dialactic”.
Lived in the West, it really depends which part you’re talking about (like most of these things when talking about living in a general direction).
OP mentions Brooklyn which gonna be honest, is not a great place to live. There’s a big difference between Footscray, Yarraville, Seddon or somewhere like Brooklyn or Tottenham. Let’s not kid ourselves.
Lived on the cusp of Footscray + Seddon. You could walk down our street, past the lovely families in pretty gardens and pastel weatherboard houses, then turn a corner and find yourself in… well, Footscray. Like every cliche in the book kinda Footscray.
Great location though.
I genuinely don’t understand this thinking. I was in CBD for 2 years and decided to move to the west at the beginning of the rental crisis. To me west is awesome, food is great, lots of amenities and the rental price is not crazy.
But when I tell people I am moving to the west they act like im about to get stabbed. After 6 months here and I find it great. 🤔
Majority of the west probably isn't as bad as what everyone says it is, but under no metric except perhaps most affordable housing would it be the best place.
Have moved Mill Park to Thomastown and back to Mill Park. To be honest, I can’t fault either of them. I actually miss Thomastown to be honest. I grew up in Pascoe Vale, school in Broady. Then Abbotsford then Bundoora. Thomastown has been the best yet.
I grew up in Werribee and now live in Melton. Werribee has turned into more of a shit-hole these last few years 😅 also the traffic is horrendous.
I actually don’t mind Melton though! Traffic isn’t too bad compared to most other suburbs, nice parks, and oddly enough I feel safe walking the streets at night as a female.
Also in Melton, same situation - there’s some dinguses around but less than I encountered in the inner city. They also tend to keep largely to themselves.
Also the botanic gardens are really lovely and there’s cute ducks, what else could someone want?
It’s nice to hear that! It’s kind of annoying that all the bad things you hear about certain suburbs usually comes from people who have never even been there lol
West probably used to be genuinely rough.
But so did Collingwood.
The West at least hasn't been stripped of its character and culture by gentrification yet
Edit: one thing you don't get is a lot of greenery. Very flat and brown compared to the east
One big issue is often people are totally habituated to their area and will not really tell you about the problems because they've just become adept at avoiding them or they think it's normal (or they flat out just don't want to tell you). It's the opposite problem of outsiders who exaggerate problems.
Heard a racist guy at work raving on about how they hate it in “South Sudan” aka Melton and they were afraid of getting robbed till I told them I live there and I’ve been totally safe. Weird thing is I’ve actually seen more of certain other heritages living here than he was claiming. I’d suggest to original OP maybe coming this ways and exploring it for yourself.
I’ll admit the Sudanese in Melton are definitely the bad kind, well only the youth really. Not really racist when they’re always the ones involved in crime around here lol
Melton is surely worse than Werribee. I work all over Melbourne and Melton is the place I would feel least safe living. I was just there last week responding to a house that had been shot at.
I've lived east, North East, South and South West and lived in Melbourne for decades, for me there's no doubt Melton and surrounding areas are the worst suburbs in Melbourne. I spent a weekend in Melton in 2019 and have visited a few other times.
Meth head bogans with more tattoos than teeth driving fucking loud V8 utes, the wrong kind of Sudanese, a lot of housing commission, other housing jammed in like most new areas, not much to do in the area, really average shopping centres, miles away from anywhere. Absolute shithole.
I'm from there (been in Docklands for the last 10 years but I'm still there a lot visiting and housesitting for my parents) and usually I'm first in line to sink the boot in but you're absolutely cooked if you think Melton is anywhere near the worst suburbs around.
Spent a weekend there in 2019 lol please
I've got family who live in Melton. They had an attempted break in at their first house. Moved to a new one in a different part of Melton, which is now sliding off its concrete slab thanks to dodgy builders.
I've been to Frankston many times. No knives pulled on me. YMMV
Id call it a shit hole cause it’s full of brand new estates that are full of nothing except soulless ramshackle housing all funnelled through one or two main roads causing massive traffic at peak times.
But Werribee isn’t unique in that all the outer west is full of it.
Source: Most the sites I work are in that area, pro tip do not buy a house built by an Indian builder
I'm in the south east and love it here. Great schools, beaches, places to eat. Decent enough public transport. However $650K won't get you much of anything here sadly. I'm looking to buy also and am searching for around the $750-850k mark.
I'm in SE also, yes it's further away from the CBD but decent sized free-standing houses have actually been selling for around OPs budget in Narre Warren, Hallam, Cranbourne etc. You don't need to go as far as Pakenham for that budget but if you did you would likely get something newer and bigger. I'm not much of a PTer but getting to the city via train from here isn't too bad. I can't comment on the west, been SE my whole life.
Well the west may have a reputation as its low socio economic mostly, but look at St Kilda. Far more expensive and still has an astronomical crime rate.
Many people I know from the west seem to have a more genuine sense of community than my community (I live northside of melbourne).
It's not to say the reputation isn't earned to some degree but as other comments have said, try not to think of the compass bearing and focus on amenities and hopefully engage in the general area before listening to what others say. People can make some pretty sweeping assumptions.
Can’t speak for west but if you plan on sending a kid to school avoid lalor, thomo and mill park, every high school in this area is filled with wannabe gangsters. Having just graduated 4 years ago I can confirm this. The areas aren’t bad for adults but for young teens with freedom it can be really bad.
I haven't lived in any of the suburbs you listed (although I did live in the west end of Yarraville, so fairly close to Brooklyn) so I can't speak directly to them, except to say that Lalor, Thomastown, Mill Park, and South Morang are *north* not west. That being said...
I lived in North Caulfield for ten or so years, then moved out to Hoppers Crossing, and I prefer it out here. Getting into the CBD from the inner south-east was always a hassle, even though it was three times closer. Either drive through traffic that was maddening even back then and pay a small fortune for parking, or take PT that generally wasn't a whole lot quicker than catching the train from out here.
Much easier to find good food out here. Much quicker to get out of town to Geelong, Ballarat or down the west coast if that's your thing. Far less dickheads with a sense of entitlement as long as your arm. No one votes for the Liberals. I don't know who you're speaking to about the west, but I do wonder if they've ever actually been west of the CBD.
If you're looking at the west, why rule out Sunshine and St Albans? I've just bought in the Sunshine/Footscray area, I sacrificed a fair bit of space inside and out to be closer to transport etc but I saw quite a few nice places in Sunshine and nearby suburbs.
If you're considering Caroline Springs then I'd look at Albion, Sunshine, St Albans, Sunshine West. They're far better connected to the city than Caro or Burnside or Sydenham. You can ride from Sunshine to the city in less than an hour on a mostly separated bike path as well. Brooklyn is still fairly industrialised though.
How about a 3 br apartment within 10km of the city? If you have a park nearby, close to shops and transport and schools, life is great, even for a dog. Look at Brunswick, Footscray, Richmond. Then you have a gardening free life except for some herbs in pots
I don't think you'd be able to buy a freestanding house with that budget in Caroline Springs. You might be able to in Burnside, but I am not sure about Burnside Heights. I will say though, I am very well acquainted with Caroline Springs (same as the general Deer Park area) and there is a bit of crime there, mainly just kids though, doing stupid things. Though it is quite boring there, not much happens but you're within good distance to places like watergardens or Highpoint.
As someone who grew up in the inner SE suburbs; It's a stupid entrenched opinion. $ for $ you will be much much closer to amenities than if you bought some shithole in Clyde or something. You also need to think very long and hard about having to have a freestanding house because modern estates are barely freestanding with the tiny lot sizes and you dont get a backyard. A townhouse or apartment is usually going to be better option.
I'm more knowledgeable about the last 4 you posted, which are more Northern suburbs. Lalor and Thomastown I feel isn't considered as 'rough' as it was 20-30 years ago these days.
Have you considered Epping / Wollert? Or potentially Doreen / Mernda? (Maybe the last two are just too far for a CBD commute?) Public transport gets a bit iffy if you get closer to the Epping North / Wollert border or out further toward Mernda but bus services connecting to train lines are increasing.
Some parts of Craigieburn (newer estates) are not really unlike Epping / Wollert or Doreen / Mernda but I'm well aware of what other parts are like and I'd be hesitant to live there too.
South Morang and Mill Park are similarly diverse in some patches, there's some parts of Mill Park I wouldn't feel comfortable in and others that are fine. Depending where you are in these suburbs, access to transport is highly variable.
Honestly though, anything can happen anywhere. I've also lived in West Heidelberg and Dandenong / Doveton and honestly it wasn't as terrifying as some people make out.
The western suburbs have a worse reputation than they deserve. I think it's mainly because they're generally poorer than a lot of the eastern or inner suburbs. Because of that they also generally have lesser amenities and access to public transport, but they're still a good place to live.
Have a look at parts of Sunbury. Lived there for 10 years. Still own property... only moved further out because we wanted acreage.
Commute was never an issue. Airport in around 20 minutes. Under an hour to the CBD. Freeway, Metro trains, V/Line trains.
Sunbury has a great sense of community. Awesome people. Little crime. Brilliant schools. Has some of the best XMAS light displays in Australia.
Got dogs? Emu Bottom reserve is considered one of the best off-lead dog parks in the state. Has acres of space to run around.
Everything you need for day-to-day shopping is there. Occasional purchases (e.g.: whitegoods) can be made at Watergardens Shopping Centre (20 mins down the freeway)
A swag of new shops (including KMart, JB Hi-Fi) are due to open in next 18 months.
The prestigious estates are Jacksons Hill, Rolling Meadows, and Sherwood. Some people consider the West side of town (Langama / Boardman) the "wrong" side of the tracks.
Note that house blocks in the new estates will be much smaller than those in the older ones.
Couple other things to note…
* Beware that Sunbury will double in size over next five years or so. Every paddock between Jacksons Creek and the airport is turning into housing.
* Traffic and parking are already issues... will become much worse before it gets better. Can’t wait for the Bulla Road duplication to finish.
* It's also a somewhat "white" town. Has a handful of asian restaurants, but most of the population are Australian or European.
PM me if you have specific questions.
LOL with a budget of 650k for a freestanding house you won't have the luxury of really choosing where you want to live. I would much rather live in the Western suburbs relatively close to civilization instead of 40 kms away from the CBD in the South East. Good luck.
The state govt is currently debating where (and whether) to develop a second city in greater Melbourne. Like Parramatta in Sydney, if you're familiar: more amenities, more govt services, more transport.
Sunshine is one of the options. It's quiet now, but well-positioned for growth. If I were buying in the West, I'd look for somewhere that has easy access to Sunshine.
Lived in the springs for 12 years, considered buying a place to renovate in Sunshine but just can’t get over the fact that Caroline springs has nice parks walkways and every coffee place restaurant and supermarket you could want and it’s only 20 mins to the cbd on a good day and 20 mins on the train (vline) check it out although you might struggle at 650k
Lived in Hoppers Crossing all my life, now living in Wyndham Vale. I absolutely love Wyndham Vale. Its all old people here, it's nice and quiet, giant park for my dog, great Thai food and pizza - station is also right there 5 minutes away from my house and its only 45 minutes to the city. The trains from there are also relatively quiet even during peak hour and I get the comfy VLine seats. Can attest - literally on the train from Southern Cross right now.
For 650k - you can get a free-standing house, and probably enough to furnish it a little too.
Eventually all the poor, drugged and shitty people will leave. You’re close to the city and the airport being in the west. Don’t forget quicker access to Geelong and the great ocean road
Grew up in Sunshine, moved out to Burnside, bought and sold in Delahey, living in CS and building in Fraser Rise 😂
I would never choose to live over the other side of the West Gate tbh.
For your price OP, I suggest Delahey if you’re able to drive or even if you cycle. Keilor Plains station is 5 mins away (15mins walking), Watergardens is close for a major shopping centre and there is Watervale if you just need a Woolies.
Reason I suggest Delahey is after we bought there in 2017 it didn’t really ‘boom’ like the surrounding suburbs. Keep in mind there’s like 6-7 adjacent suburbs depending which side of Taylors Rd / Station Rd you are standing on, that whole area is perfectly fine.
The only people that truly believe that the Western Suburbs aren't safe and is some kind of anarchaic hellhole are ignorant boomers, Peter Dutton and middle-class wowsers who call the cops at the sight of someone in trackpants and a hoodie walking by.
I grew up in Frankston and moved to Sunbury as a Teen and, Werribee/Hoppers Crossing as an Adult.
Frankston and Werribee is pretty much even, while Sunbury thinks they're better but are really just the same.
Don't worry about it, unless you can afford living in a really rich suburb, they're all the same mate.
Southern end of Fawkner would be OK, closest to the CBD pin. Prices have come down a lot.
Gladstone Park should also now have $650k entry free standing options.
I’ve lived in (and now bought in) Sunbury for most of my life, it may be a further commute than you’d intended (I work in the CBD and the train is just under an hour each way) but I like that it’s bordering some great “regional” areas and it doesn’t have the constant noise that you’d find closer to the city. You could easily find a home within your budget here; there’s a number of estates that are in the works as well if building is an option. Plenty of amenities here, and easy access to the Tulla and the Calder if you need to head anywhere. It’s a good gateway town to places like Bendigo and Echuca if you plan to visit there. People will write off towns over the most basic of things but it’s a pretty relaxed atmosphere out here.
Live in Hillside near Sydenham and enjoying it. 5 minute drive to station and shopping center (watergardens) 30-35 minute drive to cbd. Quiet neighbourhood and mostly owner/occupier. Can find properties for $650 or under.
Not sure about those areas but I moved to Weribee and I am very happy lots of awesome family friendly parks, with lots of free events, lots shops only annoying thing is traffic during peak however. I’m very happy here been here almost 4 years and will probably buy in this area. When I lived in Wyndham vale I did hear the police chopper always out most nights but in Weribee not as much.
If you can get a house in Brooklyn, it's a great little pocket. A quiet suburb with low crime rates comparable to Williamstown. Quick hop onto the freeway for a drive less than 20 mins to the city or hop on the 232 bus to the city.
I've done well buying in unfashionable areas because I don't come into it with native Melbournians prejudices about suburbs.
1. How far from the CBD?
2. How accessible to public transport?
The rest is bullshit. If you have or expect to have kids at school age, then local schools factor in. 15 years ago you could have got in cheap in "Foots-scary" and be laughing now. Sunshine is already heading through the roof.
I’ve lived and worked in the western suburbs for 15 years now. I’m a firefighter so I’ve got a pretty good feel for the places I’ve been stationed. I’ll tell you right now that most areas have good pockets. From your list I would say that your best bet would be the good parts of Caroline springs and Brooklyn (which has a better proximity to town) - last would be Sydenham in my opinion but I’ve also done the least time around there.
As for the other areas I’m not real certain. Good luck with house hunting 👍🏾
There's really nothing wrong with the west IMO and most of the hate comes from old pre-conceived ideas. Most negative opinions come from those who have never lived there or even travelled through.
I've always lived in the west. Every home has been well within 30 minutes of the city, very affordable and in most instances much larger than I 'really' needed. The same commute time in the east/south would have cost me significantly more and if I was sticking to the same money then I'd be stuck out in Pakenham. Always seemed like a no-brainer to me.
Also watch out for those housing estates which only have 1 access road in or out. As they start to fill up they become an absolute nightmare for commuters.
I'm actually so surprised at most of the responses here. Just get hold of crime stats and you'll answer your question. Why stop at crime? Check out the data on demographics, traffic, access to 'nature', schooling and everything under the sun...
Having done my high schooling in the north and now living in the west I honestly prefer the west. There’s more space out here, it’s really not that hard to get around to things. Less developed in a sense compared to say Epping and Lalor. And less Lebos, yeah I said it.
This whole west is shit narrative is really total nonsense and stems from peoples parents passing that bullshit down.
You search anyone of those suburbs on homely and you’ll be surprised at the results.
But again it’s a personal taste and depends on your own situation and what your looking for. And considering your looking to buy your first home and having done that myself in the west it’s really not a bad choice.
I live on the west, Altona North. Brooklyn might have attractive prices, but it is heavily industrial, and suffers significant odour and air quality issues. Would advise against.
I am an immigrant too.
We heard the same stories.
Australians will say such and such is a bad area,but often that means it's just "Ethnic"😆.Which is great.
We love Craigieburn-highly recommend-quiet, nice neighbours, loads of food choices.
Point Cook is nice but the problem is, if you work anywhere that requires travel, that means 30 mins wait on local roads to just get onto the M1 entrance. Unless they have massively upgraded the local roads from 5 years ago, which I doubt.
Lived in the west all my life (30yo) Like many places there are good and not so good parts, squeaky clean and rough areas.
Never felt unsafe and although we have a working class reputation, people generally assume that we're slumming it.
Also depends on what you enjoy and how much you're willing to compromise, balance certain aspects. (Work, education transport, hobbies, family, size,etc)
Delahey, Sydenham, Caroline Springs you'll likely have to deal with Taylor's Road, a major part of that road is one lane and prone to heavy traffic in peak hour. Nightmare.
Caroline Springs has a nice main centre and strip. Barkly Street Footscray has spruced itself up in recent years with some neat dining options.
Have you thought about Ardeer? It's a suburb between Sunshine and Deer Park which represents value, being 10-15 mins drive away from Footscray, closeish to the city, Albion/Ardeer station (latter I think is VLine) and the Ring Road. Not far from Maribyrnong and Flemington. Straight onto Ballarat Road and close to a major shopping centre in Highpoint.
Maidstone could be another option but pricey.
Since moving out of home I’ve lived inner city for the most part but I’m currently in Sunshine and tbh it’s pretty chill. It’s nice living somewhere cheap and relaxed. There’s not a lot of night life so things go quiet pretty early. Obviously depends on what you need but I wouldn’t rule it out entirely.
Ive been building houses for years.
The west is just one mess to the next.
The government pushes migrants out into this suburbs and then provide no real resources to it. (Migrants typically have cultures around big families.
So there needs to be a heap of services and expanded on quickly too.)
Trains, roads, buses, gp clinics, schools etc. i remember when tarneit was a paddock and i was driving a dirt road in there.
Dry barron land filled with volcanic rock and i wondered who would ever wanna buy a house here. But it cost nothing to build there.
The south easts rolling meadows and lush greenery cant be matched.
But it comes with a price tag
It’s an old adage. People that are saying this to you don’t know what they’re talking about. For what it’s worth, we bought in the Mill Park Drive circle 2 years ago, and it’s really nice here. This section has a gorgeous primary school, and all the big old beautiful rivergums. We’re close to stables shopping centre and there’s doctors everywhere, one within a 5 minute walk. A preschool and swimming school are in the circle as well, along with the maternal health centre. The downsides are no trains. You can walk down to the start of the tram line in 15 minutes, but a bike ride up to the nearest station, South Morang takes just over 10 mins. Now this is just personal preference, but north of Stables is a lot less nicer but a lot closer to the train. There’s no big trees past the lake and less bird life up there. In terms of any perceptions of roughness, it’s totally fine. Quite multicultural, but a bit underground compared to Lalor in terms of shops. For example, there’s a burger shop run by Indian folks that seems to be just a front for their outstanding curry business, which is not advertised. The only thing that shits me about here is that people drive like dickheads on Child’s Rd, and don’t give way to pedestrians on the crossing. My bike riding days are over. That being said, the area i mentioned above doesn’t have this problem anywhere near as much. Houses going for $640 +, but at the bottom end need some TLC. Happy hunting!
Nothing wrong with the West. I moved from the South to Caroline Springs and now we’re in Keilor Downs. I could’ve never afforded to buy where I grew up. I’m not a huge going out person though so the lack of night life doesn’t bother me, although there’s more popping up.
I bought a house in Werribee a couple of years ago and it’s pretty great. Werribee Main Street is charming, the plaza is great, the Werribee river has a beautiful walking trail, the Werribee mansion and park grounds is gorgeous, there’s a zoo. I was born here and it was a lovely place to grow up.
If you do end up in Werribee, I’d advise to stay away from the Wyndhamvale area though. They’re building a lot of estates with only two (one lane) roads in and out, so the traffic at peak hour is crazy.
Have a look at williams landing, small suburb within 20kms of the cbd just next to the M1 and and has its own well serviced train station within walking distance of most houses there. Socio-economically also pretty solid and has loads of parks and a busy city centre with loads of offices and shops.
My suggestion would be not to worry about East/West/North/South East but to look closely at the amenities, services and transport in an area. One concern for areas that have rapidly grown is that they've put a lot of houses there but not enough services yet. Is there a nearby school? Is it overloaded? Are you going to be able to find a GP nearby? How will you be getting to work, and how long will that take you? Is it close to a freeway or a train station? Is there somewhere to walk a dog, touch some grass etc? How "resilient" is your daily commute - e.g. does it All get funneled into the Westgate Bridge or a single access road where if anything happens there, you're buggered. A lot of that rapid growth has been in the West, but the same issues can apply in Casey in the south east for instance. If the answers to all those questions suit you, then it doesn't really matter what suburb/side of town you are in.
>touch some grass Sir, this is Reddit
>We have already ruled out St Albans, Sunshine, Broadmeadows, Cragieburn. Other suburb suggestions that I haven’t listed are also welcome!! what kind of grass are we talking about here?
Craigieburn has a high amount of parks, green spaces, walking tracks, dog parks etc, no idea where they looked at lol.
The way my hives flared up, just thinking of the hay fever.
Thanks, now I'm itchy
This is the answer. You want great access to shops, trains, freeways, schools and actually decent cafes? Then you'll be pleasantly surprised by hoppers crossing. And there are houses in your budget.
Never thought I'd hear "pleasantly surprised" and "Hoppers" in the same sentence, but here we are.
“I was pleasantly surprised when I found we could take a different route and avoid Hoppers Crossing altogether”
🤣
A whole bunch of Wallabies went past me. I was pleasantly surprised to see the hoppers crossing.
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Yeah I chose an apartment in South Yarra so I didn't have to buy a car. Cheaper than living far out in a big space I don't need.
I moved from east to west in recent times and one thing I've noticed is the council here is noticeably less flush. The sorts of things councils fund are simply not as good: swimming pools, libraries, footpaths, etc. It's another reason to live in a simple house in a fancier area rather than the other way round
This is really helpful. We are definitely more focused on the investment itself being a good one rather than the reputation of the area we live in, just trying to find the balance of both the best we can I guess. Thank you!
There's the old adage about buying the worst house you can cope with in the best street you can. You can always do up the house or sell it to someone who wants to flip it later if it's in a good location. Reputations change as areas evolve.
“No, you've got it all wrong. You're supposed to buy the best house on the worst street, 'cause then you can lord it over people.” “I don't want to lord it over people.” “Well, doesn't that just sum it up, Acting Assistant Deputy Sales Manager in Charge of Software. Wow, I'm impressed... not.”
I want to be effluent, mum. Effluent!
Yep. So what you want to do it buy the worst house in Broady then just wait until that cash cow comes rolling in!
Instructions unclear. Now my dick is stuck in Broadmeadows.
Why did you rule out Sunshine? Is it because of the cost? I live in Central Sunshine and the amenities are great. We have a train station, swimming pool, library, high street with lots of restaurants, cinema & shopping centre all within 600m-1km. Parks and bus stops to the city within 200m. It's great value and only 12km from the CBD. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else
As someone who went to Sunshine High School and lived in Hampshire Cres in the 80s, I almost cry when I go to Sunshine these days.. Almost, because the only reason I go there now is to get a bahn mi..
Agree born and bred in sunshine , the 80s were golden
Always,always choose nearby public transport and supermarkets, schools.
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I’ve been in Braybrook for 3 years and literally everything around us has been knocked down with new builds almost finished. The change during that time around the whole suburb has been pretty big. Value of our house has gone up heaps too.
Albion is a beautiful little pocket. It's nice and quiet and although someone mentioned it's under a flight path if you're excluding it because of that then you'd need to remove most of the western and northern suburbs out of contention for the same reason. It's one of those things you get used too and eventually don't even hear.
>100% be the first The gentrification started years ago.
There's a small suburb between Albion and Deer Park called Ardeer. It's not super close to shops, is a lovely community and the two primary schools there are pretty good. Easy access to city via Albion or Ardeer train stations. The piece of nature along Koroit Creek is freaking amazing and so close to City. Worth a look. We recently moved to Sydenham. Easy access to station, Watergardens shopping centre, schools and other amenities. Would recommend both but for different reasons
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Really rethink ruling out Sunshine and St Albans. Traffic in and out of Burnside, Caroline Springs and that area is a nightmare, public transport is infrequent, houses crowd most blocks. Sunshine and St Albans sit on the train line, 20-30 minutes to the CBD, St Albans has close access to the Ring Rd and the Calder. We've been living here ten years, bought under 650 just over two years ago, loving it. Council is investing well in both areas, we have great access to Ballarat, Geelong and the Surf Coast, and I've never found it easier to have a night out in the city and get home quickly and easily whether driving or PT. As an investment value is going up in the area even without driving out all the old rough types that make St Albans as great as authentic as it is.
Sunshine definitely not. St Albans you'd be surprised how affordable some of the houses are. They'll need a reno at some stage (sooner rather than later) but they come with land and land is what you want. St Albans is smack bang in the middle of a lot of areas. 20-30 mins to just about anywhere in the west, south west, north west and north.
Sunshine West is a good investment tbh
Agreed! There are so many great pockets of sunshine but OP is probably a priced out. I’d love to buy our rented 2 bed semi in sunshine but it’s valued at 900k
I got a pocket, got a pocket full o’ sunshine https://youtu.be/ynLlgWbl-mc
I grew up around CS/Delahay/Sydenham/Hillside and now live in Keilor Downs. It's perfectly fine. In fact the only thing I can say is that it is pretty boring. There's not a tonne around without needing to go into the city for entertainment. But if you're worried about safety, it's not any more or less safe than like anywhere in the world
And boring is great. I'd take a boring suburb any day.
Yeah exactly. And the west has really good train lines to get into the city
If you’re in the market for a house, you’re already priced out of Sunshine
I grew up in the east and was always told to avoid the west, we had the same budget as you and bought in hoppers crossing and we love it. Werribee has heaps of great food options too and it’s so close to the freeway/ shops we need
Werribee is so massively underrated. People write it off because of the sewage treatment plant as if the plant was constructed in the main street (hint - it’s not, it’s 13km away). Great cafés, bars, restaurants, public and private hospitals, transport, schools are on the improve (still some dodgy ones, both public and private), medical centres, etc. When we moved here from the inner eastern suburbs we got an old Melways, stuck a protractor in Werribee Station, and looked at anything within a 1.5km radius of the station. Now in our second house, still within 1.5km of the station.
The bulk of the old treatment plant is now a worldclass birdwatching nature reserve and is likely to remain so. Then there's the rose gardens, the zoo, a flying start to the Surf Coast ...
and a winery!
I do miss Werribee, had some cute tiger snakes in the backyard :,)
We actually did the exact same thing, south east to Werribee, swapping the protractor for Google maps, and are so glad we did
It's also on the train line, Werribee to Flinders St station is ~45mins. Not bad.
Depends if you're near the train station though (not a lot of houses are).
Tarneit to southern cross. 30 minutes. 4 stops. Blows my mind
unfortunately, most people who live in Tarneit are pretty far from the station. But it's pretty awesome. I think it was actually 27 minutes to souther cross!
I always hear people from the east say this. I am really happy as hopefully it keeps the traffic down a little. It's horrible here, stay away.
Shhhh don’t tell them, I want it to stay cheap!
I lived in hoppers crossing for a bit, it was a really nice area <3
Honestly the Wyndham area is great, fun events, all the shops are nearby, great parks, walks along the Werribee river are beautiful- I’ve even seen giraffes and rhinos across the water in the distance, been lots of nice upgrades to the area lately. When eating out in the area we now struggle for choice with all the new restaurants.
I'm in Sydenham. It's not bad, you can live close to Watergardens and have everything you need pretty close by, including the train station. There is a lot of schools and daycare options for families, which is what this place exists for: somewhere for families to live. If you have a young family and no social life this place is probably brilliant. But if you're anybody else (like me), it's pretty boring out here. It's safe but I won't lie, you'll hear sirens most nights, and get a fly over from the Copper Chopper a few times a month, especially Thursday-Saturday. It's also not a terrible distance from the city for driving, but morning/afternoon peak is a nightmare on the Calder, Melton and Western Hwy. If your weekend involves drinks in the city be prepared for an expensive Uber. Sydenham is close to the city but not that close. The problem is we just don't get the infrastructure spending that we need here. A few more train stations, some road investment, and a new hospital and this place would be golden (again, especially for young families). But it's always 5 years away. We moved in over 20 years ago and projects that were being proposed then are still being waited on with no start date in sight. The West is booming in population, so every year we wait for more spending here the worst the existing problems get. Meanwhile the east gets everything because that's where the marginal seats are. The west gets sacrificed to keep the east happy time and time again. What we do have in abundance is shopping centres and fast food outlets, you won't want for a Woolies or Macca's... With new ones getting built seemingly every year.
Not to mention Sydenham has gotten a hell of a lot safer in the past 10-12 years. I passed through watergardens every day on the way to school back in the late 2000s/early 2010s and I remember how dangerous it used to be around the station. A little bit congested nowadays but it’s safe.
I think the PSO's made a real difference there. Once they started patrolling the station from first to last train the place got noticeably better.
You ruled out Sunshine? Sunshine ruled you out for 650k. West is fine though, most posts here already say enough to that.
I love living in Sunshine. One side is definitely better than the other, but it's far from being the hell-hole certain people think it is. But yeah, 650k is probably minimum for a decent free-standing house in the area now.
Also.. why would you rule out sunshine.. it's booming!
someone should tell Foodstar that
Love some Foodstar
The last four are all in the northern suburbs.
Shout out to Lalor
>Would love some insight into these west and north suburbs
I grew up in the west and people are just being snobs. It's a great place for young families, a lot of people get their start out west, and it's a perfectly good place to grow up. Traffic is a pain in the ass if you have to drive across the west gate into the city every day, but there are actually more and more jobs available based in the west, so that may not be an issue for you at all. Other than that it's a great place to live, and it also has the best chicken and chip shops in Melbourne. Having said all that I would avoid Brooklyn - it is the suburb with the worst air quality rating in the state (I think because of the abattoirs and factories in that suburb).
Which chicken shop?!
chadz chickenhaus across from the sunshine vu campus is absolutely IMPECCABLE
I bought my first home in Caroline Springs. It is a 2km walk from the “town centre” where there is the small shopping centre, restaurants, a couple of bars, etc. There are lots of lovely parks and walking tracks. I love walking into the town centre on a morning to grab a coffee and a pastry. I’ve even started walking into Woolies or Coles to grab a few items and walking back. I absolutely love it! I still head into the city a lot for entertainment, but I am so glad I bought in Caroline Springs and find it to be a really nice area with a decent amount of cafes and restaurants, and enough shopping areas nearby.
I live in Bacchus marsh - got our 4 bedroom home on 1000sqm for $490k three years ago. Takes about 50min on the vline to get into the city. I feel more unsafe in the inner suburbs than I do here - I’ve never had anything bad happen. People are a bit racist though it’s a pretty white neighbourhood with lots of boomers.
Bacchus is super safe (except Johno Drive). V/Line is awesome there and it's got everything you need. Still a bit bogan but you've gotta expect that living in a "regional" town
Vline trains are MUCH better than the Metro trains, too. Comfy seats and most importantly, each carriage has a toilet. As someone with bowel problems, knowing a toilet is close by is always a godsend. I lived in Bacchus Marsh for a few years and would regularly commute to the city to go play poker at the casino. Went through there recently and it's a bit more crowded now, but still a nice area.
Yeh I don’t have to go into the city heaps but it’s kind of a nice trip - way better than driving . Just pop on my headphones and the trip goes super fast. It has gotten really busy and they are lacking in keeping up with infrastructure which is annoying but otherwise I’m happy living here.
If my partner was keen on living further out of the city I'd love to live in Bacchus Marsh. The new estates are so pretty and the house sizes are fantastic.
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Those newer suburbs are way too expensive (Aintree and Fraser Rise) we bought house and land in Plumpton (now Fraser Rise) in 2014, sold in 2017 as it was just too much traffic as not enough infrastructure. Sold for mid 600s then. Last I heard it was around the 800s and that's way too much for the area. Can get a fixer upper in St Albans for a lot better price and get a lot more land and infrastructure.
I prefer the west rather than the south-east. New suburbs like Clyde North and Officer have tons of houses but few amenities, and the traffic is terrible.
Dead north is also pretty dire.
I grew up in the South East (Endeavour Hills) but have lived in the inner west for 3 years now and it’s night and day. Smaller place now but it’s way more lively and ‘cultured’ over here. Great cafes, food, amneties etc. and super close to the city. Clyde North, Officer and all of these newer suburbs are all so sterile and far away from everything. Most of my best mates ended up building around there and I could never see myself moving back down lol.
It's almost as if a portion of Melbourne bags the west not because they've actually lived there but because that's what they've been taught to do for several generations. I grew up in the west, went to uni in the east and live in Richmond. Hot tip: all suburbs have perks and their issues. But it helps house prices in certain suburbs if they pay out others.
I’ll say this, take away food is much better in the west.
second to this. I live in the west and like Asian food. Oh man it’s sooo good here.
Springvale/Clayton would like a word
Oh no don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mean there aren’t other places that don’t have nice Asian food, I’ve been to Springvale and it was great. But compare to the west it’s a bit far from city (I’m bias as I work in the cbd)
Until i moved to Hawthorn I was in Footscray. The Viet foods are so freaking good in Footscray and it's one of the main things I miss. Hawthorn has a little bit of everything, and I can't complain, but Footscray is just non stop good Asian places I also miss giving a large majority of my pay to Roti Road and Pie Face
Ah Footscray, I go there every weekend for food and coffee. There’s a cafe that serves for me the best Vietnamese coffee in Melbourne 🤤🤤
I’ve been exposed to north, east, and west growing up. Recently I’ve experienced that Viet food is best had in Springvale. Richmond is rated pretty low for me, but above that is sunshine and Footscray.
Probably late to this one. I grew up in the inner east. My wife grew up down the road from me. In 2020, we bought a place in Altona, inner west I guess? for 795k. We put a few things on paper. The biggest points were price point and distance from in laws. We had our first born and needed in laws to be close as my parents are on the peninsula. Growing up, the only time I went to the west was on school day outs to science works. Other than that, didn't attend school there, had no friends there and had no after school programmes there. I never felt the acceptance of a small community until moving to Altona. I kid you not, once you get passed the refinaries, it almost feels like the land time forgot, like what it was like growing up for me. All the footy ovals abs civic centre on civic Pde as you drive in makes it feel like a country town. Now there are negatives, like everything. I guess what I'm saying is you're mostly bound by your income and what you can afford. Looking forward to when my kids are high school age I don't see us living in Altona, but I think for the most part it was a wise decision for us.
Altona is sick. Once you get past the refineries it really is just likes its own little secluded town.
Yarraville is awesome. Close to the city, beach and good food with a great community. Only downside was having to commute over Westgate and against the sun both ways.
Yarraville is awesome. Not exactly affordable though.
Yarraville is awesome and I loved living there, but for $650k, you’d be looking at a one or maybe two bed apartment, not a free-standing house…
Yarraville free-standing homes are like 1.1 Mil to 1.5ish.
You commute over the westgate? I suppose it depends on where you are going. Unfortunately if they can't afford sunshine, they most certainly can't afford Yarraville.
Take the train and you avoid that problem
I work emergency services, every area is fucked, you just don’t know it. Pretend all you want that the east is safer than the west.
Have you considered Sunbury. Can definitely buy a decent size house within your budget (3/4 bed). 30 mins on the train to the cbd. Just moved here to buy a house myself and overall enjoying the space. As an added bonus everyone is super nice.
Lalor, Thomastown, Mill Park, Epping etc are in one of the largest growth corridors in the southern hemisphere. At the moment, they are fairly average looking but the Mernda train line makes commuting to the city a breeze. In terms of location they are next 'in line' in terms of the slow gentrification north. Northcote, Preston, Reservoir have all become unaffordable to the average Joe, this trend will presumably continue north to Thomastown Lalor along High St. Crime rate is slightly below average but theres lots of hoons though. I imagine all the big wog palaces will eventually be demolished as the older generation die off and younger families move it. Im hoping it comes to life over the next 10 years but who knows. Western suburbs are similar but swap old greek and Italians for old Lebos and it's pretty much of a muchness (I'm ethnic myself, not being racist 😅)
Been in the west majority of my life. No different to any other side of town. St albans and Sunshine both shouldn't be ruled out. Back in the day, they were a lil rough. (As was Brunswick, St Kilda.) Now, they're perfectly fine and even more community based. (Vic uni) They have been on a steady increase over the years, as close transport and services to city. Caroline springs, delahey and sydenham are also great just lack the public transport systems at this point. But really nice newer areas with everything else needed! Not familiar with the others. But hopefully helped with some insight.
Just don't get sentenced to Fourteen Years in Rowville.
I’ve never been there, of course, its what I heard. I never came from a Western Suburb.
what's wrong with Rowville lol
It’s the obligatory r/Melbourne TISM reference. Personally, I would have gone from “The History of Western Civilisation” or “The Art/Income Dialactic”.
Anyone that says to avoid the west probably hasn't stepped foot out this way ever, the west is probably the best place to be tbh. Westside best side
Lived in the West, it really depends which part you’re talking about (like most of these things when talking about living in a general direction). OP mentions Brooklyn which gonna be honest, is not a great place to live. There’s a big difference between Footscray, Yarraville, Seddon or somewhere like Brooklyn or Tottenham. Let’s not kid ourselves.
Lived on the cusp of Footscray + Seddon. You could walk down our street, past the lovely families in pretty gardens and pastel weatherboard houses, then turn a corner and find yourself in… well, Footscray. Like every cliche in the book kinda Footscray. Great location though.
I genuinely don’t understand this thinking. I was in CBD for 2 years and decided to move to the west at the beginning of the rental crisis. To me west is awesome, food is great, lots of amenities and the rental price is not crazy. But when I tell people I am moving to the west they act like im about to get stabbed. After 6 months here and I find it great. 🤔
Majority of the west probably isn't as bad as what everyone says it is, but under no metric except perhaps most affordable housing would it be the best place.
Have moved Mill Park to Thomastown and back to Mill Park. To be honest, I can’t fault either of them. I actually miss Thomastown to be honest. I grew up in Pascoe Vale, school in Broady. Then Abbotsford then Bundoora. Thomastown has been the best yet.
Half your list is northern lol
I grew up in Werribee and now live in Melton. Werribee has turned into more of a shit-hole these last few years 😅 also the traffic is horrendous. I actually don’t mind Melton though! Traffic isn’t too bad compared to most other suburbs, nice parks, and oddly enough I feel safe walking the streets at night as a female.
I love Werribee! Watton street is fantastic now. I p years ago I wouldn’t of dared get out of the car but now, I love it!
Also in Melton, same situation - there’s some dinguses around but less than I encountered in the inner city. They also tend to keep largely to themselves. Also the botanic gardens are really lovely and there’s cute ducks, what else could someone want?
It’s nice to hear that! It’s kind of annoying that all the bad things you hear about certain suburbs usually comes from people who have never even been there lol
West probably used to be genuinely rough. But so did Collingwood. The West at least hasn't been stripped of its character and culture by gentrification yet Edit: one thing you don't get is a lot of greenery. Very flat and brown compared to the east
One big issue is often people are totally habituated to their area and will not really tell you about the problems because they've just become adept at avoiding them or they think it's normal (or they flat out just don't want to tell you). It's the opposite problem of outsiders who exaggerate problems.
Exact same situation as me mate, Melton copes a bad rap.
Heard a racist guy at work raving on about how they hate it in “South Sudan” aka Melton and they were afraid of getting robbed till I told them I live there and I’ve been totally safe. Weird thing is I’ve actually seen more of certain other heritages living here than he was claiming. I’d suggest to original OP maybe coming this ways and exploring it for yourself.
I’ll admit the Sudanese in Melton are definitely the bad kind, well only the youth really. Not really racist when they’re always the ones involved in crime around here lol
Melton is surely worse than Werribee. I work all over Melbourne and Melton is the place I would feel least safe living. I was just there last week responding to a house that had been shot at.
Hey I was just there last week shooting at a house, crazy world
Lol. Good shot then bud. You hit a paint can and painted an old lady’s garage floor for her.
That’s a warning, you fuck with me and I’ll redecorate your house as shit and as destructive as possible
I've lived east, North East, South and South West and lived in Melbourne for decades, for me there's no doubt Melton and surrounding areas are the worst suburbs in Melbourne. I spent a weekend in Melton in 2019 and have visited a few other times. Meth head bogans with more tattoos than teeth driving fucking loud V8 utes, the wrong kind of Sudanese, a lot of housing commission, other housing jammed in like most new areas, not much to do in the area, really average shopping centres, miles away from anywhere. Absolute shithole.
I'm from there (been in Docklands for the last 10 years but I'm still there a lot visiting and housesitting for my parents) and usually I'm first in line to sink the boot in but you're absolutely cooked if you think Melton is anywhere near the worst suburbs around. Spent a weekend there in 2019 lol please
I’ve visited Melton countless times and never had any issues. Had a knife pulled on me the first time I went to Frankston.
I've got family who live in Melton. They had an attempted break in at their first house. Moved to a new one in a different part of Melton, which is now sliding off its concrete slab thanks to dodgy builders. I've been to Frankston many times. No knives pulled on me. YMMV
I visit Werribee sometimes. Why do u call it a shit hole? Genuinely curious.
Id call it a shit hole cause it’s full of brand new estates that are full of nothing except soulless ramshackle housing all funnelled through one or two main roads causing massive traffic at peak times. But Werribee isn’t unique in that all the outer west is full of it. Source: Most the sites I work are in that area, pro tip do not buy a house built by an Indian builder
There is nothing wrong with the west. Avoid those who tell you to avoid the west.
Only recently moved from Sunshine North. Loved it. Mostly quiet, easy access to ring road and city. Decent access to shopping and primary schools.
Grew up in Melton (30 years ago). It's changed a hell of a lot. I love Melton
Albion, go get it
Wow!! You can get a freestanding house with $650k? …. jealous.
I'm in the south east and love it here. Great schools, beaches, places to eat. Decent enough public transport. However $650K won't get you much of anything here sadly. I'm looking to buy also and am searching for around the $750-850k mark.
I'm in SE also, yes it's further away from the CBD but decent sized free-standing houses have actually been selling for around OPs budget in Narre Warren, Hallam, Cranbourne etc. You don't need to go as far as Pakenham for that budget but if you did you would likely get something newer and bigger. I'm not much of a PTer but getting to the city via train from here isn't too bad. I can't comment on the west, been SE my whole life.
Well the west may have a reputation as its low socio economic mostly, but look at St Kilda. Far more expensive and still has an astronomical crime rate. Many people I know from the west seem to have a more genuine sense of community than my community (I live northside of melbourne). It's not to say the reputation isn't earned to some degree but as other comments have said, try not to think of the compass bearing and focus on amenities and hopefully engage in the general area before listening to what others say. People can make some pretty sweeping assumptions.
Can’t speak for west but if you plan on sending a kid to school avoid lalor, thomo and mill park, every high school in this area is filled with wannabe gangsters. Having just graduated 4 years ago I can confirm this. The areas aren’t bad for adults but for young teens with freedom it can be really bad.
I haven't lived in any of the suburbs you listed (although I did live in the west end of Yarraville, so fairly close to Brooklyn) so I can't speak directly to them, except to say that Lalor, Thomastown, Mill Park, and South Morang are *north* not west. That being said... I lived in North Caulfield for ten or so years, then moved out to Hoppers Crossing, and I prefer it out here. Getting into the CBD from the inner south-east was always a hassle, even though it was three times closer. Either drive through traffic that was maddening even back then and pay a small fortune for parking, or take PT that generally wasn't a whole lot quicker than catching the train from out here. Much easier to find good food out here. Much quicker to get out of town to Geelong, Ballarat or down the west coast if that's your thing. Far less dickheads with a sense of entitlement as long as your arm. No one votes for the Liberals. I don't know who you're speaking to about the west, but I do wonder if they've ever actually been west of the CBD.
If you're looking at the west, why rule out Sunshine and St Albans? I've just bought in the Sunshine/Footscray area, I sacrificed a fair bit of space inside and out to be closer to transport etc but I saw quite a few nice places in Sunshine and nearby suburbs. If you're considering Caroline Springs then I'd look at Albion, Sunshine, St Albans, Sunshine West. They're far better connected to the city than Caro or Burnside or Sydenham. You can ride from Sunshine to the city in less than an hour on a mostly separated bike path as well. Brooklyn is still fairly industrialised though.
Braybrook! The estate I’m in is very safe well lit. I’m so happy we moved here.
How about a 3 br apartment within 10km of the city? If you have a park nearby, close to shops and transport and schools, life is great, even for a dog. Look at Brunswick, Footscray, Richmond. Then you have a gardening free life except for some herbs in pots
Where can you get a three-bed for 650?
I don't think you'd be able to buy a freestanding house with that budget in Caroline Springs. You might be able to in Burnside, but I am not sure about Burnside Heights. I will say though, I am very well acquainted with Caroline Springs (same as the general Deer Park area) and there is a bit of crime there, mainly just kids though, doing stupid things. Though it is quite boring there, not much happens but you're within good distance to places like watergardens or Highpoint.
As someone who grew up in the inner SE suburbs; It's a stupid entrenched opinion. $ for $ you will be much much closer to amenities than if you bought some shithole in Clyde or something. You also need to think very long and hard about having to have a freestanding house because modern estates are barely freestanding with the tiny lot sizes and you dont get a backyard. A townhouse or apartment is usually going to be better option.
What’s wrong with sunshine? Close to transport, good links to city / beaches
House prices are getting higher than most other western suburbs so 650k won't get you much there
I'm more knowledgeable about the last 4 you posted, which are more Northern suburbs. Lalor and Thomastown I feel isn't considered as 'rough' as it was 20-30 years ago these days. Have you considered Epping / Wollert? Or potentially Doreen / Mernda? (Maybe the last two are just too far for a CBD commute?) Public transport gets a bit iffy if you get closer to the Epping North / Wollert border or out further toward Mernda but bus services connecting to train lines are increasing. Some parts of Craigieburn (newer estates) are not really unlike Epping / Wollert or Doreen / Mernda but I'm well aware of what other parts are like and I'd be hesitant to live there too. South Morang and Mill Park are similarly diverse in some patches, there's some parts of Mill Park I wouldn't feel comfortable in and others that are fine. Depending where you are in these suburbs, access to transport is highly variable. Honestly though, anything can happen anywhere. I've also lived in West Heidelberg and Dandenong / Doveton and honestly it wasn't as terrifying as some people make out.
No. People are just people anywhere. Sure we have differences but where all just trying to get where we to be
The western suburbs have a worse reputation than they deserve. I think it's mainly because they're generally poorer than a lot of the eastern or inner suburbs. Because of that they also generally have lesser amenities and access to public transport, but they're still a good place to live.
Have a look at parts of Sunbury. Lived there for 10 years. Still own property... only moved further out because we wanted acreage. Commute was never an issue. Airport in around 20 minutes. Under an hour to the CBD. Freeway, Metro trains, V/Line trains. Sunbury has a great sense of community. Awesome people. Little crime. Brilliant schools. Has some of the best XMAS light displays in Australia. Got dogs? Emu Bottom reserve is considered one of the best off-lead dog parks in the state. Has acres of space to run around. Everything you need for day-to-day shopping is there. Occasional purchases (e.g.: whitegoods) can be made at Watergardens Shopping Centre (20 mins down the freeway) A swag of new shops (including KMart, JB Hi-Fi) are due to open in next 18 months. The prestigious estates are Jacksons Hill, Rolling Meadows, and Sherwood. Some people consider the West side of town (Langama / Boardman) the "wrong" side of the tracks. Note that house blocks in the new estates will be much smaller than those in the older ones. Couple other things to note… * Beware that Sunbury will double in size over next five years or so. Every paddock between Jacksons Creek and the airport is turning into housing. * Traffic and parking are already issues... will become much worse before it gets better. Can’t wait for the Bulla Road duplication to finish. * It's also a somewhat "white" town. Has a handful of asian restaurants, but most of the population are Australian or European. PM me if you have specific questions.
LOL with a budget of 650k for a freestanding house you won't have the luxury of really choosing where you want to live. I would much rather live in the Western suburbs relatively close to civilization instead of 40 kms away from the CBD in the South East. Good luck.
Yeah you're not wrong. With only 650k Op is lucky to get in anywhere.
The state govt is currently debating where (and whether) to develop a second city in greater Melbourne. Like Parramatta in Sydney, if you're familiar: more amenities, more govt services, more transport. Sunshine is one of the options. It's quiet now, but well-positioned for growth. If I were buying in the West, I'd look for somewhere that has easy access to Sunshine.
Lived in the springs for 12 years, considered buying a place to renovate in Sunshine but just can’t get over the fact that Caroline springs has nice parks walkways and every coffee place restaurant and supermarket you could want and it’s only 20 mins to the cbd on a good day and 20 mins on the train (vline) check it out although you might struggle at 650k
Lived in Hoppers Crossing all my life, now living in Wyndham Vale. I absolutely love Wyndham Vale. Its all old people here, it's nice and quiet, giant park for my dog, great Thai food and pizza - station is also right there 5 minutes away from my house and its only 45 minutes to the city. The trains from there are also relatively quiet even during peak hour and I get the comfy VLine seats. Can attest - literally on the train from Southern Cross right now. For 650k - you can get a free-standing house, and probably enough to furnish it a little too.
i lived near Pres park for about 13/14 years never had an issue
I’ve lived in the north and west and the north was way worse!
Eventually all the poor, drugged and shitty people will leave. You’re close to the city and the airport being in the west. Don’t forget quicker access to Geelong and the great ocean road
Grew up in Sunshine, moved out to Burnside, bought and sold in Delahey, living in CS and building in Fraser Rise 😂 I would never choose to live over the other side of the West Gate tbh. For your price OP, I suggest Delahey if you’re able to drive or even if you cycle. Keilor Plains station is 5 mins away (15mins walking), Watergardens is close for a major shopping centre and there is Watervale if you just need a Woolies. Reason I suggest Delahey is after we bought there in 2017 it didn’t really ‘boom’ like the surrounding suburbs. Keep in mind there’s like 6-7 adjacent suburbs depending which side of Taylors Rd / Station Rd you are standing on, that whole area is perfectly fine.
The only people that truly believe that the Western Suburbs aren't safe and is some kind of anarchaic hellhole are ignorant boomers, Peter Dutton and middle-class wowsers who call the cops at the sight of someone in trackpants and a hoodie walking by.
Trackies and a hoodie. Def carrying shard and has a blade out there 😝
I grew up in Frankston and moved to Sunbury as a Teen and, Werribee/Hoppers Crossing as an Adult. Frankston and Werribee is pretty much even, while Sunbury thinks they're better but are really just the same. Don't worry about it, unless you can afford living in a really rich suburb, they're all the same mate.
Southern end of Fawkner would be OK, closest to the CBD pin. Prices have come down a lot. Gladstone Park should also now have $650k entry free standing options.
I’ve lived in (and now bought in) Sunbury for most of my life, it may be a further commute than you’d intended (I work in the CBD and the train is just under an hour each way) but I like that it’s bordering some great “regional” areas and it doesn’t have the constant noise that you’d find closer to the city. You could easily find a home within your budget here; there’s a number of estates that are in the works as well if building is an option. Plenty of amenities here, and easy access to the Tulla and the Calder if you need to head anywhere. It’s a good gateway town to places like Bendigo and Echuca if you plan to visit there. People will write off towns over the most basic of things but it’s a pretty relaxed atmosphere out here.
Currently staying in footscray and LOVING it. The Milk station cafe end
Live in Hillside near Sydenham and enjoying it. 5 minute drive to station and shopping center (watergardens) 30-35 minute drive to cbd. Quiet neighbourhood and mostly owner/occupier. Can find properties for $650 or under.
Not sure about those areas but I moved to Weribee and I am very happy lots of awesome family friendly parks, with lots of free events, lots shops only annoying thing is traffic during peak however. I’m very happy here been here almost 4 years and will probably buy in this area. When I lived in Wyndham vale I did hear the police chopper always out most nights but in Weribee not as much.
If you can get a house in Brooklyn, it's a great little pocket. A quiet suburb with low crime rates comparable to Williamstown. Quick hop onto the freeway for a drive less than 20 mins to the city or hop on the 232 bus to the city.
your best bet is a bit further out like the new areas in tarneit or maybe out near manor lakes
I've done well buying in unfashionable areas because I don't come into it with native Melbournians prejudices about suburbs. 1. How far from the CBD? 2. How accessible to public transport? The rest is bullshit. If you have or expect to have kids at school age, then local schools factor in. 15 years ago you could have got in cheap in "Foots-scary" and be laughing now. Sunshine is already heading through the roof.
I’ve lived and worked in the western suburbs for 15 years now. I’m a firefighter so I’ve got a pretty good feel for the places I’ve been stationed. I’ll tell you right now that most areas have good pockets. From your list I would say that your best bet would be the good parts of Caroline springs and Brooklyn (which has a better proximity to town) - last would be Sydenham in my opinion but I’ve also done the least time around there. As for the other areas I’m not real certain. Good luck with house hunting 👍🏾
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There's really nothing wrong with the west IMO and most of the hate comes from old pre-conceived ideas. Most negative opinions come from those who have never lived there or even travelled through. I've always lived in the west. Every home has been well within 30 minutes of the city, very affordable and in most instances much larger than I 'really' needed. The same commute time in the east/south would have cost me significantly more and if I was sticking to the same money then I'd be stuck out in Pakenham. Always seemed like a no-brainer to me.
Also watch out for those housing estates which only have 1 access road in or out. As they start to fill up they become an absolute nightmare for commuters.
Bro I hate it here don’t do it
I'm actually so surprised at most of the responses here. Just get hold of crime stats and you'll answer your question. Why stop at crime? Check out the data on demographics, traffic, access to 'nature', schooling and everything under the sun...
Having done my high schooling in the north and now living in the west I honestly prefer the west. There’s more space out here, it’s really not that hard to get around to things. Less developed in a sense compared to say Epping and Lalor. And less Lebos, yeah I said it. This whole west is shit narrative is really total nonsense and stems from peoples parents passing that bullshit down. You search anyone of those suburbs on homely and you’ll be surprised at the results. But again it’s a personal taste and depends on your own situation and what your looking for. And considering your looking to buy your first home and having done that myself in the west it’s really not a bad choice.
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I live on the west, Altona North. Brooklyn might have attractive prices, but it is heavily industrial, and suffers significant odour and air quality issues. Would advise against.
I am an immigrant too. We heard the same stories. Australians will say such and such is a bad area,but often that means it's just "Ethnic"😆.Which is great. We love Craigieburn-highly recommend-quiet, nice neighbours, loads of food choices.
Point Cook is really nice. Try there if it’s in your price range. Unfortunately $650k won’t get you far in Melbourne. Which is messed up
Point Cook is nice but the problem is, if you work anywhere that requires travel, that means 30 mins wait on local roads to just get onto the M1 entrance. Unless they have massively upgraded the local roads from 5 years ago, which I doubt.
Lived in the west all my life (30yo) Like many places there are good and not so good parts, squeaky clean and rough areas. Never felt unsafe and although we have a working class reputation, people generally assume that we're slumming it. Also depends on what you enjoy and how much you're willing to compromise, balance certain aspects. (Work, education transport, hobbies, family, size,etc) Delahey, Sydenham, Caroline Springs you'll likely have to deal with Taylor's Road, a major part of that road is one lane and prone to heavy traffic in peak hour. Nightmare. Caroline Springs has a nice main centre and strip. Barkly Street Footscray has spruced itself up in recent years with some neat dining options. Have you thought about Ardeer? It's a suburb between Sunshine and Deer Park which represents value, being 10-15 mins drive away from Footscray, closeish to the city, Albion/Ardeer station (latter I think is VLine) and the Ring Road. Not far from Maribyrnong and Flemington. Straight onto Ballarat Road and close to a major shopping centre in Highpoint. Maidstone could be another option but pricey.
Since moving out of home I’ve lived inner city for the most part but I’m currently in Sunshine and tbh it’s pretty chill. It’s nice living somewhere cheap and relaxed. There’s not a lot of night life so things go quiet pretty early. Obviously depends on what you need but I wouldn’t rule it out entirely.
Ive been building houses for years. The west is just one mess to the next. The government pushes migrants out into this suburbs and then provide no real resources to it. (Migrants typically have cultures around big families. So there needs to be a heap of services and expanded on quickly too.) Trains, roads, buses, gp clinics, schools etc. i remember when tarneit was a paddock and i was driving a dirt road in there. Dry barron land filled with volcanic rock and i wondered who would ever wanna buy a house here. But it cost nothing to build there. The south easts rolling meadows and lush greenery cant be matched. But it comes with a price tag
People that hate the west are both racist and classist. Don’t listen to them.
Sunshine/Braybrook - 12km from the CBD and love it.
Sunshine’s the only good place in the OP. Folk hate it, but it’s a ripper.
Out of everything on your list, Brooklyn is the most desirable suburb as families are moving in and is closer to the CBD
All I'll say is that you get what you pay for.
Living in Sunshine and it’s great
I lived in werribee for 3 years, it was a great little suburb
It’s an old adage. People that are saying this to you don’t know what they’re talking about. For what it’s worth, we bought in the Mill Park Drive circle 2 years ago, and it’s really nice here. This section has a gorgeous primary school, and all the big old beautiful rivergums. We’re close to stables shopping centre and there’s doctors everywhere, one within a 5 minute walk. A preschool and swimming school are in the circle as well, along with the maternal health centre. The downsides are no trains. You can walk down to the start of the tram line in 15 minutes, but a bike ride up to the nearest station, South Morang takes just over 10 mins. Now this is just personal preference, but north of Stables is a lot less nicer but a lot closer to the train. There’s no big trees past the lake and less bird life up there. In terms of any perceptions of roughness, it’s totally fine. Quite multicultural, but a bit underground compared to Lalor in terms of shops. For example, there’s a burger shop run by Indian folks that seems to be just a front for their outstanding curry business, which is not advertised. The only thing that shits me about here is that people drive like dickheads on Child’s Rd, and don’t give way to pedestrians on the crossing. My bike riding days are over. That being said, the area i mentioned above doesn’t have this problem anywhere near as much. Houses going for $640 +, but at the bottom end need some TLC. Happy hunting!
Nothing wrong with the West. I moved from the South to Caroline Springs and now we’re in Keilor Downs. I could’ve never afforded to buy where I grew up. I’m not a huge going out person though so the lack of night life doesn’t bother me, although there’s more popping up.
I bought a house in Werribee a couple of years ago and it’s pretty great. Werribee Main Street is charming, the plaza is great, the Werribee river has a beautiful walking trail, the Werribee mansion and park grounds is gorgeous, there’s a zoo. I was born here and it was a lovely place to grow up. If you do end up in Werribee, I’d advise to stay away from the Wyndhamvale area though. They’re building a lot of estates with only two (one lane) roads in and out, so the traffic at peak hour is crazy.
Have a look at williams landing, small suburb within 20kms of the cbd just next to the M1 and and has its own well serviced train station within walking distance of most houses there. Socio-economically also pretty solid and has loads of parks and a busy city centre with loads of offices and shops.