Melbourne neighbourhood close to CBD/bay while also close to nature/forests

Hi guys

I've had a look at some of the Bayside areas (like Mentone for example) but would appreciate knowing if any areas close-ish to the bay are also close to forests/nature/national parks? Something like Frenchs Forest in Sydney I guess, that backs onto beautiful woodland. Anything like this in Melbourne?

Thanks!

Jason

No, not really anything that is within striking distance to CBD, is built up to the Bay. To get a blend you need to move further out say to the Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Torquay or such.

You could stretch a point I suppose and live in Mordialloc, Carrum, Chelsea Edithvale, Aspendale and then take the East link Freeway to the hills and countryside.

There is open land around but all our open land unless designated as a park is owned by people. There is no common land.

Of course around the CBD there is the parks, Botanical Gardens, Fitroy Gardens and the open space near the Zoo but its really woodland as such.

Melbourne is such a huge sprawling city the size of Greater London so people usually make up their mind, CBD, hills, or Bay.

Good luck

Thanks for the feedback Petals! I thought it might be pushing things a bit to ask for everything in one place

Which areas would you suggest for forest/park-like settings, close enough to town to commute (max 30mins)?

Thanks for the feedback Petals! I thought it might be pushing things a bit to ask for everything in one place

 

Which areas would you suggest for forest/park-like settings, close enough to town to commute (max 30mins)?

If you are heading east (west has nothing really until Geelong) you will be looking at 45 minutes minimum commute and in reality closer to 60minutes for most.

The basin, Montrose, lilydale, mount evelyn etc all have a main train connection close by for easy commuting into the CBD.

Ferntree gully, Belgrave, Belgrave south, tecoma etc are all on the Belgrave line, but also driveable via the monash (ferntree gully road or Wellington road)

Pakenham, Pakenham upper, Berwick, emerald, cockatoo etc all require a commute by car of about 60 minutes as well.

The bonus living a bit further out, is that rents and house prices are lower and generally lots more space/land but one downside can be that some of the above mentioned places do have a higher bushfire risk.

Brilliant furkew, thanks so much for the list of areas. That really helps a lot and will give me lots to go research.

Could you give me an idea of priority/safety/likeability/popularity of these areas so that I have some idea of which ones to consider first?

everybody has there own personal preferences, so my personal preference is different to everybody else.

I live in Monbulk in the Dandenongs, and love it. great small town mentality, everybody knows everybody else, and will always help out, but also a major bonus for me is that I work 3km down the road, and the wife has her own business in town now.

For somebody else, its not got great public transport links, and its just a bit too far from the CBD for most people to happily want to commute, and the bush fire risk is pretty high.

Ill try to give as much info as I can.

The basin, Montrose, lilydale, mount evelyn (and other towns in this area)

Heres the train line from Lilydale

http://ptv.vic.gov.au/assets/Maps/Routes/PDFs/9_Lilydale.pdf

Not 100% on the best route if travelling by car, but expect it might be via the eastlink or even over yarra glen if you will be working near the airport.

plenty of good schools in lilydale that I know of, good ameneties and if you are looking for more trees, scenery, space, I would probably look towards mount evelyn, outer edges of lilydale or even silvan or Seville (but these will make commuting just over an hour)

Ferntree gully, Belgrave, Belgrave south, upwey, tecoma

http://ptv.vic.gov.au/assets/Maps/Routes/PDFs/2_Belgrave.pdf

ferntree gully has nice areas, but upper gully is much greener and is on the edge of the Dandenong ranges. The rest are further up the hill but before you hit the main forest.

again all have decent ameneties close at hand with again decent schools within short distances and good road and train links to the CBD (less than 60 minutes approx.)

all the above mentioned places do have a higher bush fire risk, but not too bad when compared to lots of places further in the hills & ranges.

Belgrave is a bit "hippy" but has some great shops, cafes and bars. It even has its own wizard

if you want to go a bit further into the hills, you then have Kallista, the patch and Monbulk. because of the higher altitude and the hills catching a lot of clouds, temperatures are always lower and rainfall much higher. Winters can be frosty and cold. bushfire risk because of the forest of 100ft tall gum trees.

plus points are lower rents and house prices. lots of 10 acre blocks with houses around $600k and upwards. fantastic views from many properties, wildlife everywhere.

Pakenham, Pakenham upper, Berwick

macclesfield

emerald, cockatoo

don't know too much about the first three to give real detailed info, but they are on the edge of the city sprawl, and Berwick especially is popular with the poms. it has an old town and new town, good road links and reasonable commute to the city. There are dozens of threads about Berwick, so maybe do a search.

Pakenham, Pakenham upper are a little bit further away from the more built up areas, but are going to be very popular in a few years time IMO. again don't know too much, but it is nice and flat there, and very green.

emerald & cockatoo are both firmly seated in the Dandenong ranges. They can be a bit bogan with a few rough characters including a Hell's angel clubhouse in cockatoo, but that's a minority.The bush fire risk is however probably highest in these 2 towns, but all that said, fantastic countryside, real bang for your buck if buying a property, emerald has excellent schools and amenities as well as great sporting amenities as well. I personally wouldn't live in either town because of the bush fire risk being too high, but I have dozens of friends who do live in the towns, and its all part of living in the hills. Here in Monbulk, because its a very large growing community (flowers, plants, fruit & vegetable, we have far more cleared areas, therefor a lower bushfire risk)

Macclesfield is half flat, half hilly, and very horsey. it is a bit more expensive than many surrounding towns, but great views and generally large blocks make it worth the extra.

If I were to move, I think Macclesfield would be one high up the list because the wife loves her horses (but cant afford one ), or otherwise a little bit of acreage out silvan or Seville, but I don't have to worry about commuting and my boys are now 15 and 18 so either driving or very easy about using public transport (they have a 45 minute bus journey to school every day)

drop in on the life in Victoria forum as well. There are members that live in Berwick, the basin etc. they might be able to offer a bit of advice on their areas.

WOW. Thanks for this. I've got a weekend filled with Google Maps and Domain.com.au exploring ahead of me. Thanks for including so much detail, it makes things so much easier to picture and prioritise. Thank you!

Montrose, Lilydale and Macclesfield (only looked at these so far) have some BEAUTIFUL properties. Space, trees, nature, green, open plan, indoor/outdoor living. LOVE it. Thanks so much for sharing these spots furkew!

If you want the beach as well and you are now looking at areas out of the city you could look at the Mornington Peninsula, Westernport side, areas such as Bittern, Balnarring, Somers. The train goes to Bittern so there are good transport options.

Red Hill is a lovely place to live and if a bit closer and want the trees and the property you can look at areas like Mount Eliza. We have green fields across the road from us and its horsey country where we live.

Also Upper Beaconsfield where my brother lives is very nice.

Join up with the Life in Victoria forum link at the foot of this one, you can then get the opinion of others who are already living here and a lot are recent arrivals so can give you their opinions. Difficult when we have lived here for a long long time.

Yay, more options to look at! Thanks Petals