There's always lots of talk about suburbs imediately in and around Melbourne but does anyone live or no anything about anywhere else outside of Melbourne?
I am going to be based in Altona for work and we like the idea of being out of the city but equally dont want to be out in the sticks so to speak. We want to be somewhere that is big enough to offer a social life and activities for children etc.
So if anyone has any views or experiences of anywhere else for example Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook, Bacchus Marsh, Melton or anywhere within say a 60k radius of Altona and west side of Melbourne it would be good to here them.
There's always lots of talk about suburbs imediately in and around Melbourne but does anyone live or no anything about anywhere else outside of Melbourne?
I am going to be based in Altona for work and we like the idea of being out of the city but equally dont want to be out in the sticks so to speak. We want to be somewhere that is big enough to offer a social life and activities for children etc.
So if anyone has any views or experiences of anywhere else for example Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook, Bacchus Marsh, Melton or anywhere within say a 60k radius of Altona and west side of Melbourne it would be good to here them.
Thanks Paul
Hi Paul
When you planning on going Paul and what job do you do? My husband is an electrician and we are going to Melbourne probably March 09 (still waiting for visa). We do have relatives in a few areas but we don't particularly like any of them and want to live elsewhere. We are going to look at Mornington Peninsual, Mt Martha and even the other direction towards Geelong.
Never heard of Altona, where's that?
Les
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Les
My trade is agricultural mechanic which eventually led to workshop manager, I have got a sponsoring company and will be a technical manager in oz. We hope to be out by sept 08 but need to sell our house so god knows really.
Altona is a place on the coast south west of Melbourne as if you where heading towards Geelong, I will be based slightly north in the industrial area!
We are also considering Geelong or maybe Lara (slightly back towards Melbourne) but it is very difficult to know as there a lot of areas to choose from.
Theres always lots about Mornington and those areas but there no good to us as I cant travel round or through Melbourne everyday!
It would be good to here about any other places as we cant be the only ones that want live somewhere different.
Lots of people on this site like Geelong, we visited it and it wasn't for us but has a nice harbour front with a 'prom' a small beach and a couple of pools which have lifeguards. Lara is pretty quiet, it has a small shopping centre and no doubt about it property prices are good there, most houses seem to have land with them.
We really liked Torquay which is further down than Geelong, it is lovely. It has a nice beach. Although, it looked to us to again be pretty quiet.
Geelong is about an hour by train to Melbourne and I'd say a pretty good starting point , it has lots of places close to it that are lovely but Geelong also has the shops etc. There is lots of building going on in Geelong so although some of the houses are dated there are new estates on the outskirts.
In 2002/3 I lived in Melbourne for about 7 months in total and worked in a warehouse in Altona (on the industrial estate near Toyota) for over half of that time. Everyone I worked with lived in the western suburbs such as West Footscray, Yarraville (both of these for the more young and single types). Families tended to live out a bit further, Werribee and Point Cook mainly. Both seemed very nice, much more space between houses, bigger gardens, train station not as dingy etc.
Point Cook is a fairly new development (very few houses and lots of unfinished roads 6 years ago) although I think it has grown rapidly over the last few years. I believe there is now a primary school there but i dont know about any other services. I know Point Cook doesn't have a train station but does have good access to the freeway (20 mins to Altona). I'm not sure about a bus service in Point Cook but in Altona it is pretty poor to the industrial estates (I used to walk for 35 minutes to the nearest bus stop and to catch an hourly bus to the train station).
As you drive out of the CBD, there is no break in the housing until after Werribee now. I must admit, I always classed Werribee and Hoppers Crossing as the suburbs!
Friends of mine have said they would consider living in Bacchus Marsh and commute quite happily to the Altona area, but have no children and haven't said any more about it.
Sorry I seem to have waffled on, I hope this helps.
We are looking on moving to Geelong or Winchelsea (30mins away from Geelong) when visa arrives. I have 4 kids of varying ages and I've looked into this area and it looks great for families. There's plenty of schools, primary and secondary and even a TAFE college in Geelong so at least the schooling for all ages is there. Winchelsea is more semi rural, farming, cattle that sort of thing and to give you an idea of what I've been looking at property wise here goes, 4 bed, 12 month old (bungalow), with all mod cons, 3 acre fenced garden with a further 17 acres of land (20acres in total!) for A$485,000 or about £230,000, not bad really! or 4 bed older style (bungalow) with 5 acres A$380,000. Torquay is a holiday destination for alot of aussies when schools out because it's along the surf coast, and they hold a surfing competition there each year. Prices are a bit steep tho which is why we have been looking a bit further in, although still only 1 hour to the beach (coastline) or 30 mins away to Geelong and all the shops, cafe's etc it has to offer including a cinema!
Hope this helps.
Helenx
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Thanks for all your responses I guess looking at all the different areas once we get there will be part of the fun!
Still appreciate any other thoughts from anyone else.
We spent 2 weeks in point cook in a serviced apartment, to be honest that was enough for me, lots of accomodation but no soul to the place in my humble opinion. Lots of people live there and swear by it though.
We then spent some tim e in Lara, very reasonable priced houses, takes a while to get to know people/break in.
We are now in Torquay and loving it, near the beaches, very friendly and relaxed. schools great too. Geelong is great too, some great suburbs like highton. Yes torquay house prices are steep, thats why we are building.
Best thing is to take a trip round all the suburbs you fancy when you get here. Drop in for coffee when you get here.
I think most of us would still think of Altona as being Melbourne - some of us even think of Geelong as being Melbourne but that is ignorance on our part I know!!!! My BIL and his family live in Lara which would be within daily commute of Altona and it seems very nice - quite a few new estate type places but not bad. I was thinking of real Victoria by the title of your post - places like Hamilton, Orbost, Bairnsdale, Bendigo, Ararat and possibly even Ballarat. My favourite of all those would be Orbost - I could definitely be persuaded to move there only trouble is that there is very little employment! The BIL had hoped to find a place in Anakie but had to opt for Lara instead just thinking of a countryish place within commute distance.
Hi Paul
tarneit is a new area right on the west edge of melbourne between melton and altona
its a new sub division and to get to altona just go along koiorit creek road (spellings abit ropey sorry) city in about 30mins tops (not in peak traffic )
hi i worked in altona and lived in point cook, living in the western suburbs is alot cheaper than anywhere else in melbourne. altona is an older part but you can still buy new houses. the beach in altona is great for little ones as it has a gentle slope free parking and a great park (next to the beach) and about 15 to 20 minutes drive into the city. i wouldn't move much further away than werribee as you will find most of the friends you find will come from your work place. and you tend to go to one and anothers houses for a drink than to the local. i am australian but my partner tracy is english and wanting to move there. if you need any other info on the basics drop me a line and i'll be happy to help. geoffrey
!!!! My BIL and his family live in Lara which would be within daily commute of Altona and it seems very nice - quite a few new estate type places but not bad. I was thinking of real Victoria by the title of your post - places like Hamilton, Orbost, Bairnsdale, Bendigo, Ararat and possibly even Ballarat. My favourite of all those would be Orbost - I could definitely be persuaded to move there only trouble is that there is very little employment! The BIL had hoped to find a place in Anakie but had to opt for Lara instead just thinking of a countryish place within commute distance.
