Living in Melbourne working in Bacchus Marsh

[Eyeice]

Good day all.

I have been offered a job in Bacchus Marsh but would like to live as close to Melbourne as possible and commute to work daily. 

I would therefor like to know what suburbs, I suppose western, would be good options for me? Obviously looking at proximity to a train station with a direct line to Bacchus. Safe suburbs are key as I hear there are youth gangs out in the west making an appearance.

I was looking at Footscray. Can anybody offer any information surroundthing this suburb? Or others that might be appealing?

Thank you in advance.

 

[kevsan]

Specific surburb  recommendations would probably need more specifics as to what you are after,

however from a commuting point of view, Vline goes from Flinders Street and southern Cross to Bacchus Marsh in about an hour, so you could live anywhere centrally and it would be doable from a commuting point of view.

This assumes your work would be within walking distance of the station. Or you could consider driving, as you would be going in the opposite way to the bulk of traffic so the commute should be not too bad either

[Eyeice]

Thanks.

I am looking to live in an area that is close to walking distance from a train that heads out to Bacchus Marsh. I do not mind at most a 40min commute.

I want to live close to the city. Maybe a 10min train ride in would be nice at most. But ultimately a tram in to the city would be preferred.

A nice neighbourhood/suburb with many daily necessities close by. (Grocers, bookstores, docters, pharmacies etc..)

I hope this provides a clearer picture.

Thanks again. 

[Steve99]

Most western suburbs have a doggy element, a bit of violence, drugs and rough appearance.   Footscray is now expensive but rough, like some of the East-end and South London suburbs, however it has lots of eateries etc and close to the city. With these suburbs you need to check it out street by street and how close it is to potential trouble and how far from the station etc on a dark night.  I could just about live there if I was younger and single maybe, my wife could not.   It would be  easier to live in Bachus Marsh then go into the city when you wanted and of course much cheaper however a bit drab and soulless though.

[Marisawright]

Footscray would make sense. I assume you've already worked out it's on the direct Melbourne to Ballarat railway line, which stops at Bacchus Marsh.   I wouldn't recommend any of the other stops between Melbourne and Bacchus Marsh - as Steve said, the outer western burbs have a bad reputation. 

You could consider living in Ballarat instead.   Easy drive to Bacchus Marsh or take the train.  A lot of people are starting to commute from  Ballarat to Melbourne, believe it or not.  It's a nice city.

[Quoll]

Yeah, I’d be looking in the opposite direction and trying Ballarat (more bang for your buck). I can remember when Footscray was somewhat down at heel and home to a lot of Yugoslavs (back in the 70s) but I’m guessing it’s become somewhat gentrified since then.

[jimmy1986]

Just curious, whats making you want to live close to the city yet come out to BM for work? Seems more popular to do it the other way around, live out in the sticks for cheap and go into the city for work

 

If you're not totally against the idea of moving further out, have you looked at Ballan? It's the next stop along from BM, about 20 minutes further up the line, so an easy commute on the train, or all freeway by car. Ballan is such a lovely place, a real hidden gem. It's a very quite town, but it has all the essentials like schools, doctors, supermarket, butchers and some cafes. It's what I'd call a real country town, BM not so much. You'll get good bang for your buck on property too, and it does have NBN in the area. Honestly if I had spare cash I'd be investing there as with Melton/BM growing I think Ballan will boom once people realise it's cheap, safe, and still only 1hour on the express vline.

 

I live about 12km north of Ballan, in Greendale, but have been living in the BM area for a good few years now so feel free to ping me if you need anything!

[Marisawright]

13 hours ago, jimmy1986 said:

Just curious, whats making you want to live close to the city yet come out to BM for work?

I can understand it. Some people are city folk, some people love country town life.  I could happily live in Ballarat, but the smaller towns between Melbourne and Ballarat are too small for me.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

I liked Gisborne and Macedon but you would probably need a car. Diggers Rest use to be a nice area but I haven’t visited for years.

[Bulya]

On 15/03/2018 at 16:54, Quoll said:

Yeah, I’d be looking in the opposite direction and trying Ballarat (more bang for your buck). I can remember when Footscray was somewhat down at heel and home to a lot of Yugoslavs (back in the 70s) but I’m guessing it’s become somewhat gentrified since then.

We used to go to Footascray for pizza after the boozer closed at RAAF Laverton in ‘73.  Probably a lot different these days