JohnDoe

I've lived in Ballajura for 17 years and here's my two cents.

Stradbroke Place is a nice street off the main drag strip shortcut that is Allington Ave (literally a drag strip: police occasionally lurk there with radar guns to catch the hoons who gun it down there at +90km/hr), but there are a enough hoons, vandals, derros, drunks and druggies that occassionally cause trouble for the area when they decide to throw one of their "spot parties" at Stradbroke Park because there's no lighting there so it's easier for them to disappear when the police are called to deal with them. For the most part it's a good street with reasonably friendly folk living in the street with few real hassles other than the occasional all-night family party, but the main issue is the vandals who are a real nuisance and like to graffiti tag the fences and cars, damage the park equipment and smash the street lights when they've got nothing better to do. Some theft in the area, but that unfortunately is Ballajura's reputation along with the hoons and derros.

General area of Central/South Ballajura where this street is located isn't too bad and is a good place for a first-home buyer or a young family given it is very close to two minor shopping centres, two primary schools and two high schools (one private, one public), but investors might want to steer clear as many who were in that game around here over the last two years ended up with their rental properties suddenly trashed and abandoned.

Utilities are great though: electrical, gas and water are all in good condition with the internet and pay TV access being very reliable IF you can get on to the main Ballajura exchange and avoid ending up on the South Ballajura exchange if choose instead to buy east of Bellefin Dr. Public transport is average given Ballajura is one of the major stops, but the buses (standard and disabled-access) are often timed an hour apart so you need to plan ahead to avoid troubles.

The local, state and federal government really cares about Ballajura given all the development that's happened in the area recently (such as the Ballajura Aquatic Centre that was built at Kingfisher Oval) and there are plenty of gyms in the local area too, but the nightlife still is shockingly bad (literally: drunks and hoons are causing more injuries, petty theft and even a hit-and-run murder at Ballie's Bar in 2010 that hasn't changed anything) and the retail therapy is poor at best since everywhere in this area except Malaga Markets closes early. Ballajura falls into a Federal swing seat (Cowan) so occasionally we're looked after here and the local government really tries their best, but any state government really hasn't done much for the area since the aquatic centre went in unless it's the run up to an election year.

Ballajura is less than 3 minutes from the Malaga Business District, 10 minute from Mirrabooka shopping centre, 20 minutes from Morley Galleria and 45-60 minutes from Perth (traffic dependent) if you have a car, so for a north-eastern suburb it's "halfway to everywhere", but other than the standard medical centres dotted around Ballajura we're 40 minutes from the nearest major hospitals in Midland (Swan District) or Joondalup (Medical) if that's a concern for you.

Ballajura is either a suburb you'll love or hate. But if you chose to live in Stradbroke Place, you'll probably love it more than hate it if you can handle the anti-social idiots on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday nights that lurk at Stradbroke Park and your home security is good enough to give you peace of mind when you're away for a long weekend in-case the vandals come a-knocking.

2013 Update: Arson and road rage seems to be on the rise in the local area too and residents have been taking matters into their own hands to deal with the hoons (such as throwing objects at their cars as they pass and setting up road traps). As of the date of this update, no less than seven houses are up for sale within 100m of my street, so I think some of the more elderly long-term residents have had enough and are getting out for a quieter suburb. We really need a police station again given Ballajura is the second largest suburb within the Perth metropolitan area.

2016 Update: Road rage and hoons are still a major problem. Petty theft continues to also plague the area, but the park at Stradbroke Place FINALLY got permanent security lighting last year and the playground got upgraded too, which made a massive improvement in reducing the amount of trouble there at night. Plenty of houses are back up for sale again within 100m of my street (some of the same houses from 2013 that are back up for sale again), so there are still enough problems to drive people away. On the plus side though the Ballajura Police Station on Cassowary Drive next to Ballajura Community College is almost finished and thank god for that.