West Footscray, VIC 3012

West Footscray is a unique and sought-after suburb located approximately 8 kilometers west of Melbourne's central business district. It is characterized by a mix of period homes, modern townhouses.One of the key advantages of West Footscray is its excellent transportation infrastructure. The West Footscray Railway Station provides convenient access to the CBD and other parts of Melbourne, making it an ideal location for those who rely on public transport for their daily commute.West Footscray offers a range of local amenities, including parks, cafes, and shops, contributing to a vibrant and welcoming community atmosphere.

Inner-city suburb, 7.5km from Melb CBD, 10 min drive. No tram congestion. High quality liveability. Roughly same distance from city as Hawthorn, St Kilda & Northcote. Walk to Tottenham & WeFo stations & bus stops. Close to Seddon, Kingsville & Yarraville ammenities. Yarraville station, Yarraville Square, Seddon Villiage, Central West, Highpoint, numerous child care/schools, parks, heritage Wool Store & Uncle Toby's buildings, near Williamstown beach/Docklands/Port Melb, 40 mins to Geelong.

It's okay but not great. Close to the CBD and some pockets are quiet. It's rapidly gentrifying - old homes are being demolished for flats and townhouses on most blocks. So density is rapidly increasing. Not sure how well the infrastructure is handling it. Very close to industrial zoned areas so expect the occasion chemical fire and continue noise and dust. Otherwise okay.

I never thought I’d be into the west side, but it has grown on me! Lots of laid back bars, great Vietnamese and Ethiopian restaurants and great coffee. As a bonus lots of dogs in the area which is great when going for walks!

The Positives: West Footscray is a hidden gem with Barkly St Village and great public transport (via Buses at least), and generally lovely people who live there. It seems to be a huge mix of different types of people: young families, young couples, elders, and renters. There appears to be a melting pot of different groups of people from different backgrounds but it is slowly gentrifying as the house prices soar. Generally some streets are whisper quiet while others are quite busy. I love the elders who are still living here; they're friendly and smile with a 'good morning!'. The younger residents (such as couples walking their pets or babies) keep to themselves and appear quite happy. Everyone seems to have a pet dog and there's a dog park that's frequently used, as well as a footy oval and another large park. Internet speeds are good and maintained with little down time, so working from home is good but...

The Negatives: I'm on Essex Street and I can say that despite it not technically being a main road, it may as well be. There are many cars that exceed the speed limit of 40km/h and have loud exhausts which causes noise pollution at all hours of the day and night, some property destruction (our mailbox and neighbour's fences were smashed in), and theft (car was stolen earlier this year, packages have been stolen from front porch). I don't feel safe when cycling (I'm an experienced rider with 6+ years of road cycling in CBD and inner east) and have been almost run over several times despite indicating when turning or having right of way. When we first moved in back in 2018, there was a clearly drug afflicted individual roaming the street shouting at the top of their lungs at 3am. Over the past 3 years of living here, it's worsened. It's not as bad as when I lived in Footscray in the 90s but at least I could enjoy magpie songs in the morning back then.

West Footscray is great but Essex Street is a massive shame. Please beware if you're thinking of buying here.

Lived in West Footscray for 2 years off Essex Street and never had any unpleasantries.
Great suburb for families, lots of them on the street I lived on, they would often get together you do events which was cute (pre covid).
My only fault with west Footscray is transport sucks, the bus that runs along Essex Street was always late and west Footscray can be a bit trickier if you're not near the train station.
All in all, good suburb for families and lots of variety with parks and cafes surrounding.

Loving Wefo so far having moved here from Footscray. Feels much safer despite being next door. Still close to the action. Lots of good restaurants and a couple of nice bars. Great parks for the doggos as well. Much quieter than Footscray as well

I just went to check out the neighbourhood which seemed okay, however while I was there seven planes flew overhead in the space of an hour. That sounds excessive to me. Thoughts?

Close to cbd have 3 train stops to choose from and plenty of busses. Have a foodie street and many shops and a shopping centre.

Safe and quiet.

10 mins drive to the city, lots of gardens and dog parks around. No need to mention shops and restaurants. It is good to rent but unsure if it is good time to invest since the 400 sqm houses starts from 900k AUD.

Positives: West Footscray is changing, my mother lived here for over 30yrs since the 80s. The nicer pockets is from Summerhill road and maidstone (where st John's catholic primary school is and the western hospital) and Dobson reserve park is (ymca) children services. It's a nicer, safer, community pocket with the line treet streets . The other pocket is the one next to kingsville and Robert's st where Hansen reserve park is. These are the two better locations.

Negatives: The pocket between Essex st and Barkley street heading towards coles central west/braybrook + Tottenham is not as nice or safe. Its abit rough, junkies, random ppl on something talking to you at the bus stop, pretty seedy and noisy. My mother neighbour had her handbag stolen while waiting at the bus stop on Essex + Ashley street.


Sims supermarket is great, classic. New cafes have opened in the area over the years. Library for the elderly and children still there. Just be careful which area your living in.

Good place. Quiet and serviced by 3 stations.
More and more normal people moving in so will safety and education is improving each semester.
Lots of food options and 12mins train to cbd.

We moved here a few months ago and love:
- wonderful sense of community, where people know and genuinely look out for each other
- large, well maintained parks for sport and kids play (4 good parks that are walkable)
- proximity to the city and the good public transport - West Footscray station and buses to Sunshine and the CBD. 20 mins to the city by bus, 10 mins by train
- commercial proximity (Barkly St shops walkable, Yarraville/ Seddon/ Central West/ Highpoint shopping a short drive away)
- education proximity (2 primary schools, VU and Maribyrnong College up the road)
- health and wellbeing services proximity (medical clinic and dentist on Barkly St, health centre on Barkly St, lots of yoga and Pilates studios in the neighbourhood, RecWest/ YMCA)
- lots of amenities close by (multicultural stores, post office, vet, supermarket, dog park, Whitten Oval, etc)
- eclectic vibe, arts and culture set-up (Footscray community arts centre, and there are regular local festivals and sporting events)

What we don't love:
- sometimes there can be noise from planes in the morning, if flight paths are lower due to weather conditions
- better council regulation needed for nearby factories and related environmental management - the recent West Footscray fire is a perfect example of this
- with the changing demographic in the neighbourhood, occasional petty theft from cars/ graffiti on new businesses
- better/ safer bike paths needed on some of the main thoroughfares

On the whole though, we love the neighbourhood and haven't looked back since we moved in!

Family oriented spot with easy access to the city and solid public transport links. The suburb continues to modernise and provide a wider range of options to residents, however at the moment there's an over saturation of Indian restaurants/shops and Barkly Village needs a bit of a facelift. We just need a bit more diversity, which is slowly coming and businesses are being rewarded. Still a few undesirable characters around, but they're in most suburbs thes days. Hopefully with the influx of families the council comes to the party and freshens and cleans up where needed. Overall though it has character and charm without the huge price tag. Would love a pub!

Bought a townhouse and moved in to West Footscray 2 months ago and we couldn't be happier. Its close to the city and takes us less than 20 minutes door to door on the train to get to work. Hansen Reserve is close by and having two dogs is just perfect for us as its a great exercise ground for the dogs and us. Our street is tree lined and although its close to Old Geelong Road, we can hardly hear and see the traffic during the morning and afternoon peak hour. We love going out and doing the cafe circuit on the weekends and WeFo has great local cafe - Brother Nancy. Butcher 128 is just across the road from us and Footscray has great cafes/restaurants which recently opened up. It takes us less than 5 minutes by car to get to Yarraville, Seddon and Barkly Street village so we are spoilt for choice when it comes to cafes, restaurants and eclectic shops.

I have lived in West Footscray for nearly two years and already, capital growth is exceptional and the area is moving onwards and upwards in all manner of ways.

For a whole host of reasons, this is an area that young families should be settling in! Whilst a 'rogue element' of the former seedy underbelly still lingers, in time this will be driven out by a new breed of settlers with taste and style. Remnants of an industrial past linger but this gem of a suburb should not be overlooked; it will soon rise to rival its neighbours Seddon and Yarraville whilst retaining a genuine multicultural cred.

My partner and I moved in little over 5 months ago. We were hoping to live in peace abducted quiet since our last place was on a busy and polluted main road. We certainly did not get peace and quiet. Every morning without fail at 7-8am our neighbours seem to be out front having 'sticky beak' conversations at full volume. We are both people woodwork at night so it makes it hard for us to sleep. A few months ago I got home from work and someone had dumped hard waste RIGHT in front of our bedroom window. Without knocking and asking to see if it was okay. We have been quiet and polite neighbors and it seems that because we don't partake in their little group discussions about everyone on the street we are being treated as lesser neighbors. I doubt we will continue living here for long
. I'm drained. Not that long ago we saw a neighbours pulling bags out of our rubbish bin and showing the other neighbor best door (who complains if you park anywhere near 'his' nature strip) and complaining that our bin hadn't been washed in a while. Really? Get a life. We are busy people. Working two jobs each just to make rent and live a decent life. I wouldn't recommend this suburb for someone who is private. People want to know you and your business. The whole street seems to be obsessed with rubbish day too. Complaining profusely if the rubbish man comes late. It makes me feel sad to live in a community where they only want to see what's happening ob their street and hold little to no value in the happiness and privacy of others. The shopping is adequate and for public transport it is shocking. Trains are frequently being cancelled for days on end on the Sunbury line. But I probably wouldn't mind if my neighbours weren't crazy.

Walk to everything
Great people
Convinient location, 20 min to CBD
Good value homes
Maribyrnong river not to far

The best part about west footscray is that people talk to each other,you feel like the 70's/80's are still here.
Very attractive homes of all types. It's a great location, major shopping centre Highpoint is 5 minutes away CBD is 15 minutes drive. Great neighborhood feel, west Footscray primary is a great school also and plenty of good daycare around. Plenty of good cafes now and heaps of restaurants around of all varietys. Train station is about to get a massive upgrade which will add great value.

These were some of the comments we received when we said a quick, friendly and non-intrusive hi to neighbours not long after moving in: 'If you are looking to make friends in the area, people are very busy here'; 'Do you think you made the right decision moving here?'; and 'I have more in common with my friends that have kids [confusing, because she invited us in for a coffee]. Thanks so much - it all coincided with a breast cancer scare, and my husband's first wife died of leukemia so it was an even more stressful time with all the "neighbourly" comments. I can't wait to move out of this suburb.

We have lived in West Footscray for about four years and have seen so many positive changes take place. There are many young families and the neighbours are friendly and we have found it a great place to live with with our young family. Barkly Village continues to improve and we are very pleased with our choice of suburb.

No issues about West Footscray not having a night life. Who wants drunks making noise and peeing on your front fence at 3am. The culture is great and the food is fantastic. This is the up and coming suburb of Melbourne because of its proximity to the CBD

West Footscray is a great suburb to live in and I rate it as 'highly livable'.