Balga, WA 6061

Been here for 5 years, no problems so far

We lived here in 2011 then our rented house was bought and we need to move but renting is a challenge during WA boom. We houseshared in Ballajura for a while then bought a redevelopment unit in 2016. Balga is an ugly-duckling suburb. It has a stigma of past but it will become a swan someday. Mt. Druitt in NSW was like Balga before but very expensive now. It has all the potential for success and it can rise and become a star.

This suburb IS underrated. Its lovely for a growing family. Friendly neighbours most streets in a huge process of change though!
The liquor store, pub and IGA store area and carpark is a bit scary. I wouldn't recommend you bring your kids there or leave valuables in the car or in your hands. The shops are good and the people in the stores are nice, but I wouldn't want to live right there or go there often! Find somewhere else to pick up the bread and milk or fish and chips if you can!
The park and cricket club ovals across the road from the shops are lovely, quiet, mostly harmless :) I like it there! The kids like the play area and the hills.
There's space to roam and enough schools within close proximity from our house to easily walk. Over all its a nice place to bring up the kids, and theres lots of things in close driving distance.

Balga has everything you could want, good schools, good transport links, close to the city, beach and shopping centres and is very affordable

My wife, two children and I have been living in Balga for four years. We bought a brand new 3x2 for $350k with wooden floors, raised ceilings and granite benchtops throughout (wouldn't get it for that price now). We have never had a problem in Balga. We used to live in Wembley near the pub and constantly got woken up by drunk people during the night. In Balga, our neighbours are all so friendly, my children have so many great friends they meet at the local park from lots of different countries which I believe puts them ahead in later life as we are becoming more and more global.

Location, location, location. What can I say 15 minutes east and we are in Swan Valley for the afternoon enjoying bee-sting cake. 15 minutes south and we are in the CBD enjoying a meal at a restaurant. 15 minutes west and we are at the beach. Then north we have Hillarys. It's five minutes to Warwick shopping centre, 5 minutes to Mirrabooka shopping centre and 10 minutes to Galleria and Coventry Square now with the 24 hour spud shed. We are also only a matter of minutes to Malaga and Balcatta which have your bigger shops like officeworks and Harvey Norman.

Balga has changed a lot even in the four years I've lived here. My whole street has been knocked down and rebuilt in that time and it resembles something more like desperate housewives than when we first moved in. There are a couple of bad pockets especially around the central shopping/IGA area but I suspect this will get cleaned up in the future.

Oh I almost forgot. Don't get me started on the leisure centre just down the road. It's huge I go to the gym, my kids do swimming classes there every week. Some weekends we all go as a family - it's the best.

In the 3years my family and I lived there we had 3 break ins (one while we were home) 4 car break ins in our driveway. We rented in Balga when we moved to Western Australia & was disgusted with the area. I Highly recommend you invest in Contents insurance & hide valuables if you intend on living in the area.

We are a professional couple with a newborn baby and we moved to Balga last month and we're delighted with the place. We managed to buy a beautiful 3x2 for under 430k, it just wasn't possible to buy that type of home anywhere else in central Perth. I would enjoy the ability to walk to a nice bar or pub like in Leederville, but if you don't leave the house often as family and work take up much of your time, the location of your home isn't as important. The parks are gorgeous, especially celebration park. We're yet to meet neighbours yet, but as the Perth population keeps soaring, this suburb will be very sort after and will continue to attract good and honest folk. Access to the beach is easy, once you're on Reid highway, you're 12 minutes from North Beach. Overall this is a gem of a place and I'd recommend Balga to most people.

We've lived here for a couple of years now. We bought into the area and live in a house that is less than 6 years old for a very reasonable price. This means that unlike my other friends, we are not constantly choking over the mortgage and have had a bit of money for holidays with the kids, decent cars and basically, a life. My kids go to a very good public school out of area so I can't comment on the education, but I can say that the neighbours here are extremely nice. We haven't been broken into (touch wood) and the Mirrabooka shops are very convenient, with an excellent, cheap fruit and veg out the front. There's a great park down the road to walk the dogs (and the kids), and I like that my kids are growing up in a multi-cultural area. The beach is not far away, but neither is the city. It's good.

Great area, regardless what some say. I have had no problems and my family and I have been here 10 years.
Close to everything, friendly people. Yes you have the odd twit but dont most area's?

Great place to be :)

I am happy to announce that all the misguided comments regarding this area are false. Yes every area has not so nice pockets but as a whole its a great area. I still get the odd comment when I tell people I just brought a house here but I will have the last laugh as its central - 15mins airport, 15 mins beach, 15 mins CBD. Great shops close by, private and public schools, huge blocks, some beautiful old houses are still available and mine was one... so I have high ceilings beautiful jarrah floorboards, huge yard... list can go on.

So to all those haters... HA HA, I am in a great street, with great neighbours, got the house for a great price, can keep my house and still build out the back if needed and will be ahead in years to come when the silly stigma goes.

After 6 months of buying in Balga now all I can say is there is some trash around sometimes, the odd shopping trolley gone walk about and now and then some drunkards loitering around the local shops. Never had trouble though. It's far from the Blacktown or Broadmedows it was made out to be to me by long term Perth residents. My neighbours are nice and fun. Food prices are cheap. Its 12km to the city and 9km to the beach. Best of all its cheap to buy. Its a very multicultural area too, which is great. Theres some cheap chinese restaurants, specialist food shops and things. Driving around there it doesn't take long to realise the place is changing. Theres so many new houses popping up everywhere, its beginning to look neat. You get a lot for your money in Balga. As an investment, well, theres not a lot of places you can buy a 3x2 for $330k and rent it out for $380pw. You can't go wrong

Lot of villas/units. Tends to make parking an issue sometimes.

Police chopper overhead quite often, not sure what that's about.

I have lived in Balga for just shy of 30years and I have never been broken in to or had any problems. I get quite frustrated with the media portraying it how they do. You will find the majority of the time it is the surrounding areas where the problems are yet they call it Balga. It is 15 minutes to the airport, 15 mins to the beach, 15/20 mins to CBD. You have great access to the main ateries ie: Reid hwy, freeway etc.

A lot of the old Homes West houses are being sold which is resulting in townhouses etc being built or they are being renovated and lived in by families.

The parks are beautiful and well looked after. The one and only down side I can place with this area is the Balga Plaza. Most locals don't shop there as is tacky and dodgey. I was annoyed years ago when they got rid of the Fieldgate square shops as they were clean and well looked after and felt they should of got rid of the westminister/Balga plaza complex as that was the one no one went too, due to it being dirty.

I love being so central, it's great to be so close to everything. I have a huge block so my staffy has heaps of room to play, and the park is just around the corner so he has many friend he plays with daily.

Most of my street are renovated military houses, or brand new townhouses. I have one house on this street which is a rental and they are lovely.

It is a great suburb, but I just wish it would lose the stigma that's attached to it. It doesn't help that we have a great gym next to dan murphys at feildgate square that won't even say their location is Balga, they say it's Warwick. When I asked why, they said that the 'members' didn't like saying they went to a gym in Balga.

It's a shame, at this rate the name will never lose the stigma :(

We have lived in Balga for the past 23 years, and never had a problem. The convenience to public transport, gyms, pool, shopping centres is an easy 2 minutes drive. Warwick shops, Mirrabooka shops are very close and handy. Areas such as Malaga and Balcatta are within a 5 minute drive. Our neighbours have all resided in the suburb for more than 30 years and most of the street is owner/occupier. There are a few older homes, but these are now getting sold and duplex/unit style housing is becoming popular. Easy access to main arteries such as Wanneroo Road and Reid Hwy are very convenient. The Princess Rd shops definately need some renovations, but the Fieldgate Complex (with Dan Murphys and a brilliant friendly deli) are the best. The suburb seems to get a bad rap, from the public housing in the 70's, but since then, the old buildings have been removed and a new and up and coming suburb is emerging. People are friendly, parklands are abundant, schools both Government and Private are situated close by. Its a great place to reside, and we think one of Perths hidden little gems. An 11km distance from the CBD, with public transport situated close by to Wanneroo, Morley, Warwick and Perth. A ten minute drive to the beautiful beaches of Trigg, Mettams Pool, Hillarys and Marmion. Unfortunately Balga has a bad stigma attached to it, and unless you have lived here for some time or experienced how truly wonderful a place it is to live, then you really cant comment on this great suburb!

It surprisingly clean & green. Not much issues with security, hopefully people will sell old properties instead of renting them. My street is mostly new houses, very close to park. Close to freeway & reid highway.close to a mosque.plenty of desi shops & halal shops in Mirrabooka area. Surrouding suburbs pretty expensive so its a matter of time that this suburb will appreciate as its pretty close to city, beach & many shopping centres & big roads.

I have lived in in Wanneroo side of Balga for a couple years now, and it is a wonderful place to live, with a load of parks and friendly neighbors. Once the City of Stirling fork some cash out to renovate the local shops, Balga will be set for a influx of FHB's, investors and families.

12mins from one of the best beaches in Perth (Trigg) and 12mins from the city centre (Perth) - Balga is really doing a 180 and becoming a very livable suburb. I plan to be here for the long run weather it be with my IP accounts or personal living.

Public transport is fab, with a bus from Wanneroo Rd which streamlines right into the city is amazing.

I know all my neighbors!

After moving to balga 3 years ago i am amazed in how good the area can really be. I live in what you could call north balga, being north of princess rd and it is a really nice area. Nice people, great parks. It is really nice to see friendly people walking their dogs in the evening. a relaxing way to end a day at work. Shopping in balga is terrible, the local shopping centre is a disgrace. But the rest of the area is really improving.

Just in case you dont know Balga is a Suburb that used to be ridiculed for its disadvantage. This is changing substantialy but the dirty T-Shirt and tracky dack incidence out in the streets is still way too high. Take a drive through the place and its still possible to play junk-heap in the front yard bingo. My brother in Law used to live in the suburb so I have been a periodic observer of the spot for a decade. Long term its going to undergo a slow process of gentrification but like Rockingham its probably 20 years untill it becomes derirable(read braggable) Meanwhile schools are well below average and it depends on your status to determine if the fact that prices have trippled in 10 years is good or bad. It will be an investment hot-spot in years to come but those chosing to live here had better alarm.........well everything.

I have recently bought in Balga approx six months ago and have not had a problem since - we are in a very nice part of Balga and considering the price for a house on a large block the value for money is excellent.

There are lots of parks and sporting ovals which are regularly used. The leisure centre is also great with a wide range of facilities.

The shopping centre (Balga Plaza) is still a bit dodgy though, however, they usually have a security guard on so there really isn't a problem.

p.s - great bottle shops around (the drive-thru at the Princess Rd tavern and Dan Murphy's, very cheap with great ranges!!)

Lived there for 10 years and never a problem. Very quiet where I am, and the kids have some yard to play unlike most newer suburbs. Affordable, handy to the beach and city, shops and transport. We don't have the prestige, but lifestyle isn't bad. Great facilities sporting wise and the parks are fantastic.