Broadmeadows, VIC 3047

Been living in Broadmeadows since the mid-90s and I still don’t understand why it continues to have a criminal reputation like Compton!
Drive or walk around any area of Broadmeadows very late at night on any night — you will have a better chance of spotting crime or being a victim of crime in an inner-city suburb rather than Broadmeadows.

Broadmeadows’ criminal reputation stems from minor street gangs back in the 70s and 80s who mostly loitered around the train station and the slummy looking Broadmeadows and Westmeadows Housing Commission low-rise flats — and I don’t understand why; but the media and people from middle class and upper class Melbourne suburbs simply just prefer to continue to keep that perception of Broadmeadows from the 70s and 80s in their minds

The main reason why housing in Broadmeadows has always been relatively cheaper, is because most of the houses are of bare minimum standard quality and are based on just 3 or 4 architectural designs — this is because most houses in Broadmeadows were built back in the 60s and 70s by the old Housing Commission!
The Housing Commission was a state government body which provided subsidised public housing.

Crime/safety will be one of the least of your worries in Broadmeadows. The worst thing about Broadmeadows is that it lacks soul, character and vibe — most people in Broadmeadows are simply just dull, cold, boring, uninteresting, physically daggy and simply just couldn’t care less about many things including their appearance and basic manners — all this naturally stems from the second worst thing about Broadmeadows; it’s mostly a low socio-economic community.
The third worst thing about Broadmeadows is a lack of natural beauty (such as trees!) — plenty of parks/open spaces, but they are mostly just featureless grass fields. the sides of roads and the front and backyards of most properties are no different either — not enough pleasant looking gardens and leafy streets.
Broadmeadows just lacks all forms of aesthetics in general.

Overall, Broadmeadows is your typical multicultural working-class outer Melbourne suburb — family-friendly, safe, quiet and comfortable place to spend time at home, but as for any significant leisurely activity outside of your home (shopping, entertainment, physical activity etc.), you’re better off regularly doing that sort of stuff in suburbs south of Broadmeadows (towards the city) due to Broadmeadows lacking all forms of aesthetic appeal.
But it’s definitely not an unsafe place to live — just like anywhere in Melbourne, all you need to do is to take the same commonsense precautions in securing/protecting your property and loved ones and just minding your own business really.

We have been living here for more than a decade now .We never thought we would live here so long , however the convenience and facilities around , and affordability you can never get anywhere else .We live on the valley side , the views are so beautiful , kids go to basketball and swimming one street across . And we drive to city for job . 3 cafes in neighbourhood and heaps of options for food , you can get every kind of food in here .

If you look for gentrification or property appraisal this is not the suburb , but if it’s a house to live and bring up the young once . The best part is connectivity , you can basically send kids to any school in northern and cbd and still have less than 30min of commute . You will have to live here to believe .

Broadmeadows is, without a doubt, the best value suburb wihin 20 kms of Melbourne CBD, bar none. Period. Don't believe the haters and before you buy into what is said on social media, have a read of this.

Broadmeadows has basically everything you need in a suburb. It has good quality heavy rail service into the CBD, good shopping, lots of parks and schools, access to several freeways, easy access to the airport and is really not far from anything. Essondon DFO is 10 minutes away, Glenroy is 5 minutes away, Coburg is 15. The 24 hour Kmart (one of only three in Melbourne metro) is 5 minutes away in Campbellfield. The CBD is around 17kms as the crow flies, and is around 35 minutes by train. Taking into account citilink, you can be there in 20 minutes in off peak if you drive. Need to get to other areas of Melbourne, both the 901 and 902 buses stop at Broadmeadows train station, and if driving is your thing, the M80, Citilink, Tullamarine and Hume Freeways are all within easy reach.

Broadmeadows Central is an amazing shopping centre, boasting all the major supermarkets, all of the banks, a hoyts cinema, kmart, timezone, severals chemists, restaurants, and frankly, for its size, punches waay above its weight for what it offers. Just over the street, you have Bunnings, Supercheap and other shops, so in terms of shopping, you have everything you need right at your doorstep.

For parks, there are 2 notable parks. The first being Jack Roper reserve in the east, heading towards Campbellfield and centres on a very picturesque lake and large array of walking paths. I wouldn't swim in the water at all, but it is lovely to walk around. The other is to the north west in Broadmeadows Reserve, which is an expansive park which borders Broadmeadows, Jacana and Westmeadows, and takes in the local creek. The downside of the park is that, due to its proximity to the airport, the planes fly low and frequently overhead, so it is very noisy with aircraft noise. That said, it's great if you like plane spotting!

Broadmeadows is far from perfect. Olsen Place has potential to be a lovely shopping strip but is sadly neglected. The bus situation, if you aren't on the 9xx buses is convenient for basically no one. This is espcially true if you catch the 538 or 540 buses to the station, as they drop you off on the eastern side of the station. If you need to get to the shopping centre from there, it's a long and awkward walk through the tunnel under the station, cross Pascoe Value Road and then walk through the carpark to get to it. The town centre is too car focused, and is frankly not a great experience as a pedestrian. Pearcedale Parade now has a 40 km/h daily speed limit, but almost no one actually drives at that speed. The slip lanes into Dimboola means that people drive at high speed through the area, and pedestrian access to the shopping centre, especially from the Pearcedale Parade, is abysmal.

You also have to be on your guard while driving. People drive recklessly and too fast through what should be quiet residential streets. Burnouts happen, though less frequently now than they used to, and there are people who get around on very loud dirt bikes.

You wont get the nice cafes that you get closer in to the city - so if you are the kind of person who likes to walk to a cafe and have a coffee on a Sunday, you will be disappointed. There are options for that around. Glenroy is a few minutes away and has lots of cafes.

The area seems safe to me. I've lived here for over 3 years and have never had any issues. Maybe once upon a time it was rough, but it certainly doesn't seem to be that now. I've walked home in the dark from Jacana station a few times and never had any problems.

For all of its shortcomings, it's probably the only area in Melbourne where you can buy a free standing house on 600m2 for around $650,000 (which isn't nothing, but compared to other parts of Melbourne, is ridiculously cheap). There are lots of units going up and the area is starting to change.

TL/DR - Don't write off Broady just because of its reputation. Living here is actually pretty great, even if there aren't a lot of cafes around

Avoid that area at all costs.

Scummy.

It’s hilarious that people are promoting this dump of a suburb. There is rubbish everywhere, overgrown grass, dumped trolleys and houses falling apart. The area looks disheveled and down right ugly. The suburb is riddled with crime and full of people who lack respect for their surroundings. This place will never get better unfortunately.

We recently sold our house in Coburg North in search of a property with a larger block size and to reduce our loan. We discovered a beautiful home in the west of Broadmeadows with block size of 700sqm. We are loving the extra room for the kids and starting our self-sustainable veggie garden. Next, we plan to renovate and add extra rooms.
The neighborhood is lovely and peaceful.
Parkland and parks are amazing, love a Sunday bike ride along the trail.

Broadmeadows is the best place to raise a family, beautiful place, good future. Amazing shopping centres, hospitals. Easy place to get to in and out etc. city and airport. We’ve been living here for a long time and we love it! We love to see the sunrise rising above Broadmeadows and the setting. A great community And mixed cultures living here and diversity.

We moved here a year ago after being priced out of neighbouring suburbs and love it.
We bought off Johnstone street near the valley, beautiful park lands and Moonee Ponds bike trail.
My husband rides easily to work every day in Brunswick.
We are 10 mins to the shopping centre and train station. Everything we need here and more

Whole day noise with car whizzing sound
Totally crime and unsafe place to live
They had crazy driving anytime
You can see car accident on the way home everyday