Toodyay, WA 6566

We moved here 2 years ago and love it.
Toodyay is a beautiful little town. I love driving 10 minutes down a quiet country road to work instead of an hour or more on the freeway. I love coming home to a stunning country valley vista. House prices are much lower than Perth and I am only 1 hour's drive from Perth for when I need some retail therapy. Toodyay also hosts some wonderful events during the year.

Toodyay is still very much a small country town an hour out of the city limits (50 minutes to Midland). You will meet a mix of old and new within Toodyay. In recent years there has been a newly built pool and recreation centre for the town, a local gym along with some well loved boutique shops. The weekends get busy with visitors which boosts the towns economy further. It is a slower pace of living to that of the city and this is one of Toodyay's charms. If you haven't lived in a little country town before expect an adjustment period. It doesn't take long to get into the pace of country living. Like all places, life is what you make it. We enjoy living in Toodyay. It's far enough away from the city, yet close enough if you need to do a day trip.

Don't be fooled by the marketing and photo shopped publicity photos. Over priced properties and in reality it's more than an hour into Perth with traffic.

Toodyay road has heaps of pot holes and only gets temporary repairs.

The town and the road is full with drivers who somehow have a licence (I wouldn't be surprised if there were unlicensed locals driving). Had a bad experience not long ago with a local in an old Ford courier T 8033 ute at the local supermarket carpark.

Don't live here.

Our 4th year in Toodyay (my husband grew up here). Love not having to deal with traffic. Ease of getting kids to and from sports and activities. The school bus is great for busy parents and the kids love it! Lovely, friendly community.

Good to live out the of the hustle of the city but there is a huge lack of employment opportunities in the town. Many businesses and even the local council favor relatives or family friends over new people to the town.

We moved near to Bullsbrook and I found a great job there within weeks of moving, plus it's closer to suburbs and the city.

Was expecting great things with Toodyay but when we lived here we discovered a town that is constantly with war with it's own council, arrogant older residents who seem to think Toodyay is 'their town' simply because their families have lived here for over 100 years.

Good modern style houses that don't need renovations are over priced. Local real estate agents capitalizing on the country lifestyle theme. You can buy similar sized and good quality houses in the hills area at the same price and in some cases even less!

The school performs poorly in academic results as seen on the myschool website.

Toodyay is marketed as being just an hour drive to Perth but in reality it's more like 1.5 to just under 2 hours when factoring traffic.

We ended up leaving this town. More cons than pros.

Don't get me wrong, the town of Toodyay is wonderful. Residents are friendly and local shops are always helpful. The only down side is the shire. Councillors seem to hate each other and the CEO is somehow a local government CEO. Not sure who hired him but he doesn't appear to know how to be a CEO of a shire.

Rates may increase making Toodyay one of the most expensive shires to live in within the region. Some councillors want a multi-million dollar sport and rec centre but the town can't afford it but they still want it, they have no idea of costings or running an effect shire council.

The town of Toodyay is very nice and reasonably close to Perth. The upgrades to Toodyay Road is also a plus. Decent size supermarket and a few retail shops. The bakery is very popular among locals and tourists.

Pros:
-Very nice and green during winter.

-Most people are friendly and easy going.

-School for kindergarten to year 10. Senior high school students generally go to Northam senior high school. There is a school bus service for this.

-Very peaceful

-Police station, ambulance and bushfire brigades.

Cons:
-A lot of the 'old money' families (most come from farming backgrounds) that live in the Toodyay shire appear to be quite stuck up, especially come Toodyay Race Day. It seems that the standard of luxury and success for these people is to drive Prados and Landcruisers with T plates.

-The Toodyay Shire Council appears to be run by these old money locals who want to keep Toodyay as their town. Do some reading about the shire and you'll be amazed with all the mess that going on. The state government is even monitoring them. Hopefully some new blood gets elected into the council and removes the purple circle old guard that has infected the council for so many years.

-Internet is good in town only, out of town it's very weak.

-If you're into swimming - go to Northam. No pool in town and probably never will be.

-Shire may increase rates.

-Shire Councillors get paid may to much.

No traffic, rude people or pollution. Just nature, friendly people and beautiful scenery.

I would have loved to buy in Toodyay and i had been looking for a while but i heard to many negatives about the local council, it's a beautiful place and close to the city it's a shame the council wants to keep it so small and isolated the extra cash would be good for the town, it looks like it could use a freshen up.
I'm looking elsewhere now but i hope things come good for Toodyay.

Everybody talks to ya evan if they dont no ya the poeple are very helpfull and if you are buying a small acers you can ask someone advice on seeds and poeple are will to give you advice.And if you need a farrier they cant help enough were how to get. There is a street party and the moonshine festival and the picnic race day ;the car rally the Toodyay show.There is also the market day ; they have diffrent sports like lawn bowls cricket baseball karate dance yoga and the gym.