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Romulus

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Meadowbank

"Overpriced squalid slum with pretensions"

Lived in Meadowbank for six years. First moved in as a poor student. Best thing I did was move out after I got my degree and got a job. The main street (Meadow Crescent) is full of units built in the 1960's and 1970's, small and squalid, are overpriced and many decaying as they are poorly maintained. Clearly these units were built to service the Technical college near the railway station, which attracts mainly overseas students from Asia. So the demand has pushed up prices recently.

Meadowbank is also a target of burglars from the outer western suburbs --- I was broken into twice, and so were several neighbours. The police said that they jump off the train, do a job and then jump back on again.

No community spirit exists and there are some ethnic tensions --- one bloke was chasing someone down the street with a samurai sword late at night. We went to court as witnesses, though no resident in the street had the brains to call the cops when it was happening, except us after we had rescued the victim.My neigbours claimed they didn't call the cops because they thought it was a domestic!

Who lives here?

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EveJ

Meadowbank is very friendly. People often greet each other walking down the street and in the building. There are several friendly cafes where locals interact. I have not heard of robberies, although robberies do happen everywhere. I enjoyed Meadowbank.

FrancesK
FrancesK

Police report that any area directly next to a train station will experience small calibre robberies due to the get away factor (mobile phones, Ipods - not plasma TVs) The pigeon lady is very nice.

I have lived in a few suburbs on the lower north shore from Lane Cove to West Ryde. Meadowbank has it all. Yes the units on Meadow cres are 60/70s built. But the are very well maintained, and easy to update ( I just did it)
Dont pay heed to this mans negative rreviews, check it out for your self. I am sure you will find many more positives than negatives.

Oh And I work at the Local TAFE and there is a healthy mix of nationalities and cultures at this TAFE, as with any TAFE. If this man has such racial views, I dont think there is any suburb suitable for him, it IS a multi-cultural society.

Romulus

I agree, certain streets have the 1960’s buildings look. It would be good to get those renovated and looking modern.
Meadowbank is a target for robbers from the west? I mean come on, this applies to Hunters Hill, Chatswood, etc. Robbery happens everywhere! You were just unlucky.

I’m surprised robbers would go through all the effort of catching a train from the west, and then have to change trains at strathfield to get to meadowbank. I have lived there for 6 years on a building with no security, and its all smooth sailing. On warm nights my neighbour keeps his balcony doors open all night!

That story about the samurai guy is very strange! I’m surprised it wasn’t in the news! But that would definitely be an extraordinary and isolated incident.

There will always be the good and bad in each suburb. Sounds like you just had the bad luck. For me? its all good. …and from talking to others in the community, its all good for them too.

DenS

"full of units built in the 1960's and 1970's, small and squalid, are overpriced and many decaying as they are poorly maintained" = lots of potential to renovate and increase value, just as I have done :)

I have not seen any of the problems you claim to have seen and i've been here a few years. Looks like you're on your own with your comments.

Romulus

I appreciate that others may have different experiences than myself, but after six years of experiences in Meadowbank I was glad to get out. I drove through Meadow crescent recently and nothing's changed since I moved away.

You have to question the impartiality of some of the comments of people who have admitted to having bought in the area.

DenS --- good luck with the capital gains, I wish you the best. You wouldn't happen to know FrancesK would you? Given the similarity of the posts and the fact you both have renovated in the same street recently.

offgreenfx

I lived in Meadowbank all my life up until moving to the Central Coast recently. If I could still afford to live there I would have. Don't listen to Romulus, he/she is trolling. Putney was the absolute pits when I grew up. Mosquitos/Housing Commission/Drugs/Crime and it fixed itself up within 10 years and became very desirable as it is now. Meadowbank was never as bad as Putney was years ago and will probably never be as affluent as Putney is now, few suburbs experience such a radical change like that.

Meadowbank is however a fantastic low crime area which I would feel safe walking around anytime of day or night and have many times. Police Crime stats on www.police.nsw.gov.au show the area is one of the safest in Sydney when you check the crime maps. Internet trolls like Romulus like manipulating the facts.

WangoL

A man chased down a street with a Samurai sword sounds like a freak incident that could or might happen in any suburb.

If you look on Domain now, a number of Meadow Crescent apartments have undergone interior renovations with modern kitchens and bathrooms. While the exterior facade is still 60s and 70s style red brick building, "Squalid slum" would be taking it a bit far.

WendyM5

Meadowbank is this little place where people either stay for a very long time (if not a lifetime) because they simply love what it offers or leave as quickly as possible because it does not suit their lifestyle for whatever reason. The previous posts have succinctly spelt out all the benefits so I won't repeat them here. I have lived here for over 10 years and can see myself retiring here comfortably in 30 years' time.

My child is only a few years old and he is already telling me that he wants to stay in Meadowbank forever because he loves the parklands, the playgrounds and his many lovely little friends here, not to mention being so close to all the goodies in the shops. I secretly hope he will be able to afford to live here by the time he has to pay his own way in life. Lol. We have a few properties in the area and we never wanted to invest anywhere else. I am happy to report that we are definitely reaping the financial benefits for our deep love for Meadowbank as well.

If you prefer living in newer buildings with better facilities, then I would definitely choose one of those units in the Waterpoint complex built in the last 10 years or so around Bay Drive and Angas Street. Bathrooms in these units are actually well ventilated by quality systems installed in each unit. This more than makes up for lack of bathroom with its own window. Units in Waterpoint tend to be much more spacious too.

Over the years units on Meadow Crescent have increased a lot in prices. Most of the blocks on Meadow Crescent were built in the 1960s and 1970s to very basic standards. You can renovate but renovation still does not overcome problems such as poor insulation etc. As a keen observer and active investor in the Meadowbank property market, I believe that the eastern side of Meadowbank (on the ferry wharf side) actually offers better value for money now. But I will only limit my choices to the units in the Waterpoint complex though and will avoid buying anything built by developer Holdmark Property Group particularly those units on Belmore Street. Those units were built on the cheap and are of poor quality with substandard ventilation. I have a friend who lives in one of the Holdmark units and the bathrooms are mouldy because of poor ventilation.

Yes opportunistic random robbery does happen in Meadowbank just like everywhere else in a big metropolis like Sydney. Some years ago we were having a body corporate meeting at dusk at the front of our block at Meadow Crescent. All of a sudden we heard a lady's desperate and piercing cry for "Help!!". Without knowing what was going on, all the meeting attendees ran towards that direction and collectively we managed to wrestle the lady's handbag from one Middle Eastern looking guy in his early 20s. And we didn't stop there. We then chased him down the street and got the number plate of his getaway car. Later we learned that he turned himself in at Burwood Police Station either later that night or the following morning. The police told us he was not a Meadowbank local and was from Southwest Sydney.

The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
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