andyqs

Lived in Kew for 2 years near the junction. The positives are its a leafy suburb and very well regarded in terms of postcode bragging rights. It has beautiful old houses and some very picturesque streets, populated mainly by older professionals / retirees. A trip to Kew Leo's will see you passing mainly white, older people driving their Mercs and BMW's and acting fairly elitist.

There are many downsides, not least of which is transport. Yes, there is the 109 tram, but this takes at least an hour to get to the city despite being so close. No train station. Very poor shopping options - there is the junction but traffic is a nightmare and the shops are mainly jewellery and art stores catering to the older folk who inhabit the area. Nightlife is pretty limited to the QPO and Skinnydog, where you can hang out with all the private school kids in the ralph lauren polo shirts with the upturned collars.

Safety wise, the crime statistics show its actually worse than many of the outer suburbs, probably the thieves knowing they can break in and steal a lot of valuables. There is about zero community spirit owing to the demographics of the suburb, with folk tending to stay behind their gates or socialise within their defined cliques.

The suburb makes me think of an ageing actor who has lost their looks behind piles of makeup, yet continues to think they are great and charges a fortune to come and see them for a lackluster performance.

Quiet, green and peaceful. A great street with not many cars going through it. Backs on to Gardiners Creek with a gorgeous bush outlook full of green trees and wildlife. A fantastic, tight knit but welcoming neighborhood street where you will be invited to Christmas lunch in the part, NYE fireworks celebrations and the classic Halloween crawl once you move in. Cannot think of a better place to live, so close to Melbourne but so clean, green, welcoming and peaceful.

Can't understand why this is rated as such a great street. Its basically just a road. No special amenities. No great access to transport. No grand treescapes. No beautiful row houses. No special shopping precinct. Its basically a street full of ex-army soldier houses, every one of them almost identical to the next, apart from the block style in-fills. Ordinary, if not ugly street bordering on a very dodgy pocket of Melbourne in the old games village. Sure, its now called 'Ivanhoe' because of a re-zoning 20 years ago, but at its heart its still West Heidelberg

Would have to be one of the worst streets in Camberwell. Its a known rat-run between Toorak Rd and Camberwell Rd, and will often see hoons doing 70+ kph down the street in a 50kph zone as there are no speed bumps. A very noisy, busy street where all the beautiful old houses have been torn down for faux french mcmansions

Have lived in Camberwell for about 6 years and when we originally moved here it was a pleasant place to be. The streets are wide and graceful with beautiful tree cover and some gorgeous, federation style architecture and large blocks. It is also generally safe, although we were broken into 3 times.

As a downside, there is a very poor community feel in this suburb and the general look of the streets are being destroyed by massive McMansions that overwhelm each block and live being iron gates. A large proportion of the population of Boroondara city is now made up of disparate foreign nationals. While there is nothing wrong with this per se, it does mean many of the houses are left vacant, or held by foreigners who have little interest in adding to or building the broader community spirit. You end up with a suburb of people living behind their fences, rarely talking, having little community participation and only being in the suburb because it has the right postcode.

Transport options are fairly ordinary. The tram takes an age to get to the city and the train station sits far away from where most of the homes are (and charges a fortune for parking). Shopping wise is OK with Burke Road, but this is known as one of the most congested streets in Melbourne and is a nightmare to drive down.

This is a place to live if you want to board yourself up in your McMansion and flash your postcode around to your friends. As a place to live and raise a young family, it leaves a lot to be desired.

As a working professional with a large family,I lived in Camberwell for 7 years, Kew for 4 and Ashwood for 2. I would have to say hands down Ashwood is the best place I've lived in Melbourne.

Ashwood has the lowest crime rate amongst the 3 of those suburbs, and in my own opinion is by far the nicest place to live. There is a fantastic community spirit, it has an amazing location with trains close by (unlike most of Camberwell and all of Kew) and if you are lucky enough to live need Gardiners Creek trail, its like living in the bush but only 14kms from the city. In Kew / Camberwell, the 'community' is very snobbish and tends to live behind their iron gates. The first month we moved to Ashwood, we were invited to a street party, a Christmas street bbq and a NYE party. There was nothing like this in Kew / Camberwell despite living there for many more years.

Ashwood is often an unheard of suburb despite being close to the city. With the very expensive suburbs of Glen Waverley / Mount Waverley on one side, and Glen Iris / East Malvern / Ashburton on the other, I simply can't think of a better 'value' suburb. Yes, house prices have risen a lot recently because of this, but you can still buy a 800sqm block for around $1.4m. This is unheard of in those other suburbs I mention.

This is a very green, family friendly, safe suburb to live in. Ashwood High has also recently had major $5m spending upgrades and a new Principal who previously transformed Sunbury College. Many parents now opt to send their kids to the local high school instead of private schools.

The nightlife may not be great (only the Flinders hotel which is OK as a family venue) but the shopping is great (high street, Chadstone, Homemaker Centre etc). Transport is great (Holmesglen is still Zone 1 and a 20min ride to the city). Education facilities are great (Deakin, Ashwood High). Outdoor life is great (many 'hidden' ovals and green spaces along Gardiners Creek and a bike path all the way to the city)

Its clear quite a few people are 'waking up' to this small pocket of a suburb, based simply on the number of new houses being built on the generous blocks. Hopefully not too many people get clued into what a great hidden suburb this is, to keep it the way it is.