boyohboy

Our family has been living in Cheltenham (between Nepean Hwy and Warrigal Rd) for over 5 years. For us, it's the ideal mix of South East living: quiet, safe, central - without the comparably high house prices of neighbouring affluent beach-side suburbs like Beaumaris (5 min drive) and Brighton (10 mins drive).

What's nearby:
Our neighbours are friendly, the streets are full of families walking their dogs during the day and quiet at night. Thankfully, since we're on the Nepean Hwy side of Warrigal Rd, we rarely hear any noise from planes around Moorabbin Airport. The streets are clean and we're a short walking distance from multiple parks, play areas and public BBQs. In the next few years, we'll be shipping off our young one to school, and I've been very pleased to find the schools in the area have a great reputation. For shopping, apart from the city, there may not be a more central suburb in Melbourne: we're a short driving distance from multiple supermarkets, Westfield Southland (one of the biggest shopping centres in Melbourne), DFO, Costco, and if that's not enough: Chadstone (the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere) is a 15 minute drive away. We're also one of the lucky suburbs to have more than one train station, and the icing on the cake: the beach is a 10 minute drive away, which is perfect for summer, but great all-year-round for a relaxing walk or drive down Beach Rd.

What's not nearby:
There is a clear lack of entertainment and nightlife - and a slight lack of variety for local restaurants. If you want to grab a drink, you may have to travel to a neighbouring suburb like Highett, Beaumaris, Sandringham, Mordialloc, Hampton or Brighton - all of which probably beat us in this regard. For us, that's a tiny price to pay for everything else we love about Cheltenham - and it still means there's plenty on offer if you're willing to drive for 5-10 mins.

Crime:
In over 5 years, I can happily report we haven't experienced or been exposed to a single instance of crime. We haven't had any reason to feel unsafe in this suburb. The closest thing I've seen to 'trouble makers' are some young loutish-looking kids that hang around Southland Shopping Centre - but you'll find similar characters hanging around any large shopping centre. I don't have anything further to say about crime, to me it's black and white: I feel very safe for my family here.