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Reviews

Werribee

"Good and bad - depends where your priorities are"

I know when anything bad is said about werribee locals will probably comment calling me a snob, im not, just trying to be more honest than some on here.
firstly, the pro's, werribee is still very, very cheap compared to most areas of melbourne, meaning that families can afford a comfortable house without being rich. it also has rail and freeway access to the city, which makes city access fairly easy outside peak times. i also find that crime seems to be overstated, maybe it just seems higher due to the presence of groups of teenagers on the streets. since its flat, cycling is fairly easy compared with more hilly parts of the city. also the new train line to geelong looks like it will probably act like a new suburban train line to areas like wyndham vale and tarneit, making public transport way better in the area.

On the down side, the low rents here and the increase in rents in previously low-rent suburbs like footscray or newport has pushed most of the ferals out to the outer burbs,with werribee taking more than its fair share. yeah yeah, all areas have them- but werribee definitely has a much higher proportion. in addition, the area around werribee has grown massively in the past few years, without road infrastructure being updated so traffic gets even worse than in areas much closer to the city. although the houses are cheap, that doesn't mean the cost of living is, and it can end up being higher than paying rent in suburbs with better services and shorter travel distances. for me tho, the worst thing is the way the general area looks- where there arent houses yet, the west mainly looks like a dust bowl, flat and brown and featureless. then development on top of this looks like a haphazard mix of oil refineries and shabby industrial areas and tacky mcmansion housing estates. the freeway landscaping is probably about the prettiest view around.

Great for

  • New train stations coming to the area
  • Short trip between two cities - Melbourne & Geelong
  • Plenty to do for families, and it's relatively cheap

Not great for

  • Region looks industrial, flat and barren
  • Traffic due to population boom
  • Not enough nightlife
  • Public transport can be unreliable at times

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
3
The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
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Roxburgh Park

"Lower-middle income 90s era outer suburb predominantly housing young families"

There have been a lot of gushing reviews of roxy plus a couple of extremely negative reviews... to be honest it's somewhere in the middle. It's safer than some suburbs, less safe than others- apparently the latest statistics show it is slightly above the average for crime, but not by much. Like most outer suburbs its dominated by young families so dont expect any cafes bars or proper restaurants, and no high street as such, retail is all in one shopping centre, which has all the usual mass chain retail. There is a new train station, which isn't too far out of the city, which makes the prices in the area very cheap compared to suburbs that take the equivalent time to get the train to the city in the Eastern/South Eastern suburbs or via tram. Most people seem to get around by car tho, and you hardly see any people walking. Housing stock is pretty decent, mostly modest but nice looking houses, townhouses and terrace/row houses. Agree with an earlier poster about people staring tho- like most outer suburbs from what i've seen most other men act fairly conservative and dress/act the same, if you are doing/wearing something different to the rest (and not just talking about hipsters here) expect more attention than you're used to. Overall tho, if you're looking for an affordable place for a family not as far out as woop woop then its pretty good, if you're more worried about lifestyle, heritage buildings, public transport street life or nightlife, probably best to stick to places within 10 km of the city.

Great for

  • Affordable
  • Decent city access by train/car
  • Multicultural

Not great for

  • Limited retail, no streetlife, no entertainment
  • Have to drive everywhere; isolated if no car/license

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Country Lovers
3
The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
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Heidelberg

"Fairly nice and attractive area; very expensive area"

Heidelberg is a nice, hilly and green upper-middle income suburb. In many ways it feels like an eastern suburb, but is in the northern suburbs- It used to mean that despite feeling affluent, Heidelberg was cheap- but nowadays it is the same price as the eastern suburbs, so I would only recommend parting with the huge sum necessary to own here if being in the northern suburbs specifically is what you wanted/needed. Centre of the suburb is Burgundy St which along with Warringal Mall have most of the shops and services that you could need, plus plenty of eateries and cafe's around, with the bonus that the commercial area sits directly adjacent to a premium train station in zone 1, about 25 mins to the city. The locals are agreeable if not overly friendly, behave and dress conservatively, and fit in slightly above the average on the social scale. You receive slightly fewer greetings but also see less unusual/anti social behaviour than in more blue collar areas. I disagree that it is not expensive or 'hipster' yet- hipsters don't make an area expensive, affluent singles and families make an area expensive, hipsters are mostly poor students and hospitality casuals who can go out on $20. As Heidelberg is now mostly affluent singles and affluent families it is anything but cheap. Frankly, I'd love if hipsters did move in, as then there would be a bit of nightlife in the area beyond the two suburban pubs (mainly tradies and pokies). Its about 15 minute drive to 3 major shopping centres from Heidelberg, all of which have cinemas: Northland, Greensborough, and Doncaster. Traffic in Heidelberg can be pretty bad unfortunately; Lower Heidelberg Rd and Banksia St are often choked up, even on weekends. The Yarra River runs along the side of Heidelberg, meaning lots of parks and some great jogging/cycling trails.

Great for

  • Clean and green
  • Parks and recreation
  • Nice looking area
  • Safe and sound
  • Great shopping options

Not great for

  • Traffic
  • Relatively expensive nowadays
  • Dead after hours

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • LGBT+
  • Students
  • Country Lovers
  • Trendy & Stylish
0
The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
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Glenroy

"Pleasantly surprised"

I have only lived in Glenroy for 6 months, but its been enough time for me to have gotten to know the place reasonably well. There are pro's and con's, but overall its been way better than I was expecting from its reputation. To start with the pro's, transport here is excellent- im 5 minutes walk away from Glenroy Station, which is less than 30 minutes to the city (depending what way the train goes through the loop) give or take a few minutes. Its on a main line, meaning no transfers. Its also only about 5 minutes drive to two freeways, the Ring Road and Citylink, making getting around by car easy. Plus even in peak hour there are rarely any traffic jams, unless you need to cross the train line at the level crossing (which I don't). The area is pretty diverse in terms of languages, nationalities and religions, meaning the people are mostly used to and tolerant of all walks of life, and aren't like the conservative 'staring' people you get in some suburbs who make you feel out of place if you look even slightly different. Glenroy also has a pretty well stocked main street- of course its not gonna compare with Chapel St or Bridge Rd, but for the suburbs its pretty good and has all the essentials covered meaning you don't have to leave the area (or in my case, even drive) except for occasional purchases like fashion or electronics. Crime doesn't seem to be a particular problem in the area. Great parks along Moonee Creek and up around the border with Broadmeadows, great for jogging and cycling. And of course, cheap prices, on par with many much worse areas like West Heidelberg or Brooklyn. On the flip side, the area particularly around the train station still looks pretty tired and unattractive, which is a shame for visitors or people passing on the train. There can also be some sketchy characters around during the day, and no night life to speak of, but that seems to be the norm for most suburbs more than 10km out of the city (beyond just TAB/pokies venues). Overall though, great transport, walkable, plenty of shops/services, leafy and quiet residential areas, and attractive parks along the creek- I have to say a pretty pleasant surprise, and in no hurry to move out.

Great for

  • Great transport- train and freeways
  • Plenty of local shops and services
  • Very quiet and safe, leafy streets for the $$

Not great for

  • Central area a bit ugly, particularly around the station

Who lives here?

  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Students
1
The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
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Heidelberg West

"Be wary of people using the same old line of its on the up- do your research"

Although the rent/property prices here are cheaper than in nearby suburbs, trust me, they aren't cheap enough, especially if you have kids. Go to Reservoir, go to Glenroy, go to Altona- none of these are great but I've lived in them all and they are infinitely more preferable. Heck even country towns are preferable if you're that worried about saving money on rent. As many posters here have already mentioned, the area looks rough, sounds rough and is rough. Way more yelling, drug dealing, sirens etc. here per capita than is normal. I have to admit I was never the victim of crime myself in Heidelberg West, but I know the statistics, and my old housemates car has since been broken into and her backyard entered, a few clothing items stolen from the line and her pet rabbit let loose/stolen (wtf, right!?). It's more of a 'filler' suburb, between the major suburbs with actual services and transport. Lots of drab buildings and houses, no nice period (ie. pre WW2) buildings and few modern ones- area mostly developed in the 50s and 60s with automobile dominance in mind, meaning there is no real centre, and therefore few shops within West Heidelberg, and restaurants, bars, cafes? At least a decent pub? Forget about it. Some posters here have mentioned proximity to the city/public transport as pro's- but even this is not really true. I'd consider somewhere like Ascot Vale or Northcote to be pretty much the outer limit of 'so close to the city'- West Heidelberg is at least 12 km away. Crap freeway access. Additionally, within the suburb itself there is no train station, no tram line, no direct link to the city at all, meaning you must either own a car, or be wiling to catch a bus (bus passengers in West Heidelberg? eugh) fifteen or twenty minutes to the nearest station, then wait to catch the next train, just to get to the city- just commuting via train alone can be bad enough. Also, if you're not used to living in crappy areas, it can be kind of embarrassing to invite friends and family over to visit when you know they will be seeing/hearing what you force yourself to ignore.
If you're seriously thinking about moving here, if you rent make sure you have a car and a high tolerance for putting up with the ugliness and crime and feral people for the lower rent. The only redeeming feature is it is quite close to really nice suburbs like Heidelberg (3084) and Ivanhoe, as well as Latrobe Uni. And if you're thinking of actually buying here- for gods sake do your research and find out what its actually likely to return, and don't believe the same old line used for all crappy areas of 'its on the up!'- the area would need to get rid of its housing commission houses and get a train station/rail line for it to really be on the up, and they're never going to happen.

Great for

  • Close to University, Hospitals and Shopping centres

Not great for

  • Rough people on the streets
  • No public transport to the city
  • Few local shops & services, no nightlife & places to eat/drink...
  • Old commission places
  • Some areas look in need of an update
  • Education and living standards
  • Poverty

Who lives here?

  • Students
0
tonyyoung
tonyyoung

Anyone know how long ago this review was written?

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