Crumpet

Granville was once a quaint blue collar working class suburb stepped in history however this changed in the mid to late 80's when many of the surrounding factories closed down - allot of the workers left and a undesirable element slowly crept in snapping up housing stock at bargain prices.

My grandparents grew up in Granville and i lived there from 2008 to 2010 so i have been able to witness the slow decline of the suburb. I have lost count of the number of stabbings, bashing's, street level robberies and shootings that have occurred in the area over the last couple of years. Most seem to be gang related and i don't believe an honest person has anything to fear - that being said, if someone took my car space at the shops, i think i would be keeping my mouth shut. That's essentially the caliber of some of the people who live in Granville.

Granville is predominately populated by people from Middle Eastern Backgrounds with the bulk of the adult population being born overseas. Most of the stores / businesses in the area have their signage in Arabic - expect a lower level of service and sometimes outright rudeness if you don't speak the language. You could be mistaken for being in a different country - Granville is not multicultural, one culture is extremely dominant.

Drive down the main drag - South St and Good St and you will see garbage lining the streets and graffiti sprayed over the walls. Dubious looking teenagers and men congregate out the front of the many Kebab stores. There are two pubs and not much else, nothing that could be considered fine or even decent dining

Drive into the residential streets and they too are littered with garbage along the lines of old mattresses and couches. Many of the houses are run down, the front yards that haven't been concreted are over grown and ugly - you get the overwhelming impression that no one cares, their home is merely a place to sleep.

On the plus side, there are some nice pockets in Granville, namely the area bordered by Railway Pde, Woodville Rd, William St and The Avenue. This area contains many lovely old Victorian and Federation homes, many of which date back to the 1800's and are heritage listed. Nice inner city style terraces and semi's start from 400k - that's why i bought into the area but there were ultimately too many compromises to stay on. Being so close to Parramatta (20 min walk) and Sydney (30 min train ride), Granville is sure to boom one day and it might be an ok place for a cash strapped couple to start out - so long as you keep your blinkers on and ignore what is around you.