Mike

Broadmeadows is, without a doubt, the best value suburb wihin 20 kms of Melbourne CBD, bar none. Period. Don't believe the haters and before you buy into what is said on social media, have a read of this.

Broadmeadows has basically everything you need in a suburb. It has good quality heavy rail service into the CBD, good shopping, lots of parks and schools, access to several freeways, easy access to the airport and is really not far from anything. Essondon DFO is 10 minutes away, Glenroy is 5 minutes away, Coburg is 15. The 24 hour Kmart (one of only three in Melbourne metro) is 5 minutes away in Campbellfield. The CBD is around 17kms as the crow flies, and is around 35 minutes by train. Taking into account citilink, you can be there in 20 minutes in off peak if you drive. Need to get to other areas of Melbourne, both the 901 and 902 buses stop at Broadmeadows train station, and if driving is your thing, the M80, Citilink, Tullamarine and Hume Freeways are all within easy reach.

Broadmeadows Central is an amazing shopping centre, boasting all the major supermarkets, all of the banks, a hoyts cinema, kmart, timezone, severals chemists, restaurants, and frankly, for its size, punches waay above its weight for what it offers. Just over the street, you have Bunnings, Supercheap and other shops, so in terms of shopping, you have everything you need right at your doorstep.

For parks, there are 2 notable parks. The first being Jack Roper reserve in the east, heading towards Campbellfield and centres on a very picturesque lake and large array of walking paths. I wouldn't swim in the water at all, but it is lovely to walk around. The other is to the north west in Broadmeadows Reserve, which is an expansive park which borders Broadmeadows, Jacana and Westmeadows, and takes in the local creek. The downside of the park is that, due to its proximity to the airport, the planes fly low and frequently overhead, so it is very noisy with aircraft noise. That said, it's great if you like plane spotting!

Broadmeadows is far from perfect. Olsen Place has potential to be a lovely shopping strip but is sadly neglected. The bus situation, if you aren't on the 9xx buses is convenient for basically no one. This is espcially true if you catch the 538 or 540 buses to the station, as they drop you off on the eastern side of the station. If you need to get to the shopping centre from there, it's a long and awkward walk through the tunnel under the station, cross Pascoe Value Road and then walk through the carpark to get to it. The town centre is too car focused, and is frankly not a great experience as a pedestrian. Pearcedale Parade now has a 40 km/h daily speed limit, but almost no one actually drives at that speed. The slip lanes into Dimboola means that people drive at high speed through the area, and pedestrian access to the shopping centre, especially from the Pearcedale Parade, is abysmal.

You also have to be on your guard while driving. People drive recklessly and too fast through what should be quiet residential streets. Burnouts happen, though less frequently now than they used to, and there are people who get around on very loud dirt bikes.

You wont get the nice cafes that you get closer in to the city - so if you are the kind of person who likes to walk to a cafe and have a coffee on a Sunday, you will be disappointed. There are options for that around. Glenroy is a few minutes away and has lots of cafes.

The area seems safe to me. I've lived here for over 3 years and have never had any issues. Maybe once upon a time it was rough, but it certainly doesn't seem to be that now. I've walked home in the dark from Jacana station a few times and never had any problems.

For all of its shortcomings, it's probably the only area in Melbourne where you can buy a free standing house on 600m2 for around $650,000 (which isn't nothing, but compared to other parts of Melbourne, is ridiculously cheap). There are lots of units going up and the area is starting to change.

TL/DR - Don't write off Broady just because of its reputation. Living here is actually pretty great, even if there aren't a lot of cafes around