Moving to Melbourne - advice needed

[blackdiamond]

In early May we are moving back to Australia, so after moving from Adelaide to New Orleans then to Detroit the time has come to move to Melbourne.

I'm pretty stoked, it's going to be great to be a bit closer to family (at least by time zone), get back into the great Australian way of life and then of course the footy - would be great to see all the home games as I would if living back in Adelaide but half a dozen games in Melbourne isn't too bad, especially since I have only been back for one game last year since leaving in mid-2007.

I would be really interested in those of you who currently or have previously lived in Melbourne on where a good place to live is. We have a young family with a boy of 7 months (cries like an American but we hope to knock that out of him so he can talk like an Aussie), so we are looking for a place close to Melbourne that has some Parks, Child Care, Public Transport (tram/train) and has a good downtown - would be good to walk to the shops to get groceries and go to restaurants.

At this stage we are probably looking between Pascoe Vale to Preston, maybe as close to town as Brunswick but are open to other suggestions - my wife will be working in Parkville.

No work for me yet, so if you know anyone looking for someone (admin type role) let me know.

Anyway we are probably looking to spend about $400 a week renting a townhouse - don't want an apartment as we want to give our boy the closest feeling to living in a house as possible.

Also we will need to setup internet/cable and things like that, any help on doing this as cheap as possible with good service would be great as well, not quite sure what all the options are in Melbourne.

Lastly I hope to catch up with a few of you Port supporters that call Melbourne home.

All your help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[gbear]

Glad to hear you are coming home BD. Mrs. & Mr. Gbear will have somewhere to crash for the finals

 

[blackdiamond]

As always, very welcome.

 

[MrMeaner]

BD,

I'm not sure what the rental market is like these days.

Personally, I am up in the North Eastern suburbs. I'm in Montmorency (between Eltham and Greensborough) and love it. It is a little far out but is close to the train line (it's far enough out that you will almost always get a seat). It has the feel of a small country town - it has one main street with cafes, butchers, greengrocers etc - but is within 40 mins of the CBD by train (assuming they are running). There are plenty of young families out here and the parklands are huge. The other great thing from a Port supporter's perspective is that the local footy team are the Magpies (albeit in Collingwood guernseys) and a close-by junior footy club - St Marys - wears black, white and teal.

I'm not sure how bad the commute from the North East to Parkville would be. It's probably horrendous.

Closer options may be Northcote, Thornbury and Roseanna. They might be a bit expensive though. I rented in Thornbury a few years ago. It was a two bedroom Victorian townhouse and was about $350 per week. When we broke our lease, it was advertised for significantly more. I think that you will have the same problem anywhere close to the city.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

[blackdiamond]

MM thanks for that information, although it's probably a little further out than what we would like.

We have set ourselves for about $400 a week so hopefully this is a reasonable amount to get us what we need (especially for the little one).

So much to do, we won't be shipping much back so it's really going to be like starting again.

 

[silverfingers]

Mt Waverley's a good spot.
Quiet, leafy, 20 mins to city on train, close to golf course if you're a golfer.

 

[Peck]

A mate of mine is moving to Brunswick in about a week, sounds like a nice place, same for Clifton Hill which they were also looking at.

 

[blackdiamond]

^Let me know if he has any feedback, it would be much appreciated.

Things are moving slowly here, looks like we will be here in Detroit for another month and then moving back to Adelaide (for a short time0 before then moving to Melbourne.

 

[dogs105]

As far north as Pascoe Vale, you can still get a tram (55) that goes through Royal Park, right past the hospitals, then Melbourne Uni, in Parkville.
Similarly(ish) priced Coburg North (further East) also has a direct Tram to the city (19), but goes down Sydney Road, and can be very slow. If you were to be further South-West, the number 8 tram goes down Lygon street, stops at the Uni, then goes through to city (and on to Toorak). This is great for Friday nights on the way home from work, stopping off for great food!

Trains are good, but all go into the city so you generally need to come again to your destination.

Brunswick/Pascoe Vale/Coburg is a really nice area; Plenty of Parks, playgrounds, cafes, and easy access to the airport (very useful for having people to visit!). Brunswick has lots of interesting shops on Sydney Road, while Pascoe Vale is more convenient for the Moonee Ponds shopping areas.

There are a lot of playgroups/mothers' groups in the area. The Child and Maternal Health department seems to be quite organised, and there is a centre close to most areas. (Brunswick in particular seems home to the cloth nappy brigade though).

Hope some of this helps.

Cheers.

Melbourne generally is very live-able; it's a lot like Adelaide, but bigger, and with better drivers.

 

[blackdiamond]

Thanks Dogs

 

[Paralowiepower]

Fantastic to hear you are coming home BD.

 

[blackdiamond]

Should be back early to mid June, will spend a little bit of time in Adelaide before heading over to Melbourne.

 

[PAUR]

For what it's worth, I lived in Brunswick West for about 3 months and really didn't like it. The demographic wasn't for me and I didn't like the people I lived with (taints my view).

I liked Moonee Ponds better which was on the other side of the HWY and PAscoe Vale a bit further out was OK too. Sydney road and Brunswick road in Fitzroy are really interesting spots too

The east of Melbourne (hawthorn way I think) seemed nicer to me but I never lived there just visited it a few times.

But it's all subjective and I don't have a kid so best of luck with finding a place

 

[timothiefielder]

There's a heap of new townhouses out in the South East and the area is getting quite big. Cranbourne, Pakenham, Officer.
You'd get a town house for that out there and there's plenty of ammenities out there. I grew up out that way and it's amazing how far the area has come forward. It just all really depends on how far you want to travel for work.

 

[SwampRat]

I moved to Melbourne a year and a half ago or so. Loving it here.

I'm in Cheltenham. It seems to be one of the suburbs that people forget about. For mine, it's a great suburb. Quiet, close to public transport (train or bus), very close to Southland shopping centre (frickin huge), and some nice cafe's restaurants close by too. Also, you're 5 mins from Beaumaris or Mentone beach.