Is Melbourne the type of city to bring up a family?

Question

My wife and I and our baby daughter are moving to Melbourne next year and I would love to find out about primary schools and the best part of Melbourne to locate ourselves.

thanks

Answer 1

G'day,

I'm an immigrant from South-East Asia and have been living in Melbourne for over 16yrs and never regret the move at all.

First of all, this is what I can say about Melbourne:
1. First of all... some people do not like the weather in Melbourne (you can have 4 seasons in one day). However, if you read the first article from The Age newspaper, you will find out that the weather is still more preferable than the other cities. Sure you can have 42C day in summer, but almost immediately you'll get a much cooler weather pretty soon afterwards. It is very rarely that you got 2 or 3 consecutive days of hot weathers (unlike Sydney, Brisbane or Perth).
2. Melbourne is a city of diversity. If you are a newcomer, and you do not look 'Caucasian', you do not feel like an 'alien', since you can find almost every race in the world walking in the city. They are both immigrants and overseas students.
3. THE FOOD!! Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Thai, All-you-can-eat, African, Lebanese, Mexican, Sea Food... anything else? All available and lots of them in a very-very-very affordable price
4. Pretty good public transport system. With one ticket, you can switch from train, tram and bus. They do not always come on-time, but still reliable and improving (www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au).
5. SHOPPING!!! Original branded clothing sold very cheap. There are even shopping tour, where the participants are taken to retails outlets just for shopping. Big temptations for ladies.
6. Crime rates... just read the second article on the bottom.
7. Cost of Living... I'll say it's second most expensive city after Sydney. Altho I have to say that some cities in Queensland can be more expensive to live.
8. Tourist attraction. This is the area that I think Sydney is better than Melbourne, since it has most of it's attraction within its suburbs. Most Melbourne attraction are pretty much out of Melbourne, such as the gold mines in the cities of Bendigo and Ballarat, The Great Ocean Road, Lakes Entrance, Grampians, skiing in Mt. Buller etc.

In regards to places to live, most Melbournians are looking around the East, South and Southeast side, so the price of the properties on those sides are pretty expensive.

The inner suburbs are old houses, pretty dense and small, with expensive prices due to their closeness to the CBD.

I used to live in Collingwood and Clifton Hill (the inner suburbs) with my parents. When I got married in 2000 and looking for our own place. The obvious path will be to look around the area that I have lived in. However after searching for awhile we realised that with our budget of about AUD$300K, we could only find a run-down house that we need to renovate extensively. We were looking further and further towards East and South East area, until we reach Rowville and felt that it becomes ridiculously too far, not to mention the peak-hour traffic report that you usually hear from the radio on the M1.

We finally settle in Point Cook, west of Melbourne. It is about 20min from the city via Westgate Freeway with plenty of new estates being opened, affordable price, close to the sea and infrastructure that aimed for young families. Just try and have a look yourself if you are interested to find out.

I am enclosing 3 websites that lists available property around Melbourne. The 4th website is one of the main real estate in Point Cook area, if you are interested to see around the area.

In regards to primary schools there are 3 choices: Public/Government, Christian/Catholic and Private. Public schools have pretty much the same standard wherever you go and they are the cheapest alternative. You usually just enrolled to the one closer to where you live. The list of government schools are in Victoria government website: www.vic.gov.au.
Private are the most expensive, since on top of the tuition fee, you will still have to buy books, uniform,laptops etc. The list for non-government schools are here: http://www.isd.com.au/.
I am also enclosing some job websites as well if you need it. They are as follows:
www.seek.com.au
www.mycareer.com.au
www.careerone.com.au

Good luck and welcome to Melbourne :)

Answer 2

Melbourne is a very good place to live as a family.For a family, the inner south west suburbs (Caulfield, Glenhuntly, McKinnon, Ormond, Bentleigh) are very good. About 12 kilometres from the city. The primary schools are all the same. The big difference comes in High-School. When your kids grow up, ask another question and I'll be here to answer!

Answer 3

Melbourne is a great place to raise kids. I like the Eastern suburbs best, but that's a personal choice - not necessarily better than anywhere else.

If money is no object the ideal would be close to the city if you work there and want to be close to a myriad of activities to immerse your child in - Camberwell, Hawthorn, Flemington, Essendon, WEST Brunswick, Moonee Ponds, Strathmore, Carlton, Fitzroy, Williamstown - close to the city and very up-market suburbs..(There are more just as suitable - but my brain is full LOL)

Everyone will have their own preferences. I grew up in Melbourne - I raised MY kids there, in a variety of places. It will always be home to me. I love the cosmopolitan atmosphere and the way Melbournians embrace different cultures, customs, food, etc. It has a real depth - a richness of culture I haven't really found anywhere else.

Good luck - keep Melbourne warm for me - I can't get back there for a couple of years :-)

Answer 4

Well for starters, Brisbane is a city and Tasmania is a state!! Brisbane is beautiful - there's always something to do, the people are really friendly, but if you're after rural areas, then I assume somewhere in Tasmania would be a bit more suited. Obviously Brisbane weather is far nicer than Tasmania, and there's a few more people here too. I'm sure both would be fantastic, but by the sounds of it Tasmania would be more realistic for agriculture. Good luck with the decision and the move!

Answer 5

Melbourne is a great city to bring up your family. It is very cosmopolitan. You will find every nationality living within Melbourne's streets and most people get along just fine with their neighbours - admittedly there is always going to be someone who stirs up trouble for one reason or another, but that happens right around the world. People come here to get away from the rest of the world and find a quiet city that minds its own business as long as others mind theirs.

Its radius is 50 - 60kms wide and growing and there is public transport in one form or another to most areas. The weather is mild - it doesn't snow in Melbourne (although we have mountainous areas within in a couple of hours of travelling where is does snow). Its temperatures rarely get over 40, although summer ranges can be often in the 30s

Like any city, there are government based primary school as well as private schools such as religion based schools, those that cater for those with disabilities and others for artistic temperaments even Montessori schools. So it is a matter of your preferences and your childs ability.

The best part to locate yourselves? Well, Most people live in houses or apratments in the suburbs, however there is a growing trend now to live in apratments in the city. I prefer the eastern suburbs, but that is only because that is the area that I have grown up in, and am raising my family in. It does have a reputation for being the 'good side' of the city. Others prefer the peninsulas near the beaches, and others prefer the mountains.

The rich live mainly in Toorak and South Yarra (which is in the east) and the rest live all around them, such as Malvern, Glen Iris, Camberwell, Hawthorn, Glen Waverley, Doncaster, Temnplestowe, Prahran, Albert Park, St Kilda, nd many places in between. There are other areas where there is large concentration of migrants where sometimes even the store names are not in English, such as Springvale, Footscray, Sunshine, Box Hill. Some areas have bad reputations (even within the eastern suburbs) and others have good.

I can't tell you where you would feel comfortable to live because I do not know you and cannot presume anything about you to be able to make a recommendation. It would all come down to whether you can afford to live in the suburb you have chosen.

I wish you much happiness in your new location wherever it is you decide to live.

Answer 6

Melbourne is a great place to raise a family. The education system is very good and primary schools are fine everywhere. Pick a suburb based on convenience to work, to transport, to the beach or the hills etc. People are raising families happily and successfully all over Melbourne.

Answer 7

We live an hour out of Melbourne near the Mornington Peninsula and have brought up 4 children here,The schools are good as are the people,there are so many different areas to chose,try giving us an idea of your lifestyle i.e. are you country or city people?beach or bush?like to spent time with the neighbours or keep to your self.Tha way people can give you a more accurate answer.

Answer 8

Kella G's answer nearly says it all, I live in the Dandenongs (the bush) and it is wonderful!! but you need a car for transport, and to get to some of the excellent colleges not far from us......
Just about everything is in easy driving distance from Melbourne anyway.....

Answer 9

I'm Biased .. I am a new south welshwoman by birth , VICTORIAN by choice .. .and I love Melbourne..

I live in the Dandenongs .. a beautiful part of outer melbourne.

great schools great atmosphere..

BUT i would really reccommend you visiting and taking time to drive around a bit and see where you feel most comfortable

Answer 10

yup Mitcham