Info about Pakenham or Cranbourne area?

[Urshela]

Yippeeeee, were the proud owners of a 190 PR visa, granted this week, so very happy and very greatfull, and now the big move, but first we need to determine where??? we had a look at some areas but have no time to do the LSD thing so we really need help? our visa is a 190 PR sponsored visa (Victoria) we looked at Geelong....... Stunnig! But not very friendly on a budget if you dont have a job yet. Were looking into the areas around Pakenham and Cranbourne but as we dont know a thing about these areas we would like some input, their not in the CBD but also not too far out for traveling to interviews in the industrial areas, my husband is a Mechanical Engineer and were looking at places central to all industries, harbours ect....... any other ideas on areas would be great(budget friendly please?). But if anyone knows the two areas were looking into we would appreciate opinions especially on housing and schooling and general community?

Edited May 17, 2013 by Urshela

[mainewolfe]

Ask Hansa please he knows pakenham well

[HansaPlease]

We lived in Pakenham for 6 years and recently moved from there. It was good to us, we built our house there in 2008. It's very affordable and there are good and not so good areas. It's grown incredibly over the last few years and the infrastructure has improved with the growth. Plenty of shops and services, helped by the fairly new Marketplace which has a lot of the big name stores like Big W, Woolworths, etc.

There are some good schools and some to avoid. In terms of government schools, Pakenham Springs is new and has a good reputation (it's also in the best suburb, Heritage Springs). Pakenham Secondary College is definitely one to avoid.

Beacon Hills College is a semi-private school which is about the best in the area. St Patricks is also good and there are a few other decent ones dotted around.

We did enjoy living there, lots of parks to take the kids to, there's a good gym/pool centre (Cardinia Life) and has a community centre at Lakeside near the lake which often had events on.

In terms of suburbs, the old main town area is probably the least desirable. Heritage Springs is the best, also the most expensive (but still affordable, I think). Henty Park isn't bad, it's a middle of the road, affordable family area. Lakeside is hit and miss. Nice houses but very busy. There are a number of new, nice areas North East of Pakenham, I don't know their names, but could draw them on a map for you.

Fountain Gate shopping centre is huge and is 20 minutes away. Pakenham has great access to nice areas such as Gembrook, Lystefield Lake Park, 30 minutes to the beach, easy access to Phillip Island and Inverloch, and only 2.5 hours drive to the snow (Mt Baw Baw).

The down-sides: Like most cheaper suburbs it has its undesirable people, but on the whole it's pretty good. The worst thing about Pakenham, and the reason we ended up leaving is the commute to the city. Over an hour by train which turns into about 1.5 hours door to door if you're travelling to the middle of the city. We just found this to be too much with young kids because we both commute to the city. If your husband works closer in an industrial area like Dandenong, then no problem, that's only a 30 minute drive - but if you work in the CBD, then it's a hard slog.

That being said, trains are very regular and the new freeway bypass is handy. There is a fair bit of light industrial industry in the surrounding areas, so if you're not reliant on the city for work, then that could be a plus. There is a new industrial park that's been developed in Pakenham and I noticed a new factory being put up quite regularly. Their aiming to make it a bit of an employment hub and jobs are improving. All depends on what industry you're in.

There's probably more to tell but that's all I can think of. Happy to answer specific questions if you have any.

Cranbourne is similar to Pakenham, slightly closer to the city but can be a bit hit and miss. It sometimes gets called "Crimebourne". There are certainly good parts, but also less desirable parts. Out of the two I certainly prefer Pakenham, but that's personal opinion I guess.

We really did enjoy living in Pakenham, and we loved our house, the commute to the city centre just got too much for us.

What sort of budget are you looking at in terms of rent? Happy to suggest areas or show you a typical house for that price range.

Like I said, happy to answer more questions - it's an important decision to make!

Edited May 17, 2013 by HansaPlease

[RAD]

Hiya,

Pakenham has lots of new housing developments at very affordable prices. However some them are not very accessible to public transport. If you look at the Lakeside area in pakenham it is closer to shops and public transport. In my opinion pakenham is really far out, well from the city. However it's not too far from Dandenong, which is a big enough business district.

Cranbourne is slightly closer to Dandenong. Also look at areas around cranbourne like Lynbrook, Narre Warren, Berwick pronounced Berrick, Endeavour Hills, Rowville, Dingley village.

I think that in terms of housing, these areas would give you some lovely properties but also take into account that it takes about an hour by public transport to get into the city. By car it may take you equally long because of the nightmarish traffic going toward the city. However many people make this commute.

[RAD]

Hansa beat me to the typing lol but yes I absolutely agree with hansa.

[Urshela]

Thanx everyone, youre great and the info is all and more I was looking for, we are roaming the job search sites, hoping to maybe get an employer who would resolve our worry about "where do we go" well do the roaming thing for a month but after that well start making more definite plans, were planning on booking our plane tickets for latest 1 September 2013, rental properties for now well lokk at anything from 250-300 aus dollar a week? would that be possible, any areas "not hit and run or crime invested would be pref" and in the meantime if anyone knows of work for Mechanical engineer with impeccable ref, his got exp in power stations, mining (maintenance an projects) and heavy industries. We wouldreally appreciate any help?? Please???

[Urshela]

Ok soo lets give Packenham and "crimebourne" a skip too many "maybe not's" ............ Anyone with info on Berwick and Dundenong? a very informative and general overview like "hansa" has given is a good way to say.... this is the type of info Id like to have

[HansaPlease]

Dandenong is a dump to live in. There's no other way I can put it.

Berwick is good. Closer to the city than Pakenham and it has a nice town centre. Good schools, good housing. Berwick is getting fairly busy as it has grown an awful lot on the past few years so traffic can be a pain. Only issue I can see with Berwick is that you would need to up your budget a bit. $300 would get you a rental in Pakenham but wouldn't get you much at all in Berwick.

[Urshela]

Think we found some place suited....... Point Cook? seems affordable, not to far from CBD and surrounds, with good schools and a South African community, Next dillemma, once we get off the plane, get a rental car, were to first? we were thinking of some temp accomodation for at least the first two weeks or so untill we can find a rental house,has anyone please got an idea on this? any motel,caravan park temp accomodation options? We unfortunatley dont know anyone in in Victoria so well be walking in the dark, its a daunting task but many have done this(we think ) so at least were hopefull someone will advise us on the best options?,

[Sibella]

When we arrived we rented a furnished house for six weeks in Wheelers Hill from here http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/melbourne-rental-accommodation.htm - the website also has excellent information about Melbourne.

With regards to Point Cook - a lot of South Africans do live there but personally I wouldn't recommend it. As far as I can remember there weren't many good schools and the traffic to get to the city is a nightmare. But if you need to be closer to the West then of course it is doable.

We live in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne and with the Eastlink it's a quick trip into the city. We live in Wonga Park but good surrounding suburbs are Croydon Hills, Croydon North, Warranwood, North Ringwood and even some areas of East Ringwood and Croydon which will be more affordable. Chirnside Park has more modern housing and is cheaper as it's a bit further out.

Not as expensive as inner East but still easy to get around. Lots of great public primary and high schools with good results on the myschool website.

Personally I would suggest renting a temporary place until your husband finds work and in the meantime drive around the suburbs, visit schools and shopping centres and get a feel for the area.

The Outer East is a real mixed bag - we have arty natural earthy types in Warrandyte and Wonga Park, yummy mummies in Doncaster / Donvale / Templestowe and also quite a lot of cashed up bogans and just normal people around and also a lot of old people which I like! But as it is still a bit cheaper we can afford to buy a house around here one day and I am very pleased with both the public and private primary schools my kids are in.

Good luck and please feel free to contact me once you get here.

[Esthee]

Hi Urshela, you might not know it yet but you've just experienced your first taste of Melbourne The big east vs west debate is a very big debate and people can get very passionate about it. All Melbournians are passionate about their particular suburb and my work friends are always telling me to move to their neighborhood. I've come to see it as a way for them to show that they approve of you as a person. The biggest controversy people of the east will tell you is that the West Gate bridge is horrible and that the commute from the west to the cbd is a nightmare. Its not. It takes me 25 minutes from Point Cook to my offices in St Kilda in the morning if I leave early where it takes my boss an hour if he leaves at the same time from Ringwood. It takes me 35 minutes to Flinders street by train in peak traffic where it could take anything from 1 hour and 25 minutes from door to door from Doncaster by public transport. I know as I've been looking to move to the east and the travel time is always shorter west to cbd vs east to cbd.

So travelling time the west wins. Its the little secret we like to keep to ourselves. Another thing we tend to keep to ourselves in Point Cook is the ocean lifestyle. I live 6km from the beach and if it rains I can smell the ocean in my garden. If I want real ocean and not bay, its a quick 40min drive to Torquay and the Great Ocean Road from here. Some of the best off-leash dog parks are all on this side of the city and we have lovely Williamstown just down the road. Point Cook is a suburb of immigrants so you never feel out of place and everyone is friendly. After living here 2 years the shop owners knows you and greet you by name. Which are all things I love.

Now for the negatives. Point Cook is a little pocket in the west that is different from the other areas in the outer west. The other areas around us are known as being of a lower middle class area with associated social problems. Schools are apparently not as good as in the east, I've been told. I don't have children, so I can't comment on this. Something nobody will ever admit to is that you will be discriminated against when people learn that you live in the west. That might be either for a job, or something that I've experienced many times: trying to adopt a pet. Once they hear where you live they tend to label you, as most Australian people have never actually been to Point Cook and do not know how it looks or what kind of people live there.

That said Point Cook is almost always listed as one of the areas in Australia where you should invest in property as property prices have consistently been growing at some of the highest rates in the country. People are starting the realize that we have the same lifestyle and commute as people who live in Hampton or Brighton, with equally modern homes, but at a fraction of the price. And with the suburb starting to settle and trees starting to grow taller I think its really starting to grow into its own. I can understand why people love the east, I wanted to live there when I first moved to Australia, but Point Cook somehow just became home. And as a side note the odd bogan on the Werribee line always makes for an interesting conversation

[Sibella]

I don't have a problem with Point Cook as a place to live at all, but for us there were two main negatives - quite far from the nearest station (while here we are five mins drive away from Croydon station) and the schools didn't seem that good. There was one good state school but we didn't like the area it was situated in at all.

I also realized while I was driving around there is that we prefer it to be more hilly and green which is why I like it here.

So it's all up to your preferences - good to get advice from different people but only you can decide what is right for your family.

[Urshela]

My word, I thought rugby was bad!, now lets not open THAT can of worms? I appreciate each and everyone opinion, and it is exatley that "an opinion" so no need to get at anyones throuts? To me its actualy a good thing as usually evryone is more likeley to only tell you the "good" of each area, in these conversations I get to hear the not so good and the bad..........now can someone explain to me what a "bogen" is?Is it something like a "dam duiker" or a "tappet" LOL,sies, its not nice to tease.

At this stage our plan of action (not set in stone) is to get temp accomodation in Sunbury and during that time travel to point cook and Croydon, to decide where we "fit in" who knows we might just feel right at home in Sunbury but at the end the deciding factor will be the "employment thing" depending on where hubby gets work, I just have to say it really warms my heart and makes me a little less anxious knowing that there are so many people who are prepared to help a complete stranger, and I thank each and everyone from the bottom of my heart, Im sure I'll find a place, and hopefully meet a whole bunch of "Saffas or is that Saffers?" isnt saffas a funeral home here in SA? still need someone to explain all the "lingo" to me?

Edited May 20, 2013 by Urshela

[mainewolfe]

Wow sunbury is quite far from Croydon and a little closer to PC however you may want consider somewhere more central in temp accommodation like say south Yarra close to CBd and trams, trains and depending not to far to walk to say the Melbourne botanical gardens and close to the city link etc

As for opinions including ,mine I try to give a balanced objective view point ..but the best is to come and see and figure out what will work... Be very wary of opinions as they are exactly that. I remember reading a well back a guy didn't like Pc lived on the east side but then a strange thing happened he moved to PC on the west side so no matter how much advice you get it doesn't make up for pounding the streets and neighbourhoods to find your new home

[Sunnyskies]

We spent a lot of time googling before we made the move and that combined with the things that were most important to us sort of gave us an area to look at.

I agree with mainewolf that basing yourself in Sunbury and then deciding whether to move to Point Cook or Croydon is perhaps not practical. Its a bit like living in Glen Vista in Jo'burg's south and then deciding whether to move to Edenvale or Roodepoort.

I would suggest that you write a list of the things that are important to you. Then break Melbourne up into its regions, South West (Point Cook), West (Moonieponds), North West (Sunbury), North (Craigieburn), North East (Eltham/Templestowe), East (Box Hill if you want to be closer in or Croydon if you want to be far out), South East (Mentone or Frankston if you want to be far out) and do a little googling. Start with this page http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/living-in-victoria/melbourne-and-regional-victoria/melbourne, it has an interactive map that gives you some basic details on all the various areas.

Once you have settled on a region then start thinking about the actual suburb. I would recommend you google the suburb on Wikipedia and then search on the internet as much as possible to give you a point of reference of what you are looking at - I found that that definitely allowed me to reduce the list of places we were initially thinking about.

If you don't, once you get here you will realise that to drive 20km can be challenging, and driving the 45km between Sunbury and Croydon will seem like way too much effort. The roads can be very clogged up with traffic, and to have to try and do that when you are under pressure to find a rental may result in you just settling where you are in order to have a place to stay in.

Good luck with the decision making.

I'm not going to advocate my suburb, a friend did that when I was looking and all it did was make me confused and waste time, as we each have our own priorities. In the end I went back to the suburbs that I had selected as a result of my Gooling and we landed up moving very close to the area that I had already sort of settled on before we landed.

[Lindie]

We have just finished building and moved to Cranbourne after living in Berwick for nearly 4 years. The older parts of Cranbourne doesn't have the best of reputations and neither does the schools in those areas, but I have no personal experience of this so I can't say how true all the rumors are. We have friends living in the older parts of Cranbourne and they seem to be very happy, also with their primary school as far as I know. Secondary schools may be a different story though, but then again, judged from my own experience with public secondary schools, I reckon it's wise to choose a private or semi private high school regardless of where you are situated. If you can afford it of course. There are good public schools out there, they shouldn't all be judged as the same.

There are great new developments happening in the east of of Cranbourne where we now live. Look at the new housing developments of Selandra Rise, The Precinct and Pasadena on Clyde (which are all actually in the suburb of Clyde North, but bordering Cranbourne East). Then there is Parks Edge (the one we're in and Livingston next to us, as well as The Hunt Club accross the road from us (which I think is in the suburb of Narre Warren, but bordering Cranbourne East). The Cranbourne East primary and secondary schools are on the same block in The Hunt Club and is just over 2 years old. Clyde has a fairly new primary school too. St Peters Secondary College (semi private) opened a new campus in Selandra Rise a little over a year ago and only take up to Year level 9 at the moment. But Casey Grammar in Cranbourne is known as one of the best private schools in Melbourne and is from prep to year 12. So is Hillcrest Christian College in Clyde, also from prep to year 12.

[HansaPlease]

Lindie, I know a couple of people who have recently moved to the areas you mention in Clyde north and I've heard only good things...