Advice about Perth Suburbs Needed!!

[sarah81]

Hi,

I posted a while ago about moving to Perth. Since then we have had a trip to Perth to look around and for DP to visit his new job.

Just wondering if anyone knows about living in the Victoria Park, Kensington, Manning area and surrounding suburbs? We didn't get much a chance to look at those areas and someone suggested them to us. Am wondering if good for families, seems to be near the uni so thought may be a sudent type area. Also does anyone know if under a flight path cause of location to airport.

Sorry so many questions am feeling a bit panicky about moving now, DP is meant to start work next week and wants me to move within a month. And I haven't packed one thing yet.

Hope everyone is well, sorry I haven't been able to respond to many posts its been a very busy time. Hope I can in future.

Thanks
Sarah 25
DP 29
DS1 2.5yrs
DS2 5 months

[pegasus]

Hi Sarah

I live in the hills area and am biased about that being the best family area as I grew up on a bush block and my DS loves playing in his bit of bush. As for Vic Park, Kensington and Manning, they're good areas to buy in (values still going up due to proximity to Perth), some of the housing is a bit older than other areas.

I do have some friends who live in the area with kids (I work at Curtin Uni - so some of the people I work with live in the area), but as far as I know the majority of the population in that area is urban couples and students.

It would depend a lot on where work might be. The flight path of planes is more of an issue in Belmont, Rivervale area.

Wherever you decide on, all of Perth is pretty accessible to other parts, so my advice would be to find a house you like in the price range that's realistic.

Cheers

Veronica

[Mel's Belle]

Hi Sarah,

I actually live in Manning and have for about 2 and half years now. I have found Manning to be a fantastic suburb with a great community spirit (we have wonderful neighbours). We've found the suburb to be a strong mix of families with a few elderly people. We have an elderly couple one side and 2 strata houses the other side - one house has a young family and the other house has a single mum and her young son. We know everyone by name and the elderly couple look after our pets when we head off on holidays!

Planes fly over in the distance but you can't hear them when you're inside. We're not under a flight path, but I used to live in Cannington and that had a lot of planes flying over (and you could hear them at night).

Manning is in a great location - easy to get to the City (about 15 minutes in peak hour) and the train line will be down the freeway by the end of 2006. Manning is a mix of new houses and older 1950's houses and real estate tends to be snapped up pretty quickly, as Manning is surrounded by more expensive suburbs such as Salter Point, Karawara, Waterford and Como.

Victoria Park tends to be a thorough fare because a lot of traffic cuts through local streets during peak hour so you'd be hard-pressed to find a quiet street in Vic Park. I'm not so sure about Kensington's demographics but it is close to the city also.

Good luck!

Baby1205
Bubs due 7th December 2005

[Bron]

Hi Sarah

I'm a vic park girl and I love it. Really close to town, lovely old houses, nice cafes, funky pubs, close to the river. It has a really interesting diverse community too.

Never have any problems with planes. There is heaps of public transport and it is really easily accessible.

Go Vic Park!!!!

Bron

[pegasus]

I've just reread my post and hope I didn't offend anyone who lives in the Manning, Vic Park, Kensington area!!

I love those areas also and totally agree about the areas being great places in terms of proximity to Perth, cafes, shopping etc...

Truth is I totally love Western Australia and wouldn't live anywhere else. Sorry if I got any of the demographics wrong, a site to check out is www.realestate.com.au which has profiles of suburbs (my DH loves looking at what is around where). Another site is www.reiwa.com.au. I think any of these demographics that they publish is according to numbers of rentals, apartments, townhouses etc

We're probably all biased to where we live, but once again, I'm sorry if I offended anyone

[Mel's Belle]

I didn't find your post offensive at all. We're all a little biased as to where we live :)

Good luck with the house hunting!

[sarah81]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice everyone. I agree I didn't think that the post was offensive, you were just giving your honest opinion which is great. I am extremly biased about where I live in Adelaide!

Take care,

Sarah.

[pegasus]

Aw thanks guys,

I think I'm too new at this forum thing... :o

I think it's a bit hard sometimes to figure out what people are thinking when you only know their cyber selves and conversations are one way only. ;)

See you when you arrive Sarah - we may be able to get our acts together to organise a face to face meet up by then...

[razzle]

I lived in Vic Park for about 2 years and it was great, loads of nice pubs and restaurants. Kensington is just a bit closer to town but nice too. Manning is lovely.

I generally like South of the River better than North (Perthites have a thing about SOR and NOR :rolleyes: ) Bull Creek (lived there for about 2 years), Leeming and Willeton are nice suburbs too.

DP lived in Redcliffe for a while - lovely brand new house - right under the flight path. We used to get drunk and lie in the grass of the park opposite the house and watch the planes go over (a bit like in Wayne's World) :p

I guess it depends on your budget too...

I adore Perth and would move back tomorrow - but we're going back to Melbourne instead - family ties call...

[*Tan*]

I live in St James which is the suburb next to vic park, we were pretty picky when choosing where to live although we wanted to live in this general vicinity due to its closeness to the city (where we both work). When looking around we found that vic park is a mix of old housing and new housing and some areas are nice and re-done and seem to house families, couples, etc whereas the older bits i seem to be a mix of tenants/students. We managed to find a nice place on a quiet street which i think is a mix of families and students as we're pretty close to curtin uni... however what i dont like about our area is that there are still some dodgey streets nearby (state housing i think) and sometimes you get randoms walking down the street (our car has been attempted break in a couple of times), i personally wouldnt go for a leasurely walk in our area but for now we're happy with it. We used to live in south perth which was absolutely lovely, but for the same price we had a much smaller one bedroom unit and not space!!! The southern suburbs are a bit different from the northern ones, Dh always lived north before this and hes always saying how much better it is north of perth - he does describe it as more suburban/newer/ nicer etc. However i dont really agree i think there are some great areas in the southern suburbs you just have to look around!! Good luck with your move! Also let me know where u end up, we might be neighbours :D

[DIANNEKB]

Hi,

I live in castle Glen estate in thornlie... I dont really know much about the areas you want to live in as I have not lived there.. but people have told me Kensington is very highly populated with state housing... not that there is anything wrong with that (please no-one get offended) it's just it has been proven when there is more state housing there is more crime ( but hey dont get me wrong not all state housing areas are bad it's just what I heard) .. I probably watch too much TV but in saying that there is the good and the bad in every suburb you go...
But I do hear Vic Park and Manning are very good to buy in as $$ value is going up more and more..


Di... :D

[Ashy'smum]

Hi Sarah
I live in on the border of Wilson and Riverton which is a couple of suburbs over from Manning, Kensington, Vic Park. Its really beautiful here with the Canning river running through and lots of little parks and outdoor spots to walk to. Public transport should you need it is great and its only 15mins from perth city by car. It's sort of a central area SOR. My daughter is almost 8 months old now, my DP is back at uni which is also close but most of the students seem to live near by the uni in Bentley/Manning, we have found anyway.. There are a lot of families living in both Riverton and Wilson with day cares, playgroups and schools all close by. We also have a Rec centre with pools and were close to shops aswell. Hope this is of some help. It is easy to be biast about where you live when you love it, but everyone always says how much they love our location so if thats anything to go by, im sure you'll like it too. Let me know how you go and if i can be of any help. Might see you when your living nearby eh... :o