wanderer1970

Mar 7 2007, 08:05 AM

Could anyone please tell me anything about Deer Park, Taylors Lakes & Sydenham please. Have been looking at house prices which seem fab but don't know if areas are any good, schools etc (have 2 kids aged 6&9)so any info would be great.

Thanks

RUNTOTHESUN

Mar 7 2007, 09:27 PM

Hi there
We too had the dream of living in Mornington and spent many hours in the Uk on realestate.com looking at super houses in the area. When we arrived we collected our hire car on the second day and headed off to Mornington in search of the dream house. I have to say the area is beutiful but with 2 children, daughter 18 and son 15 I was concerned about schooling, universaties for my daughter, work for myself in the manufacturing sector. The long drive home after a days house hunting made us seriously look at the area. We were staying in Hawthorn at the time. The thought of that drive every day put me off. My daughter wanted a choice of unis within a short travelling time, I dont think a school for my son would have been a problem. We spent an afternoon in the internet cafe in the CBD looking at properties and came across the west side of town, Willamstown, Caroline Springs etc. After coming from sleepy Devon and seeing what is available in Melbourne and surrounding areas we wanted to be close to the CBD.
Williamstown is nice but we had promised ourselves a new home without breaking the bank. Caroline Springs fitted the bill so we headed out that way along the Ballaret Road. Just after the Western Highway junction we came across a poster board for Cairnlea, show homes open the usual stuff. Within 5 days we were fortunate enough to buy a show home right next door to a 5 acre lake, (my wife now has ducks, swamp hens etc at the front door at various times of the day looking for bread.) The Cairnlea town centre is now open with Coles etc and Brimbank mall is 3 mins down the road and is a brilliant mall. We also have a new primary school. Highpoint mall is 10 min drive. My daughter was able to choose 4 uni for her VTAC application all within a 30 min drive, we are 15-20 mins from the CBD DEPENDING ON THE TIME OF DAY. We have so much available to us within a short commute. My son plays tennis for Keilor and we travel around the West with him on a saturday morning and the people are really friendly. My son goes to a state school and is getting a far better education than he was in the UK. My daughter sat her year 12 exams in a stae school and gained an enter score that got her a place at Vic Uni studying Business IT.(she loves computers)
What I am trying to say is dont be put off by the few that knock the west until you have seen it.
My wife showed me an article in a magazine that she read this morning, here are a few of the facts.

GO WEST, LIFE IS VIBRANT.
More than 825 million was spent in 2005/2006 making the west one of Melbournes biggest property earners.
153 million for 755 new homes at Point Cook
101 Million for 562 new homes at Villawood
460 new homes at Caroline Springs
and 266 new homes at neighbouring Cairnlea.

We did visit Caroline Springs but found it too big and I still get lost when I go there. Taylors lakes is nice not to sure about Sydenham
I found work in the west very easily, applied for 2 jobs after settling in our new home and was offered both. NO ONE needs to be out of work over this side of town.
My kids love it here and you would not get them back to the UK. My daughter has a part time job in the city and loves the Melbourne life, my son and his friends get on the train and go in to Melbourne swimming at MSAC, Albert Park and have no problems at all.
Deer Park is OK, my boss from my first job has just moved there. Did I tell you we have the Victorian State Croquet Centre in Cairnlea and that moved from Brighton, have yet to try it but it looks very impressive, The poms where over playing last year, beat the Aussies.
I must say my wife and I and a few other poms get a bit P***** off when people knock the west and go on about jabs etc but every one is entitled to their own opinion. It just miffes me when I think about it and wonder how closely they have looked at the west or even been there or do they just jump on the wagon as the done thing.
MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION :D

RUNTOTHESUN

Mar 7 2007, 09:27 PM

Hi there
We too had the dream of living in Mornington and spent many hours in the Uk on realestate.com looking at super houses in the area. When we arrived we collected our hire car on the second day and headed off to Mornington in search of the dream house. I have to say the area is beutiful but with 2 children, daughter 18 and son 15 I was concerned about schooling, universaties for my daughter, work for myself in the manufacturing sector. The long drive home after a days house hunting made us seriously look at the area. We were staying in Hawthorn at the time. The thought of that drive every day put me off. My daughter wanted a choice of unis within a short travelling time, I dont think a school for my son would have been a problem. We spent an afternoon in the internet cafe in the CBD looking at properties and came across the west side of town, Willamstown, Caroline Springs etc. After coming from sleepy Devon and seeing what is available in Melbourne and surrounding areas we wanted to be close to the CBD.
Williamstown is nice but we had promised ourselves a new home without breaking the bank. Caroline Springs fitted the bill so we headed out that way along the Ballaret Road. Just after the Western Highway junction we came across a poster board for Cairnlea, show homes open the usual stuff. Within 5 days we were fortunate enough to buy a show home right next door to a 5 acre lake, (my wife now has ducks, swamp hens etc at the front door at various times of the day looking for bread.) The Cairnlea town centre is now open with Coles etc and Brimbank mall is 3 mins down the road and is a brilliant mall. We also have a new primary school. Highpoint mall is 10 min drive. My daughter was able to choose 4 uni for her VTAC application all within a 30 min drive, we are 15-20 mins from the CBD DEPENDING ON THE TIME OF DAY. We have so much available to us within a short commute. My son plays tennis for Keilor and we travel around the West with him on a saturday morning and the people are really friendly. My son goes to a state school and is getting a far better education than he was in the UK. My daughter sat her year 12 exams in a stae school and gained an enter score that got her a place at Vic Uni studying Business IT.(she loves computers)
What I am trying to say is dont be put off by the few that knock the west until you have seen it.
My wife showed me an article in a magazine that she read this morning, here are a few of the facts.

GO WEST, LIFE IS VIBRANT.
More than 825 million was spent in 2005/2006 making the west one of Melbournes biggest property earners.
153 million for 755 new homes at Point Cook
101 Million for 562 new homes at Villawood
460 new homes at Caroline Springs
and 266 new homes at neighbouring Cairnlea.

We did visit Caroline Springs but found it too big and I still get lost when I go there. Taylors lakes is nice not to sure about Sydenham
I found work in the west very easily, applied for 2 jobs after settling in our new home and was offered both. NO ONE needs to be out of work over this side of town.
My kids love it here and you would not get them back to the UK. My daughter has a part time job in the city and loves the Melbourne life, my son and his friends get on the train and go in to Melbourne swimming at MSAC, Albert Park and have no problems at all.
Deer Park is OK, my boss from my first job has just moved there. Did I tell you we have the Victorian State Croquet Centre in Cairnlea and that moved from Brighton, have yet to try it but it looks very impressive, The poms where over playing last year, beat the Aussies.
I must say my wife and I and a few other poms get a bit P***** off when people knock the west and go on about jabs etc but every one is entitled to their own opinion. It just miffes me when I think about it and wonder how closely they have looked at the west or even been there or do they just jump on the wagon as the done thing.
MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION :D

OzTennis

Mar 7 2007, 09:59 PM

RUNTOTHESUN

Mar 7 2007, 09:27 PM

Hi there
We too had the dream of living in Mornington and spent many hours in the Uk on realestate.com looking at super houses in the area. When we arrived we collected our hire car on the second day and headed off to Mornington in search of the dream house. I have to say the area is beutiful but with 2 children, daughter 18 and son 15 I was concerned about schooling, universaties for my daughter, work for myself in the manufacturing sector. The long drive home after a days house hunting made us seriously look at the area. We were staying in Hawthorn at the time. The thought of that drive every day put me off. My daughter wanted a choice of unis within a short travelling time, I dont think a school for my son would have been a problem. We spent an afternoon in the internet cafe in the CBD looking at properties and came across the west side of town, Willamstown, Caroline Springs etc. After coming from sleepy Devon and seeing what is available in Melbourne and surrounding areas we wanted to be close to the CBD.
Williamstown is nice but we had promised ourselves a new home without breaking the bank. Caroline Springs fitted the bill so we headed out that way along the Ballaret Road. Just after the Western Highway junction we came across a poster board for Cairnlea, show homes open the usual stuff. Within 5 days we were fortunate enough to buy a show home right next door to a 5 acre lake, (my wife now has ducks, swamp hens etc at the front door at various times of the day looking for bread.) The Cairnlea town centre is now open with Coles etc and Brimbank mall is 3 mins down the road and is a brilliant mall. We also have a new primary school. Highpoint mall is 10 min drive. My daughter was able to choose 4 uni for her VTAC application all within a 30 min drive, we are 15-20 mins from the CBD DEPENDING ON THE TIME OF DAY. We have so much available to us within a short commute. My son plays tennis for Keilor and we travel around the West with him on a saturday morning and the people are really friendly. My son goes to a state school and is getting a far better education than he was in the UK. My daughter sat her year 12 exams in a stae school and gained an enter score that got her a place at Vic Uni studying Business IT.(she loves computers)
What I am trying to say is dont be put off by the few that knock the west until you have seen it.
My wife showed me an article in a magazine that she read this morning, here are a few of the facts.

GO WEST, LIFE IS VIBRANT.
More than 825 million was spent in 2005/2006 making the west one of Melbournes biggest property earners.
153 million for 755 new homes at Point Cook
101 Million for 562 new homes at Villawood
460 new homes at Caroline Springs
and 266 new homes at neighbouring Cairnlea.

We did visit Caroline Springs but found it too big and I still get lost when I go there. Taylors lakes is nice not to sure about Sydenham
I found work in the west very easily, applied for 2 jobs after settling in our new home and was offered both. NO ONE needs to be out of work over this side of town.
My kids love it here and you would not get them back to the UK. My daughter has a part time job in the city and loves the Melbourne life, my son and his friends get on the train and go in to Melbourne swimming at MSAC, Albert Park and have no problems at all.
Deer Park is OK, my boss from my first job has just moved there. Did I tell you we have the Victorian State Croquet Centre in Cairnlea and that moved from Brighton, have yet to try it but it looks very impressive, The poms where over playing last year, beat the Aussies.
I must say my wife and I and a few other poms get a bit P***** off when people knock the west and go on about jabs etc but every one is entitled to their own opinion. It just miffes me when I think about it and wonder how closely they have looked at the west or even been there or do they just jump on the wagon as the done thing.
MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION :D

Excellent and informative post if you don't mind me saying. I've been almost a lone voice in the wildnerness about Melbourne's best kept secret for those thinking of moving there - it's west. I can understand the attractions of the south east but I don't understand the blinkered view that it is the only place to go.

I posted a couple of articles in another thread so will repeat them for info:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/02/...2338625778.html

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/02/...338625791.html#

I know what you mean about Caroline Springs but each time I go there I am more impressed with it as a community as more shops, schools, parks, play areas etc get developed; Cairnlea I must admit I've only driven past; Point Cook, Sanctuary Lakes, Wyndham Vale and so on are worth considering. Just to throw some other areas into the mix - one of the fastest growing areas is Gisborne. Think nice sized country town 20 mins from the edge of the city, lovely countryside (views of Mt Macedon).

Williamstown is expensive but these views would be 3 times the price in say Brighton (and the views that side aren't as good anyway):

Posted Image

OzTennis :flag:

dolly

Mar 8 2007, 01:06 AM

Thanks for the reply. Westport looks lovely, I had forgotten what it looked like without the rain :rofl: it feels like it hasn't stopped raining here for about four months!! with the odd little dry spell in the middle. We can see two new "lakes" from our house :( We actully live outside Castlebar, near the Pontoon Lakes, if you've ever been out that direction. But OH family live in Westport so we are over there quite a lot. Its really depressing to watch the weather report and be told there is a band of rain moving across Ireland at present .... and behind that is another band of rain!!!!!! Hay ho, aparently we might be getting snow on Friday :cross:

Thanks for the info on Newport, we really would like to live in that direction, but not going too far out. Williamstown would be my favourite place at the moment, but we really won't know until we get there. Once we get there we'll get a car and have a really good look around.

I was looking at Taylors Lake on realestate.com.au, wow, they have some nice houses there, and not too pricey.

Thanks again
Dolly :flower:

RUNTOTHESUN

Mar 8 2007, 06:57 AM

TYPICAL
GET A LIFE
:crazy:

Bordy

Mar 8 2007, 11:36 AM

The only way to find out about suburbs is to drive around the area once your here & get a feel for them.



As the saying goes "One mans meat is another mans poison".

fraser

Mar 8 2007, 06:33 AM

DON'T go west, it's flat, it's industrial and there aren't any nice beaches.

It's mainly all new estates which are characterless.

It's cheap for a reason. It's also the last part of Melbourne developed for a reason.

Yes you can get a nice big house at a cheap price but there'll be nothing around it.

You can't be unemployed in the west is an outrageous claim based on that poster being offered two jobs.

scott&lisa

Mar 8 2007, 02:40 PM

fraser

Mar 8 2007, 06:33 AM

DON'T go west, it's flat, it's industrial and there aren't any nice beaches.

It's mainly all new estates which are characterless.

It's cheap for a reason. It's also the last part of Melbourne developed for a reason.

Yes you can get a nice big house at a cheap price but there'll be nothing around it.

You can't be unemployed in the west is an outrageous claim based on that poster being offered two jobs.

I agree with Fraser on this. We've only lived in the west for 6 months but we are looking to move "to the other side" once the lease on our rental ends.

Lisa :waving:

scott&lisa

Mar 8 2007, 03:28 PM

:lol:

I think you dropped something Fraser........a toy from your pram perhaps :Grin: ;)

Lisa :waving:

RUNTOTHESUN

Mar 8 2007, 04:34 PM

Fraser
In my post I did put that everyone has their own opinion. I have not replied to your PM as I dont wish to pursue this on a personal level. We are quiet happy here in the west and I am just fed up with all the negativity towards life here.
I am sorry you chose to live in a place thats not suitable for you, where schools do not meet your requirments and where you have been unable to find suitable employment but not all in the west have had similar experiences. To project such negativity in my opinion is just not helpful, and Im afraid you have done this on every occasion that I have posted a reply about the west. Ive also noted that when other people have mentioned the west in a positive voice you always add negitive feed back perhaps it would be preferable not to answer any queries regarding the west but I didnt think that this is what the forum is all about.
Time for tea Cheers :bow:

fraser

Mar 8 2007, 06:33 AM

DON'T go west, it's flat, it's industrial and there aren't any nice beaches.

It's mainly all new estates which are characterless.

It's cheap for a reason. It's also the last part of Melbourne developed for a reason.

Yes you can get a nice big house at a cheap price but there'll be nothing around it.

You can't be unemployed in the west is an outrageous claim based on that poster being offered two jobs.