VIC Footscray?

Want to hear what local says about the suburb. Has it transformed to more established family oriented place or is it still "dodgy" as some of my Melbourne friends said?

How about surrounding like West Footscray, Maidstone, Yarraville?

 

Im no property expert but i know people who live there.

I think footscray will stay edgy for a long time but its definitely gentrifying and appeals to the sort of demographic priced out of the inner north. I think id rather live there than coburg and prices in coburg have gone nuts.

Families who want a safe, vanilla, white bread type of suburb will look further out. i know a few very hip, left leaning, educated, professional types who have bought there (they didnt rent there though). They are excited about the beer gardens, food trucks, bars and cafes existing and in the pipeline.

Some suburbs have dodgy parts but are expensive (north melb, collingwood, brunswick, richmond) so i think it looks good value for its proximity to CBD. It also has lots of period homes that will renovate nicely and has excellent transport links.

I dont know much about the others, except that yarraville is a lovely established family suburb. There are some eccellent primary schools but no decent local high school.

 

IMO Footscray is still dodgy but definitely gentrifying. I volunteered at Lentil As Anything and heard stories about drug addicts taking drugs in their toilet and had to shut it.
But I also see hipster restaurants like 8bit & Milking Station running in Footscray.

West footscray is a much better option compared to Footscray. It is more residential and I see more young families are moving into that area from the inspection I went. 600k budget will buy you a 2 bedroom house but houses there are really really old, some of them have the toilet outside of the house and most have toilet at the back of the extension.

For long term CG, west footscray is a good option. For short term, may be somewhere in the Eastern suburb with good school zone.

 

I'd say Footscray still has the dodgy vibe, but slowly improving, where as the Seddon/Yarraville/Newport/Williamstown corridor would all be considered family friendly.

All though have moved over the last 2 years.

 

I took a Google Map streetview and found those main roads like Geelong rd, Sunshine rd pretty depressing, lol. Is that pretty common in Melbourne? Lots of industrial factories, busy road, train track, no trees...etc.

 

Western suburb is never as pretty as the Eastern suburb may be except Yarraville and Williamstown.

North of the railway line in west footscray is a better than the south. Houses are cheaper in the South, but I saw one that sold in Gwelo St recently, old weatherboard house sold for 600k Here you go - ( http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-west+footscray-120899993). I think prices are moving. About 50k-100k difference between last yr and this yr.

 

A lot of money spent there on infrastructure. The new tunnel proposed is meant to be somewhere around there.

 

The new tunnel won't do that much for Footscray, will mostly improve Yarraville directly by getting trucks off their streets and then flow on to the rest of west that uses the Westgate to get to the city by reducing the traffic going over the westgate due to the alternative route now available

 

Any benefit to yarraville will have a flow on effect to Footscray.

 

Footscray has improved dramatically over the past few years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy there now. The CBD proximity is fantastic, train to city would take about 10 minutes.

The suburb still has a small dodginess factor but that is limited to the main restaurant/shopping area, and even then I don't feel unsafe walking through the area.

There are some bad pockets for housing as well which you should watch for.

I prefer West Footscray (the northern section), more of a family-friendly area, bigger houses, nicer-looking streets, and I think it might have a higher median than Footscray now because it appeals to those priced out of Yarraville/Newport, moreso than Footscray would.

 

What about Ascot Vale, or Moonee Ponds, or Kensington?

 

Personally I really like Moonee pond, it looks like the council has put lots of effort in that area. Good for families and a very established suburb.

 

These are all better suburbs compared to Footscray, but have an increased price tag to boot. Moonee Ponds is the best of the lot, more upmarket suburb, Kensington and Ascot Vale are both very nice as well. I think you'll get the most value in Ascot Vale, it seems to be cheaper as a whole compared to its more upmarket surrounding suburbs.

 

Footscay is a great place to invest. I have invested there with clients for last 2-4 years as I am not affected by the 'stigma' of the place. That is - Footscray is known as a vietnamese area and with some immigration many are turned off by this stigma. Perhaps they are a bit spooked by the Franko Cotso painting on the way on the way in. Maybe as I spent quite a bit of time in Footscray in my younger years that I am not affected by the stigma.

Why footscray?

Quite simple - proximity to the city - 4-6km to the cbd with Footscray and Middle Footscray train stations in close proximity, getting you door to door to work in the CBD in no time. In the last two years you have seen appreciation in house and unit prices with large developements now being built along the river (i.e Riverside and Riviere). These have seen foreign investors flock to the area - more because of the city views but also due to the change in character in the area.

Revitalisation is a major focus of the shire and we have seen this. The attraction of Highpoint nearby and the Uni and Hospital means its family friendly and no real evidence why Footsray is 'dodgy'.

Its generally still cheaper than Yarraville for whatever reason and prices are starting to catch up with neighbouring suburbs.

In the apartment space, I do like the boutique unit developments and they are still around - however, not a huge fan of large developments. Still find good property for development - mostly off market to find the right price.

One thing is for sure - the place has changed as have the neighbouring suburbs even heading west to Sunshine such as Braybrook. A warning is that the large developers have seen the potential for Footscray so lets see how that impacts the market. However, young people are moving to Footscray, especially the areas around Middle Footscray which is a bit hipster.

Cheers Ivan

 

Grand Sale Grand Sale Grand Sale.. LOL i think Franco Cozzo was sold?

 

Grand sale, grand sale, grand sale Where? In Brunswick and a Foot(a)scray.

Megalo, megalo, megalo!

Franco Cozzo per la prima volte in Australia dichiara guerra, guerra ai prezzi, Grande Svendita! Dove? a Brunswick and a Footascray. Se i migliori mobili volete comprare, oggi, domani, sempre, da Franco Cozzo dovete andare. Dove? a Brunswick and a Footascray. Comprate da Franco Cozzo.

...


I'll show myself out...

EDIT:

Figured I should add something of relevance to the thread.

As others have said, Footscray still has the stigma of being "Footscray", which means, IMO, now is a good time to buy.

Get on board before the gentrification train completely leaves the station.

 

Better to whom? That's like saying if a suburb is more expensive its better>?

 

That's correct it won't affect Footscray as Footscray doesn't need a new tunnel as it already has several options of roads into the CBD without ever needing to go over the West Gate Bridge

 

Suburb desirability is very subjective, but I don't think my call is controversial at all. Those suburbs are more expensive because they're more desirable, and they're more desirable because they are nicer suburbs to live in.

 

I agree very subjective and all in the eye of the beholder, my view would be that it still doesn't make them any better of a suburb just because they maybe more desirable for some historically, most likely due outsiders perceptions whether warranted or not and that will hopefully change as Footscray has a lot to offer that many other suburbs can't. I would not give my personal view without having lived in Moonee Ponds, Kensington or Ascot Vale, etc. and although I didn't think your comment was controversial, I just thought I'd give my perspective to your own personal view of things and stick up for Footscray given I actually live here