VIC Maribyrnong as PPOR

It always impresses me how busy the sun theatre is, and it creates great hype for the surrounding eateries. Going to the cinema isn't dead in Yarraville!

 

Great choc tops at that cinema

 

character/charm? more character/charm in the little pinky of Footscray compared to those suburbs. ... Unless you think white middle/upper class gentrified suburb = character.

 

Footscray (particularly West Footscray) does in fact have those period character homes that you are talking about. And they usually can be found for hundreds of thousands less than the hyper gentrified areas of Seddon and Yarraville. And really, it ain’t that far, you can easily ride your fixie to grab brunch in Seddon if you wanted to

Out of that whole inner west area - my personal preference would be West Footscray. The area north of Sunshine Rd between West Footscray and Tottenham station really appeals.

As for the OP, Maribyrnong is a very nice suburb - access to PT is limited as others have mentioned, but if you’re looking at newer/larger/two storey homes then it’s a great choice.

 

Mari is a good spot. but it suffers from 1 major flaw (despite its proximity to CBD): infastructue.
Traffic is horrendous. No train station, tram line is packed. It is the sister suburb to Essendon and Moonee Ponds, so 'watch this space, but it doesnt come without its complications i believe. Plus it doesnt fall in any major school catchments. It absorbs the best of the 'ripple effect' each cycle. Lovely lifetstlye suburb I think, if you can handle the traffice!

 

Thanks for the feedback, very useful.
I believe Maribyrnong falls in the Footscray City College zone? Although I did read that they are doing a major revamp of secondary schools in the Footscray area (making Gilmore Girls school co Ed, building a new school in Seddon, etc) so that may change?
To be honest I usually drive into work off peak (I do shift work in the cbd) so the proximity to public transport is not a deal breaker for me (should only be a 20 min drive off peak times).

 

Have lived in Maribyrnong for over 15 years. First few years in the Waterford estate and then in Edgewater (where that Owen st property is in) since. The transport link from Waterford end was not so good, but from the top of Edgewater is good (multilple bus routes and a tram to Footscray station and 3 train lines from there to CBD with Southern Cross only 2 or 3 stops away). The Edgewater top part also have Aldi, a couple of nice burger places, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, and a few other eating places and doctor, dentist and pharmacy all within walking distance.

Transport wise, When I do catch the train to work (I mostly drive these days), I drive and park and catch train from Footscray west station (about 2km or 5 min drive away). I used to catch tram/bus from Gordon st to Footscray station before I had to do school pick ups and was able to get from tram stop to southern cross station in about half an hour.

School wise, depend on your expectations. We enrol our child to an out of zone school in Yarraville for now and will re asses when he hits high school. Footscray City and Maribyrnong scores are actually quite good now but we want more than that.

 

Would you consider Sunshine?

85 Parsons Street SUNSHINE - Jas Stephens Real Estate

I stumbled across this property recently and fell in love with it, basically it's my goal for 7-10 years time.

I'm not a fan of Mari and the demographic around that street you're looking at. I used to provide maintenance services to a site nearby and would regularly double check the vehicle was locked. I've probably annoyed some people.....

 

That is a nice house in Sunshine I have to admit, and in my price range. Not totally sold on Sunshine as a suburb though...

 

Agreed. I rather like that part of Sunshine, beautiful period homes, tree lined streets, and for an inner suburb it is very easy to get around by car.

 

I am not much a fan of Maribyrnong. I just don’t find it very homely. I also think it lacks in a number of key drivers.
- Poor Public Transport
- Poor Freeway Access
- Minimal Schools
- Poor Restaurant Precinct

They are also going at some point to develop the old military testing area. When that happens we are going to be talking thousands of new lots which will suppress house prices. You just have to drive down Milleara Rd to see what they did with the old school! They CRAM in houses!

Obviously it has some pros which are some nice character homes, highpoint and Ofcourse the river.

However for your price point their are FAR greater surrounding suburbs. As others have said Ascot Vale and Moonee Ponds have much more to offer.
You could also look a bit further North towards Essendon, Strathmore, Niddrie. Again for that price point your going to get some great bang for buck and they all just tick so many more boxes than Maribyrnong.

Watch this space on the Essendon Fields area. I think long term holders are going to see that area develop into something pretty amazing. They already have DFO, shopping area with Lamana & Coles, Newly built Hyatt hotel.
Their is a lot of development going on and a number of office spaces creating more work.
I’m not sure where it’s at but a private hospital was also planned for the area.
As time goes by I cannot see the airport lasting, it just doesn’t make sense being so close to the main airport where there is still just so much land.

 

It was meant to be in the new development on Paisley/Albert Streets which contained aged care, but nothing has happened on the site for 2+ years. Site needs to be developed as it's an eyesore at the moment.

 

It is hard to define Footscray as one suburb as a market, as it varies greatly across different areas which aren't too far apart. The Footscray CDB, major roads and rail lines split the suburb in to a few different residential pockets.

• Areas directly around the CBD can be pretty crummy. Though a lot more variety in the eateries and drinking establishments over the last 5 years.
• Area North of the CBD - A lot of heritage listed weatherboard homes with easy access down to Footscray Park
• North side of Geelong Road
• North side of Ballarat Road
• East down towards the river - a bit more industrial mixed in with heritage style houses.
• North East - where all the tall apartment buildings are going up.

We are in Footscray in the triangle of the railway line, Victoria St and Geelong Road and love it. Best of both Seddon and Footscray. Walk ability is amazing. Great pubs, shops, cafes, supermarket, 2 x train stations, schools, child care, parks all within 5 minutes, 10 minutes walk max. No need to touch the car.

 

Very good summary on Footscray. I live not far away from you (north west) and between Essex and Barkly. Very happy as everything is walking distance. I am biased and I can't understand the 'perception' that some people have with suburbs in the West, esp Footscray. If you draw a 5-7km radius from Melbourne it is by far the most affordable.

 

I think the affordability horse has well and truly bolted though. Any semi decent 2 bed single fronted on 200sqms is $800k+ generally. And can push $1m for a well renovated one.

12 Buckingham Street, Footscray, Vic 3011

155 Charles Street, Seddon, Vic 3011