Western suburbs of Melbourne?

Question

Hi, i would like to gather some opinions of people who wish to inform me on their views and ideas about different suburbs in melbourne's west.

i am looking to move suburb soon, and i would just like to gaze upon different opinions on suburbs in the west.

I currently live in Newport, and am aware of many of the suburbs's stereotyped classifications that exit. (Eg. Footscray - Drugs, Broadmeadows - Danger, Werribee - Poverty)

Please fill me in with your opinions about melbourne's west

Answer 1

yeh footscray you'll get shot

werribee's a sh*thole

williamstown lol there's really nothing bad about williamstown but the kids at my school just like to bag the williamstown kids lol

Answer 2

yeh if you have the money dont stay in west, once im outta school i'm heading for camberwell or malvern. Its something about the established and built up look there, I live in altona here and there is just empty land or warehouses and factories just outside the residential areas. Its cheaper here and you can get good houses for cheaper prices but its obvious why.

Mind you, stay closer to the south west, areas like sunshine start to get very drabby as your aware of, the houses are worse with people who dont care about the condition their house is in and the overall atmosphere is more depressing than altona-williamstown area.

It really depends on your type of lifestyle.

Answer 3

There are problems with drugs and violence everywhere in Victoria, not just in the Western Suburbs; take for example Dandenong (which obviously is not in the western suburbs ).

I was bought up in the North Western suburbs, and I NEVER got into the drug or violence scene (I put it down to who you associate with)

Its true that the suburbs which you mentioned are notorious for the problems you mentioned, but these problems are wide spread throughout Victoria, not just in the Western Suburbs).

It is also true that people living in the west are seen as lower class, but there have been many people who have become successful in their careers whilst growing up in the West(Anthony Callea comes to mind).

Home affordability in the West is the highest in Victoria (and I have seen some real nice houses being built in the West)  

Don't despair!!!

Living in the West does have its advantages

Answer 4

Yeah, alot of it isn't really good, eg. St. Albans, Footscray, etc.

Hillside and Taylors Lakes out near the Calder Park Thunder Dome is nice.

Answer 5

I grew up in the Western suburbs. Some of the complaints about drugs, crime and lack of infrastructure are true but mostly they just come from ill-informed, predjudiced people or locals who like the bad-*** reputation.

Its true that the West suffers more than the East with lack of investment in infrastructure, and for a long time many suburbs were blue collar and/or industrial, but this is rapidly changing and mostly now its a hub for young famillies. Most suburbs in the inner-suburban west are very multicultural. This is a fabulous thing, as you'll always get great food. Most of the immigrants and children of immigrants I know are also extremely family oriented with a huge sense of loyalty.

Drugs and violent crime in certain parts of the west are still a problem, notably Sunshine and St Albans, but there are plenty of places outside the west that suffer the same issues. Heroin became (even more?) widely available to kids around 1997 and this caused a lot of problems.

One thing that does drive me nuts everytime I  head in that direction is there seems to be a lot of bad drivers and hero heads trying to prove something to someone.

Newport and Willy many years ago were considered industrial and blue collar, but these suburbs are now inflated and gentrified. With good reason - everyone wants to live there. You're lucky! But these inner western suburbs are very different to the suburban west .

If stereotypes are what you are after, here's some nicknames us westies have come up with for the different suburbs....Footscary (Footscray), Knifepoint (Highpoint) and Scumshine (Sunshine).

You'll get a different experience with different areas of the west. Depends where you were thinking of moving. The landscape of the west is quickly changing due to housing unaffordability in Melbourne and the rise of communities like Caroline Springs.

Answer 6

Yeah we call them westies, and those from the 'scray a mean bunch. But,

Western suburbs are too close to the city to stay scummy, it will become gentrified like the rest of Melbourne that is within 10km of the CBD. We live in the inner-south east and have  seen it happened, but my dad worked out in Altona for a while and loved it. There is still communities out there, where everybody knows everyone which is a asset to the area. This is because there is a lot of young families, my dad really enjoyed working out there as oppose to toorak where he is working now.

My experiences are different as I NO KNOW ONE from there, except when went to play hockey out there and I got a hockey stick to the leg. I imagine its a great place to live with nice sense of community. I don't think it has any indy cred like the northern suburbs. Depends what you are looking for?

Answer 7

Yeah Im a williamstown kid. andi got to the local public school.

theres nothing wrong with this end of the western suburbs even though a lot think they are posh..but they forget they are in the western suburbs. a lot of people live in the new point cook area

some places...you should avoid. but its seriously not that bad.