Description

This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales with numerous contributions by others.

10.1.1 Housing in Melbourne [miscellaneous contributors]

There are several kinds of things that you can rent: a unit, an
apartment, a townhouse and a house. An apartment usually refers to a
dwelling in a multi-story structure. There is no garden to maintain.
There are more of apartments closer to the city. A unit is a dwelling
in a single-story structure that is usually connected to its
neighbouring units. There will usually be 3--6 units in a block. 2
bedroom versions of units are the most common starting at about $120
pw. 3 bedroom varieties are available but I do not know the price (I'd
guess about $150 pw). You can find units all over the city. You might
have a small area of garden to look after. A townhouse is like a
unit, but free-standing (ie not connected to neighbouring town houses)
and may be a two-story building. I think that the rent is similar to
the unit. You might have a small area of garden to look after. I
think that you know what a house is. Houses in Melbourne are commonly
either weatherboard or brick veneer. No basement. No attic. 3 bedroom
and 4 bedroom versions are commonly available for rent.

Most areas in the north-western, eastern or south-eastern areas, within
about 10km of the CBD would be suitable. Rent would probably be about
A$200 a week depending on the location. You could expect a 3 bedroom
house on a reasonable block (quarter acre or bit smaller), with a
decent sized backyard. 3 bedroom apartments are uncommon in
Melbourne.

Most of the northern and western suburbs are in general perfectly
safe, but are traditionally poorer areas and the quality of housing is
not good. Some of them (esp. Carlton) have been gentrified and are
now very beautiful, but be careful. There has been a large scale
movement back into the city centres in Australia over the last 20
years, so that the poorer and less safe areas are now generally in the
outer suburbs. I believe this is different from the US situation, but
it does mean you can have both a nice place to live and a reasonable
commute.

Melbourne has been assessed as the worlds most livable city. You will
not find the crime that you would be used to in Jersey or the crime
that is present in Sydney. One of the nicer things about Melbourne is
that there's almost nowhere which is genuinely unsavoury to live.
Parts of the city are unsightly and much is visually uninteresting.
The prettier areas are northeast and east. Southeast gets you the
beaches and west and north is cheaper and more industrial.

There are not really any areas which compare to the slum/ghetto areas
of large US cities. However, of course some areas are "better" than
others. Very generally, the south east, and eastern suburbs are more
middle class. The further out you are, the cheaper housing gets. The
really posh areas are Toorak, Brighton. The northern and western
suburbs are more low-middle and working class. Plus there are some
inner city areas that used to be working class but are now pretty
yuppified (Carlton, Fitzroy). Find somewhere close to a train or tram
line if you are going to commute to the city centre.

Continue to:

• prev: 9.7 Miscellaneous
• Index
• next: 10.1.2 Housing in Sydney [BJ]