# point cook



## weelee (Sep 15, 2008)

Hi all,
well after loads of time waiting we decided to start looking for locations for us to build our house we have looked at point cook can anyone share any info on the place, either visited or inside info would be gratefully .

thanks Gordon

ps into our third week of limbo waiting for victoria sponsorship hopefully we will hear soon,

pps stocking up on whiskey to get ready to ship over

everyone invited to our house warming party when the house is complete

getting into the swing of things BYOP


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

Its the West
Its soil is crap
Not very green
It has no real community
Still quite a bit of burglary (higher crime rates)
Crap transport
Cashed up Bogans 
To many South African
Good road into the city
Good sized houses
Decent shopping center (if you like Malls)
Good investment in the long run


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Halo said:


> Its the West
> Its soil is crap
> Not very green
> It has no real community
> ...


See you are your usual master of hope, positivity and optimism then Halo 

Still, you always manage to make me laugh, can't be a bad thing


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

scottishcelts said:


> See you are your usual master of hope, positivity and optimism then Halo
> 
> Still, you always manage to make me laugh, can't be a bad thing


Am I wrong? at all? 

Remember................ Its the place where folk from Werribee aspire to live (say no more)


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Halo said:


> Am I wrong? at all?
> 
> Remember................ Its the place where folk from Werribee aspire to live (say no more)


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## 112inky (Mar 22, 2009)

Hi, point cook seems like a wonderful place to settle in...A new point cook town centre 
has been contructed and working nicely...it is a commercial centre with largest amount of shops inbuilt...


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

112inky said:


> Hi, point cook seems like a wonderful place to settle in...A new point cook town centre
> has been contructed and working nicely...it is a commercial centre with largest amount of shops inbuilt...


Seems is the operative word....
Answer this question then:
Why is it 30-40% cheaper than an equivalent house (size, distance from the city etc) in the South/Eastern suburbs?


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## Mingo (Mar 20, 2009)

Because only gullible fools buy houses in the eastern suburbs 

I personally can't stand the eastern suburbs. It feels cluttered, and doesn't really have anything going for it unless you like spending way too much on a house. I grew up in the west, and amazingly was never shot at and I was never forced to give up my wallet at knifepoint. I can't imagine living anywhere else in Melbourne.

The arrogant attitude of people from the east doesn't help...


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

Mingo said:


> Because only gullible fools buy houses in the eastern suburbs
> 
> I personally can't stand the eastern suburbs. It feels cluttered, and doesn't really have anything going for it unless you like spending way too much on a house. I grew up in the west, and amazingly was never shot at and I was never forced to give up my wallet at knifepoint. I can't imagine living anywhere else in Melbourne.
> 
> The arrogant attitude of people from the east doesn't help...


Yup, we like those high streets with coffee shops and cafe's lined with those big green leafy things called trees. We like reliable transport, low crime rates the the close proximity to all types of entertainment. Yes, we are fools


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## Mingo (Mar 20, 2009)

You probably have me on the cafe's part, but all the other stuff really never bothered me. As I said, I had no issues with crime and don't know anyone that did. I used the public transport system for years during school and while there is room for improvement (it NEEDS to run later into the night), it always got me from A to B.

I think in Point Cook's case, you don't have walking distance access to a train station but Werribee is quite close. Personally, I'm not willing to pay $200,000 more on what would probably be a smaller house for better access to some trams  But that's just me.

Anyway, I don't wanna turn this into an east vs west debate. In response to weelee, obviously Point Cook doesn't meet the lofty standards of people from Toorak, but I really think it is definitely worthy of investigation  And don't buy into the whole crime rate thing, it's not like you'll ever see any examples of it. It's certainly not South Africa.


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## weelee (Sep 15, 2008)

Mingo said:


> You probably have me on the cafe's part, but all the other stuff really never bothered me. As I said, I had no issues with crime and don't know anyone that did. I used the public transport system for years during school and while there is room for improvement (it NEEDS to run later into the night), it always got me from A to B.
> 
> I think in Point Cook's case, you don't have walking distance access to a train station but Werribee is quite close. Personally, I'm not willing to pay $200,000 more on what would probably be a smaller house for better access to some trams  But that's just me.
> 
> Anyway, I don't wanna turn this into an east vs west debate. In response to weelee, obviously Point Cook doesn't meet the lofty standards of people from Toorak, but I really think it is definitely worthy of investigation  And don't buy into the whole crime rate thing, it's not like you'll ever see any examples of it. It's certainly not South Africa.


Thanks for all the input it is certainly something to look at,

Please carry on the east / west thing that makes entertaining reading as I didnt know it existed thought we were getting away from that as living in scotland you might know what I mean celts anyway we will have a look when we arrive. does anyone know if you can get crime stats for individual suburbs?


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

weelee said:


> Thanks for all the input it is certainly something to look at,
> 
> Please carry on the east / west thing that makes entertaining reading as I didnt know it existed thought we were getting away from that as living in scotland you might know what I mean celts anyway we will have a look when we arrive. does anyone know if you can get crime stats for individual suburbs?


Yeah you guys are all chookters  hee hee hee

Seriously, i wouldn't worry too much about crime here! It's nothing compared with the uk.

Worst ive seen in crime is the graffiti!


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## Mingo (Mar 20, 2009)

Yeah the graffiti is pretty bad especially in the inner city. I don't mind bits of graffiti that actually look decent and are done by people with talent, but the random "gang tagging" or whatever it is is terrible.

There is an element of east and west separation... and it has existed for quite some time. My father is from the west and my mother is from the east, and my father was never really accepted into mum's family. He constantly got "Oh you're from over THERE are you?" He also tells a story of my mum's mum saying to him "Oh you don't need to lock your car door over this side of the city Jim!" The next month, someone broke into her house 

So yes, as you can tell in this thread, the east is the upper class area where as the west has cheaper places and more working class people. However that's not to say the west isn't worth living in, it's all up to personal taste obviously. Personally, even if housing prices were the same, I'd take the west.


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Mingo said:


> Yeah the graffiti is pretty bad especially in the inner city. I don't mind bits of graffiti that actually look decent and are done by people with talent, but the random "gang tagging" or whatever it is is terrible.
> 
> There is an element of east and west separation... and it has existed for quite some time. My father is from the west and my mother is from the east, and my father was never really accepted into mum's family. He constantly got "Oh you're from over THERE are you?" He also tells a story of my mum's mum saying to him "Oh you don't need to lock your car door over this side of the city Jim!" The next month, someone broke into her house
> 
> So yes, as you can tell in this thread, the east is the upper class area where as the west has cheaper places and more working class people. However that's not to say the west isn't worth living in, it's all up to personal taste obviously. Personally, even if housing prices were the same, I'd take the west.


hee hee - maybe it was your dad that broke into her house and decided to live up to his reputation


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## Mingo (Mar 20, 2009)

scottishcelts said:


> hee hee - maybe it was your dad that broke into her house and decided to live up to his reputation


Shhhhh!  It does sound a bit too perfect doesn't it?


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## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

Hilarious thread. i too was considering purchasing in the west at some point, just because of the lower prices of land to build on. But also like the idea of being in a more established area, with nice tree lined streets and coffee shops within walking distance. I think at the end of the day I'd like to live close to the CBD. For some reason i've become rather attracted to the Port Melbourne area lately. But then it becomes a choice between a small 2 bed victorian for 500k or a huge 4 bed brand new house in the west for the same price. Decisions, decisions.


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

matjones said:


> Hilarious thread. i too was considering purchasing in the west at some point, just because of the lower prices of land to build on. But also like the idea of being in a more established area, with nice tree lined streets and coffee shops within walking distance. I think at the end of the day I'd like to live close to the CBD. For some reason i've become rather attracted to the Port Melbourne area lately. But then it becomes a choice between a small 2 bed victorian for 500k or a huge 4 bed brand new house in the west for the same price. Decisions, decisions.


Hey Mat, i understand your logic but Perth is so remote and if you already have doubts then maybe it would be better to go for the smaller in Melbourne. In the long run you're gonna feel more 'with the times'

Says she who is livin it up in 80's banjo playing hicky qld 

Im thinking the film 'The Deliverance" hee hee


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## richie colton (Jun 14, 2009)

what is wrong with south africans? my wife is south african


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## andyh (Sep 13, 2009)

Halo said:


> Am I wrong? at all?
> 
> Remember................ Its the place where folk from Werribee aspire to live (say no more)


What's up with werribee ??? pockets of rubbish like any other place in the world but there are some nice new places going up around.


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

andyh said:


> What's up with werribee ??? pockets of rubbish like any other place in the world but there are some nice new places going up around.


The operative word is SOME.


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## johnat21 (Jan 19, 2010)

Hi Guys, newbie here, you all are having me worried!! My wife has just been offered a job as a midwife in Werribee and we were certainly considering coming out there until I started reading all the stuff you are saying about the town!! Does anyone have any true statisics on the place and not just gossip and biased opinion? I would love to hear facts not just hearsay as it is a difficult enough decision in itself. Neither of us have been to AUS before so we dont know what to expect, but before reading this thread all I had heard was how nice Victoria was and how friendly the people were....nothing about burglary and shootings and south african mobs...or am i reading too much into this??


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## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

johnat21 said:


> Hi Guys, newbie here, you all are having me worried!! My wife has just been offered a job as a midwife in Werribee and we were certainly considering coming out there until I started reading all the stuff you are saying about the town!! Does anyone have any true statisics on the place and not just gossip and biased opinion? I would love to hear facts not just hearsay as it is a difficult enough decision in itself. Neither of us have been to AUS before so we dont know what to expect, but before reading this thread all I had heard was how nice Victoria was and how friendly the people were....nothing about burglary and shootings and south african mobs...or am i reading too much into this??


Ignore what you read on this thread. Victoria is no worse than England in terms of safety. I don't live in AU yet, but from my research, I feel that the west is fine, lots of new housing developments, however the problem with that is that the community can feel a little fake. Unlike the east side which is a little more established, with more little neighborhoods to explore.

Don't be discouraged, I'm sure you'd be fine in Werribee.


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## johnat21 (Jan 19, 2010)

matjones said:


> Ignore what you read on this thread. Victoria is no worse than England in terms of safety. I don't live in AU yet, but from my research, I feel that the west is fine, lots of new housing developments, however the problem with that is that the community can feel a little fake. Unlike the east side which is a little more established, with more little neighborhoods to explore.
> 
> Don't be discouraged, I'm sure you'd be fine in Werribee.



Thanks mat, if you're not in AUS yet, where are you thinking of settling when you do come over? Its such a massive country and so sparsely populated (unlike the US and UK) but everyone seems to live on top of each other still. Strangely enough, another place we were considering was in CA, San Diego, but AUS seems to offer more as it appears to be a growing country, and we have two children to consider. I cannot see any future prospects for them in the UK when they leave school/ uni in ten/ twelve years time.


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## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

johnat21 said:


> Thanks mat, if you're not in AUS yet, where are you thinking of settling when you do come over? Its such a massive country and so sparsely populated (unlike the US and UK) but everyone seems to live on top of each other still. Strangely enough, another place we were considering was in CA, San Diego, but AUS seems to offer more as it appears to be a growing country, and we have two children to consider. I cannot see any future prospects for them in the UK when they leave school/ uni in ten/ twelve years time.


We actually have state sponsorship for ACT so we will be heading to Canberra for a couple of years. Eventually I think we would like to be in the Melbourne area though. We spent some time there and really loved it. 

I'm originally from UK, but have been in US for 12 years, and started to get fed up with it. Australia is a much better place to settle, especially if you have kids, and always ranked by UN as one of best places to live.


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## johnat21 (Jan 19, 2010)

Well that makes me feel better Mat, if you have been here and seen it firsthand and are willing to come back and live then there must be something here to attract you!! Thanks for your reassuring words.

John


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## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

johnat21 said:


> Well that makes me feel better Mat, if you have been here and seen it firsthand and are willing to come back and live then there must be something here to attract you!! Thanks for your reassuring words.
> 
> John


Hey John,

Theres a series on BBC at the moment called 'Wanted Down Under' that you might want to watch. Its on Mon-Fri at 10am I believe. You can also catchup with the past 7 days of episodes on the bbc website. They send families to experience 1 week in australia, looking at work, lifestyle, housing etc in different regions. Might ease your mind a little.

Mat


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

matjones said:


> Ignore what you read on this thread. Victoria is no worse than England in terms of safety. I don't live in AU yet, but from my research, I feel that the west is fine, lots of new housing developments, however the problem with that is that the community can feel a little fake. Unlike the east side which is a little more established, with more little neighborhoods to explore.
> 
> Don't be discouraged, I'm sure you'd be fine in Werribee.


Correction time:

The crime rate in the west is generally higher than the east but in real world terms is no big deal..... Live there for a while... No Trees, bad soil and odd people. Look, there are parts that are OK and streets that resemble the Truman Show (but if your from the USofA that should be normal) but you can't beat the east and south suburbs.... People that tell you otherwise are lying, plain and simple. Sure if you have family etc etc then it changes things but to move there instead of say Sandringham/Mentone/Ormond you need your head read!

Working there is one thing - Living is another.


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## johnat21 (Jan 19, 2010)

Halo said:


> Correction time:
> 
> The crime rate in the west is generally higher than the east but in real world terms is no big deal..... Live there for a while... No Trees, bad soil and odd people. Look, there are parts that are OK and streets that resemble the Truman Show (but if your from the USofA that should be normal) but you can't beat the east and south suburbs.... People that tell you otherwise are lying, plain and simple. Sure if you have family etc etc then it changes things but to move there instead of say Sandringham/Mentone/Ormond you need your head read!
> 
> Working there is one thing - Living is another.


Thanks for that Halo, the only reason we were considering the western suburbs was because of the job offer in Werribee. We will have to hold out for an offer in the CBD then I suppose, and then look at the surrounding areas

Cheers, John


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## matjones (Jan 30, 2009)

Halo said:


> Correction time:
> 
> The crime rate in the west is generally higher than the east but in real world terms is no big deal..... Live there for a while... No Trees, bad soil and odd people. Look, there are parts that are OK and streets that resemble the Truman Show (but if your from the USofA that should be normal) but you can't beat the east and south suburbs.... People that tell you otherwise are lying, plain and simple. Sure if you have family etc etc then it changes things but to move there instead of say Sandringham/Mentone/Ormond you need your head read!
> 
> Working there is one thing - Living is another.


Correction time:

I never said that the west was better, never claimed the crime rate was lower. Personally I would choose east & South over west because I like more established neighborhoods. But if for work, or financial reasons it made sense to live in the west, i would be happy to live there.


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## Halo (May 8, 2008)

matjones said:


> Correction time:
> 
> I never said that the west was better, never claimed the crime rate was lower. Personally I would choose east & South over west because I like more established neighborhoods. But if for work, or financial reasons it made sense to live in the west, i would be happy to live there.


Agreed


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## johnat21 (Jan 19, 2010)

Halo, we now live in Sandringham, took ur advice!! Tried Balwyn North, didn't like it so moved to the seaside!! Excellent!


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