Bendigo area what's it like to live there ?

Hi all,

(please feel free to PM if that feels more comfortable for you so therefore wouldn't offend anyone mentioning areas to 'not' live in etc ..)

As some of you may know my DP & I have been wanting for sometime now a much needed move out of Ballarat after moving here 6years ago from the Sth East suburbs of Melb.

We deeply considered moving interstate to Qld but DP is now put off with the fear of floods now as his work would be based more in Brisbane if we did move there.

Singapore was another option only for about 3years for the life experience but affordability is not looking so realistic.

Before we moved to Ballarat we did prefer Bendigo in a few more ways but it meant extra time traveling for DP to commute to work in Melb and would have been further traveling to his Family in Sth Gippsland.

Well there is a possibility that DP could get a job in Bendigo and seeing that would be his dream to no longer commute to work so far and also I'd feel so much better for him too as he works such long hours and gets home very late at night.

So those of you that live or have lived in Bendigo I'd love to hear about it.

For example what are the better areas to live in Bendigo (please be honest as you like) ?
Recommended primary school ?? (DD starts 4year old Kinder this year then school next year in 2012).

Any information about Bendigo would be so helpful.

TIA for any input :D

I grew up in Bendigo :) Most of my extended family still lives there and so do some of my closest friends.

It's a great family town with plenty to do and it's apparently very beautiful again now thanks to all the rain. It has been in drought pretty much since I left 12 years ago so I haven't seen it green and lush for quite some time!

I grew up in Strathdale which is a nice family suburb about 7 mins east from the CBD. The next suburb out, Strathfieldsaye, has a lot of young families (a few of my friends live there) and a great primary school. It's a bit more rural too so you can get a bit of land if you want or there is a relatively new estate with new houses on normal sized blocks too - lots of kids around :)

I went to Kennington Primary School which was gorgeous but moved location many years ago so I'm not sure what it's like these days. It always had a brilliant reputation though. I went to Flora Hill Secondary College (public) which was a great school as well. Both Flora Hill primary and secondary had excellent reputations so would be worth investigating.

My cousins and a few work friends went to Catholic College for secondary schooling so that's a great choice for a catholic school.

Sorry I can't give you more recent info on the schools. Strathfieldsaye Primary does sound lovely though and my friends kids love it.

There are plenty of nice suburbs in Bendigo, it just depends what sort of house you want really (ie modern or old, rural or normal) and whether you're after big schools or small ones. Feel free to PM. There are a few suburbs I'd recommend to steer clear of but won't state them in here ;)

Bendigo is a lovely little town though and there is a lot to do and see due to it's central (Victorian) location. 1.5 hrs to Melbourne (easy on the train!), 45 minutes to Echuca on the beautiful Murray River, Lake Eppalock (which is finally full again!) is only 20-25 minutes from town and the list goes on. It's seven days a week shopping too and has a good assortment for a country town. It has two major shopping centers plus the Mall.

HTH

Just did a big post, but then decided didn't want all our personal info on here, so have PM'ed it all to you!! :)

I love Bendigo, I lived there for 3 years while at uni, granted I lived on campus but had friends who rented or lived with family, its a beautiful city full of nice people and places lots of opportunities are there. A lot of my uni friends were teaching students and worked at lots of the primary school and all enjoyed the schools.

2 close friends who had moved to Melbourne after uni have since moved back and bought houses there as loved it so much.

Oh ladies thank you all ever so much for all your fantastic advice, just brilliant !

So interesting as Bendigo sounds so much like Ballarat, the three difference that stand out to us are funny enough is the nice gutters and roads, for example in Ballarart alot of gutters & roads are in pathetic condition. When we purchased our brand new car a few years ago the front end of the car scraped badly do to the poor gutter entrance to the driveway. The council won't allow us to put our own ramps over the gutter, they want like everyone else $2000 to fix. To park your car on the street near the gutter there are cracks so big like there's been an earthquake. The councils way of fixing it which hardly ever is to fill it with loose stones and when there is a down pour of rain the stones wash down into the old fashion gutters and blocks the them. Many roads here have pot holes and badly need redoing.
So the the nice pathed roads and nice new neat gutters, and secondly we love the look of so many gorgeous treelined streets in Bendigo, they are so much more appealing to look at, much prettier then Ballarart.

Also we noticed some nicer looking area in Bendigo to live then Ballarart.

DP knows a guy he use to work with Melb and he a couple years ago moving to Bendigo and works there. He mentioned to my DP then that he could possibly get him work with the company he works for which is right in the city area of Bendigo. So DP emailed him today to see if any job prospects, just waiting to hear back from him.

If he did get a job there he clearly liked and salary was ideal we would sell our home in Ballarat and feel it would be best to try get a nice rental home in a decent area for just 6mths before buying to make sure Bendigo is where want to live. Keeping mind we know 6mth lease is hard to find. We did the same thing when we moved to Ballarat to make we liked it before we bought.

FaithfulMumma thanks a million for your PM, such great information


Keep the info coming ladies, would of course would love to know more !!!!!!!!!!!

I would suggest looking into the rental thing a bit more, it is pretty hard to find a rental here from what I have heard...so maybe allow some time for that if you did decided to move.
I am pretty sure on most places it is group viewings etc as there is a shortage, but that being said my friend who rents has no probs finding a place each time, so I guess it depends on your references etc.

Hmmm, what else can I tell you...

There is great shopping here now, especially with the new Market Place development, and downtown BGO has some awesome shops. There are many beautiful restaurants such as The GPO, The Match, Clogs, Jo Joes etc.

I don't know much about Dr's as I still use my old Doctor in a nearby town, but when stuck, I just go to a 7 day a week clinic here for things like Conjunctivitus etc with the kids, and I can always get an appointment on the day, and never pay a cent as they bulk bill. This has been a great alternative on a Sunday, instead of having to head to the ER when the kids have had really high temps etc.

The hospital is not my fave place, but they are just about to start building a brand new one...so that might improve things. I think the Staff do a pretty good job with the terrible facilities they currently have to work with.... there is also the private Hospital St John of God.

There are many great after school activities etc for kids...eg my Daughter loves her Gymnastics, and the facilities are great for this, and she has been a student in a few different Dance Classes now. There are lots of Gyms around, including Fernwood etc... Ummm, can't think what else...
Anything you particulary want to know about?

X's rellies rented a nice house there, 1.4 acre block with great garden for kids, for $250 per week. (last year).

i did laugh when someone described it as "a nice little town". it's 100,000 population last time i asked, and i really do think of it as a city - sprawling and has all the things you need in terms of liveability.

the only downer i heard was the price of taking the train to Melbourne.

I haven't lived there, just that X's rellies live there. I would happily have moved there if the opportunity had come up. Even if it's not coastal (have never lived anywhere inland before).

LOL! It always been a nice 'little town' to me - my home town! I think I'm just use to hearing it referred to that by a lot of friends when comments are made about the 'little country town' I came from. To city dwellers, 100k population is still quite small!! But yes, it's very much a small 'city' (with a country 'town' feel) with plenty to offer these days.

I think the location is one of it's best selling points too....
It is central to everywhere really in terms of Melbournes not that far, Echuca and the Murray Region is really close, The Daylesford Spa area is not that far, and it is still only 2 hours to Geelong and the beach..

Babe, GEELONG is the best town in the whole wide world, move here :lol:.

Regards,
Dianne