Melbourne Suburbs

east bentleigh's one of those perfect 'inbetween' suburbs: not too fancy or expensive, but we still see the odd bogan here and there left over from the old days. Nah, it's great 'burb -- i really like it. 🙂

Depending where the house is, it'll be anywhere from ~7km to 10km from the beach, and ~16 to 18km from Flinders St Station. Benteigh, Mckinnon and Ormond are a little nicer and more expensive, especially as you get closer to East Brighton. Generally, in that vicinity, anything west of Warrigal Rd is nice enough. Once you go east of Warrigal, you start to approach Clayton, Clayton South, Clarinda, etc, etc, which aren't quite as nice as Benteigh East. East Bentleigh is very central: it seems to be 10 to 20mins from everywhere. Plenty of schools, etc, etc...it's got it all :p

The best part is it's PERFECT for cycling -- a short distance to Beach Rd, and only about 27km from the Dandenongs if you want some serious hills, East Boundary Rd & South Rd (to the beach) are a dream. I've been riding around here for 20 years, not including my school days.

Except for a few suburbs, I'd definitely prefer the this side of town than the west.

Anyway, I could write a book on East Bentleigh.

If you want a 'review' of another surburb, let me know

531Aussie said:

east bentleigh's one of those perfect 'inbetween'

or "in between" :o

............and there's a velodrome in neighbouring Carnegie

A little suburb called Kinglake would be just perfect😄

Thanks for all the information and hope to see you all on the road.

I work in East Bentleigh and live in a neighbouring suburb. I agree with two points mentinaed above: keep west of Warrigal Rd, and the East Boundary /South Rd run to the beach is quick and wide. The only problem with the suburb is the lack of a train station. To get to the city by public transport requires you to first catch a bus to the station which can be a pain.

I really like Ivanhoe and the surrounding areas (Eaglemont, Heidelberg, Fairfield, Alphington). It's a beautiful area, LOTS of green space, and excellent public transport (REAL mass transit, not stupid ugly trams that hold you up when in the car, and make you slip on the tracks and fall off your bike in the wet!! I hate trams, does it show? :o )

And best of all it's the closest thing you can get to a central cycling hub for the city, no matter what your discipline 😄

You want road riding? Kew Boulevarde is just down the road (or Ivanhoe Boulevarde for a nice loop without any real hilly stuff) and the hills of Eltham, Research, Warrandyte etc. aren't all that far away. For long flat rides, it's only 10km into the city and 15km to Station Pier to start a bayside ride to Mordialloc, Frankston and beyond.

Track? Guess where the CW games track cycling velodrome is... 😉 (any ACF licenced rider can train there)

MTB? Yarra Trail singletrack is pretty much at your front door, Mt Disappointment and Kinglake is a relatively short drive to your north, or for Lysterfield just go down the South-Eastern

For recreational riding, you need only ride a short distance to link up to pretty much every bike path in the Melbourne network. Eastern Freeway, Main Yarra Trail, Darebin Creek, Capital City Trail, Merri Creek, Gardiners Creek/Scotchman's Creek, Anniversary Trail, they're all very easy to get to.

The downside is that buying a house is an expensive proposition (in some areas really excessively so), but as with any region there are pockets of better value.

Suggest you buy a Melway street directory, essential reference for the city and state for $30-40. Shows transport routes, shopping, schools. Where you live, work, shop and play , get educated and seek recreation are part of the equation you need to solve on the available buget. Homes are a long term investment and kool now may not be in 5- 10yrs when the money forces the hip to hop. I suggest you find a location within a walk to a train station and some open space, as the value of houses in an area rise more money gets spent on renovations and so it goes up again. Quite a few areas that have good features have moved up a level over a 10yr period and transport and open space seem to be the indicator.