Moving

Padhraic

Hey Guy's.
Myself, my partner and our one year old daughter, will be moving to Melbourne in late May. My partner is Australian born and therefore our Daughter has gotten her Australian citizenship by decent. I myself have applied for the "Partner Sponsorship Residency Visa" (Which is being finalised and i should receive it in early April). So, i was just looking for some tips and advice about renting and work. We've been looking online at places, one or two bed apartments Ideally. Money wise, its a real stretch, when i saw the rent prices my heart skipped a beat! However, because of our daughter, we're not really comfortable going for the hostel/shared apartment route. We've been looking at Footscray, Heidleberg. Brighton. Elsternwick, Elwood. We don't want to live out to far away from the city as a car just isn't in our price range quite yet. Any other areas suggested? Or reasonably priced apartments or units outside the city?

My partner worked in Insurance for years before traveling to Ireland. and has been in touch with her recruitment agent, and hopefully looking to get back into the same sector. Unfortunately, im only 22, and a college drop out, with limited work experience (been working in a supermarket for years) so my partner advised me to look for entry level/clerical work, maybe data entry, again any help or suggestions there would be appreciated

And finally, looking to get our daughter into affordable child care, and if anybody has any advice there, please let me know

Thanks guys
All the best

jackbhoy

If you are not going to have a car then I would recommend sticking to suburbs within 5-6km of CBD. Like most cities the outer burbs will be cheaper but as everything is more spread out, and public transport pretty sparse you would really need a car.

As well as the places you mentioned areas like Brunswick (where I live), Coburg, North Melbourne, Yaraville and inner west in general are all close to city and with great transport links and have lots of (relatively) affordable rental options. These would have been considered working class, slightly rough areas traditionally but they are being gentrified at lightening pace now. Other areas like Moonee Ponds and Essendon are really well connected by tram/train but are cheaper because they are not very fashionable places to live as they don't have a lot of cool bars, clubs and cafes etc, both are perfectly nice areas IMO, especially for families.

On the south side; South Yarra, Prahan/Windsor, Richmond, Elsternwick are good options, these are more expensive areas but there are more affordable parts of them as well.

Re work, if you have perm visa you should have little trouble finding work in retail, hospitality etc, rates seem decent enough for these jobs compared to back home.

Cooperspale

You could stretch it to 9-10km from city as long as you have access to a tram and train.
Obviously the further out and less close to the beach burbs will work out cheaper. I hadn't realized Essendon/Moonee were less expensive to rent. To buy there its a completely different story; they have some really good schools.
Brunswick is becoming quite trendy and the council have gone nuts and are allowing an awful lot of new apartments to be built in the area. Hence, the younger vibe, cafes, bars and trendy Taco trucks etc. Mind you, you still have the Greek/Italian influence in the area with Mediterranean Wholesalers, cheese factory and most houses having a lemon and or olive tree in their yard.
You need to type your requirements into a rental search on www.domain.com.au etc and get an idea of how far your money will go.
I'd pick Elsternwick over Elwood for transport links though I think it would still be pricey, maybe go back one suburb to Glenhuntly for better value.

Child care isn't cheap. Here is a handy site
http://www.echildcare.com.au/

North:
Heidelberg is too far I think. It's a nice leafy place but you'd really need a car.
Preston is about as far north to consider really. Thornbury, Northcote, Westgarth$, CliftonHill run south from it. Coburg North at a push, then Coburg, Brunswick. Going the other direction you have Moonee Ponds, Ascot Vale, Flemington, Kensington.

East Brighton should be cheaper than Brighton.
If your other half has been here before, maybe they have an idea?

Whichever way you look at it, setting yourself up initially is never cheap here.
Also in the inner burbs, you will compromise space for convenience to amenities.

Job wise, probably clerical or data entry. You could do a barista course to try cafe work and it may give you more flexible hours to look after little one.