Moving to Melbourne, Vic (Kensington)

[rebeccalfairbairn]

Hello. I started a thread a few months ago when we first learned we (HD and our 3x kids) were moving to Melbourne, Vic. You all gave me fantastic advice, thank you so much. A lead on a house to rent has now come up which seems too good to pass up on and wondered if any of you could help and advise to help us make the decision! So we have found a 3bed house (with air con and duct heating) in Kensington. As my HD will be working at Royal Melbourne Hospital this is an ideal commuting distance... Does anyone know this area well who can tell me more about it and reassure me that it is a nice family friendly suburb? Any information on Kensington and what's good for kids in this area would be great to know? If anyone knows about good local schools (for my kids 5yrs and 7yrs) and also a kindergarten for our 4yr old? I have heard there are long waiting lists so want to try and get this sorted as soon as I can. Does anyone know if the cycle routs to the RMH are good? Good supermarkets/farmers markets/restaurants in this ares? Parks and activities for the kids? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks :)

Hi OP, this was us a few months ago; we made the move from the U.K. to Melbourne in June. Are you in Oz already? If not, I’d hold off taking the rental until you’ve seen it with your own eyes. Quite a few of the properties we saw on real estate websites had little bearing on reality!
We stayed initially in an AirBnB that was fairly central for three weeks and used it as a base to explore properties and suburbs. I would recommend doing that if you can rather than committing to a year’s lease unseen.
I don’t know much yet about North Melbourne; we’re in the inner east but Kensington is well-located for the hospital and there are plenty of parks around.
Feel free to PM me - I’m a newbie here and learning the ropes!

Kensington used to be a working class suburb, but like much of inner-city Melbourne, has gone up-market in the last decade. It’s close to lots of public transport and is well-served for good cafes. There are lots of little parks around and it’s a short trip from Kensington to Royal Park or Flemington Racecourse.

Houses will tend to be small, reflecting the suburb’s working class origins.

Cycling I know nothing of, but here’s a cycle map of Melbourne. I will say that anyone cycling down Flemington Rd, is taking their life in their hands. www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/traffic-and-road-use/cycling/bicycle-route-maps

State-run, inner-city primary schools tend to be good - trendy inner-city parents are demanding!

You can use these sites to discover a bit more about schools.

www.myschool.edu.au (Govt site)

www.goodschools.com.au

There are sort of two parts to Kensington- the older established part and an estate of newer townhouses (ie with small gardens, rather like UK terraces). There is also one area with lots of housing commission (council) blocks off Holland Court- this area can be a bit rough.

Its not a bad area for public transport with 2 train stations- Kensington and South Ken, plus a tram.
It is easy to get into the city from here. Don't know much about schools though- and probably depends which part of the suburb you will live in as there are usually a number of primary schools in any one area.

Love Kensington!! We used to live in nearby Camberwell and walked to Kensington on the weekends for brunch. This was before children so I can't help re schools but it's a lovely spot

I love Kensington. Look at North Melbourne primary as well a Kensington primary.