best suburb for family between Joondalup and CBD?

[nialll9]

Hi,

we are a family of 4 with1 year old and 3 year old kids, moving to Perth in December. My wife has a job in Joondalup and if I get one it'll probably be in the CBD (I'm a structural engineer).

any advice on good suburbs between both. want to spend as much time at home as possible so minimum commute.

we have had an au pair for 2 years - should we continue or try a creche/ nursery?

I love the beach but my wife wouldn't be quite as keen.

any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

thanks Niall

[abc]

Depends how much $$$$ you want to spend!!!

[Laz]

Maybe Mt Hawthorn - close to city and freeway, not so close to beach - nice area with good schools, lots of young,professional families, restaurants and shops close by. Or for closer to the beach there's Wembley Downs...or Wembley. Again, nice areas with good schools. If you want to spend more money look at floreat, city beach... Or you can go further north...duncraig, Hilary's and further. Don't know those suburbs very well myself. Depends if you like older, established areas or if you like new (in which case go north). People don't really do au pairs here. It's more nurseries and then babysitters once kids are at school (to do pick up etc) or after school clubs. And re jobs - are there many/any structural engineer jobs advertised? That will give you an indication of how easy it will be to find work. Oil and gas engineers are finding it very hard at the moment but don't know what the flow on is like to construction. I know lack of Australian experience in a competitive market makes it very hard. My husband is still looking and it's been 4 months (oil and gas) and another UK friend has been looking for 7 months (also oil and gas). Both are very experienced and well qualified...just no jobs.

[verystormy]

The job market in Perth is getting pretty tough generally.

[nialll9]

Thanks everyone especially Laz! loads of great advice. mt hawthorn sounds ideal. we were thinking of about $2500 pcm for a 3 or 4 bed? what would be average? we'll need two cars. would have thought nice outdoor shaded area with bbq essential? else just a nice safe area family friendly walkable-ish to shop/ cafe/ restaurant but not essential. I'll look on the estate agent sites. is rush hour traffic bad?

contacted two agencies who said work is steady for now with commercial and residential stuff. there is about 10 jobs I would try for on job sites so fingers crossed that'll hold up. they said a 189 visa is a big help but that I might have to travel earlier to do face to face interviews - expensive!!

[lozzachino]

I would look at living closer to the job of whichever of you will be doing the most childcare drop off and pick up as you want to be nearby in case you need to collect them.

 

if you choose somewhere close to a train station you can take the train to the city, the drive from anywhere to the city is horrendous.

 

i would say live within ten mins of joondalup and catch the train to the city.

 

Plenty of people here have au pairs, its a much more affordable means of childcare especially if you have two kids.

 

take a look at http://www.smartaupairs.com.au for everything you need to know about au pairs in australia.

[newjez]

Hi,

we are a family of 4 with1 year old and 3 year old kids, moving to Perth in December. My wife has a job in Joondalup and if I get one it'll probably be in the CBD (I'm a structural engineer).

any advice on good suburbs between both. want to spend as much time at home as possible so minimum commute.

we have had an au pair for 2 years - should we continue or try a creche/ nursery?

I love the beach but my wife wouldn't be quite as keen.

any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

thanks Niall

 

With pre school kids, it is fairly easy to re locate. My hawthorn is a very nice area, so it could be a good place to start and then revise the decision in six months when you know more and you eldest is looking at starting school. You may even be looking to buy then.

[Laz]

Thanks everyone especially Laz! loads of great advice. mt hawthorn sounds ideal. we were thinking of about $2500 pcm for a 3 or 4 bed? what would be average? we'll need two cars. would have thought nice outdoor shaded area with bbq essential? else just a nice safe area family friendly walkable-ish to shop/ cafe/ restaurant but not essential. I'll look on the estate agent sites. is rush hour traffic bad?

contacted two agencies who said work is steady for now with commercial and residential stuff. there is about 10 jobs I would try for on job sites so fingers crossed that'll hold up. they said a 189 visa is a big help but that I might have to travel earlier to do face to face interviews - expensive!!

Mmm, not sure $2,500 pcm would get much closer to the city in the areas I suggested so maybe try closer to Joondalup. the other thing to consider is that you might want to eventually buy in the area you rent in so see what housing prices are like. I've not heard of anyone with an au pair but maybe it's the area I live in....plenty of parents both work though but they all use babysitters.