Sash

I never like suburbs where you see so many houses with cars in their front yards that should be in a wrecking yard. Another bad sign are bars on windows and unkempt nature strips. I'm sure the majority of people here are nice but the place has an unpleasant vibe.

I used to take my kids to Melton for basketball matches and the number of rude drivers is more than anywhere else in Melbourne.

An outer suburb should be beautiful and picturesque and quiet and affordable to make up for being far from the city. South Morang is none of these.

Has the potential to be a really great boulevard. Hopefully people will build on it soon.I am guessing in another year it will be all built up. Houses built here are surrounded by beautiful parts. The most beautiful part of Laurimar Boulevard is the portion that is North of Eliot Ave. Here there is a beautiful part that backs onto a huge and beautiful forest. From here the northern hills of Laurimar are also very visible.

Doreen is the new Eltham. I have so many friends who live there and now we are building. Most of my friends who live there were unable to afford Eltham and so moved out to a suburb that they could afford. Doreen has many nice developments. We have bought land in Laurimar, which I think is the nicest. Having said that all developments are of a very high quality. Hopefully we will commence building pretty soon. Anyway it has a nice supermarket, nice greengrocer, a shop that makes very Yummy Pizza and a very good quality Indian takeaway. Then there is the proximity to Yan Yean reservoir and all its trails and tracks. We cannot wait to move in..

THE FOLLOWING TEXT WAS ADDED TWO YEARS LATER: We now have been living in Doreen for almost two years. For all intents and purposes the honeymoon period is over. However our opinion of Doreen has actually improved even further. Over the last two years the shopping options have more than doubled. We now have three gyms and many really nice restaurants. The quality feel has not diminished in any way and we truly love coming home in the evening. From almost all directions you get this impression that Doreen is in a lovely green valley, which makes the five ten minutes extra drive worth it. We have made lots of friends and the kids are enjoying their school. The wildlife and the general atmosphere is one of serenity. It also is quite conveniently located. It takes 30 minutes to Ringwood North, 25 minutes to Doncaster Westfield. 15 minutes to the Greensborough Shopping Centre and the great aquatic centre next to it. RMIT and Latrobe campuses in Bundoora are 22 minutes away. The CBD is 45 minutes in off peak travel and 55 minutes to an hour in peak. If Doreen had a tag line it would be "A very nice place to come home to".

TEXT ADDED THREE YEARS AFTER THE FIRST: We still live in Doreen and are enjoying it. I love the undulating streets and get a great buzz out of going for a walk. Most of my walks takes me through at least four parks and by the time I return home I am nicely tired. At night when we return home it looks so picture postcard pretty and nicely laid out that we sometimes have to pinch ourselves. Yes there are still some streets that are under consstruction but we are finally seeing the end of it. Most of Lend Lease land has sold out so Laurimar has very few remaining blocks that are not already established or under construction. The street trees are starting to grow a nice green canopy over the newer parts and that streetscapes are starting to bloom nicely. The last stage of the shopping centre is being built and its still looking very promising. The great news is that the train is finally going to be built. Hopefully by 2018 most of the public transport issues will be resolved. I am pretty sure I will still live here then. If I remember I might even add another paragraph below.

Highgate Retreat is an exclusive enclave of 8 magnificent house that are build on the banks of Malcolm Creek and are nestled within the Malcolm Creek linear park. The 8 houses share private parkland between them as well as a magnificent 700 year old river red gum that is a showpiece in the centre of the park. This tree is one of the most beautiful I have seen and at night it is beautifully lit from below by three flood lights. The entrance to the retreat is announced by huge wrought iron gates and lovely entrance walls.

When land in Highgate Retreat was sold around 7 years ago they were the most expensive blocks in all of Craigieburn.

Even now it is arguably the most exclusive, beautiful, grand and yet peaceful pocket of Craigieburn. In terms of beauty it is the equal of any pocket in the whole of Melbourne.

All the 8 families who moved in built great houses and share a great and safe environment for their kids and themselves. In the evenings we often play footy or cricket in the huge grassy area in the centre of our court.

As would be expected properties in this court are very tightly held.

My Aunt lives in Broadie. We often visit her and go there to do shopping. I have always found Broadmeadows to be quite a safe suburb with friendly courteous people. Sure it has some druggies and there are some people who look very poor with sunken cheeks and pale complexions and poor clothes but they are diminishing. At this rate of change it will be the next Glenroy in five years and the next Pascoe Vale in 10. It is quite central with easy access to the North, the CBD and the East and West. While I would not live there just yet. I would not mind investing there. In fact I would love to invest there.

A really good friend of mine lives there. She bought in at the start. I have always loved how it has a very nice entrance past a lake. Most streets look nice. Like with most new estates there is not much of a community spirit it is not as bad as some people.

Have lived in Craigieburn now for the last 24 years. It used to be lovely suburb with leafy streets and friendly and nice people. The newer parts developed since the last 10 years like along the lakes, the golf course and the Malcolm creek and up Mount Ridley are really nice but the recent developments near the horrible big shopping centre are truly awful small and tightly packed.. It is now noisy and busy with an unpleasant vibe developing.

It's a poor sign of the times when there local Safeway needs a security guard.

Sadly the old Craigieburn is gone and we are leaving too.