If you venture closer to yarravile, a suburb Kingsville is probably my pick of the west. Very very underrated, close to west footscray and yarraville and has beautiful homes and apartments
Kingsville's got good inner suburban type housing stock that should appeal to those who like doing up a Californian bungalow or timber workers cottage.
However it lacks the rest of the 'lifestyle package' that contributes to the appeal of other nearby inner suburbs such as Yarraville or even Footscray.
While it has shops they are on wide and busy roads. They are not numerous enough to constitute a recognised suburban centre or foster a sense of community.
Urban Spoon lists just 4 restaurants for Kingsville. This compares to around 7 in Maidstone, 9 for Spotswood, 40 for Yarraville and hundreds in Footscray. Even Braybrook has 20.
Public transport is limited, especially on weekends or after 7pm. Trains are not within handy walking distance and, unlike West Footscray or Braybrook, there are no direct buses to the city. Being so dependent on road transport exposes the area to increasing traffic congestion over time with no alternatives. This compares with anywhere between Footscray and Newport which has trains every 10 min weekdays/20 min weekends.
Kingsville's Walk Score is just 70, which is poor for an inner suburb (see
http://www.walkscore.com/AU-VIC/Melbourne/Kingsville ).
In contrast Yarraville gets 77 and Footscray 78. It is even inferior to much cheaper Sunshine on 71. West Footscray is lower at 64 but benefits from the better public transport as discussed above.
Kingsville may appear cheap and is indeed good value if you love your period style home so much that you don't often leave it. But if you care about walkability, eating out or public transport (like lots of inner suburban types do) then it is and will remain a B-grade location. Although the south-east part nearest Yarraville might just rate a B+.
