Thoughts on St Albans

[willister]

First - in the 1990s when i was a teenager at school i would rather go to box hill to eat as oppose to footscray or springvale. Come on - you serious - that's crazy - footscray is the same as boxhill in the 90s?

i'm not trying to belittle victoria university - and many students where local or foreign who are trying to get a degree in a professional job such as accounting who rather to go to monash or melb uni. Secondly, many overseas companies do not regard vic uni as a university itself and would prove very difficult to find employment in their home country upon return. where else box hill is close to deakin university.

when you say west - yes but i wouldn't say St Albans. more would be purchasing in areas like point cook, hoppers crossing, altona where they parents bought in the east.

Everything in life has some level of luck - even in investing. Most mainland chinese buy in box hill due to proximity to shops and food. Unfortunately money talks - and they have it and they park it where they see fit.

LOL..Eating our in Footscray, Springvale and Box Hill would be the same in my humble opinion. Like you, I was living the teen years in the 90s. What I'm really trying to point out is that most Melbourne suburbs weren't all that different back in the 90s, it is only the MAINLAND CHINESE money that has been poured in that has inflated/propped up a property bubble and they have chosen Box Hill - proximity to Balwyn/North Balwyn & Doncaster/East Doncaster places the last wave of Hong Kong immigrants decided to go.

I recall my folks along with a lot of others who were eagerly waiting for the boom to hit St. Albans upon hearing family and friends who experienced it in Box Hill/Mount Waverley/Glen Waverley....it just never really came to St. Albans.

The problem with what doesn't attract Mainland Chinese to the West is really:

1. Bad Reputation - Rightly or wrongly, it's reputation has been tarnished, Footscray and beyond is seen as a big, bad wasteland full of junkies. To be really honest, after living there for 18 years I saw St. Albans no different to Box Hill safety wise.

2. Lack of Trees/Green places - Admittedly, I could see this as a major drawback. The natural landscape of the West is barren, flat plateau.

3. Lack of "Good" Schools - Education means a lot to the Chinese/Asians in general. From what I can gather, the arguably better schools marketed well and attracted performers rather than actually doing any better education wise. Heck, I attended St. Albans Secondary College with teachers who were mainly Melbourne University Graduates.