we are hoping to leave the u.k at the end of july and we have been looking at houses and schools around elizabeth.if anybody has any insight into this area it would be much appreciated.



tracy & gary

from what I have read Elizebeth is not the best of areas but I think parts of it are ok. I am sure others will tell you more!
Claire

Duck and run .... :lol:

I have never been to Elizabeth so can't give any first-hand opinion, sorry. However, as you have seen by the above reactions, it unfortunately does not have a good reputation overall. I'm sure there must be nicer and rougher areas there, as it's quite a big area. If you mention Elizabeth to any locals here though, they will roll their eyes and make disgusted faces ... :( . Maybe it's one of those places which has an unfortunate reputation to shake off, but isn't quite as bad to people who actually live there ... :P

A good choice the birth place of the south ozzie pom , the highest paid production workers in Australia, { Car industry ] home to Australias largest Maritime air base ,[edinburgh] home of Australias center for covert operations[DSTO] and getting bigger soon to be home of the 3RAR Battalion when they move from Sydney..But apart from that.........check it out for your self ;)
http://www.playford.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm
.....Cheers mm

I work in a large factory in the north of Adelaide and the guys n gals are a very nice but rough and ready bunch.. They said that the Elizabeth area is VERY rough....(they said it not me)...but on the plus side the houses are VERY cheap... :D


Corker

Elizabeth Grove High School has had quite a bit of bad press in the Advertiser lately but there are parts of elizabeth that are nice and the Shopping Centre is massive, just had a multi-million dollar make over.

Try looking at Salisbury and surrounds, Salisbury High School has a fantastic reputation. Parafield Gardens is nice too.

Jo

And when you ask an Aussie about Elizabeth they reply "thats where the Poms live!" If you think of the rough council estates in your town, that is close to how people describe Elizabeth.

We were considering Craigmore when I first arrived in Adelaide which is very close to Elizabeth but a new and thriving estate and affordable.

Hi,
What has attracted you to pick Elizabeth as a place to settle ?

+ Most of it is nowhere near as bad as its reputation
- Some of it is....

+ Low cost housing is attracting people out the of city and making some parts into attractive commuter belt.
- Housing is low cost because any in many parts - you get what you pay for

+ There are plenty of jobs (trades, industrial and service mostly)
- There is quite high unemployment (nearly 16% against under 7% average for adelaide region). Go figure....

+ Services and facilites are well provided
- Services and facilities have a poor reputation

It's like a lot of 'tough' areas - people who complain about them are rarely the ones who live there, many who live there wouldn't want to live anywhere else and get annoyed at the reputation.

Playford (the council area) has some of the lowest household incomes in the state (32% have a lower than $400 weekly gross income and median income is $120 per week less than the regional level)

Elizabeth as an area has problems. But does that mean that it's a 'bad' area? This is an area that you have to see for yourself and preferably spend some time there before committing. There are some areas with real potential and some that are to be avoided at all costs.

However, if I were into property speculation, I'd be looking at Elizabeth with more than a little interest. As an investment for the future it has promise.

P

Bottom line is the original poster asked what Elizabeth is like and considering they may have not been to SA before want the facts.
hearsay would tell you not to touch it with a bargepole not possible for me say as I have never been but I will say this!
If it looks like chicken and tastes like chicken it`s probably chicken. ;)

Hi...

From a police point of view it is a very very busy area........ there is more police action there than pretty much anywhere else in SA. There is a fair amount of gun crime.

The local shopping centre has had an overhall and is lovely with some large stores - however there is a petition going in these store for more to be done about the undesirables who hang around in the evening on a Thursday (late night shopping) who stop the shoppers from coming.

Personally ... as mentioned earlier - I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. It was the area where all the £10 brits/ poms went to... and it is a definate no go area.

If you are working there there are areas which you could live and still commute from, as mentioned before, which are nice - such as Craigmore, Golden Grove, Greenwith, Redwood Park, Banksea Park, Gulfview heights, Wynn Vale, Modbury Heights, and others. These would be a max of 15 minute drive from "Liz Beff"

Good luck

Rippo

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REPLIES IT IS GOOD TO HEAR ALL YOUR POINTS OF VIEW


THE REASON WE ASKED THE ORIGINAL QUESTION WAS THE FACT THAT WE COULD NOT FIND ANY INFO FROM FAQ SECTION AND IT WAS A NAME ON A MAP
THAT WE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT

OUR AIM ON ARRIVAL IS TO FINALLY SETTLE SOME DISTANCE FROM THE MAIN CITY AREA AS WE HAVE LIVED IN A SMALL VILLAGE ALL OUR LIVES AND HAVING WORKED IN ALL THE MAJOR CITIES IN THE UK I COULD NOT SEE US LIVING IN ONE. (ALTHOUGH THINGS CHANGE)

FOLLOWING ON FROM YOUR REPLIES WE ARE NOW CHECKING OTHER AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN SUJESTED INC AREAS WELL AWAY FROM ADELAIDE

BECAUSE SA IS A B****Y BIG PLACE

THANKS

GARY + TRACY

....you ain't gonna find anything approaching 'small village' here I'm afraid - it's one vast urban sprawl with each suburb merging into the next, until you are many, many miles out of the city and into areas many would call remote.

I come from a small town - Harrogate in North Yorkshire. I personally find Adelaide huge but not compared to major cities like LEEDS/BRADFORD. Although there is a lot of sprawl not all areas feel citified and you don't have to go far from a main road for it to feel like a small town, or leafy suburb. We thought about Elizabeth and were put off by comments from other Australians and we have yet to investigate other areas because of limited transport. We intend to look further afield soon. When you come go for somewhere you feel comfortable in - it doesn't have to be permanent - it may take a while to find the right area - come with an open mind, it may be hard enough to find a suitable rental that doesn't kill the budget.

I thought McLaren Vale and Willunga looked like nice towns - perahps more of the village feel you're after, and great if you're into wine! Bit further into the city - 45 - 60 mins maybe (but not done it in rush hour), but then my drive out to Elizabeth was hardly a quick journey either.

Agree that many of the suburbs appear to have a feel of their own and not feel part of the 'city'. Not living there yet, mind, so all this is based on limited observation. Good luck wherever you may land. :chuckle:

Hey! I resent that :lol: :lol: :lol:

We had our eye on a place outside Willunga and it was ideal for us, although not many people enjoy being so far form a major city to us it was perfect. It had allt eh basics you would need plus for hubbie looking for construction type jobs there was heaps happening in Victor Harbour and South of Adelaide which made it quite central for his work.

Sasha :)

I still think Houghton is the most villagey place - it has a local pub (at Inglewood - although I've not been there yet - it looks nice!) a local shop/post office, a tiny village school, and cows in the fields! Only about ten minutes drive from 'civilisation' (well, Tea Tree Plaza!). Bit pricey though, but hey, it's not in the middle of nowhere!!

Hi,
Stirling and Handorff have a village atmosphere , and the city is easily accessable.

Thanks for the mention Jo!

My admittedly limited experience of Adelaide suburbs has been that, as has been said before, there are good and not so good areas within any suburb. Watch the TV news regularly and you'll see crime stories from various suburbs all over Adelaide, so you really can't generalise.

All I'd say is don't dismiss any area completely without seeing it if house prices/location appeal to you.

I've got what I think is a nice 3 bed house with a small (ie manageable for me on my own) garden in a quiet cul de sac, which I bought at a reasonable price, my daily commute to work in the CBD is slightly quicker than I had in the UK.

Easy to drive out to the Barossa, over to Largs beach or up into the hills, within easy walking distance for my local parade of shops, community club 2 mins away, sports centre, local pub/bottle shop, child care and local schools, Hollywood shopping mall 5 mins drive away, not far to Tea Tree Plaza either.

I'm sure it wouldn't suit everyone but I'm really happy here.

Elaine M :)