Source
r/perth•
Perth_Eh

Perthians, can you recommend any resources for an exchange student to find accommodation in your city?

Should I not be saying Perthians? I'll be in Perth on an exchange at the UWA. My initial stay will be at a hostel while I look for places but ideally I'd like to find something more stable and private before University begins. I have been hesitant in locking in places without me being physically present to inspect the property / room mates.

The communities I've been looking in: Crawley, Nedlands, Dalkeith, Subiaco, and West Perth.

Resources I've found: * UWA Housing Database. * Gumtree. * flatmates.com.au

Anyone able to offer anymore wisdom?

Posted Feb 3, 2011, 8:09 AM UTC · edited

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

4
fermilevel•

Screw you northies LOL

Damn you stuck-up, rich basterds :P

7
heavyfriends•
  1. Live north of the River. Southies are weird

Amen!

1
Mad_Aussie•

Siffffffffffff

2
wurdtoyer•

Northies can spell bastards.

0
Dagon•

Tarantino made a movie and it was spelled like that - he must be right.

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fermilevel•

I was making a subtle pun from the movie title "inglourious basterds".

I guess it was too subtle.

1
gbhall•

Scarborough, Hillarys, Mullaloo ftw :)

1
Sinthesys•
  1. Western suburbs trumps all.
1
cj-maranup•

But getting to UWA from the train requires a change to a bus. I guess it's quickest from the Esplanade Train stop, therefore living on the Mandurah or Joondalup lines would be best.

1
heavyfriends•

Perthites is the general term I believe.

3
Mad_Aussie•

The term is "Legends"

7
heavyfriends•

I stand corrected.

2
[deleted]•

I thought it was Perthverts?

3
sideways86•

I always thought Perthites.

2
heavyfriends•

My friend and I were over in Sydney 08 for the Hottest 100 countdown. We were in the front row and kept yelling out "Perth rules/rocks!" At some point Linda commented on how there were some "Perthites out in the crowd by the sounds of things!"

Represent.

3
ShadyBiz•

Sandgropers

2
puddlejumper•

Gumtree has never let me down. Found my last 4 housemates there.

3
AlexDanger•

If you're at UWA, just want around the various departments and look on the pin up boards.

3
cj-maranup•

For a semester, wouldn't it be easier to live on campus? Or is that too pricey/not your scene.

You know they don't make you share a room right? Not like the crazy american-style accom you see in movies... You might even get an ensuite - my college tended to give exchange students the slightly better rooms :) & living on campus is pretty damn easy, plus the colleges are a great way for an instant social scene :)

Where is reasonable to live depends a fair bit on public transport - UWA isn't that close to a train station (Shenton Park is about a 45 minute walk, which is OK on a nice day but not so great when it's 35 degrees, or pissing rain) and any train-bus changeover means an extra delay. If you have to go bus-train-bus it sucks chocolate salty balls... Therefore other places mentioned like Scarborough, Hillarys, Mullaloo would be a hassle to commute from, likewise Bentley & anywhere south of the river pretty much... The Transperth Journey Planner is handy :)

The buses run pretty regularly down Stirling Highway, so Claremont and even down towards Cottesloe would be OK. East Perth would also be OK, cos there are lots of buses that cross the city altho during peak hour it's rather slower obviously.

Edit: Oh, and they might quote the rent weekly, but I don't think anyone actually pays it weekly, do they?

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Perth_EhOP•

Finding residence on campus would have been ideal. Unfortunately, my application failed to impress for whatever reason. I did apply fairly late though.

Based on your advise, I'll try avoid the bus-train-bus route. I have also been warned against East Perth. Been told it is a 'shady area'. Not sure how much truth there is to it.

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shigSorrento•

East Perth isn't too bad. I bus-train-bus and it isn't too bad either.

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cj-maranup•

Ah, bad luck :( Did you try all the colleges? I didn't think they all filled most years.

I lived in East Perth for a while & didn't have an problems. There's a park on Wellington St that's sort of notorious as a hangout for the homeless, but I never had any problems. I was near Claisebrook Station tho, rather than East Perth station - maybe that side is a bit more dodgy.

Good luck :)

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Mad_Aussie•

I studied at Curtin, so this info may not be relevant to a future UWA student, but on campus they should have a resource centre that holds lists of properties in and around the campus area.

Perth is a pretty spread out place, but there is plenty of buses that run pretty much everywhere - once you work out the system, it's easy enough to live anywhere. One suburb with bulk student accommodation is Bentley. If you talk to Simon Backhouse at Backhouse & Associates in Cannington, they might be able to help you out.

http://www.bwbackhouse.com.au/

Hope you find your way! Perth is a great place, you'll love it!

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Perth_EhOP•

Thanks! Checking out Bentley on Google Maps, seems pretty distant to UWA especially via public transit. What do you estimate the travel time to be between those two?

I'm learning Perth is quite expensive and still wrapping my head around the weekly, instead of monthly, method of charging rent.

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Mad_Aussie•

Some places will let you pay fortnightly/monthly/quaterly. Just ask the question. In terms of Bentley to UWA, you could probably do it in under 30 minutes if all the planets align. If you get a car once you're here, possibly the same amount of time. I used to be able to ride from my place (Wilson) to the hospital I worked at in Nedlands, around 22kms, in just under 45 minutes.

Where are you coming from anyway?

1
SauerKrausSouth of The River•

As a fellow (former) Wilsonite... did you find that no-one else in Perth has ever heard of Wilson?

2
llama_attack•

Until I had a look at Google Maps I thought you'd just made that suburb up. TIL

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cj-maranup•

It's where all the buses go! ;)

No, I've never been there, or heard anything else about it...

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Perth_EhOP•

I just discovered Google maps can map out a transit route given two addresses. I'm coming from Canada.

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gbhall•

Bentley to UWA I'm guessing would be 25mins using public transport. Perth has awesome public transport.

But with accomodation, I would assume UWA would have some on campus? I go to Curtin too and it has so much on campus and right next to it as well.

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[deleted]•

25 mins? Good luck with that.

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shigSorrento•

I used to go between UWA and Curtin by public transport and it usually took a bit longer, especially outside of peak time.

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samuelkellyCrawley•

perth has awesome public transport

have you been to any other city anywhere ever? transperth is the WORST

1
gbhall•

Yes, I've lived in 7 cities in the last 19 years. I've lived in Perth for a year

What cities are you thinking of that have amazing public transport? Go, name them. Lets try Australia first, or New Zealand. I can't think of any.

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shigSorrento•

The WORST? Wow, that's a very cynical outlook. I've been privileged to travel to quite a few big cities and, considering the low population density of Perth, I think Transperth does very well. Especially considering that most people here have a strong aversion to any mode of transport that isn't a car, and a large one at that.

In peak time, it takes me about the same amount of time to catch a bus, then a train, then a bus to get to UWA from my house. I think this is very reasonable.

Yeah sure, London and Singapore have the most amazing public transport systems and you don't even need to own a car if you live there, but they have significantly higher population densities which facilitate this.

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objectivityissues•

Public transport from UWA to Curtin takes 45 minutes at best (bus to the esplanade, then transfer to a different bus at the esplanade).

1
gbhall•

Actually Curtin has dedicated buses than run every couple of minutes to and from Curtin to Canning Bridge Station. From there there is almost always no wait for a train that will take you to the city. Obv you hop off and bus to UWA. That stretch of the journey I have no idea on the timing.

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[deleted]•

Bentley's way too far out of your way if you're planning on going to UWA rather than Curtin. South Perth/Como or Wembley/Floreat have some okay-priced housing and are closer; also you're far less likely to get stabbed. If you want cheaper than that, Glendalough is pretty close; much cheap housing there.

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Perth_EhOP•

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm more concerned about finding safe areas than the cost. I'd like to take a midnight stroll without worrying about getting stabbed...

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[deleted]•

South Perth/Como and Wembley/Floreat are both great areas if that's a concern; I've lived there and have never felt at all unsafe walking home at night (being a woman).

Bentley is the only place I've ever actually turned down a house because I felt unsafe in the neighbourhood - and I've lived in some pretty crappy places.

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shigSorrento•

You can take a midnight stroll safely in most of Perth, a notable exception being in the city.

1
shigSorrento•

Will you be using public transport? Bentley probably isn't your best bet. Ideally you would want to live along the circleroute bus or the Fremantle train line. These are relatively expensive areas though. You definitely could live further out, as long as there is a reasonable bus service nearby. I actually live an hour from UWA by public transport.

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Perth_EhOP•

I will be using public transport mostly. Maybe get a bicycle as well? An hour commute on public transport seems unbearable haha.

1
shigSorrento•

It's not too bad, you can achieve things when not having to drive. Like listen to Hamish & Andy (a very popular radio show in Oz). It's 35-55 minutes by car depending on the time of day, so Transperth doesn't do too badly from my place. Getting a bike would be a good idea if you are within cycling distance from a train line; buses do not allow bikes on.

1
uselessartsdegree•

flatmatefinders.com.au

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fermilevel•

Exchange in UWA you say?

UWA itself has a campus hostel, just a street across from the university. Con: Very expensives Pro: Apparently I heard the food they serve every night is great.

Suburbs like Crawley, Nedlands and Dalkeith are upper class places, the rentals are on the higher end of the price specturm, but I can pretty sure said that the conditions will be better than you expected.

Don't worry if you can't get into those suburbs, there's plenty of others. Perth's public transport is one of the best, getting to uni will not pose much of a problem.

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cj-maranup•

It's a college, not a hostel. The one which belongs to UWA is called Currie Hall and there are 4 other which are nominally church-linked (but not really religious). One is girls only.

They all have private rooms, some will have ensuite bathrooms.

1
Perth_EhOP•

Yes, apparently people started applying for housing in those halls previous July. I started in November and was told it's not looking good.

1
Dagon•

If you're Asian, Victoria Park and surrounding suburbs are made up mostly of Chinese/Vietnamese/Koreans advertising a room for rent within their own ethnic groups.

Sorry if I sound racist there, but hey, just putting it out there...

1
[deleted]•

Horseshit.

Victoria Park is too far away for the OP, but renting there? Really easy, and quite affordable - and yes, I'm white.

Living around brown people? Not actually scary if you're not racist.

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Dagon•

Chill, brother, chill. I never said it wasn't easy or affordable - it is, and that's why it's so popular with students (especially since it's close to Curtin). Neither did I say anything was scary. I've rented in Carisle for a year and most of my friends live around the area. Some areas are bad news and some are well-to-do.

However, there's very strong veins around the area that are advertising as Asian-only. Have a look.

Also, I believe the racist term for Asians is "yellow".

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[deleted]•

Never seen it having lived in the area. I'm still dubious.

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apasserby•

I'm going agree with Dagon, I saw a ton of asian only or asian preferred rent in that area, so it can limit your choices there quite a bit actually. Of course, your average Aussie isn't going to want to move in with a bunch of Koreans or whatever so I can hardly say I blame them.

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[deleted]•

I go to UWA, and currently live in a flat with an exchange student.

I recommend Currie Hall or any of the other university dormitories, they're pricier than living off Mi Goreng, so if money is tight that could be a factor, otherwise, I definitely recommend it.

Depending on where you're exchanging from, you might have a group of people from your country there so you'll quickly make friends.

1