Advice please - Port Adelaide area?

Hi everyone,

Just found out our OAA has been allocated in Port Adelaide. Know nothing about the area and wondered if you can help?

Also, they said it is a 20 min drive to Glenelg, yet Google maps say closer to 40 mins! Anyone hazard a guess as to which is more accurate?

Thanks!

Jo xx

Sorry to be negative but the Port isn't regarded as a very nice area. Although there are some suburbs close by (Semaphore, Largs) which are quite nice there are some very crusty areas in Port Adelaide.

Hi everyone,

 

Just found out our OAA has been allocated in Port Adelaide. Know nothing about the area and wondered if you can help?

 

Also, they said it is a 20 min drive to Glenelg, yet Google maps say closer to 40 mins! Anyone hazard a guess as to which is more accurate?

 

Thanks!

 

Jo xx

I suppose it will depend on which suburb at Port Adelaide. Largs Bay and Largs Northare two off the top of my head. 20 mins seems about right.

Maybe someone closer could offer to have a look at the area and outside of the house to put your mind at rest.

However Port Adelaide is one of those suburbs that suffers from the time when it was just that - a rough port area. There is a lot of housing trust in the area, but the area as a whole has been tarted up with expensive apartments filling old warehouses. The old docks are very touristy on a weekend with a market and cafes etc. OAA is cheap and all inclusive so unless it is an absolute whole I would take it as it provides you with a very cheap base to start from. It may not be pretty but it is not going to be your home forever. If it is a good one then it gives you 3 months to look round and not feel pressed into finding somewhere. Pt Adelaide has supermarkets, chemist , pubs etc. It is about 30 mins via train into town and yes you could do Glenelg in non peak hour traffic in 20 mins.

However Port Adelaide is one of those suburbs that suffers from the time when it was just that - a rough port area. There is a lot of housing trust in the area, but the area as a whole has been tarted up with expensive apartments filling old warehouses. The old docks are very touristy on a weekend with a market and cafes etc. OAA is cheap and all inclusive so unless it is an absolute whole I would take it as it provides you with a very cheap base to start from. It may not be pretty but it is not going to be your home forever. If it is a good one then it gives you 3 months to look round and not feel pressed into finding somewhere. Pt Adelaide has supermarkets, chemist , pubs etc. It is about 30 mins via train into town and yes you could do Glenelg in non peak hour traffic in 20 mins.

Another brilliant post Rachiegarlo! Spot on.

Thanks for the quick replies. It's Gardiner Court - not been given any more info. Its weighing up the pros and cons I suppose - just we have to tell them by thursday what we are doing and thats not much time to check it out!

Jo xx

Port Adelaide is a diverse area with massive building projects lifting the whole area. It has a heap of bars and cafe's, some good with some not so good. it is though on the whole, above average as an area, if your looking to get to Glenelg after then it is not on the same scale, Glenelg is much more affluant and you may not enjoy it's offerings. If your looking at others areas futher south or to the north then they will definately feel a step down from the Port.

Depending on where you may work it's also a great base to explore being just 20 mins from the city, and most of the larger industrial estates are based to the North meaning less commuting.

It's a pleasant drive though from the Port down to Glenelg and shouldn't take much more than 20 mins any time of the day as there are less traffic lights and congestion along the coastal roads. but with North Haven, Semaphore, Tennyson / West Lakes and Henley beach closer there's loads to explore nearby.

We aren't looking to live in Glenelg, but we have family there. Just wanted to be close! We can't afford Glenelg!

A quick look at the street on Street view shows it to be tidy, all the houses are in ok condition and the gardens seem tidy. I'd say yes and when you get here if it's really cruddy inside you can always say no.

looks like a good location. I have worked just on the other side of the river on Causeway Rd on the new docklands developement..

Jo,

Give me the full address if you have it and I will go and have a look in the morning take some photo's and email them back to you with my opinion, obviously I can't view inside though. (sorry cant go tonight as i've had a lemonade or two)

As has been said take it while looking for your more permanent rental or purchase which ever your doing. We live in Semaphore Park which isn't that far away.

Everything you wish for won't be that far away very easy access to almost anywhere.

Hope we can be of help.

Martin

(Have PM'ed you our email address)

You've also got shops and banks and a post office all within an easy stroll, plus excellent public transport links. There is a fantastic fruit and veg shop in the place called Port Mall which is just nearby to Gardiner Court - it's called Farmer Joe's and it is one of the best in the whole of Adelaide. Grand Junction Road gives you good road links across the whole of the close northern suburbs - depending on your work there are plenty of employers along there, Port Road takes you down to the City, and there are excellent road links to the Northern suburbs, as well as good rail and bus links. If you like Indian Food and beer check out Ice n Spice which is there, and there is also a micro brewery at the Port Dock Brewery Pub - both easy walking distance back to your accommodation. I work in Port Adelaide and know people who are born and bred Port people - they have a great community spirit and sometimes it almost feels like a village in a way as everyone seems to know each other there! Unless it's in a particularly rough street, I reckon it will give you a good cheap starting point.

Hi, sorry to be checky and come in on this but everyone seems so helpful I wonder if, like jo_marnes, I could seek a little advise. We arrive on the 18th March and my place of work is Port Adelaide. Which area would people suggest is a good place to set up home, with the empahsis being on my 9yr old boy in relation to schooling, activities, clubs, safety etc. Once again sorry to come in on this but it may be useful to others as I know of more people arriving shortly. Many thanks

North Haven, Semaphore, West Lakes, West Beach are just a few.

Just wanted to add that I think Port Adelaide sometimes suffers from an old idea of how it used to be.. I live in the New Port Quays new development and love it! Sure there are some not so hot looking bits to some parts of Port Adelaide it but on the whole it is definately starting to smarten up very well these days. It has some great shops - deffo second Farmer Joes, not to mention a big coles, Kmart etc. the people are really friendly, great links both road and transport, beach close by at Semaphore and Largs and the dolphins on the river a daily occurence.

I would also add that hubs is a sparky and does a lot of work around this area too and in his words the people are "salt of the earth", don't worry, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised:)

Hi,

My hubby and I were thinking of applying for the OAA aswell. Have they told you exactly where in Port Adelaide you will be staying? I have read mixed reviews about this type of accommodation but it is hard finding any until you are physically in the country. What are you doing about your furniture etc that you are shipping from the UK? Are you keeping it in storage until you get a more permanent address?

Good luck with everything

Vicki :-)

Hi, sorry to be checky and come in on this but everyone seems so helpful I wonder if, like jo_marnes, I could seek a little advise. We arrive on the 18th March and my place of work is Port Adelaide. Which area would people suggest is a good place to set up home, with the empahsis being on my 9yr old boy in relation to schooling, activities, clubs, safety etc. Once again sorry to come in on this but it may be useful to others as I know of more people arriving shortly. Many thanks

Hi Sabre

Port Adelaide is very accessible from a load of places - coastal and hills. I live in Highbury in the Northeast and there are some beautiful suburbs around here and some great schools, both state and private - Grand Junction Road runs right across to Port Adelaide and it takes me 30-35 minutes in what passes for a 'rush hour' here. Rachiegarlo has suggested some good beach suburbs as well if you prefer beachside to hillside. It will all depend on your personal family preferences, but really the only places that may be ruled out for distance reasons are the far southern suburbs and perhaps the southeast ones.

Again, though that's just my personal opinion - I prefer to keep my commute to less than 45 minutes but I know some that don't mind a longer drive.

If you don't get OAA, you could do worse than book a cabin at the Semaphore Holiday park http://www.discoveryholidayparks.com.au/sa/adelaide/adelaide_beachfront and explore suburbs you like the look of from there. If you can get OAA though, that's a lot cheaper!

Diane

PS Just noticed you're arriving at one of Adelaide's busiest times - during the Clipsal 500 - so if you haven't already booked somewhere to stay when you arrive I would strongly suggest you do sooner rather than later!

I did a job in Port Adelaide Quays the other day for a builder who was working on the new development, I asked out of curiosity how much they sold for ............... $1.5 million

It reminded me of Bristol docks before the re-gen there, so I`d say its becoming a very up and coming area

You have to look past the run down areas around it and try and imagine how its going to be when all the developing is completed

I want to go and live there myself now!

mum

x

Hehe, glad people have said good things about it. We have decided to accept it so we'll let you know what it's like!

Jo xx

I woud probably not at this time want to be living down at the Port if you are concerned with safety issues etcetera. I looked into buying down there when I first came back here 5 years ago, and it has gone ahead a bit but not a lot. If you want to live close I would probably look at Seamphore, Henley etcetera. I think it would pay to get a short term rental to start off and have a good look around, and check out the schools. You will have difficulty getting accomodation at the time you are coming, I helped a couple out last year and rented them my house four a couple of weeks because they could find nowhere at all, unfortunately this year it is rented out. So first thing you need to do is get some short term accomodation, the Clipsal is only on for fur days once it is over it can be easier to get accomodation, I rent out units as well and they have been booked out for over six months for the Clipsal, you may want to try one of the holiday spots just for that weekend and then look for something closer to town after the weekend. Check out the Stayz site.

All the best.