Is Kambah really that bad?

Plus…Kambah shops is home to the Sausage King of Australia!!

Pommy Bastard…you’re a twit.

Anyhow…Skiddy, I moved to Kambah alomst 5 years ago, down the road and round the corner from the Kambah Village shops, which by the way has been ear-marked for upgrade. I bought a 3 bedroom ex-govie on a huge 800m2 block. You’ll be hard up finding blocks that large in any of the newer suburbs for the price you could get it in Kambah. And yes, while the house (and many others in Kambah) are 30 to 40 years old, it’s not hard to do a wee bit of painting and/or renovating and landscaping if you’re not scared of a bit of hard work.

Kambah is geographically the centre of Canberra. It is 10 to 15 mins from Civic, Woden, Tuggeranong, or Manuka. A bit further to Belco…but what’s out there? It’s close to many beautiful nature reserves, the river, and the Brindies.

There’s a new super school being built, heaps of ovals, and yes PB, a huge church..so what!! And apparently you can get a good colon cleaning somewhere in Kambah too!!??

My neighbours are some of the most incredibly friendly and fabulous people I have ever come across and in the 5 years I’ve been there, only one house has been put up for sale. None of us are going anywhere!!

housebound said :

Skidd Marx said : I’m with PB all the way on this one – Parkway Church, a.k.a Hill$ong deserves every bit of bad publicity it gets. Evil money-hungry cultist scumbags who take advantage of the dim-witted and desperate.
Parkway isn’t Hillsong last time I heard. And the two might not appreciate the association. It might be good to get the facts straight before letting the abuse fly.

Why would one bunch of evil money-hungry cultist scumbags who take advantage of the dim-witted and desperate, be dismayed for being associated with another evil money-hungry cultist scumbags who take advantage of the dim-witted and desperate? Unles they miss out on some dim-witted and desperate believers in the big sky fairy to rip off. They both believe in the same sky fairy, do they not?

“We live on the eastern side of Drakeford Dr, close to the playing fields and were told by a member of the AFP that this was the side to live on (lower crime rates etc)”

Oops. Make that the *western* side. Doh.

Skidd Marx said : I’m with PB all the way on this one – Parkway Church, a.k.a Hill$ong deserves every bit of bad publicity it gets. Evil money-hungry cultist scumbags who take advantage of the dim-witted and desperate.
Parkway isn’t Hillsong last time I heard. And the two might not appreciate the association. It might be good to get the facts straight before letting the abuse fly.

As someone who moved here from Perth (East Vic Park to be precise) and rented in Kambah for 18 months before buying in Kambah, I’d say go for it.

Definitely do your research but we’ve settled very happily here with two young children. The new school (P-10) opens next year and they are already fielding lots of out of area enquiries (who have no chance of getting in, apparently)

Yes, we have bogans nearby, but who doesn’t? Our street is quiet, our neighbours lovely and I have been pleasantly surprised given the reputation some believe Kambah to have. We live on the eastern side of Drakeford Dr, close to the playing fields and were told by a member of the AFP that this was the side to live on (lower crime rates etc)

We have yet to experience any crime. A far cry from our experience at East Vic Park where someone tried to break into the sliding door of our lounge room while I was seated on the other side.

Kambah has great access to the city and Belconnen. I had my second child at Calvary Hospital and the staff were amazed we “drove all that way from Tuggeranong”. They were stunned when I told them we got there in 20 minutes and the only traffic lights we encountered were the sets right outside the hospital. Takes us less time to get there than our northside friends. We can also drive right to the city before we encounter any traffic lights.

Kambah shops are run down and in desperate need of a knockdown/rebuild. Apparently a ‘facelift’ is on the cards but there’s only so long you can dress a sheep as a lamb and get away with it!

I’ll openly admit I can be a bit of a snob and there are other suburbs that were higher on my preference list but I’m glad we bought here and I think we will be here for quite some time.

Good luck with the move.

Stay in Perth.

I used to work in Kambah, at a disability group house. The house was next to a walkway/reserve, and staff had to park at the end of the cul-de-sac, next to the house. In the school holidays, car tyres got slashed at least once, sometimes twice, normally when there was just one staff member on, doing the sleep-over.

I have lived in Kambah for two years, having moved from Weston Creek (about 4-5 kms away). We moved here after selling a unit in Hughes. Hughes by Canberra accounts is ‘nice’ as it is inner south. That said I have seen things go down at Hughes shops that I cannot imagine happening at Kambah. (Not to mention the fellow who got popped there a few months back).

I can honestly say I have never been happier living somewhere. It is clean, well serviced, with nice locals.

I honestly don’t see the bad mentality at all. I get around atr night running, walking etc, and I seriously don’t know where these perceived stereotypes come from.

It is working class, however in Canberra that doesn’t exactly mean a whole lot.

Wanniassa might as well be Kambah (vice versa) – it is a similar vibe. Lot’s of 70’s and 80’s built homes, lot’s of tradies etc, and also lots of young families.

I can’t recommend it enough. It is a nice standard Australian suburb.

The kambah Tavern has a reputation, but if you chose to go there for a wine & cheese platter you deserve what’s coming to you.

In short, yes, move to Kambah.

Jordo said :

Go Wanni, awesome butcher…. hahahaaa another shameless plug…… http://www.jordoschopshop.com

Yes, that is shameful spam but I’m in agreement, jordo’s is one of the best butchers in the ACT.

Now Jordo, can I have that free wheelbarrow of meaty by-products

You guys are so helpful. All this is great information – especially thank you to reprobate for the tip about the TV reception.

We lived in Pearce a few years ago and loved it. Now that we’re a one income family with 3 under 4 we have to be realistic about price and location, but we were looking as close to where we used to be as possible. School is in Curtin and work is in Russell and lots of friends in Tuggers. So all those factors drew us to Wanni and Kambah on paper but we’ll definitely come over and do some driving around to get a feel for them.

The bogan factor is a turn off but at least Canberra is the home of the original bogan, better than the cashed-up ones here in Perth. Nothing worse than being sneered at for your pointless tertiary education from a McMansion chock full of plasma-screen tellies.

http://www.police.act.gov.au/community-safety/crime-statistics.aspx

Your best guide to crime stats in ACT. Its found on the AFP website.

trevar said :

Fair go, Pommy! I enjoyed most of your post as a bit of a laugh, but it’s a bit much to be associating local churches with Danny Nalliah and his mob of lunatics! I can see you’re joking, and it’s fair enough to make a joke at the expense of a local church (as much as any other organisation), but some people might actually think there is an association between Parkway and Nalliah, and that would be unthinkable.
.

Fair and reasonable, I do tend to get my cults mixed up, and it’s not fair to associate this bunch of cults with a cult like Danny Nalliah.

But honestly, look at the image again!

http://www.parkway.net.au/images/index/johnwendy.jpg

“At Parkway we believe god wants us to enjoy life”

The mind boggles!!

Skidd Marx said :

I’m with PB all the way on this one – Parkway Church, a.k.a Hill$ong deserves every bit of bad publicity it gets. Evil money-hungry cultist scumbags who take advantage of the dim-witted and desperate.

+1

I’m with PB all the way on this one – Parkway Church, a.k.a Hill$ong deserves every bit of bad publicity it gets. Evil money-hungry cultist scumbags who take advantage of the dim-witted and desperate.

Pommy bastard said :

It’s used by the denizens of Parkways Church to lure unsuspecting immigrants into the area, where they are then captured and enslaved, their life’s savings an all possessions going to Danny Nalliah of the Church of the holy wallet snatchers. If you really want to know what moving to Kambah will do to you and your family, visit this page, and look at the people who “god wants to enjoy life”, would you do that to someone you love?

http://www.parkway.net.au/

Fair go, Pommy! I enjoyed most of your post as a bit of a laugh, but it’s a bit much to be associating local churches with Danny Nalliah and his mob of lunatics! I can see you’re joking, and it’s fair enough to make a joke at the expense of a local church (as much as any other organisation), but some people might actually think there is an association between Parkway and Nalliah, and that would be unthinkable.

Nalliah has been denounced by every major denomination of the Christian church in Australia; including the Apostolic Church, of which Parkway is a member congregation.

farnarkler said :

PB you’ve been eating those mushrooms again haven’t you. When will you learn you’re only meant to eat them on the Damrak.

Honest officer, I didn’t know it was reindeer urine…

Kambah is a lot like Queanbeyan, in that because they are both much larger than average Canberra suburbs, you can find some really nice streets, some really crap streets, and a lot in between.

If you were looking to buy, Kambah would be a good choice. Just make sure it’s a decent street. The price/quality ratio is better than many (most?) other Canberra suburbs.

Kambah is mostly harmless.

There were a number of dodgy families who used to live there in West Kambah; but the typhoid epidemic of 1998 knocked them for a six – followed soon after by the cholera outbreak in 2001 – which effectively broke the back of the bogan population for good by 2003.

I’ve heard that there are Iraqi refugees who came from Sadr City to settle in Canberra, and even they refused to live in Kambah!

Kambah is a great place to live. We moved here with a little trepidation a few months ago and its been a great and pleasant surprise since then. We’d heard all the warnings, and yeah there may be a couple of areas to avoid at night but I suspect the reputation is worse than the reality. If you can have a look at the high side of the suburb – the views are amazing and property is still reasonably prices.

The local Tuggeranong amenities are great. With a couple of small kids we’re glad to find local community and childcare services are brilliant.

Due to its proximity to the parkway its not far from anywhere – at least for anyone coming from a big city.

Definitely worth considering.

BH

It is true that Kambah is not a bad drive to the city.

But it is also true that it seems a long way away to people who don’t go to tuggeranong often, and you will not get many visitors from people who live in civic or belconnen.

It depends what you want – Kambah has great access to bush reserves and the river, and affordable houses on bigger blocks.

I like both. Both have their pockets of guvy houses but these seem to have mostly been sold off so aren’t really the problem they used to be. Mostly younger families now.

Both have their really posh areas. Glen eagles doesn’t like to think its in Kambah.

I found that heading north for work from Wanniassa took a little longer. I had to head south before heading north again. The Kambah house is quicker onto either Drakeford or Athlon by a couple of minutes.

I had more trouble with neighbors in Wanniassa but that was solved ten years ago… I think some went to prison and don’t know/care where the others went..

I think I’m in the feeder area for the same schools. I’ve got the same local shopping centre (Wanniassa) at about the same distance.

We looked at houses over the ridge in Weston valley. They tended to be a bit older, bit smaller and a fair bit more expensive. It was a km or two closer to work but at 100km/hr on the parkway who really cares.

Wanniassa is probably a bit newer but a bit further south. Kambah probably has a bigger range of cheap to expensive but not by much.

Go Wanni, awesome butcher…. hahahaaa another shameless plug…… http://www.jordoschopshop.com

Jethro said :

Kambah is a long way from anywhere

20 minutes to the city, 20 minutes to Belconnen, 5/10 minutes to Woden and 5 minutes to Tuggeranong.

Have you lived in Canberra before, or is there a particular reason you need to live in Tuggers (work for example)?

I moved down here 2 years ago and had absolutely no idea about any of Canberra’s suburbs or the town layout. I definitely didn’t have any of the Belco v Tuggers prejudice. Buying a house I was pretty open to location, but after a little looking Tuggers seemed by far the worst choice. It just seemed run down and uncared for. Kambah is a long way from anywhere, and was one of the first suburbs I crossed off of my list. Waniassa was also crossed off pretty quickly.

Suburbs in Belconnen are priced pretty similar to Tuggers and have better access to the CBD and (generally) seem a bit nicer. Even Charnie has some pretty nice spots up on the hill.

Avoid the new suburbs (West Macgregor, Harrison, Crace, etc). Tiny blocks of land with little bomb shelter houses, shoddy worksmanship and overinflated prices.

I live in Kambah and really enjoy it. My kids go to a local primary (less than half a click from home and I can get to Kambah Village shops or the IGA in less than 10 minutes walk. Huge oval for playing with the kids and its only 5km from a decent indoor pool. Oh, and real estate types now refer to it as ‘inner city’. I spent over 30 years living in Belconnen (‘upper Flynn’ and then Holt), and reckon Kambah’s just fine, but then again I live next to a reserve and have ample open space in which to frolic with the family and the dog… which leads me to the many great walking tracks around the surrounding mountains which start less than one Km from my door. Sure,there’s a few dodgy streets full of ex-govies but the majority of it is fine. Much better than many other Canberra suburbs in my opinion.

Both suburbs are fine – plenty of amenities and the houses (which are gradually being renovated) are on decent-sized blocks. Neither suburb is particularly fashionable but most sensible ppl won’t care about that. Not worth paying an extra $50k+ for the “pride” of being able to tell ppl that you live in Belconnen or Weston Creek. Besides which, parts of both suburbs are closer to Woden and Civic than parts of the Creek.

In Kambah, the best areas are between Summerland Cct and Sulwood Drive, as well as along Learmonth Drive. In Wanniassa, look north of Sternberg Crescent.

Of the two I would choose Wanniassa as the houses are about five years newer on average and tend to have better solar orientation and ensuites, etc.

Happy house hunting.

I’d suggest Belco. Much better than the ‘deep’ south particularly Kambah the white lion suburb.

Just a thought, but Kambah was recently rated as the third most bogan suburb in all of Australia in a survey. The full info:
“Canberra’s sprawling suburbs are so huge that they are split into several regions of suburbs, Woden, Belconnen (Belco) and Tuggeranong (Tuggers) and therefore, like any suburban mass, become booner/bogan territory,” he writes.

“Tuggers and Belconnen Belco are by far the best contenders with large clusters of booner suburbs. Before I hear complaints I am aware that Queanbeyan would win in a count back but is disqualified on the technicality that it is in NSW not the ACT. So the final best bogan/booner suburb in Canberra is: Kambah (in Tuggers). Quite a charming suburb where I spent large parts of my youth getting pissed in parks, but given the number of v8 Falcolns on the nature strip, wandering terrier dogs and the enormous size of the local Burns Club and indoor cricket centre it is Canberra’s booner capital.”

The top boogan suburbs are:Albion Park NSW, Dandenong Vic, Kambah ACT, Redcliffe Qld, Wyoming NSW, Salisbury SA, Chigwell Tas, Ipswich Qld, Rockingham WA, Moe Vic.

Reprobate said :

Either way, as other posters have said, avoid the main streets of both (Livingstone Ave, Bodington Cres and O’Halloran Circuit in Kambah are all particularly dismal)

Boddington and O’Halloran are quite nice, if only because they don’t have those horrible little boxes with a carport that seem to dominate parts of Marconi Crescent and Livingstone Avenue and the streets that run off them.

PB you’ve been eating those mushrooms again haven’t you. When will you learn you’re only meant to eat them on the Damrak.

If the world was the shape of a horse, Kambah would be under its tail.

Kambah doesn’t actually exist, it’s a fictional place a bit like Porth Emmet in Cornwall.

http://www.cornwall-beaches.co.uk/Porthemmet-beach.htm

It’s used by the denizens of Parkways Church to lure unsuspecting immigrants into the area, where they are then captured and enslaved, their life’s savings an all possessions going to Danny Nalliah of the Church of the holy wallet snatchers. If you really want to know what moving to Kambah will do to you and your family, visit this page, and look at the people who “god wants to enjoy life”, would you do that to someone you love?

http://www.parkway.net.au/

People attempting to find Kambah have spent many years endlessly circling the natural phenomena of “Glenloch Interchange”, which is a portal to the Belconnen underworld, with magical escape exits which only appear in the same location every second month. Kambah is renowned worldwide for it’s collection of ancient speed cameras and is the only place in Australia where driving on the left is forbidden. Kambah has its own Saint, St Mully of the blessed Aorta, and a Mountain, Mt Taylor which is only four yards shorter than Everest on a good day, and can be skied on most winters.

Kamba is at war with Tuggeranong, Kambah has always been at war with Tuggeranong.

Kambah was the first area of Canberra to be developed for human habitation, although none live there now. Most of the people who live there are descended from the same family; they can be identified by their surfeit of thumbs and their single eye. In a recent survey of Kambah residents not one voted it a great place to live, this is due to the high levels of illiteracy of the residents there, and their tendency to eat unaccompanied poll takers. Kambah has Australia’s highest density of leprous newts.

Kambah rises and falls at least 4 cm each day, it feels like the earth is breathing. Gordon Ramsey owns the local fish and chip shop. The emblem of Kambah is the rock, the flower of the suburb the nettle. Kambah has its own flag, though no one has ever seen it. John Howard once visited Kambah during a plane crash, it was the only way to get him there. No one from Kambah can pronounce “Aristotle”. Kambah is twinned with Upper Cwm Twll in Wales.

Jim Jones said :

chewy14 said :

PBO said :

Fair call, However the name Charnwood implies a small, quaint place and Isabella Plains sounds like the frontier.

West Macgregor.
Come and build your dream home in our scenic* eco friendly suburb.
Enjoy all the benefits of country living just minutes** from the city

Note:
* Scenic views may often include high voltage power lines and sewer vents.
** hey we didn’t actually say how many minutes.

About 15 minutes.

Honestly, I can’t think of any truly ‘bad’ Canberra suburbs. The place is too small and middle-classed.

Crace… It will change everything…

Jim Jones said :

Honestly, I can’t think of any truly ‘bad’ Canberra suburbs. The place is too small and middle-classed.

Exactly Jim.

Most Canberra suburbs have their good and bad areas, but even the worst areas aren’t really that bad.

Queanbeyan on the other hand……

chewy14 said :

PBO said :

Fair call, However the name Charnwood implies a small, quaint place and Isabella Plains sounds like the frontier.

West Macgregor.
Come and build your dream home in our scenic* eco friendly suburb.
Enjoy all the benefits of country living just minutes** from the city

Note:
* Scenic views may often include high voltage power lines and sewer vents.
** hey we didn’t actually say how many minutes.

About 15 minutes.

Honestly, I can’t think of any truly ‘bad’ Canberra suburbs. The place is too small and middle-classed.

chewy14 said :

PBO said :

Fair call, However the name Charnwood implies a small, quaint place and Isabella Plains sounds like the frontier.

West Macgregor.
Come and build your dream home in our scenic* eco friendly suburb.
Enjoy all the benefits of country living just minutes** from the city

Note:
* Scenic views may often include high voltage power lines and sewer vents.
** hey we didn’t actually say how many minutes.

Dont forget the asbestos dump and the pioneer graveyard it is on top of.

PBO said :

Fair call, However the name Charnwood implies a small, quaint place and Isabella Plains sounds like the frontier.

West Macgregor.
Come and build your dream home in our scenic* eco friendly suburb.
Enjoy all the benefits of country living just minutes** from the city

Note:
* Scenic views may often include high voltage power lines and sewer vents.
** hey we didn’t actually say how many minutes.

isabella plains is the frontier. well, it was when i came here and monash was the closest thing approaching civilisation at the southern extremities of the ‘berra. it were all fields, then…

Kambah and Wanniassa are good as they have great access to the river for swimming, and also are on the main road to civic.

chewy14 said :

buzz819 said :

PBO said :

Tooks said :

Northwest9 said :

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

What a stupid comment. Like most suburbs, there are good and bad areas. Your idea of a “nicer suburb” is possibly very different to the OPs.

Typical southsider comment. At least we have a waterslide!

Yeah well the south side has many wonderful things as well… Umm… Well… There’s plenty of Viking’s clubs down there and umm… There’s some shopping centre’s with no shops in them. Ohh and a gaol, there’s a gaol there!

Charnwood.

Fair call, However the name Charnwood implies a small, quaint place and Isabella Plains sounds like the frontier.

buzz819 said :

PBO said :

Tooks said :

Northwest9 said :

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

What a stupid comment. Like most suburbs, there are good and bad areas. Your idea of a “nicer suburb” is possibly very different to the OPs.

Typical southsider comment. At least we have a waterslide!

Yeah well the south side has many wonderful things as well… Umm… Well… There’s plenty of Viking’s clubs down there and umm… There’s some shopping centre’s with no shops in them. Ohh and a gaol, there’s a gaol there!

Charnwood.

… There’s plenty of Viking’s clubs down there and umm… There’s some shopping centre’s with no shops in them.

If nothing else, Northsiders seem to have a surplus of apostrophes that need to be used up.

bd84 said :

Wanniassa would be the better bet, there are more schools and better shopping options in the suburb.

This.

Kambah’s not bad, but Wanniassa is the better of the two. The main factors for me would be are:
a)Kambah’s bad name from years ago just keeps sticking around, no matter whether you are 110% happy there will always be a lot of ppl looking to buy from interstate (like the OP) who may reject your property in the future for that reason.
b)Wanniassa and Erindale shops completely own the decrepid Kambah Village. Even when (if) the shops are upgraded, the same bogans will hang around the Kambah Tavern (which I would assume will remain as it is). Wanniassa also has a couple of decent private schools, again a good lure for future buyers as well.
c)parts of Kambah (in the shadow of Mt Taylor)have appalling FTA TV reception, which even digital TVs with a big aerial pointed at Mt Tuggeranong struggle with.

Either way, as other posters have said, avoid the main streets of both (Livingstone Ave, Bodington Cres and O’Halloran Circuit in Kambah are all particularly dismal) and try and get an elevated position.

Good luck!

buzz819 said :

PBO said :

Tooks said :

Northwest9 said :

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

What a stupid comment. Like most suburbs, there are good and bad areas. Your idea of a “nicer suburb” is possibly very different to the OPs.

Typical southsider comment. At least we have a waterslide!

Yeah well the south side has many wonderful things as well… Umm… Well… There’s plenty of Viking’s clubs down there and umm… There’s some shopping centre’s with no shops in them. Ohh and a gaol, there’s a gaol there!

++Gold!

PBO said :

Tooks said :

Northwest9 said :

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

What a stupid comment. Like most suburbs, there are good and bad areas. Your idea of a “nicer suburb” is possibly very different to the OPs.

Typical southsider comment. At least we have a waterslide!

Apparently a lot of people wee down the slide at Kambah adventure playground. That’s kinda like a waterslide, innit?

BTW, I don’t live in either suburb mentioned, I just think they cop a bit of unfair criticism.

I grew up in Kambah and it was a great place to live. I’d wager that the majority of people criticising it have never lived there.

PBO said :

Tooks said :

Northwest9 said :

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

What a stupid comment. Like most suburbs, there are good and bad areas. Your idea of a “nicer suburb” is possibly very different to the OPs.

Typical southsider comment. At least we have a waterslide!

Yeah well the south side has many wonderful things as well… Umm… Well… There’s plenty of Viking’s clubs down there and umm… There’s some shopping centre’s with no shops in them. Ohh and a gaol, there’s a gaol there!

Tooks said :

Northwest9 said :

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

What a stupid comment. Like most suburbs, there are good and bad areas. Your idea of a “nicer suburb” is possibly very different to the OPs.

Typical southsider comment. At least we have a waterslide!

Northwest9 said :

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

What a stupid comment. Like most suburbs, there are good and bad areas. Your idea of a “nicer suburb” is possibly very different to the OPs.

There is seriously nothing wrong with Kambah, it’s actually a very nice suburb to live.
My parents still live there after 30 odd years.
Like anything, if you look hard enough, you will always find something to be critical about, but in the big picture, I’d say it would be a pretty good place to live.

Wanniassa would be the better bet, there are more schools and better shopping options in the suburb, plus you will get a better deal with house prices. In both suburbs there are areas that are fairly dodgy, generally correlating with the areas of public/ex-public housing. You should be able to tell these areas by looking at the houses and neighbours, the houses are normally ugly box things with dead cars in the yard..

@BimboGeek – Please don’t compare the ‘introverted’ Gleneagles to the rest of Kambah, which does have access to numerous bus routes, and is in no way isolated

wow, thats like asking whats better, lung cancer or aids?

do some more research and youll find many a nicer burb to call home

I lived in Gleneagles for a while, it was quite lovely BUT – you have to be prepared to drive everywhere or spend a fortune on taxi fares as there are no buses.

I ended up feeling quite isolated (despite living with my bestie) and moving to Aranda where I was in the middle of a bustling community, with friends around but also the ability to walk to the markets, stroll on the mountain, etc.

There was always a battle of wills whether friends were going to come to us at the bottom of town or we were going to go to friends, even now my friend still in Gleneagles and rarely ventures North of the lake.

There’s suburban communities and then there’s those suburbs where you sit in your house and don’t know your neighbours. Kambah is far enough from everything that it really only suits the extremely introverted and crazy cat ladies! (In the best way)

I’ve lived in Kambah all my life and think it’s a great suburb. People say a lot of bad things about it but there are much worse suburbs that you could pick. I’ve never had any issues with people, everyone is nice and I’ve walked around at night a lot and never faced any problems at all.

If I had to choose out of your two options I would definitely pick Kambah hands down. As others have said before, there are some dodgy parts, but all suburbs are like that. I would suggest the Kambah Village side over the other side.

Just for a bit of trivia – it was originally meant to be 4 suburbs. I think they got lazy.

I love living in Kambah. The parks and playing fields are well maintained and well used. My future children will be attending the brand new school. The location is great, easy access to major roads and shopping centres.

We had been hoping to buy in Weston Creek, but by moving 6km south, we saved over $50K, and gained a place in much better condition, and a pool!

What is the attraction of Wanniassa or Kambah? There are much nicer suburbs in Canberra.

Kambah’s a nice place.

In a way the amenity of Kambah kind of follows some fairly predictable socio-economic stereo-types. The parts of Kambah that are higher on the slopes of Mt Taylor and that abut the nature reserves and golf course on the west have larger, nicer homes with (generally) nicer folk living there. The low-lying areas, along the major arterial roads and around the now dated and somewhat unkempt Kambah Village tend to have smaller homes, a higher proportion of renters and what you might describe as perhaps a less genteel population.

Being the northern-most of the Tuggeranong suburbs, most parts of Kambah have good access to the arterial roads heading north towards the city and the Parliamentary triangle. If the tales of traffic grid-lock coming from those living in the north are to be believed, then the commute from Kambah is a breeze by comparison. As an example the drive from Kambah to Kingston takes around 15 minutes if you leave at 8.00am.

There’s great access to the nature reserves (Mt Taylor and Mt Arrawang) as well as the horse paddocks, equestrian trails, walking tracks, bike paths just watch out at Kambah Pool (on the Murrumbidgee river) if the thought of gay sex in public unsettles you.

There are certainly worse suburbs than Kambah that you could live in. Some pockets of Kambah may be a bit dodgey but on the whole it is not too bad. Some of Tuggeranong’s most expensive real estate is in Kambah. Learmonth Drive, Gleneagles and some areas below Sulwood Drive are very good areas with large blocks and great views. There is good community spirit in much of the suburb.

Wanniassa also has some dodgey areas and some very good areas. I wouldn’t worry too much about the name when comparing these two suburbs, just choose the right street and be thorough with your research.

If you are moving from interstate and have no particular ties to any part of the ACT I would highly recommend buying in Tuggeranong and as close to the town centre as possible. If you can’t buy close to the town centre then the northern Tuggeranong suburbs such as Fadden, Kambah and Wanniassa would also be good due to their good access to the rest of Canberra. There are a lot of facilities, employment and recreation around Tuggeranong which should be good for capital growth. It also has the beautiful backdrop of the Brindabella Ranges.

it is the biggest suburb in the city

It is (apparently) the largest suburb in the southern hemisphere. I recall reading that somewhere a few years ago but can’t find anything now to substantiate the claim.

It is definitely the largest suburb in Canberra though.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Kambah has had a pretty bad reputation, but it seems the types that have given it the reputationhave moved further south, from my experience, you want to stay away from Chisholm/Richardson on the south side.

Chisholm/ Richardson is OK too if you pick your areas, I lived in Richo for 7 years, my brorther in law lives there & has done for 10 years.

No problems to date.

Yeah true that there are no really bad suburbs in Canberra. The reputation stems from large amounts of government housing in Kambah, many of it sold now to people.

I guess there are parts that still have a few old govvie homes with some dodgy looking people in them, but i’d be looking at the area first even if its on google maps and street view.

Still for travel to the City it is split by a major road straight to the city.. Maybe 15 minutes in good traffic, 20-25 in bad traffic.

Agree with what others have said – it is Canberra’s biggest suburb; and just like any suburb there are good and bad spots. Kambah is also the gateway to Canberra’s southern suburbs, which are relatively new. This means lots of young families and teenage kids making the news for the wrong reasons, which may account for some of its bad rep.

Have you considered moving to Charnwood ? its a vibrant, diverse, exciting suburb.

There are no *really* bad suburbs in Canberra, except for perhaps Oaks Estate.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

…though some parts are better than others (like almost every suburb in Canberra).

Kambah’s problem is that it is the biggest suburb in the city (at least I think it easy, it’s easily twice the size of most others). So where most suburbs have good and bad areas, that is made all the more obvious in such a big suburb. The shops are a little run down (purely on the basis of their age) and tend to attract the types of people who say “youse” a lot.

On the up side, Kambah is the northernmost suburb of the deep south (ie, not too far from civilisation), has several facilities (BMX track, golf course), and I imagine can be a nice place to live if you have nice neighbours. Which is the same as anywhere else really.

Just expect to be looked down on by everyone who doesn’t live in Charnwood.

In short, no it isn’t bad at all.

Wanniassa has lots of nice architecturally designed houses, because it has the whole mansion in the hills thing going on.

Kambah is the only suburb in the ACT that did not follow the ACT urban space and planning guidelines.

I don’t know if either of those things are important in any way.

Of the two choices Wanniassa has better long term prospects for appreciation and resale value. Wanniassa has been undervalued for a few years and the market has only just realised the potential of the suburb.
Kambah being a larger suburb has more listings of homes which results in more competition if you ever move to sell your property and in turn the value of your property is slightly diluted.

It really depends on your sensitivities. I’m originally from Western Sydney, so I find Kambah to be a remarkably drug-free, violence-free and an incredibly tolerant and cohesive community. If you came from Vaucluse or Toorak, however, you might find it to be a cesspool of filth and violence. Really, it might be the least pleasant suburb in Canberra, but that doesn’t mean much! Canberrans think it’s bad because they don’t know what bad is (and that’s a really good thing)!

There are a few spots in Kambah that are worse than others, but generally, the suburb is as safe as any other in Canberra. Drugs, alcohol, violence and their related issues may be a little more prominent, but like anywhere, you can keep these outside your door by locking it. Access to law enforcement might be a little better than most parts of Canberra, mainly because a patrol car is more likely to be in the area…

Kambah Village is not a pleasant place at night, but it’s alright during the day. The residential areas immediately to the east and south of it are the better parts of Kambah.

Still, if I was choosing between Kambah and Wanni, I’d choose Wanni.

Absolute rubbish. It is one of the better places I have lived in Canberra – though some parts are better than others (like almost every suburb in Canberra). Do your research before you move here and please don’t rely on an internet forum for that…

Kambah has had a pretty bad reputation, but it seems the types that have given it the reputationhave moved further south, from my experience, you want to stay away from Chisholm/Richardson on the south side.

If you are serious about moving to Canberra, come and spend a week here, and walk around the streets of the suburbs you are interested in – you will quickly get a feel for the area.

The Kambah Village shops do need a serious refurb though.

Are you kidding? I would stay away from there at all costs! We dont even talk about that particular place because it is so dodgy. There is dog poo everywhere and the locals all seem to forget one letter in every word they say and it is really hard to understand them sometimes.

And there is something wrong with the water there too and I think that most of the locals are related. Lottsa ranga’s…..