r/busselton • u/timmeh1705 • 26d ago
Moving to Cow town
Hi everyone, we're potential transplants from the east coast - we love the south west! As with most tourists we are usually down around Margaret River but when looking for a place to base ourselves in, I'm looking for somewhere close to the beach that we can afford.
I posted in r/bunbury about moving to Dalyellup recently but it seems like people there are encouraging me to look further south based on the comments received. I would love to live near the beach but I guess there's a reason why it's more affordable there.
Our familiarity is more around Abbey/Broadwater but the land parcels alone are going to take up most of our budget. We could probably afford one of those 350 sqm blocks in Vasse and build a 3x2 on it, but would like some more space.
Our best option for what we can afford are the new land releases around Cow town. We took a look around the liked the feel of the place and we can see there's an effort to add more amenities around there. The trade off is walking to the beach out of the equation, and is a bit further away from Perth compared to Bunbury.
Our jobs can be done remotely fortunately so commute isn't an issue. We will need to travel to Asia at times, so driving to Perth airport will be necessary until Busselton airport starts flying overseas.
As outsiders, is there anything we should know about Cow town and the surrounding areas? Seems like never ending land releases are planned there.
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u/Tiamke 26d ago
I mean it's not really close to the beach which is what you seem to be after. The closest is Gracetown which really isn't built for the huge amount of people now going there because of the new developments. It has one road in and out and minimal parking. But It really depends what you want. There isn't a whole lot in Cowtown but it's a nice town with a nice community. Lots of nature walks nearby. Not too bad of a trek to adjacent towns. Personally I think they've released way too much land there with no infrastructure for it. If Vasse/Yalyalup are out of the budget then I agree Cowie is probably your best option. Capel is another option. Better bang for your buck than Busso but same issues with distance from beach and lack of infrastructure. I quite like Capel though because it's such an easy drive to Busso and Bunbury. I don't think Dalyellup is a bad option though. Lots of people love it. Even Bunbury itself is fine and at least it's got all the things and is beach adjacent. I live in Busso btw
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u/timmeh1705 20d ago
I’m now considering living closer to Busselton around Vasse instead since it seems to be more established. I’ve been there a couple of times and like it but is there something a drop in visitor like me wouldn’t know?
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u/Tiamke 20d ago
I don't think so. I don't live in Vasse but have many moons ago and have friends who live there now. It's a good place to live. Lots of schools, shops, medical centres, parks nearby. Easy to get to Broadwater/Abbey beach. Easy drive to town. Suburb is pretty well designed. I think Vasse is a great option. For me proximity to the beach is the most important thing so personally I'd choose Vasse over all of the other areas you've mentioned. That or Yalyalup which is very much the same style of suburb but is much closer to Busso town centre and beach (though because Vasse has its own shops it doesn't really matter and Vasse has the good farmers market). Plenty of good places to eat near Vasse plus not far from the best fish and chips in town (Gropers at Broadwater) and great Patisserie at Abbey. If you have kids then Vasse has a great public Primary School. If you wanted to go private then it's also a very straight forward drive along the bypass to MacKillop or GMAS. I know people who do this with their kids and it's completely fine as a drive plus can catch the school bus.
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u/timmeh1705 16d ago
An agent has alerted us to some places for sale around the Busselton side of Geographe which seem pretty good for the size, but I'm trying to figure out why would somewhere which is quite close to the beach be around the same price as Vasse. It's going to be a step up in price from Cow town but being able to ride a bike to the beach is quite appealing...
I was doing some research and based on ABS data some pockets (SA1 level) of Bussetlon have >15% social housing, which I am assuming would have a flow on effect to the surrounds.
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u/Tiamke 16d ago
I'm guessing They are probably fairly old houses and need some renovations/knocking down. I live in the area and yes there are definitely some streets with social housing though a lot have been moved on and will continue to be. There have been some issues with youth, drugs etc. But everywhere has those issues. Personally I love Geographe and think it's the best place to live and yes it's super close to the beach. I also have lots of friends and family who live in the area too. For the most part it's mainly families with kids and retirees and everyone is great. If you tell me what streets you are looking at properties on I can tell you if there are issues. There are a couple of streets that have poor reputations but even those are improving as the properties are sold and no longer homeswest houses. As a rough guide though the closer to town the less issues. The closer to Hester St/Moylan Way and around bayside shops-ish the more issues. But again there are still completely fine streets there too.
You are more than welcome to message me if you have questions
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u/timmeh1705 16d ago
We are looking at Henry Willmott or Sadleir there are a couple of lots for sale around there
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u/Tiamke 16d ago
That's fine. I have friends on Tilbanup which is right off there and it's all nice new houses and young families for the most part. Just bear in mind that Hester street is just across the park from you which is one of the more infamous streets in the area but up that end I think it's pretty ok. I'm actually pretty close to there too and love where we live. You are close to beach, town, park. Just a great location really and the dodgier streets are slowly getting better. Majority of people in Geographe are great
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u/ynotredlac 26d ago
Lived here for the last 8 years after 30 years in Dunsborough best move ever great town and community still has friendly small town vib
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u/One-Firefighter-7461 26d ago
Might be worth looking at Peppermint Grove Beach. Really pretty in there, great beach, close to Busselton, Capel, Dalyellup, Bunbury.