Q about Specific area in Melbourne (rent, crime, houses)

[dreamingofpan]

Can anyone give me a general idea of the area around Kefauver Street in Melbourne? It's between West Eau Gallie & Sarno Blvd? My uncle died & left his house there to my dad. He's thinking of buying it & using it as a place to retire. Basically trying to find out if it's a ghetto or decent, etc.? Any help is appreciated.

[annagurl333]

Hello,
Personally, I would not consider that area, right around wickham, Sarno, and Eau Gallie Blvd a very safe or nice neighborhood. I have a friend that lives a couple Streets back on Burns Ave., and the whole neighborhood is a dump. Yes, there are a few nice houses that some people keep up nicely. Sure, there is Walmart within walking distance, and many places to shop and eat (such as Tiajuana Flats, Denny's, Chillis, Gamestop, Applebees, Pottery Barn, Aldi's..etc). However, crime in the areas is rather high. I'm sure the area used to be more of a retirement community from the looks of it, but now there is just a bunch of young adults there that do drugs and party all the time. Really.
I was at my friends house (on Burns Ave) one night last year, and there this creepy looking guy that randomly knocked on the door. My friend answered it, and the stranger, drunk as anything, asked us "if we wanted to go to a crazy party with girls, tons of stuff to get smashed with, and lots of pot"....no joke. We never met him, and we saw that he was going door to door of the people in the area. Of course we declined, but when I first saw him he looked so creepy I was worried that he was going to try to rob us!
As a college student, I can't exactly afford to live in a super nice area myself, but I would never rent a house in that area. It's too scary in my opinion. Go take a look (if you havent' already, you probably have tho) at Google Maps and look at the street view. The map makes it look a bit nicer than it does in real life. However, it's not that the area LOOKS bad, its that it IS bad. In my humble opinion, this is one of those cases where looks can be decieving.
However, maybe your dad can get the house very cheep and check out the area himself. To each his own I guess. Maybe a large man won't have near the trouble there that a small female like myself would. Just check out the crime statistics. Maybe crime has gone down since last year when I was over there?

Good luck.