Moving to Melbourne - good suburbs for families

Hello,

I have read through many of the posts regarding Melbourne but still have a slew of questions and am looking to the native Melbournians on this forum for assistance.

Firstly, we are seriously considering moving to Melbourne from Japan - myself, my wife, and 2 kids (7 & 5 years old). My job would be in St. Kilda, and if at all possible, I am hoping to live somewhere close enough that I can bike to work, which means anywhere within 8-25km, preferably using bike trails if at all possible. Up to now, I have been researching the area around Brighton, Hampton, Beaumaris, basically along Beach Rd, where there appears to be a nice convenient bike trail along the bay. However, this area as I'm sure you know is quite expensive, so the housing that I am finding on the Internet (300 - 400pw price range) is predominantly 2 bedroom apartments, which isn't necessarily the end of the world for us as our present apartment in Tokyo is very small, but I suspect that there are other suburbs in Melbourne that could be equally pleasant to live in at much cheaper prices, and given that the kids are only getting bigger, the more space the better, ideally 3 bedrooms. Not being familiar with the area at all, I am hoping that some locals can provide some good tips.

Biking to work is not an absolute prerequisite, although a very big plus if possible, so if I need to commute by public transportation, if at all possible I would still like to keep it down to 30 - 45 minutes. If the housing expenses could be reduced to 200 - 300pw, then commuting by public transportation would definitely be worth considering. Any suggestions for suburbs to research with good primary schools? My children presently don't speak any English, so the focus the first 2 years is to make their transition as easy as possible.

Another general question, in the U.S., I used to live in a university town, and it was very easy to attend free seminars, functions, and concerts that were being held around campus at night, even if you weren't a student. Does anyone know if this is the case with the University of Melbourne, too? Or is everything pretty much locked down or only accessible to students? If it is an open and accessible environment, I was thinking that it might be interesting and beneficial to live nearby.

As for what kind of environment we would like to live in, it is hard to say. We presently live in a very urban area and the kids have not had any problems with it. However, in Melbourne, we wouldn't want to live in an urban area if such areas are not generally inhabited by families, or if they are considered unsafe. On the other hand, if there are nearby parks and culture that are in certain respects more accessible to the family due to their urban location, then we would defnitely be open to such a lifestyle. And if I had to choose between beautiful waterfront sunsets or my own garden, I would be hardpressed to choose either way. In short, there are pluses and minuses to each lifestyle and right now we're looking for ideas, so the more the better.

Finally, both my children presently play the violin, and we would like them to continue doing so in Melbourne. Asides from simply hiring a violin teacher, are there any structured music programs in Melbourne, for example, something similar to what the Sydney Conservatory of Music offers for children? I realize that this question is rather specialized, but if anyone has any information, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.