Moving to Sydney and working in Tempe, where to live?

Hi, possibly moving to AU Jan 2017 and would be working in Tempe. Have wife and three children (3 months, 3yrs and 9yrs), so looking for safe yet vibrant family area to live. As sole earner (around $100k p/a) would be looking to rent...

Any areas to look at particularly and advice on moving with wife and children of varying ages is super welcome! (wife is worried about the change...)

Thanks!

Michael.

Do you need to drive to work?

If not, I would suggest Sutherland shire or the St George area. Look at the stations on the Illawarra train line - the further out you go, the cheaper the rents will be. If you look at the timetables you can see how long the commute would be.

If you have to drive it's a bit more difficult, as the traffic coming in from the south can get very congested (it has taken me two hours to drive from Oatley to Arncliffe in peak hour!).

I would definitely recommend Sutherland Shire. It is really family friendly, and a lovely place to live. The Illawarra train line goes straight through Tempe, so somewhere along the train line, either over towards Cronulla or down the other spur towards Heathcote. My OH cycles to Engadine station and gets the train to work every day, it is pretty reliable and I think there has only been once in the past six months where there has been a delay of more than two or so minutes. We are in the Engadine area, which is a thriving little place with a village atmosphere. It has supermarkets, cafes, post office, library etc, great schools, easy access to the Royal National Park and down the coast, friendly people etc.

ETA: We are within 20 minutes drive of Miranda, which has a renovated shopping centre with cinema, restaurants etc, and we are with 25 minutes of the beautiful beaches of the Royal National Park.

Would always recommend the Shire. We have lived in Cronulla for over 3 years now and absolutely love it. So many nice areas in the shire, great beaches in Cronulla and a nice beach town feel. Miranda Westfield within easy reach and the Royal National Park on your doorstep.

Tempe is pretty close, but the traffic can be the issue. I work at the Airport which is very close but start at 6 so takes me around 25 minutes from Cronulla. It has taken me over an hour on the very few occasions ive gone in later. The train from Cronulla is around 40 minutes and down to 25 minutes from Sutherland. The commute is worth it though, no better place to be around the weekend especially for families.

I'm not a big expert, but I know a few folks who live down that way, even in across the other side of the Hacking River. A guy I worked with lived in Bundeena, drove 20 minutes, dumped the car at Sutherland station (lots of trains stop there) and was in work about 40 mins later in Surry Hills.

So basically , even if you're not right on the train down that way, it's easy to drive and train. In some ways I wish we'd done that. It's Nice around the National Park and Bundeena. And not too far to Cronulla and Miranda.