Getting to know Parramatta now that I've started working there.

I didn't think I was ever going to work again after 20 months of bludging, apart from studying with the Open University, then my old employer offered me another contract, and not in "the Outback" this time (Penrith) but Parramatta. I got to like Penrith over the three years I worked there, though the journey could be tedious at times. It's great if you can get the Blue Mts train, which takes 48 minutes from Central but that train only runs once an hour in the evenings and I had to wait for half an hour to get it home.

Parramatta is much easier with loads of trains in the rush hour when I go there, 405, 410, 413 (Penrith, Schofields, Blacktown) and they are all punctual, The slowest one is the Blacktown one which stops most, Redfern, Strathfield, Burwood, Strathfield, Lidcombe, Auburn, Granville, Clyde, Harris Park, Parramatta. I finish at 10 pm and I get the 1016 home to Central.

I can't believe just how many appartment blocks are going up everywhere, not least in Parramatta where they seem to have demolished nearly every building under three stories. There's a Meriton block which is 49 stories so far, and going to 55 I think. I don't know if I'd like to live in Parramatta but it's got everything you want and it's the true centre of Sydney, unlike Sydney itself. I can't see myself ever leaving Surry Hills.

It's good to be working again, that's for sure.

Congratulations on your new job.

You're so right that Parramatta is the true centre of Sydney demographically. It does have everything you could need really - apart from the vast Westfields, it's got that huge restaurant and cafe strip along Church Street, and there are frequent festivals and events. Plus that lovely walk along the river, some big parks, and good transport.

If only I wasn't so bad at dealing with humidity I'd be happy to live there. But if I'm going to live in Sydney, I really need the ocean breezes which means being no further west than the CBD - and I can't afford that!

........so pleased for you MR...!

........I lived in Parramatta over 40 years ago

........appartments blocks ,what apartment blocks ?

.........lol....

Parramatta is undergoing a complete redevelopment.

Parramatta is undergoing a complete redevelopment.

Yes, and I don't entirely like it because although skyscrapers are often spectacular, life happens at ground level. On Friday night after work I decided to get a later train and went for a walk down one street - (Gerry) Marsden perhaps, over the river, then back along Church St past the Riverside Theatre and all the restaurants, where there is, I admit, plenty of "life." I craned my neck looking up to take pictures of the new Meriton tower. It's certainly spectacular though I wouldn't like to live up in the clouds.