lilc85 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hello, My first post! After a year of searching and trying for a job in Australia, the offer has finally arrived! One year working in Blacktown - Mt Druitt health district, most likely at Blacktown hospital. I've naturally reached for google which is painting a pretty grim view of the area. My boyfriend will be woking (fingers crossed) in Sydney's CBD, can anyone give some advice on Blacktown area? Is it really as bad as it's made out to be? Is it feasible to find somewhere nice for us in between? Being in the 25-30 age range, we still want to feel like we have actually moved to Sydney and not the middle of nowhere, if 'ya know' what I mean! Much appreciated! p.s. gotta submit my decision my tomorrow night, so no time pressure or anything! :arghh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3FatCats Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 You don't have to live in Blacktown, you could just work there! The Hills district will be between Blacktown and the CBD, you could do worse... However if you are young you may want more of a city lifestyle? Then see about living more inner west and then it would be a commute out to Blacktown, if you look online you can check out how long a train would take. I work in Bankstown and would not want to live there, we both travel by car and am used to it now. If you absolutely want to be in Oz it could be a start for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellers and Whitehead Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I would say go for it, and live somewhere more vibrant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelP Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 From a health point of view Blacktown is a good area to work. It has some of the most pro-active healthcare workers in Sydney - people like GP Dr Michael Fasher and the guys at the newly created Western Sydney Medicare Local are doing some very exciting projects in multidisciplinary care. You don't have to live in Blacktown - it's on the train line so you could live in the inner west (about 20 mins away) or even in the Blue Mountains if you wanted to commute. Despite its reputation Blacktown is a friendly area, very multicultural and has good facilites like libraries etc ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugby Lad Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I'd say go for it - treat it as an adventure. As others have said you can live in the inner west of Sydney - easy commute to the CBD for your boyfriend and a do-able one for you. If you work day shifts then you could drive (Sydney is Australia's least car dominated city but don't be fooled into looking at a train map and assuming it's as good as the London tube, it's still a car city) as you'd be going against the traffic. In terms of work it would be great. I'm a paramedic and if I was single I'd choose to work in Blacktown. I've got some mates who work there, it's the busiest ambulance station in New South Wales - so probably the busiest in all of Australia then - and they do a really good variety of work. And guess what, they all live in Leichhardt - in Sydney's inner west. If you do take the job and end up living in Blacktown live in the centre of Blacktown, which as MichaelP says is a fairly vibrant, multicultural area. The surrounding areas - Rooty Hill, Mt Druitt etc. - are truly the grimmest places in Sydney, if not Australia. You're young, it's not forever. I say grab the opportunity with both hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I commute from Surry Hills, just south of the CBD, to Penrith which is further than Blacktown and takes me 50 to 70 minutes depending on which train I get. You would be able to get the Blue Mts train as it stops at Blacktown but the hospital is nearly a kilometre from the station (according to Google maps!) although there's probably a bus connection. You would probably like living here in Surry Hills. Other areas are just as nice but as soon as you start having to travel further to get to the station, it might be so nice. I tried driving to Penrith from Surry Hills and I hated it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 What RL and Michael P said......Inner West would be a great choice of place to live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I like the Inner West, love Leichhardt, but it's just the ease of commuting to Blacktown, depending upon how much of an issue that is. A kilometre from Blacktown station to the hospital is slightly too far for a pleasant walk, especially if the weather is bad and/or it's late at night. It depends whether shift work is involved? Driving from Leichhardt to Blacktown is certainly easier than from Surry Hills. I'm not sure how long it would take? 3/4 of an hour? If you live near a station - Newtown, Stanmore, for eg, then it means changing trains at Strathfield. I could not find an easy bus route from Blacktown hospital to the station - though perhaps I did not check hard enough. My commute from Central to Penrith is not too bad because I am six or seven minutes walk from my home to Central and a couple of minutes to the office in Penrith. If it was a kilometre from Penrith station, that would make it more unpleasant and I'd probably drive. Maybe book a month in a furnished flat in Sydney and experiment with various methods of commuting? Have a look at Parramatta and even Blacktown itself. [h=3]Getting to the hospital[/h]Both campuses of Blacktown Mt Druitt Hospital are located in the western suburbs of Sydney. Access from central Sydney is easiest found following the M4 Motorway westbound If travelling by car. If travelling by public transport from central Sydney, Blacktown and Mt Druitt train stations are found by following the Western Train line, westbound. Both campuses are approximately 10-15minutes walk from their respective train stations A regular, free shuttle service runs from Blacktown train station to Blacktown Hospital main entrance weekdays from 9am-5pm. State Transport (Bus/Train) timetable information can be found online at www.131500.com.au or by phoning 131 500 There you are! If you are working 9-5, there's a free shuttle bus service, Out of those hours, I'd get a cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CockneyRebel Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Blacktown is not the best of areas im afraid. If you walk around the town centre youll see heaps of poor Sudanese immigrants walking around. I woudlnt say its that dangerous however. Theres nice areas in the hills district, Baulkham hills, castle Hill etc but these can be reasonably expensive and are far from the CBD. Avoid Mt Druitt like the plague. When i say this im not exagerating. It has to be one of the worse areas ive seen both in the UK and Australia. Just drive down one of the streets and youll see rough looking thugs sat on their verandas staring at all cars coming past with a long neck beer in their hands. I think if you had to live there youd be on the first plane home. As people have said Leichardt is nice but the closer the city the more the rent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeboard1980 Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Take the job and then sort out where you want to live. There are many places you could live for you to get to Blacktown and your OH to get into the city. Others have already posted the areas. And like someone else has said, it's your way in if you have been trying for a while. You never know....you might just like it there working in Blacktown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I will go with the majority, work there but dont even think about living there. Look for somewhere to live closer to Sydney, more expensive but much safer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MySydney Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I'd also say grab the opportunity and live somewhere else ! I haven't heard really bad things about Blacktown, but DEFINITELY no Mount Druitt. So you should be all right. Depending on your budget there are many options. Newtown is really lively and young and not as expensive as Surry Hills. Check the train lines to see your options (http://www.cityrail.info/stations/network_map) and 131500.com.au to calculate travel times. Congrats on your job in any case, that's only the start. Also do some research on suburbs: http://www.sydney-suburbs.com.au/ Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilc85 Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Thanks everybody, these replies have been unbelievably helpful! I'm pleased to report that I accepted the job this morning! Can't believe it's finally happened - a job in Australia!! :biggrin: We've looked at a couple of the suburbs and the places mentioned on here seem gorgeous; I like the look of the inner west suburbs, think it would give us the best of both worlds. I think I'll mainly be working in Blacktown, with the possibility of Mt Druitt or even further out, so will have to have a think about commuting. Think the best option will probably be car but I guess it'll take a couple of weeks once we're out there to sort all that out. Like everybody has said, it's a step in the right direction! Thanks for the support and advice, much appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Good luck. It's a great city, and the Inner West has some great areas. As a young couple, go for city life and therefore location (buzzy suburb etc) over space is my recommendation. There are tons of open public spaces and you'll be outside a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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