Another "where should I live" thread

[kaoticturtle]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm looking to tap into your collective knowledge of sydney suburbs My husband and I are staying with family in Canberra at the moment but it looks like work will be in Sydney CBD so we're wanting to start to get a feel for where we might want to live. Any recommendations would be great as the only people we have feeding us info at the moment (other than google) are parents who lived there nearly 30 years ago...!

 

We're looking for a minimum 3 bed (or 2 bed plus study), with a garage and enough outdoor space to eat outside. We don't have any children so schools aren't important and neither is nightlife, but commute to the city is - it needs to be within an hour, with a strong preference for shorter. I don't know if I will have a car parking space yet, so we're working on the basis of using the train, or combined drive, park and train. We don't need a pool and we're not fussed about distance to the beach.

 

Budget is a tricky one. Earnings are expected to be around 150k-170k including super so we're not exactly badly off! However, as soon as we can get a mortgage approval we're going to be looking to buy so we don't want to spend a fortune on rent as it should only be temporary. Saying that, I think its important to enjoy wherever we live given we'll be new and we don't want to end up feeling negative just because we picked the wrong living style - hence wanting some space rather than taking a tiny flat for 6 months. At the moment that amounts to us thinking about cheaper areas, but decent houses. We think on the basis of past experience that we'd be happier with that than a lovely area but compromised house. We're thinking that $600 a week seems reasonable but happy to be told we're way off the mark!

 

Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts? In particular, what the areas such as padstow, riverwood, narwee, hurstville and surrounds are like? We also noted epping which seems a reasonable commute and a bit cheaper than on the north shore line.

 

Thanks

KT

[Lambethlad]

Rooty Hill is nice.

[northshorepom]

You don't have any kids now, but are likely to have in the future, or want to, and/or want to stay in the same area if you do? Will make quite a bit of difference to the responses I think

 

In this city I would generally go for location over space. There are lots of nothingy, non descript sprawly suburbs as there are in many big cities. Nothing intrinsically wrong with them, they're just a bit....meh. And in Sydney you will be paying non-meh prices regardless, so you may as well live somewhere where the city has more to offer IMO

 

​Will post more when time permits - got to go to meeting

[kaoticturtle]

Thanks for such quick responses!

 

There aren't any children on the horizon, and may never be. If there are then we would be willing to move.

 

[northshorepom]

Bit more time available

 

The areas you mention don't do anything for me....all "meh" stretches of South Sydney which I just think are really, well, ordinary. I would rather live closer to the city in a suburb with more life or one that's more visually attractive, or further out in a "nicer" suburb and put up with the extra distance. Having said that, it's not the side of the city I know the best and I'm sure those places have their defenders.

 

I'm also mindful that whilst I think location over space counts in this city, you've specifically said almost the opposite is important to you.

 

If it were up to me, looking for somewhere to live as a couple with no kids and not being that fussed about the beach but wanting decent public transport, then I'd be looking Inner West (a whole range of suburbs of varying price and character. Some still a bit scrubby, some very much gentrified - and with the price tags to match - but all decently situated and with a *bit* of life if not loads of what you'd call nightlife and plenty of smaller houses). $700pw I think would do it on average, generally the closer to the water of city you are, the more expensive.

 

Or on the north shore I'd look at Greenwich, Lane Cove etc - handy for the train line but quietish and quite pretty. Townhouse or small free-standing ought to be in budget, just about. In the Eastern suburbs I'd maybe look from Randwick down to Maroubra. Loads of buses, very handy for town, Centennial Park, Moore Park and the beaches. Not a cheap area but again terrace house or townhouse might be in budget

 

But it's very personal. As you can see above I favor the inner city areas, I really think Sydney works well in the Inner City, lots of character, lots of convenience, surprisingly leafy. Whereas for me the outer suburbs (and I live in one) can be very sprawly and for me, dull. Great for families where home and hearth are the most important thing, without kids I wouldn't be living in any outer suburb no matter how leafy

 

If you're only in Canberra, could you come down for a weekend and do a bit of searching about? Will tell you 10x more than any of us can I think

[Naomi from Manchester]

How about Summer Hill? I think you could get a 3 bed there for under $700. It's a quieter Inner West suburb with a lovely little centre (cafes, little shops etc) but not really any night life. It's approx 30 mins by train to the CBD and a 10-ish minute drive to the Leichhardt aquatic centre (which isn't really in Leichhardt), Callum Park and the Bay Run. It's still relatively cheap compared to other areas close to the city, but maybe not for much longer. People who try living there often end up settling there for good. We lost out on a unit there (for the best, as the area's a bit too quiet for us).

 

Another area you may like is Annandale, but it's more expensive than Summer Hill. No train station but good bus links.

 

I completely agree about the 'meh-ness' of some of the Southern suburbs! Many Northern family type suburbs seem to consist lots of residential streets with big suburban houses but not much infrastructure, so you need to drive to get anywhere ...

 

Good Luck!

[NickyNook]

Have to agree with NSP and Naomi, above.

 

Some people like the southern suburbs around Revesby (MaryRose is a supporter, for one :wink:) but they do nothing for me at all. And Hurstville is like an outpost of Hong Kong nowadays. Epping is heading that way, too.

 

I was going to suggest inner-west for you, too. With no kids and a reasonable housing allowance you could live somewhere handy to all the things that Sydney is famous for - the city, the harbour, the beaches, the cafes, the walks etc. Why move to Sydney and just bury yourselves in boring suburbia if you don't have to?

 

Summer Hill is an excellent choice - also checkout Dulwich Hill, too. It's very up-and-coming right now with slightly larger houses than the other inner-west suburbs. Or try Haberfield or Concord.

[kaoticturtle]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply - its been really helpful. We are planning a reccie up to Sydney to have a look around and see what we like, but its such a big place its good to have some suggestions for places to start! The inner west suburbs sound like a good option from what you've said so we've added them to the list for further investigation.

 

We do tend to prefer quieter suburbs so the fact that you are describing the southern suburbs as dull doesn't actually put us off much We've both lived in big cities before, plus spent the last two years in a large town and by far preferred our time in a fairly large house on the edge of the town with not much in the way of anything nearby. Most of our spare time tends to involve doing hobby things or having friends over so that just works for us. Here's hoping we find the right mix in Sydney

[northshorepom]

We do tend to prefer quieter suburbs so the fact that you are describing the southern suburbs as dull doesn't actually put us off much We've both lived in big cities before, plus spent the last two years in a large town and by far preferred our time in a fairly large house on the edge of the town with not much in the way of anything nearby. Most of our spare time tends to involve doing hobby things or having friends over so that just works for us. Here's hoping we find the right mix in Sydney

 

Hmmm

 

Perhaps I should be less euphemistic in describing those southern suburbs. It's not really that they're dull. Grotty is perhaps a better description. From my PoV anyway

 

Sydney is of such a size that even the inner suburbs have a lot of quiet areas so it's not like you have to live out to get the peace you like. Even the "Inner West", after all, stretches to about 10-12km from the CBD so we're not really talking inner city here. OTOH, because it is so sprawly and vast, if you actually want countryside and space, you need to go a long way out - which then doesn't chime with the commuting requirement

 

I'm attaching three pictures to try and illustrate what I mean

 

First is a non untypical South Sydney street scene (in this case Riverwood). Second is a not untypical Inner West street scene (in this case Lewisham). Both v quiet streets but a very different kettle of fish. Yes, the Inner West costs more to live in. For good reasons.

 

[kaoticturtle]

Ah! Thanks for the clarification We'll definitely be taking a cruise round both areas and see what the feel is once we're there.