Advice needed on where to live in Sydney.

[Haze9229]

Hi all,

 

Myself and my boyfriend will be moving to Sydney around August this year, unfortunately due to lack of time and funds, we aren't able to visit first to look around suburbs etc. to get an idea on where to live.

 

My boyfriend has been sponsored and his head office is based in Rosebery so we are looking South of the harbour. I'm currently working as a Legal Assistant and will be looking for a similar role but won't be able to secure a job or know where I will be working until we're there! I'm assuming most of these sorts of roles are CBD based but hopefully some dotted round the suburbs too.

 

We're hoping to be close to a beach and we've been looking at Cronulla as one option as we're not exactly 'city people'. Travel won't be much of an issue for my boyfriend as he will have a company car and it's generally a field based role but I will be dependant on public transport (which I have researched and looks pretty good) but a bit of local knowledge re: traffic and travel times etc isn't something I can anticipate.

 

Any advice would be very much appreciated,

 

Hazel

[CaptainC]

I lived in Australia a few years ago with an ex Aussie partner, and we lived in Cronulla.

I know people all over Sydney and surrounding areas and having visited them I would rate Cronulla as one of the nicer places. It has decent access to the city should you need it.

 

 

So many great places in Sutherlandshire (known as 'the Shire' or gods country to the locals!), lots of beautiful properties, especially Taren Point and Sylvania, and a lot more along Georges River.

 

 

I'd advise to stay away from the 'famous' hotspots such as Bondi unless it's just for a visit, it's not a place that I'd personally ever want to live and there are infinitely better beaches elsewhere.

There's good and bad areas of Sydney, and a lot in between. You really will have to just go and have a look for yourself and see what suits you.

 

 

Some places look amazing on a HD computer or TV screen but often it's a far cry from reality. Cheap housing in Sydney often equals a rough area, (I could name the worst places but for the sake of not embarrassing anyone or sounding like a snob I won't) the further out of the CBD, the cheaper (to the west, generally speaking) it gets.

 

 

Don't discount the northern beaches areas, expensive housing, but in my opinion, well worth it and I'd personally choose to live in Manly if I was ever to return to NSW (which I'm not intending to do). It's easy to get into the city from the north too, via Sydney Harbour Bridge (more like a car park during rush hour though)

 

 

In a nutshell I'd advise to do as much research and try to take an earlier trip to visit as many places as you can, if not then it wouldn't harm to ask your boyfriend to speak to his new employers for their advice, but in the end only you will know what you like and dislike. Another alternative if you really can't make an advance trip is to just find a rental near the bf's work and have a good look around and find something more permanent.

 

 

I do hope this helps and hasn't created too many more questions than you started with in the first place!

 

 

 

Good luck :-)

[Haze9229]

Hi Chris,

 

 

thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated. We were generally avoiding the north as my boyfriend will be based at the office in Rosebery and we've been warned off crossing the bridge (or attempting to) at rush hour for work. I see your point about Bondi as although we are young we're not ones for the 'packed like sardines' atmosphere.

 

 

His employers will be putting us up for a couple of weeks so we can look then but as that time will also be taken up by an intensive job search on my part, i'm just looking for as much advice as possible to give us a head start!

 

 

Thanks again

 

 

Hazel

[MARYROSE02]

There's nothing wrong with Bondi Beach if you want to live by the sea. There is plenty to do there, and the beach is fantastic. On the other hand, it is hard to park, and it is crowded, but there are plenty of buses to the city and it's probably no more than 20 minutes to drive to Rosebery.

 

I don't actually like going to Bondi, because of the crowds and the difficulty of parking (and having to pay to park unless you get a two hour free spot, or park a long way from the beach.) I prefer swimming at Bronte or Clovelly, both of which have buses to the city. They do not have the range of shopping, restaurants, and services of Bondi, but they both have a range of shops. South of Clovelly is Coogee, which is a smaller version of Bondi, great beach, plenty to do, but crowded and hard to park. Bondi, Bronte, Clovelly and Coogee are all similar distances from the city and Rosebery. Maroubra might be worth a look too, a little further out from the city, but a lovely beach, not so crowded, and still got bus access to the city. Cronulla is OK too, but you are adding another half an hour to get to the city or to Rosebery.

 

Maybe you could consider living around Surry Hills (where I live) which has plenty going on, is only a few minutes from the CBD, and 10-15 minutes to Rosebery. You are not on the beach but it's not far, 20 mins drive, half an hour on the bus, and there is a great pool in Prince Alfred Park. I went there today, for only the second time, because I knew the streets were packed with traffic on the way to the beaches - concerts and soccer. It was great. I always preferred going to the beach, but having tried the pool, I might go more often. It's heated too.

 

Finally, maybe consider living in Rosebery itself as there are plenty of new appartments going up all round there. I just had to Google it to refresh my memory. Any of those suburbs, apart from Eastlakes, which I'm not so keen on. Lots of new developments at Green Square, incuding a station. Good transport from Kensington and Kingsford and only a few minutes from Coogee/Clovelly/Bronte.

 

Pick somewhere with plenty of services, good transport links, and not too far from where you are working.

 

[TABLE=class: infobox vcard, width: 22]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left]Population[/TH]

[TD]7,428 (2006 census)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left] • Density[/TH]

[TD]3,909.5/km² (10,126/sq mi)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left]Postcode(s)[/TH]

[TD]2018[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left]Area[/TH]

[TD]1.9 km² (0.7 sq mi)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left]Location[/TH]

[TD]6 km (4 mi) south of Sydney CBD[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left]LGA(s)[/TH]

[TD]City of Sydney[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left]State electorate(s)[/TH]

[TD]Heffron[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F9E2D2, align: left]Federal Division(s)[/TH]

[TD]Sydney, Kingsford Smith[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: center][TABLE=align: center]

[TR=class: mergedrow]

[TD=bgcolor: #f0f0ff, colspan: 3, align: center]Suburbs around Rosebery:[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: mergedrow]

[TD=width: 33%, align: center]Beaconsfield[/TD]

[TD=width: 33%, align: center]Green Square[/TD]

[TD=width: 34%, align: center]Kensington[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: mergedrow]

[TD=width: 34%, align: center]Alexandria[/TD]

[TD=width: 34%, align: center]Rosebery[/TD]

[TD=width: 34%, align: center]Kingsford[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: mergedrow]

[TD=width: 34%, align: center]Mascot[/TD]

[TD=width: 34%, align: center]Mascot[/TD]

[TD=width: 34%, align: center]Eastlakes[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Haze9229]

Thanks maryrose, that's really helpful!

[MARYROSE02]

I drove down to Cronulla on Sunday arvo, and had a swim at Elouera beach which is between Wanda and Cronulla itself. (I must check that. It is all one beach, really? I wish I had not checked now. Cronulla, North Cronulla, Elouera, Wanda.) Anyway, it took me about 3/4 hour to drive from Surry Hills - 26 kilometres. Cronulla has everything you would want, and it has a bit of a 'resort' feel, but it's also packed with cars and difficult to park. Great if you live in the centre, have a parking space, and can walk everywhere. 26 kilometres to my brother's house in Picnic Point too, via Sutherland, Worona, Menai.

[Haze9229]

Thanks so much Maryrose, you really have been very helpful. It's this sort of local knowledge that's really beneficial to us before we can get out there and see for ourselves!

 

We're waiting to hear from my boyfriend's new Employer where they will be putting us up temporarily (I'm assuming close to Rosebery for obvious reasons) but we've been doing as much property research as we can online but can't wait to get out there and have a look as it's not quite the same from this distance is it!

 

We've noticed that most places have at least one parking space which is great as we only require one for my boyfriends car and we're planning on walking as much as possible (within reason) which is why we were looking at places like Cronulla. We've seen plenty of places online that fit the bill so hopefully there's plenty more when the time comes to move!

[MARYROSE02]

If you live somewhere like Surry Hills, you can walk practically everywhere, including the CBD, if that is where you are working, so you only need that car for trips out. I'm going down to Clovelly or Bronte now (7.20pm) for a swim, about 7/8 kilometres. Maybe on the way back I'll come through Rosebery to reaquaint myself with the area. (Did I spell 'reaquaint' correctly? it does not look right?)

 

Cronulla is a great area but it's right in the south eastern corner of Sydney, which is OK if your partner is driving to jobs in that area, but if he is covering the entire city, you might be better off in a more central area. Which is why I like Surry Hills! It's at the centre of the Sydney 'wheel' and all the 'spokes' lead out. To be honest, the 'spoke' to Penrith where I work is a particularly long one, 55 kilometres.