Flake Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Hi all, we are moving to Aus in May ( will be staying with family initially) I'm wondering if there are any suburbs which have a villagey type feel that are affordable and within an hour from Sydney city? - it can be an hour via bus or train. Not looking to be in the city as we want more of a suburban feel. Happy to be anywhere safe! Looking for: houses, not apartments decent schools few shops good transport links to city somewhere suburban It may be a big ask!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonbclark Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Hi all, we are moving to Aus in May ( will be staying with family initially) I'm wondering if there are any suburbs which have a villagey type feel that are affordable and within an hour from Sydney city? - it can be an hour via bus or train. Not looking to be in the city as we want more of a suburban feel. Happy to be anywhere safe! Looking for: houses, not apartments decent schools few shops good transport links to city somewhere suburban It may be a big ask!?! Have you looked at the Hills District? Covers areas like Castle Hill, Beaumont Hills, Rouse Hill, Bella Vista, and a few other surrounding suburbs. We live in Bella Vista but don't commute to the city but many do via train/bus/car I've not heard a bad thing about any of the local schools either and the area is great for families with lots of parks and open spaces and still within an hour to the city/beach etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 we are moving to Aus in May ( will be staying with family initially) I'm wondering if there are any suburbs which have a villagey type feel that are affordable and within an hour from Sydney city? - it can be an hour via bus or train. An hour from the city via bus or train is still well within Sydney's metropolitan area so it will be pricey. My vote goes to Oatley. Houses by the river are very expensive but more affordable elsewhere, or you can look at Mortdale which is within walking distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flake Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Have you looked at the Hills District? Covers areas like Castle Hill, Beaumont Hills, Rouse Hill, Bella Vista, and a few other surrounding suburbs. We live in Bella Vista but don't commute to the city but many do via train/bus/carI've not heard a bad thing about any of the local schools either and the area is great for families with lots of parks and open spaces and still within an hour to the city/beach etc i love Rouse Hill and many hills district areas but my husband us worried about the bus into the city being unreliable with traffic times... ( he is from kings langley and used to drive to seven hills train station to commute to the city) I wish he didn't have to rely on the city for work otherwise there would be much more choice on location. Weirdly I'm now researching even further out west in the Penrith area as the country train has a direct link to the city in just under an hour and real estate is a lot cheaper... Could be a reason for that I guess but will look to explore further Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flake Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 An hour from the city via bus or train is still well within Sydney's metropolitan area so it will be pricey. My vote goes to Oatley. Houses by the river are very expensive but more affordable elsewhere, or you can look at Mortdale which is within walking distance. Will have ace a look into that area thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Another area to look at is the Sutherland Shire (just south of the river and Oatley mentioned above). Have a look at the 2nd posting (2nd paragraph) by LKC on this thread: it would seem to match your criteria. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/new-south-wales/225152-commuting-cbd-towns-such-emu-plains.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I would definitely recommend Sutherland Shire. In fact, if it is affordability and a village-type feel that you would like, with good schools and really community minded, you might want to look at Engadine. It is an up and coming area (lots of building and improvements in infrastructure), and although prices have increased over the past year or two, it is still relatively affordable, in Sydney terms, anyway. It has a great town centre, with post office, bakeries, butchers, cafe's, clothing and gift shops and so on, plus four supermarkets (Coles, Woolies, ALDI and SuperIGA), fruit and veg shops, a community centre with various groups, and a leisure centre with things like a gym, gymnastics and swimming lessons (if you have kids). We live in a neighbouring suburb to Engadine, our girls school is there and is very highly thought of, and we use it for all of our shopping etc. There are loads of parks for the kids, a library, restaurants etc. It is only 20 minutes or so from the beaches in the Royal National Park (which are beautiful and usually quiet), 45 minutes by road from the airport, and under an hour on the train to the CBD. OH sometimes catches the train to the city for work, and has never had trouble getting a seat. There is quite a lot of snobbery against this area (Sutherland Shire), with people saying that it is full of 'Bogans', but that hasn't been our experience in the six years we have been here, and is worth consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I second the vote for the Sutherland shire. Though the Hills District is very popular with young families, it is full of brand new houses and very far from what I would call "village-y". St George and Sutherland shire still have a number of areas which have a little cluster of local shops and a pub. Oatley even has a village green and a clock tower! The main thing is to stick to the areas with train stations. Bus transport in that area isn't the best because the routes can be quite convoluted, and peak hour traffic to the city gets extremely clogged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 i love Rouse Hill and many hills district areas but my husband us worried about the bus into the city being unreliable with traffic times... ( he is from kings langley and used to drive to seven hills train station to commute to the city) I wish he didn't have to rely on the city for work otherwise there would be much more choice on location. You love Rouse Hill? Isn't that where the most violent pub in Sydney is? I also think the buses would be a problem - it's a long trip in peak hour even when the buses are reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 You love Rouse Hill? Isn't that where the most violent pub in Sydney is? I also think the buses would be a problem - it's a long trip in peak hour even when the buses are reliable. You obviously don't know much about Rouse Hill when you insinuate it isn't a nice place because of one pub which isn't even in the middle of Rouse Hill but on Windsor Road. I don't travel on the express bus to the city but I know many, many people do, so there can't be much of a problem with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 None of the places mentioned so far are very village like. They are huge suburban developments of the type you might find in suburban Los Angeles. For a village atmosphere you will probably need to go more than an hour out of Sydney up into the Blue Mountains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 You obviously don't know much about Rouse Hill when you insinuate it isn't a nice place because of one pub which isn't even in the middle of Rouse Hill but on Windsor Road. I don't travel on the express bus to the city but I know many, many people do, so there can't be much of a problem with it. Rouse Hill has one of the most pleasant shopping centres I've ever encountered. But it's still not the village like place the OP was asking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Rouse Hill has one of the most pleasant shopping centres I've ever encountered. But it's still not the village like place the OP was asking about. I never said it had a village atmosphere. My post was in answer to the post I quoted, which was rather derisive of the OP saying she loved Rouse Hill. I rarely post because even although I've lived in and around Sydney for almost 49 years I think it's best to let newbies make up there own minds where to live, but I will comment when I read a post that gives the wrong impression of an area or some other subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 None of the places mentioned so far are very village like. They are huge suburban developments of the type you might find in suburban Los Angeles. For a village atmosphere you will probably need to go more than an hour out of Sydney up into the Blue Mountains. The OP asked for 'a villagey type feel', and for a commute of an hour or less within suburban Sydney. It is not necessary to go as far as the Blue Mountains for that. Engadine, and I should imagine a good many other places in Sydney, fulfil those criteria. I can only speak in detail for Engadine, but it certainly has a villagey feel, where everyone knows everyone else, the parents of my children's friends went to school at the same school as our children, and there is community cohesion, cooperation and involvement. It is a pretty big suburb, but it is one of the safest in Sydney. I lived in quite a number of rural villages in England (Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire), and none of those come close to this area in terms of amenities, accessibility and family friendliness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Sydney does not really 'do' villages, in the English sense, you know, a church, school, pub, village shop, surrounded on all sides by green fields. 'Does the church clock say a quarter to three, and will there still be honey for tea?! It is too big, too sprawling, too many people, but then again, in any suburb, you can build up a social life. This evening, I arranged to meet a mate at the Rose Bay Hotel, simply because I was swimming at Neilsen Park, and I thought it might be a convenient place for us to both to meet. He'd never been to the pub before, and I'd only been in there a couple of times. It was quiz night, and as he was passing a table, he heard one of the questions, told the table the answer, and they invited him to sit in. I joined him a little later, we introduced ourselves, and now, we've made a 'connection' and may well start going every Tuesday to join their team. At Neilsen Park, too, I recognized people just from going there a few times, and overheard conversations from others who may have been neighbours, or may have just met at the beach. It's much the same as England, or anywhere else, really, get talking to people, whether it's dropping your kids off at school, in a pub, taking up a sporting activity, make an effort, and you can become a 'local.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 None of the places mentioned so far are very village like. They are huge suburban developments of the type you might find in suburban Los Angeles. For a village atmosphere you will probably need to go more than an hour out of Sydney up into the Blue Mountains. You've obviously never been to Oatley. It's surprisingly village-like, with its own green, a clock tower, a pub, a church, a library etc - it's one of the reasons I loved living there. However I agree that all the outer west suburbs mentioned are big clusters of new houses, and to find a village-y atmosphere the OP needs to be looking at older areas of Sydney, closer in, to find suburbs that still have a strip of local shops, a pub, a church and a sense of community - not quite a village but as close as you'll get. Sutherland shire has quite a few of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 You obviously don't know much about Rouse Hill when you insinuate it isn't a nice place because of one pub which isn't even in the middle of Rouse Hill but on Windsor Road. I don't travel on the express bus to the city but I know many, many people do, so there can't be much of a problem with it. No, I don't know Rouse Hill, but surely the people who drink at that pub come from the surrounding area so that's an indicator? Many people endure long commutes because they have to - e.g. because they can't afford to live closer in. It doesn't mean it's a pleasant experience. I bow to your superior knowledge of the area - but at the same time, it's definitely not a village and neither are any of the other places you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 No, I don't know Rouse Hill, but surely the people who drink at that pub come from the surrounding area so that's an indicator? Many people endure long commutes because they have to - e.g. because they can't afford to live closer in. It doesn't mean it's a pleasant experience. I bow to your superior knowledge of the area - but at the same time, it's definitely not a village and neither are any of the other places you mentioned. I believe that the patrons at that particular venue come from all over and that venue's reputation should not taint that of the general area. I certainly did not mention any areas in my post. You must be confusing my post with another.In years gone by it was one of the best places in Sydney to enjoy a night out. I believe the management of that establishment is attempting to regain it's good reputation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hasn't The Mean Fiddler cleaned its act up? I don't think I've ever been there, but then for me, the Western Subs begin and end art Leichhardt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xplosive75 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 MarisaWright gives good advice lol. We are moving out there in February and was looking at the Oatley and Sans Souci areas and have now found a lovely house in Mortdale very close to Oatley. Nervous but excited all the same and can't wait to get out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainR Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 We live in Leonay which is within an hour of Sydney, very much a small village feel to it. Also plenty of nice villages towards Wollongong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 We live in Leonay which is within an hour of Sydney, very much a small village feel to it. Also plenty of nice villages towards Wollongong. I had to Google 'Leonay' although I think I have been there, on one of the drives I did around Penrith when I took the car to work. What is the name of the place a few kilometres south of Penrith - Mulgoa? I stopped there once for a walk and a drink in the pub. That had a village atmosphere, but I did not like the road to Penrith. I was talking to a barmaid last night who told me her parents live in Glenorie, which also has a village atmosphere, though I would not like to commute to the City. Perhaps one option, if you can afford it, is to live at one of the smaller beaches, Clovelly for example, or Bronte, (both amongst my favourite beaches), and substitute the sea for the bush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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