Flake Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Hi All, looking to get as much info as possible on Penrith... Is the schooling ok? Are the trains to the city reliable and how long does it take? Are the hospitals decent? What are your general opinions of penrith? Thank you for your info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Risky Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Penrith to me has some very rough areas. However compared to UK these are not what you see as rough! Research the areas well, as Penrith has some very bad suburbs. Schools will be in line with the social demographics of Penrith. Nice area = OK school, Poor area = shocking school. Hospital are on par with Hospitals in NSW - care is not as good as the NHS. Private Hospitals comprise of an excellent room and food, yet very poor nursing care. Would I live in Penrith? No. Hope this helps. Where will you be commuting to? I live in Picton 40 minutes south of Penrith. We visited Penrith once and never went back after the stabbings and assaults in the Westfield there!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Bit harsh on the nurses I would have thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Risky Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I am a nurse. I have worked in the Public and private sector and NHS and speak from experience. Harsh but unfortunately true. Profits mixed with effective healthcare are an interesting combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Hi All, looking to get as much info as possible on Penrith... Why do you want to live there? If you're going to be working in the area, then you will be much more comfortable looking for housing in the Blue Mountains and commuting - Blaxland, Hazelbrook, Glenbrook etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flake Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Penrith to me has some very rough areas. However compared to UK these are not what you see as rough! Research the areas well, as Penrith has some very bad suburbs. Schools will be in line with the social demographics of Penrith. Nice area = OK school, Poor area = shocking school. Hospital are on par with Hospitals in NSW - care is not as good as the NHS. Private Hospitals comprise of an excellent room and food, yet very poor nursing care. Would I live in Penrith? No. Hope this helps. Where will you be commuting to? I live in Picton 40 minutes south of Penrith. We visited Penrith once and never went back after the stabbings and assaults in the Westfield there!!!!!! Thank you that's very interesting to know. Essentially looking for somewhere with the direct line to the CBD where we can afford to buy...I was also enticed by the mention of plenty of green space, truthfully I have no clue where to base ourselves- all I know is that I would like a safe, family friendly and affordable to buy one day and on a direct line to the city for work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flake Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Why do you want to live there? If you're going to be working in the area, then you will be much more comfortable looking for housing in the Blue Mountains and commuting - Blaxland, Hazelbrook, Glenbrook etc. the main reason was affordability, the direct line to the city and it's positive reviews for family living- truthfully I have never been there but I liked the idea if having shopping centre, good transport links and affordable houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I am a nurse. I have worked in the Public and private sector and NHS and speak from experience. Harsh but unfortunately true. Profits mixed with effective healthcare are an interesting combination. Don't know which private hospitals you have worked in but my experience as a patient has been totally the opposite to yours. The private hospitals, there has been a few over the years, that I and my sons have had to use have been excellent in every way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Penrith to me has some very rough areas. However compared to UK these are not what you see as rough! Research the areas well, as Penrith has some very bad suburbs. Schools will be in line with the social demographics of Penrith. Nice area = OK school, Poor area = shocking school. Hospital are on par with Hospitals in NSW - care is not as good as the NHS. Private Hospitals comprise of an excellent room and food, yet very poor nursing care. Would I live in Penrith? No. Hope this helps. Where will you be commuting to? I live in Picton 40 minutes south of Penrith. We visited Penrith once and never went back after the stabbings and assaults in the Westfield there!!!!!! I would be interested to know which hospital(s) you have worked in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Hi All, looking to get as much info as possible on Penrith... Is the schooling ok? Are the trains to the city reliable and how long does it take? Are the hospitals decent? What are your general opinions of penrith? Thank you for your info! You might like Glenmore Park which is close to Penrith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyNook Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Penrith to me has some very rough areas. However compared to UK these are not what you see as rough! Research the areas well, as Penrith has some very bad suburbs. Schools will be in line with the social demographics of Penrith. Nice area = OK school, Poor area = shocking school. Hospital are on par with Hospitals in NSW - care is not as good as the NHS. Private Hospitals comprise of an excellent room and food, yet very poor nursing care. Would I live in Penrith? No. Hope this helps. Where will you be commuting to? I live in Picton 40 minutes south of Penrith. We visited Penrith once and never went back after the stabbings and assaults in the Westfield there!!!!!! So you believe that Penrith has some rough areas, bad suburbs and shocking schools - and you formed this opinion from a single visit? That's really impressive.. :rolleyes: Edited January 4, 2015 by NickyNook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scattley Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Picton is a completely different lace from Penrith. It's almost twice the cost for house purchasing and has the associated different demographic in residents. It has the cheap house cost and a quick commute (1 hour on a slow train) to the city with major shopping centres nearby and very little chance of bushfire. The last two are criteria that you cannot say with regards to hazelbrook, glenbrook or blaxland....along with an extra 20-40 minutes each way train commute and half the number of trains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianaK Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 We have been driving for a week all around Sydney to get a feel of the place and there was only one word to describe the place when we were in Penrith - depressing. I am sure it can be very appealing to others but just sharing our first impression, as newcomers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naomi from Manchester Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Penrith is generally considered to be a rough area, at least, it is by those SydneySiders in my own acquaintance who don't live there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) Whilst I've never lived in Penrith, I've commuted to work there from the City for the past three years, and I've always liked it. The Blue Mts 'Intercity' train to and from Central does the trip in about 48 minutes with three stops at Strathfield, Parramatta and Blacktown. The 'ordinary' Western Line trains take longer - 60 to 70 minutes, depending on the stops, but if you are going to Town Hall or Wynyard, you won't have to change trains at Central. Penrith has all the facitilities you need, shopping centre, 'proper' 'High Street', hospitals, schools, restaurants, cinemas, theatres. I walked around after dark, around the rail/bus station without feeling 'vulnerable.' There are some suburbs between Penrith and Blacktown which i would be wary of late at night, which is why I preferred the Blue Mts train as it misses all of them out, but plenty of 'ordinary' people live in all of those suburbs too. I would have no problem moving to Penrith, at least if I had just arrived in Sydney and I was offered a job there, but I'm settled where I am in Surry Hills, (which has its own 'dodgy' areas, as do most areas of Sydney.) For the price of my flat, I could probably get something similar in Penrith with two or three hundred thousand dollars to spare, or a nice house. I noticed some new homes going up on the north side of the station at Penrith, which seem to me to be in a good location, walking distance from the city centre and station. Now, I'm going to the beach, which is the one thing you can't do easily in Penrith, but there are other compensations, the river and close proximity of The Blue Mts, and some 'real' countryside. Edited January 6, 2015 by MARYROSE02 'Wyn - Y - ard!' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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