InnerVoice Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Tychen said: I visited Castle Towers for the first (and hopefully, last) time last year. It was huge and there were quite a lot of young people there. I understand teenagers from the other end of town might have different preferences, but all the Hills District / Bible Belt youths seemed to be enjoying themselves. I say hopefully last not because there was anything wrong with the shopping centre, but because it was a nightmare trying to get in and out. The place was basically the epicentre of three miles of swirling traffic jams in all directions. On the eastern end of the northwest there's Macquarie Centre - that's also huge, is also surrounded by queues of cars, and seems to have a greater variety of things that might appeal to young people. Cinema, ice rink, multiple book stores... Everyone in the northwest seems to spend all their non-working hours either stuck in a traffic jam or in a giant shopping centre. It's obviously a lifestyle that works for people who live there... Sorry that's gone off topic. The upper north shore where OP Is looking is not the northwest. You've pretty much hit the nail on the head in describing what 'Sydney life' is like for the vast majority who can't afford to live where the action is. Forever vanquished to endless non-descript suburbs where the local mall and chain restaurants are the epicentre of activity. Same can be said of many parts of Melbourne. I'm glad I've passed the point where I'd have a fear of missing out if I didn't live in or near a big city. Cairns really has a lot going for it and would be one of the best places to live in Australia if it wasn't for the heat! Edited August 18, 2023 by InnerVoice 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 3 minutes ago, InnerVoice said: You've pretty much hit the nail on the head in describing what 'Sydney life' is like for the vast majority who can't afford to live where the action is. Forever vanquished to endless non-descript suburbs where the local mall and chain restaurants are the epicentre of activity. Same can be said of many parts of Melbourne. You're right, Westfields shopping malls are all over Sydney and have managed to kill off the small shopping and restaurant strips in many suburbs. I'd have to say it's not the same in Melbourne though. It's one of the aspects where it's better than Sydney. In Sydney, there are big shopping malls in Bondi Junction, Burwood, Castle Hill, Chatswood, Eastgardens, Hurstville, Macquarie Centre, Miranda, Parramatta and Penrith (maybe there's more, those are the ones I can think of). In Melbourne, with a similar population, there's Chadstone, Northlands, Southland, Fountaingate, Highpoint (there's probably a few more in outlying suburbs) -- which leaves big swathes of suburbs which still have a proper shopping strip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_chappy Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 My three kids grew up in suburbia and rarely bothered to venture into the city. They had active social lives and were more likely to meet up at places like The Fiddler at Rouse Hill with food, live music and plenty going on. 'Eat Street' at Parramatta is another option, it's lined with restaurants, bars and cafes and is at the opposite end of town to Westfield, this precinct has grown massively in recent years. I imagine it's probably much the same in other areas across Sydney. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 9 minutes ago, happy_chappy said: 'Eat Street' at Parramatta is another option, it's lined with restaurants, bars and cafes and is at the opposite end of town to Westfield, this precinct has grown massively in recent years. I imagine it's probably much the same in other areas across Sydney. No actually it isn't. Between Eat Street in Parra and the trendy inner west equivalents.there isn't much at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerVoice Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 3 hours ago, Marisawright said: You're right, Westfields shopping malls are all over Sydney and have managed to kill off the small shopping and restaurant strips in many suburbs. I'd have to say it's not the same in Melbourne though. It's one of the aspects where it's better than Sydney. In Sydney, there are big shopping malls in Bondi Junction, Burwood, Castle Hill, Chatswood, Eastgardens, Hurstville, Macquarie Centre, Miranda, Parramatta and Penrith (maybe there's more, those are the ones I can think of). In Melbourne, with a similar population, there's Chadstone, Northlands, Southland, Fountaingate, Highpoint (there's probably a few more in outlying suburbs) -- which leaves big swathes of suburbs which still have a proper shopping strip. I'll stand corrected as I don't know Melbourne that well but I've seen plenty of non-descript suburbs whenever I've visited, so figured it would be like Sydney given they have a similar population. Brisbane's south side isn't immune to this curse - the likes of Carindale, Logan, and Garden City are hardly inspiring. The suburbs on the north side of Brisbane are hillier and have a bit more character. I guess it's hard to build a really big shopping complex somewhere that isn't flat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 3 hours ago, Marisawright said: You're right, Westfields shopping malls are all over Sydney and have managed to kill off the small shopping and restaurant strips in many suburbs. I'd have to say it's not the same in Melbourne though. It's one of the aspects where it's better than Sydney. In Sydney, there are big shopping malls in Bondi Junction, Burwood, Castle Hill, Chatswood, Eastgardens, Hurstville, Macquarie Centre, Miranda, Parramatta and Penrith (maybe there's more, those are the ones I can think of). In Melbourne, with a similar population, there's Chadstone, Northlands, Southland, Fountaingate, Highpoint (there's probably a few more in outlying suburbs) -- which leaves big swathes of suburbs which still have a proper shopping strip. We lived a few minutes drive from Macquarie shopping centre but not far in the other direction there was a strip of shops (Cox's Road) which had a deli, small supermarket, green grocer, butcher and a cafe. it was a handy place to live as our sons' primary school was a short walk from home then they cycled to Epping Boys High School. It was a good place to bring up kids. Also there were loads of green fields back in the day. Now they are all replaced by technology industries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tychen Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 5 hours ago, happy_chappy said: My three kids grew up in suburbia and rarely bothered to venture into the city. They had active social lives and were more likely to meet up at places like The Fiddler at Rouse Hill with food, live music and plenty going on. 'Eat Street' at Parramatta is another option, it's lined with restaurants, bars and cafes and is at the opposite end of town to Westfield, this precinct has grown massively in recent years. I imagine it's probably much the same in other areas across Sydney. @Marisawright is right. Melbourne is better in this regard. Functioning high streets exist in Sydney, but you have to know where to look. Parramatta has a high street as well as a Westfield. I'd say Burwood and Chastwood are also okay - though the high street in Burwood is very Chinese. Elsewhere, you can find functioning high streets in a lot of the little town centres in the North and in the Inner West - Lane Cove where OP is looking has a very nice village centre, Lindfield is pretty pleasant too. Probably more of them in the Inner West - eg Concord, Leichhardt, Balmain, Homebush, Erskineville, Marrickville are a few that come to mind. I also find the very ethnic high streets in the southwest quite charming. The very Greek looking Earlwood, the Vietnamese high street near Bankstown station, Little India in Harris Park, or the straight up slice of Southeast Asia that is Cabramatta... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausvisitor Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 Sydney wise, the only places a 20-29 yr old wants to be seen are Kings Cross Darling Hurst Surry Hills Newtown Marrickville Quite possibly the trendiest places in all Australia and with price tags to match. A two bed house in Newtown is going to set you back $2.2 million on average, a 4 bed with off street parking and a postage stamp garden will be north of $4m But then everywhere else is just suburbia and you don't move half way round the world to live in a slightly worse Milton Keynes street. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerVoice Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 11 hours ago, Ausvisitor said: But then everywhere else is just suburbia and you don't move half way round the world to live in a slightly worse Milton Keynes street. Bit harsh, you don't get this in suburban Sydney... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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