Guest mandisfam Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Hello South Australia people, Started to do some research on suburbs in Adelaide and was wondering if anyone could give me some general guidance on the difference between north, east and south of Adelaide. I believe South is closer to beaches, east towards to the hills ??? not sure....and have no idea whats up in the north. Oh works in IT and so thinking he will be working in the CBD, so any side particularly better to reach the CBD than the other??? Many thanks any information is much appreciated. Mandisfam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 It's probably more to do with budget than anything else. The beaches run all the way down the west side of the city, so yes, anything north west, west, or south west is nearer to the sand. The main city is built on a flat plain with hills around it from the North East side, round to the South East. The further south down the coast you go, the hillier it gets. From North East through the city to the West the River Torrens runs, with nice suburbs all the way along it on both sides. For commuting into the City, there are nice suburbs all around within an easy 30 minute travel. However, if you want to be within 15 minutes drive, then you will pay more - depends what your budget is. Personally I think the eastern suburbs are the nicest, in terms of green wide leafy streets, good schools, and good commute both to the city, the beaches, or the Barossa. However, that's a very personal view - lots of Brits seem to head for the south and the south west, and whilst I like the South East immensely (places around Belair, Blackwood, Coromandel Valley etc), the other southern/south western suburbs such as Hallett Cove and surrounds don't float my boat! Go any further south than that as well and I feel you're limiting yourself a little as people probably wouldn't bother going into the City for a meal out, a show, the Festival, to go to the market, to see a band etc, if they had a 40 minute drive there and back. Like a lot of Australian cities, most events tend to take place in the centre rather than the outskirts. There are rail links from the south to the city though, if you're thinking of public transport, but there is also the notorious 'single direction freeway' which I think is the silliest idea!! The Northeastern suburbs are growing in popularity, mainly because of excellent transport into the City in the form of the O-Bahn - road busses that run on rails for part of the route. Again, we have excellent schools over this side of town (I'm a little biased!) The Northwestern suburbs around Port Adelaide were traditionally an industrial area, but like portside areas throughout the world, are undergoing a facelift and supposedly the northwest beach suburbs are the place to buy if you want some long term capital growth. The Adelaide Hills offer some beautiful villages, and there is a good Freeway making places like Mount Barker only about 30 minutes comfortable drive into the City. Other places between there and the city include Stirling, Bridgewater, Crafers... all stunning, but if you're worried about bushfires. something to consider as they're very tree-y. To the close North of the city are some very well to do, older suburbs, but a little further North gets industrial again. The northern suburbs were where the original 'ten pound poms' settled, so historically there was a lot of social housing, and some suburbs still have a slightly dodgy reputationaround there. There are still some lovely pockets that can be found there though - Salisbury Heights for instance is a lovely area with great views across the plain to the sea. Even the small northern town of Gawler is commutable within maybe 40 minutes, with trains into the City, if you prefer something a little different. Have a look on something like Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au and bear in mind that if a particular suburb looks particularly cheap, there is probably good reason for it! At the end of the day it all comes down to personal choice, and if we all liked the same things, we'd have some very crowded suburbs, whereas in my view, each area has its plusses and minusses and migrants seem scattered all over pretty evenly! Probably no help at all, but really you have to look for yourself - my best advice would be to give yourself time to look around when you first arrive, and don't cross anywhere off your list, or limit yourself to any particular area, till you've seen it for yourself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandisfam Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi Diane, Thank you so much for taking the time to write this post. This is exactly the information I was looking for. I completely understand that we all like and want different things from a suburb but this information is great starting point. Can I just ask in your opinion where would be a good base for exploring Adelaide when we first land?? I dont really fancy staying in a holiday let right in the city for 2 or 3 weeks and I guess that probably isn't a good place for exploring the suburbs anyway. Thanks again Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi again Mary Best place to stay when you first arrive will probably depend slightly on the time of year you are arriving, your budget and whether you have kids with you. If you're arriving in the summer months, then it's probably nice to be nearish to the beach I guess, so somewhere like Henley or Glenelg are worth considering: plenty going on and easy enough to get into the City by public transport or car to do stuff like activate your bank account, sign up with job agencies, get your TFN sorted etc. On the other hand, because it's not a huge place, then it's quite feasible to stay in the City: when we arrived we were in an apartment in Hutt Street (10 minutes walk to the centre of the City) with two kids aged 7 and 9. Thought it would be a nightmare with nowhere for them to play etc, but there was a pool at a partner complex a short stroll away that we could use, a free bus service that stopped outside and took us all round the city, a small supermarket, plenty of takeaways and cafes, and garage parking, so it actually worked really well. We were there for six weeks (bought a house after two weeks so just stayed in the apartment until we could move in!) It's not all built up and city-fied, Adelaide is encircled by parkland so you don't feel like you're in the middle of a metropolis, wherever you're staying, and of course, it does enable you to head out in any direction when looking at suburbs. There are apartments dotted all around the City run by a company called Adelaide Regent (Accommodation Adelaide, Serviced apartments Adelaide, Adelaide Hotels, Fully furnished apartments Adelaide, Short term accommodation Adelaide city | Adelaide Regency Apartments, South Australia) or there are some slightly to the East side - Serviced Apartments in Adelaide - Quality Holiday Apartments - that I know of. Also several in Henley and Glenelg. There is a lady called Donna who I have met who also handles several furnished properties on behalf of the owners, dotted all around - Real Estate Owners :: Search I have also heard of some nice apartments in Unley, and also some in Norwood - either would be a good base as they are nice leafy suburbs, lots going on (cafes etc) and fairly central. Can't remember the names of the apartments but if it comes to me later today I'll edit them in! Don't forget that in Adelaide it's quite usual to haggle over quoted prices, so worth asking what sort of discount places might offer. If you are intending to hire a car when you get here, I can highly recommend a guy called Brian who runs Aussie Car Rentals - you can get him to meet you at the airport when you arrive if you wish, and he has proved a complete saint, helping out lots of people I know (and my in laws when they visited!) His website is Car Hire Adelaide / Cheap Adelaide Car Rental in South Australia / Australia / Aussie Car Rentals Car Rental in South Australia If you are booking something short term while you look around, then you will probably need about 4 weeks - that time is probably plenty to find and secure a longer term rental (or even buy as we proved - although that's not highly rcommended, you kind of go into a bit of shell shock when you first arrive so we could easily have made a huge mistake! Luckily we didn't, but...!!) Off to work now! Hope above helps in some way Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandisfam Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Hi Diane, Thank you again so much for such useful information and the links too. Information like this is just fantastic when you are the other side of the world planning such a huge move. This information is enough to keep me going with my planning at the moment but if I think of anything, would you mind if I sent you a pm??? Hope you had a good day at work. All the best Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 This information is enough to keep me going with my planning at the moment but if I think of anything, would you mind if I sent you a pm???Mary Not at all, glad if I can be of any help - also probably worth looking at PomsInAdelaide as you'll be able to get some opinions of other areas :biggrin: Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandisfam Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Not at all, glad if I can be of any help - also probably worth looking at PomsInAdelaide as you'll be able to get some opinions of other areas :biggrin:Diane Thanks again Diane. Have posted on PIA as well and did get some good replies but none has detailed as yours, and your information was exactly what I was looking for. All the best Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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