sydneyCE Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 When we finally receive our visas and find jobs, it is likely that I will be working in the CBD or North Sydney and OH will be working in one of the industrial/business park areas. We have 2 children who will be 6 and 2 or 3 by the time we relocate. We will probably be looking for a family suburb with a short commute (around 30 minutes) to the CBD, property/ rental prices around the median, and reasonable proximity to beaches/parks. We also want to try and live without a car for a while, so good public transport options will be important. Areas that look reasonable on the rental search sites include Inner West (Glebe to about Croydon Park, but mainly Leichhardt, Summer Hill, Five Dock, Drummoyne), North Shore (Neutral Bay, Cremorne), and some areas to the south of the CBD like Brighton-le-Sands, San Succi and Bexley. This is my first post, but I have been reading posts about Sydney suburbs on this forum and others, and it seems that certain areas are favored by expats and other areas are not recommended. The areas most frequently recommended tend to be more affluent and heterogeneous (I think???). I would like to know if the recommendations would change for a mixed race family as my OH is of Jamaican ancestry. We would like to live in a suburb that is both reasonably safe from crime and and the threat of potential harassment (good-natured teasing doesn't count) or violence toward any member of our family. Do the areas listed above sound reasonable? Is there anywhere we should avoid? I know a question like this has the potential to result in controversy, but that is not my intent. I am looking for serious well-reasoned input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I've not noticed any animosity to people of different races here. Certainly a lot less than the UK. I went to Uni in Birmingham and witnessed a lot of problems there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I cannot speak for Sydney as I am in Queensland, but i do not think a mixed marriage here would even be noticed by the majority of people. This country has a great many races living here and I believe more accepting of any race, creed or colour than most other countries I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Australia is a nation of immigrants, Sydney, like London has all kind of races there, go wherever you like that you can afford and suits you travelwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelP Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 You dont need to choose your suburb because of your race. We are a mixed race couple (UK/Asian), been in Sydney's inner west for ten years, and this has just never been an issue for us at all - not even lighthearted teasing. You read about this race stuff in the tabloids and on schlock TV (Today Tonight etc) but it's totally exaggerated. We often go out to eat in the supposedly 'bad' neighbourhooods like Bankstown and we feel perfectly safe and find the people there to be more friendly and welcoming than the affluent northern beaches and eastern suburbs. I wouldn't choose to in those places for that reason - not that we could afford to anyway. The only other place I would be wary of is 'The Shire' (Sutherland, and that's only because of its reputation for insularity and the race riots there a couple of years ago. I may be completely wrong, we had a nice lunch recently at the friendly Cronulla RSL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneyCE Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Thank you for the replies so far. I was hoping for responses like these. Without actually visiting a place, it is hard to put things you read on the internet into perspective. It was reading about the 2005 Cronulla thing that sparked the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Thank you for the replies so far. I was hoping for responses like these. Without actually visiting a place, it is hard to put things you read on the internet into perspective. It was reading about the 2005 Cronulla thing that sparked the question. That incident started because some idiots beat up a couple of lifesavers and the next weekend, facebook and SMS being what it is, loads of people knew about it and decided it wasn't going to happen in Australia. A small portion of the Lebanese community had been causing a bit of trouble down there for some time and the locals had enough. It was strange to see (for an ex pom) that the media, mostly, saw the point of the locals and did not come down on the side of the initial trouble makers. It was an eye opener really that the "Australian way" was supported. After a couple of weekends the trouble died down and Cronulla is now safer than it was before the riots. I think it sent a strong message of what is and isn't acceptable. The police, unfortunately, got stuck in the middle again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelP Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 I think the Cronulla riots were whipped up by a certain radio "shock jock" who incited racial attacks. Not quite Wogan calibre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebloggs Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 My girlfriend at the time was a cop down there and it originally started by couple greasy thugs made a few obscene remarks to couple of local girls, someone stepped in and copped a hiding and when lifesavers helped they got the same. Really the cops should have cracked their skulls there and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steen1976 Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 My girlfriend at the time was a cop down there and it originally started by couple greasy thugs made a few obscene remarks to couple of local girls, someone stepped in and copped a hiding and when lifesavers helped they got the same. Really the cops should have cracked their skulls there and then. It spilled over the following weekend with some cars being damaged in Maroubra too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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