Relocating from Brisbane to Sydney

[Guest perrytld]

Hi,

 

My family and I moved from the UK to Brisbane six months ago and now my work have offered me a promotion on the condition that I move to Sydney.

 

In brisbane we live in a good area by the sea in a 4 bedroom house with a pool for under $600pw. We are next to a great free public shool and I can commute to work in under an hour so moving will be hard.

 

I'll get a decent pay rise but I am resigned to the fact that the cost of living in sydney will eat all of it up.

 

Can anyone advise me on the best place to live in Sydney.

 

Our requirements are:

 

 

• Family oriented area.
  
• Low crime and anti-social behaviour
  
• 3-4 Bedroom house for upto $1000 p.w.
  
• Good primary schools for two boys (4 and 6). Either public or private (<$10k per year).
  
• Max 45 Minutes to the Circular Quay area by public transport.
  
• Close to the beaches (max 20 mins).
  

 

 

I have looked at Mosman and Manly both look good but there aren't a lot of properties in our budget. Any locals know of areas that are almost as good but cheaper?

[restfamily]

I like Randwick

[fleabo]

You could look north from Killara to Wahroonga close to the North Shore train line. It won't satisfy the 20 minute to the beach but will meet your other requirements.

 

There are other options too that I am sure others are better placed to advise. Working at Circular Quay opens up the possibility of taking the ferry to work as well as excellent rail and bus links.

 

Good luck. Sydney is a great place to live.

[Guest sk1nny]

just a thought, if you're not a perm resident you'll need to factor in $4500 per child / per annum for fees to the NSW state gov for public education.... it's is free in QLD but not NSW

[pintpot]

My new employers have just paid for me to go over for a week to scope out schools and areas to live, and my criteria weren't a million miles away from yours - however I only looked on the North Shore as I'll be working in Chatswood

 

The killer for your list on the north side is the combination of public transport to the CBD and proximity to the beaches; there's the rail line that goes north to Hornsby and ultimately Newcastle, and another further west through Ryde and Epping, and that's it. Otherwise it's relying on the ferry (and for a 45 minute commute that pretty much means you have to live IN Mosman or Manly, which as you say are very expensive for what you get) or buses, which again means you have to be very close to the harbour to get your 45 minute commute in. Transport from the Northern Beaches (north from Manly) is hopeless - the road up there (Pittwater Rd) is disastrously busy, one trip back in to my sister's in Neutral Bay from Narrabeen last week against the flow of rush hour traffic and seeing the queue people going home were having to deal with put be straight off any consideration of living up there

 

On the south side of the harbour I think you have a few more options, but the suburbs are a bit less middle-class/family oriented, you might feel a bit old for the likes of Coogee. Bronte is a nice family beach and the suburbs just in from there might be a decent option, like Randwick mentioned earlier. Can't help with schools on that side as it's not really an option for me

 

Back on the north shore, I'd say you'll have to lose the beach in 20 mins, but you can have everything else, all the suburbs going north from Chatswood have good schools by all reports. We visited St Ives North and Wahroonga (the bush school) and were very impressed. These suburbs are also older than most, which means good sized plots, mature trees and generally a leafy, spacious feel which we thought was really nice - particularly Wahroonga, which is very villagey. It's where we plan to look for a house when we return in a couple of months, value for money on rentals is also better around here than closer in to the harbour. We saw an excellent house in Turramurra that was on for $1050. If you go along the other train line through the Hills district (Beecroft, Pennant Hills etc) then you get even more VfM, but the beaches are yet further and the suburbs are newer and feel a bit more anonymous to me as a result

 

If you're determined to be closer to the harbour then you can still find places to live that aren't as overpriced as Mosman, but you might have to catch a bus or drive to the beach (no big deal really). Look at Northbridge, Castle Crag, Castle Cove or over to the west, Lane Cove. We also visited Northbridge and Lane Cove schools and would have been quite happy for our son to go to those too. In the end we decided a nicer house, a more villagey/leafy feel and better public transport trumped sea breezes and the chance of a glimpse of water at the end of your road

[Guest sydneypoppy]

I can really recommend the "sutherland shire" of Sydney, which includes suburbs of kirrawee, jannalli, miranda, caringbah, gymea and cronulla,just to name a few. Cronulla is a very good family beach, very few backpackers, nothing against, as we all got to party just not around my home! Very good schools, easy train journey straight into town. We are leaving Liverpool Uk in Sept to move there as we have lived there before and decided it was one of the most "child friendly" areas of Sydney. Having previously lived in the Eastern Suburbs, which has gotten very expensive, it was the next best option. Check it out, the website is called the "shire", people do get skitted, about it, but its a fab place to live.

Hope it all works out! Good luck

Lorraine