oxford_lad

Hi can anyone tell me what this area in Sydney is like for living in?

The company I might be working for will be moving here at some point they are currently in the CBD, we where looking at living in Manly but I guess this would be too far to comute.

Does Macquarie Park offer things to do, cafes, pubs & shops etc?

Thanks

tartankoala

There's a massive shopping centre and lots of offices, that's all I've ever seen in Macquarie Park. I don't think it has many pubs or cafes. It's certainly nothing like Manly! Wikipedia kinda supports my view that's it's not really a suburb to live in. If you wanted to live close by you'd be better looking at one of the neighbouring suburbs. I live in Ermington which is only 10-20 mins West.

If you have a car then you could commute from Manly. Public transport would be a b*gger, not sure if there is a direct bus from Manly to Macquarie Park

paddyo

Not the bast residential area in itself but at least the new rail line serves it well. Its close to Ryde (think Reading) but also easy to get to from Hornsby and some of the nicer upper north shore suburbs (Turrumurra, Wahroonga etc). Also if you want to be by the beach, consider Mona Vale which is north of Manly but has a good road to MacQuarrie Park. Manly is doable by car but may take about 45 mins at commuter time, still not too onerous in itself. Macquarie Park and North Ryde is where a lot of IT related companies are based, my company used to have an office there.

Swerv-o

Ditto - really not the best residential place at all. The Macquarie Centre is a huge shopping centre, but that's about it - there is very little in the way of pub or cafe culture, which is odd really, considering the huge university campus...

It looks like our company will be moving up there early next year, (we already have offices there) and an awful lot of people are 'considering their options.' So if people would rather quit their jobs than working there, imagine what it must be like to live there!


S

oxford_lad

I thought as much, might still stick with the Manly option as a base, 45 mins drive is fine with me so not really an issue...

Would rather have the long'ish drive but a nice place to live and things to do in the evening rather than short drive and bored to death!!!

77hil

We live in Epping which I think is lovely but if you prefer to be by the beach then go for Manly.

paddyo

Put it this way, everywhere is nice if you live there!! No one is going to either admit publicly or even to them selves that they chose a shite hole to live in!!! Always positives to be found no matter where you live.

man_called_Horse

My office is situated here.

Its a huge business park with many offices and Macquarie University is situated there. Like someone said there is a huge shopping centre complete with Ice rink and cinemas. This area is really busy during the week and dead at the weekend with the exception of the shopping centre which is always busy.

Really most of people who live in Macquarie Pk would be students and North Ryde/ Marsfield being normal residential areas. But it is situated at the start of the M2 and its only 15km to the Hills district and about the same to the city.

Really there is not much around Macquarie PK / North Ryde but Manly would be a nightmare to commute close to an hour each way in rush hour... that would be 2 hours a day.

PS I live in Baulkham Hills and it only takes me 20-30 min to get to the office in the mornings.

paddyo

I like Baulkham Hills! Nice established area, but a bit far for my own commute to Woolloomooloo!