asher

most suburbs are like towns in England there are nice parts and not so nice parts.
I live in Cronulla south Sydney which had 'race riots' however my friends have found you can leave your house unlocked quite safely,their son always forgets to lock up there are loads of play parks for kids, fantastic beaches, good schools and we haven't seen any trouble although we live in the centre of the town it's a fabulous place to live but that's my opinion



Personally I would say have a good look around for yourselves don't get any fixed ideas or you could end up regretting it, go and see for yourself and see which area appeals to you, Sydney can be quite hilly in places have a drive around in the circle you would be prepared to commute from.
we looked around the train lines as that is how my husband commutes and found this place at our outer limit.

Good luck wherever you decide on

hubbard

Relatively crime free areas that have good amenities, attractive housing, good transport links, close to beaches and have good schools- Valcluse, Balmoral, Centennial Park, Double Bay, Rose bay, Lavender Bay, Mosman, Neutral Bay, Woolhara.

Question is can you afford them. Where you live in Sydney as any major city, is principally governed by MONEY. How much or how little you have.

Bubsblooms

Ahhh, Cronulla.... we lived there for years. Parramatta Street, just up from Shelley Beach....

Rainydaze

Here's a good starting point: http://www.cityhobo.com/

Also do a search on BE because there's been loads of threads of which Sydney suburbs to live in.

Good luck

seayork2002

Depends on your budget (are you renting or buying?)

I have lived over Sydney at one time or the other

Eastern Suburbs have some nice areas but some are more dodgy then they used to be.

Lower North Shore is great (if you can afford it) I rented there. T

hen there is the Epping area which has some lovley houses but not much happening. But great if you like Asian food.

I am not sure about the others. If you have a particular area in mind I could let you know what I think, I haven't lived everywhere but know people from all over

Ginger3710

I agree what some others have said, it really depends on what you can afford to buy/rent.

Someone mentioned "south and west of Sydney" to avoid, I think they might have meant "southwest Sydney" which has a bad reputation, quite a few shootings and high crime generally. This is the Liverpool, Cabramatta and Fairfield areas.

Good family areas are south of Sydney ie St George and Illawarra suburbs, the train line for these suburbs is probably the best and most frequent in Sydney (Illawarra line), you can travel until fairly late at night with plenty of people on the train. And in peak times trains can be every 5 minutes to the city, also a lot of express trains.

Northwest suburbs like the Hills area (Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill, Bella Vista, Cherrybrook etc), however there is no train line to these suburbs so you'll be using bus or car. Also northwest Sydney suburbs (Epping, Eastwood, Carlingford, Thornleigh etc) are good.

North Shore suburbs good as well but will be very expensive.

Probably best to get yourself a map of Sydney so you can see the layout, then check out the real estate websites, ie www.realestate.com.au and www.domain.com.au are 2 to start with, so you can see house prices and types of housing for your money. If you want to check out the rail system go to www.staterail.com.au and you can see the timetable and rail map of Sydney.

As others have said, there are pockets of safe suburbs all over Sydney, but for a newcomer moving here, the above areas are where I would recommend first to look into. Just my opinion.

deryans

I'd give here a miss......... http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...004066829.html

TrentEnd

I know Sydney pretty well having lived here for 3.5 years, and in my opinion, I'd say the dodgiest/roughest places to avoid are:

Granville
Bankstown
Lakemba
Liverpool
Cabramatta
Fairfield
Mount Druitt
Blacktown
Auburn
Redfern
Campbelltown

I wouldn't touch any of those places with a bargepole, though I do occasionally have to visit Fairfield as my outlaws live there.

man_called_Horse

I have lived in Burwood and Croydon over the last 4 years plenty of Paddies still around there even though the Pine Inn is pretty dead these days, live out by Breakfast point now. I was living at Randwick for the 1st month but I hate the eastern suburbs with a passion especially Bondi... way to many tourists.

blaengarw25

Definitely avoid Refern, Kings Cross, Wooloomooloo, areas from Blacktown to Penrith, SW Sydney (Fairfield, Cabramatta, Campbelltown, Liverpool, Macquarie Fields, Glenfield etc) and Maroubra (Often referred to as Mt Druitt-by-the-sea as has large numbers of public housing like Mount Druitt - Blackett - Whalan -Emerson - Plumpton etc).

Beachside suburbs such as Coogee, Bronte, Bondi, Tamarama etc can get horribly/hideously crowded during summer with heaps of backpackers/tourists. Quite a lot of drunken crime around those areas as well.

Better off going to the North Shore or Illawarra (Cronulla, Miranda, Gymea etc).

NickyC

Some bits of Redfern are absolutely fine - the Surry Hills end is no different from Surry Hills itself. If I was starting out in the property market and wanted to live somewhere convenient, close to Crown St bars and restaurants without paying a loading - I'd move to East Redfern.

Similarly Kings Cross and Wooloomooloowith both have some very nice streets.

Bubsblooms

I'd definately agree with this statement
Also include Caringbah / Gymea Bay / Kirrawee / Como / Janalli too though

Bubsblooms

I agree some parts are nice but it is just so hit and miss - especially Redfern / Surrey Hills borders. One street will be gorgeous houses worth millions then just round the corner is ghettosville! As convenient as it is I would much rather commute and live out a bit, especially if children are in tow.....

AussieGaz

I used to live in Sydney too but now live on the central coast, I agree with the avoiding any places above as most of these have social/economic problems, around Parramatta and surrounding suburbs is not as bad but used to be nicer just full of immigrants and they are starting to get that slummy feel about them.

The hills area would be the best bet, Castlehill, Baulkham hills and surrounding area. It's where the city meets the bush most houses have swimming pools and a sizeable garden and is the area where the likes of Delta Goodrem and Bec Hewitt grew up.

TillyG

Sorry, but that just made me giggle My area is also full of immigrants - there are a STACK of British expats around here (lower north shore) and I *love* that about it