Bamber

Hey All,

This is my first post so please be gentle.

I have just had an interview and I am about to be offered a role not far from Parramatta, I wanted to ask a few questions from people who may or may have lived/worked in the area.

I wanted to ask for people recommendations on possible family friendly suburbs that are close to one of the train lines that run through Parramatta (max 1 hour commute).

We will be renting first with a budget of $400-500/week (Not much, I know).

We are a family of four, two year old twins, and we are just starting our research so any info would be a great help.

From reading posts on BE I understand Parramatta is a wee bit of an undesirable place to live, hope it’s ok to work there

fallen angel

We're out in the Hills area, with a 15min drive to Seven Hills station (free commuter parking) then 10mins to Parramatta by train. Houses can be got out in this area for the $500 a week mark, generally speaking they are newer house, lots if inside space, limited outside space. Definitely not a character property but it suits us ( we ahve a 4yo and a 1yo). Seven Hills itself might be worth a look; its an older suburb than where we are and the houses are cheaper and possibly smaller but its nice enough area with excellent train links (don't believe it when you hear how bad all of the trains are in Sydney; H has had one delay of more than a few minutes in over 6m of commuting into Sydney CBD and that was caused by a suicide!)

Congratulations on the job!

ETA; by the Hills area I mean Castle Hill, Beaumont Hills, Kellyville area

ABCDiamond

I lived in Parramatta for while, quite some years ago, not sure what it is like now, but it wasn't too bad back then.
Of course it does depend what you are used to. It could be a really great area for some people.

If you were to live a bit further west, say Erskine Park area etc. (about 20km to Parramatta), you can get 3 bed houses (1990 era) from about $300pw.

eg: $340pw


or $495pw 4 bed spacious with pool


I lived in that area while my daughter was aged about 4 years to 6 years, and it was OK. Not as good as QLD though

Bamber

Thanks Fallenangel,

Sounds a great place to start and a 25 min commute would be .

Castlehill has come up in some of the searches I have done so that area is definitely of interest.

Bamber

Thanks ABC,

I am from an ex-mining village in South Yorkshire so I often raise an eyebrow when people say an area is rough!!

Something like that 3 bedder you posted would be ideal for us to start with.

I agree about QLD , we spent some time there a while back, 2 months on Bribie Island, and we fell in love with the place.

I think we will spend a few years in Sydney to acclimatise then move north

Dreamy

We live not far from Springwood train station in the Blue Mountains. It takes about an hour from here to Parramatta on the train. Trains run from there every 10-15 minutes or so at peak time (once an hour there abouts off peak)


Its completely beautiful up here. In the village we live in, we have a state primary school and high school, a catholic school, several kindies, a small shopping centre, doctors etc - its very family friendly. For older kids, its not far to UWS Penrith Campus or the TAFEs at Katoomba/Wentworth Falls and Kingswood. Springwood would have more schools/kindergartens available. There's also an aquatic leisure centre in Springwood.

Here's a rental search in Springwood/Winmalee area, for houses with min 3 beds and max rent of $500pw, just to give you an idea. This is just a very small area

Rental opportunities Springwood/Winmalee, NSW


OH commutes every day into Sydney - its about 80minutes on the train - well worth it we think

It might be worth you looking at some of the places west of Penrith, the train line tends to follow its way up the residential areas.

Parramatta - wouldn't want to live there (wouldn't want to live in any major urban area) - wouldn't have any issues working there.

polly_pod

Hi there

We looked at Parramatta to live as my hubby got a job in North Ryde and the commute seemed ok...... so glad we didn't sort anything out before we checked it out as I really wouldn't want to live there.

We've settled in Denistone East which is about 12kms away from Parramatta. Its quite dear though but we decided on a smaller commute (just under 4kms) and spend more money on rent than cheaper rent more cost in commuting and its a fantastic place on a nice quiet road with local (everything) within walking distance. Horses for courses though I reckon. The other thing that we like is that it doesn't take that long to get into Sydney and the rail fair is reasonable.

Have you checked out the train map? Also, we checked out the local newspapers on line to see what was going on the area. If I can help in anyway just holla!

Well done on the job

Joe10

Where do you actually mean when you say "not far from Parramatta"?
The most affordable area around Parramatta would be around Merrylands/Greystanes 10-15 mins away

Anything directly north of Parramatta Road and prices start to go up

man_called_Horse

I live in the Hills (Baulkham/Castle) myself and recommend it.. it about 15 minutes drive to Paramatta or about twice that in rush hour, but there is no train line.

If a train line is essential I would recommend West Ryde , Denistone, Dundas, Carlingford or telopea.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&s...,0.175781&z=13




I would try and stay away from Paramatta, Auburn, Granville, Merrylands or anywhere south of the paramatta river......

Bamber

Still waiting on the job front so I wanted to be slightly vaguel "not far from Parramatta" is just a few k’s max.

I like the idea of Springwood and a 50 minute commute by train, whilst not being great, does not put me off as I currently spend 35 mins or so using the same method in the UK.

And it looks like it would be $168 for a monthly ticket, which seems reasonable.

Thanks for the Reponses everyone, you have given us loads of places to start researching.

ezzie

Springwood is lovely...but it's small and quiet. If you want a social life that involves going anywhere or doing anything, you'll be slightly stuffed. Been there and done that!

Now live in Castle Hill - we back onto the bush, have a creek running past the back garden; there's plenty of quiet bushland areas here PLUS it's not far to Parramatta and you only have to whizz up the motorway to the city for all that Sydney has to offer.

There's also loads for the kids to do - major cinema complexes, large shopping centres, bowling, swimming pools, ice-skating rink, lazertag, etc, etc, etc. You're also reasonably close to the other Greater Sydney towns of Hornsby, Chatswood and North Ryde. Great schools in Castle Hill.
The downside is that there's no train, just buses.

man_called_Horse

Not a bad thing really, a train line often attracts less desirable immigrants and lowers the quality of the area.

ie. Paramatta, Bankstown, & Cabarita.

Bamber

Thanks Ezzie,

I will look at some bus commute times from those areas; I am 100% committed to using public transport so a good bus route or train line is pretty high on our list!

ezzie

www.westbus.com

http://www.131500.com.au/

Try these sites. There are buses from Castle Hill to Parrmatta but they tend to go around the Wrekin.

Australia requires a shift of attitude...it's the land where the car rules. Much as we'd love to take public transport, there just isn't much to take! It takes me around 20-30 mins to drive to P'matta from here.

Knock around 10 mins off that if you lived in Baulkham Hills which is also cheaper.

Northmead is the next suburb towards P'matta. An older area, still nice, but not 'The Hills'.