emigratingherberts

Hello, we are newbies to this site. We are hopefully moving to Sydney around Christmas time (subject to visa approval).
We are a family of 5 (me, oh, kids (12, 8 and 3) and are looking to settle somewhere on the northern beaches not too far from CBD. We have been looking at Dee Why, Curl Curl, Manly, Collaroy. Wondered if anyone had any experience of these areas, schools etc. They look very nice but it would be great to hear from anyone who actually lives there.

Look forward to chatting to you over the next few weeks.

scrum

Welcome to the mad house and best of luck.

Just make sure you have plenty of booze, patience and whatever else you need to get you through and you'll be fine.

Trish

gedge

hi and welcome to the site
i've moved your thread to the main Australia forum as it's more likely to be seen by those already living here rather than those hoping to

those areas are all good, part of the northern beaches (insular peninsular)
house prices are at a premium due to the proximity to the beach
Dee Why would be the bottom of my list, personal preference would be CC or Manly
DY is struggling for space (i suppose Manly is too but it doesn't look as bad)
can't comment on schools as my boy isn't old enough for it to be a consideration

good luck

gillysm

Used to live a bit further inland in a suburb called Killarney Heights (near Forestville/Frenchs Forest) which are all nice suburbs with pretty good schools. Would move to any of those beach suburbs tomorrow if I could afford it. I love the northern beaches (sorry not too sure about the schools there though).
Gill

binbird

Hello

When we first came out here we lived at Warriewood and our girls (now aged 9, 8 and 6) went to school at North Narrabeen so not much further north than the suburbs you list. It's a great family friendly area and good proximity to the city without the city feel if you know what I mean! There is a growing crowd of us that meet regularly (check the meet ups section under Sydney Ladies FTC). Let us know when you get here and come and have coffee with us. . .

Good luck with the move.

B

Rosscarbery

Hi

We are also a family of 5 (kids 14, 8 and 4) and we've been here since end of June. We're in St. Ives. We know people who are coming out in January who did a reccie recently staying in Manly. They totally discounted it as a family area after their first weekend - lots of noise and pissed up people around - but that might just be them

Good luck with the move - I'm sure we'll meet at a get together at some stage.

emigratingherberts

Thanks for all your replies.
Binbird, coffee with new friends sounds great as I will be billynomates.
Does anyone know what the commute to CBD is like from Northern beaches. OH doesn't want it too long. At the mo he sits on a train for 2 hours twice a day and does not want to continue that in Oz. Saying that he wants to live by the sea so may not get both things he wants .

We are open to other suburbs if anyone can suggest anywhere
Cheers

Astronaut

Hi,
We're considering the same move (also with kids), to Sydneys northern beaches or suburbs and I have the same issue with the commute to the CBD.

The answer from my research, is that the northern beaches isn't the best area from which to commute into the CBD. Simply, there are no trains in the northern beaches so travel must be by bus, car or via ferry, and the road routes across the Spit or into town are busy. Similiar to your OH I want a commute of max 1 hour, and I now believe the best solution is to live in a location on the rail line heading out of Sydney up to Hornsby. That way you're only half an hour to the beaches but also commutable to CBD.

Check the rail route on the city rail website. The rail map shows you all the stations / suburbs, and from that you can use google earth to view the area.

Possible areas would be Hornsby, Chatswood, Gordon, Epping (basically any rail station town). Property prices in some towns are high though, as pricey as the beach towns. Non-railway linked towns like Killarney Heights or French's Forest are closer to the sea, but the route to work would involve 2 modes of transport.

Of the northern beaches, also from my research, Manley isn't idea residential area because of the continual stream of tourists off the ferry from Circular Quay. But go 2 miles further north and the problem is solved. The further north you go the lower the property prices, but the longer the commute obviously. Newport is as far north as you should consider if you want to get into CBD daily I'm told, and even that involves a nightmare-ish commute via bus. I so wish the northern beaches had a railway line, it would make our decision so much easier!!

I'm interested in following other responses to your post. Good luck!

Sandra

Cost of housing is going to play a very important part of where to live if considering this part of Sydney. What you get in some of beach areas for your money compared to possibly having a pool and a 30 min drive to beach instead or a much bigger house and a 60 min drive to beach. It is a very personal decision.

From my perspective transport links and schools drove my decision for St Ives. I love the beach areas but cost was also a big factor as I wanted a big house. Compromise I have my big old crap (from a revenue rasing point of view) house, but I have a pool, decent links to city without the increased cost of housing of being a walk to train. And I go to the beach maybe once in a blue moon! I also have a huge mortgage to afford it all!

gedge

.. i'm so glad that it doesn't! it's what makes the place better imo

NickyC

Totally agree.

If they had a railway line, they'd all be like Bondi or Cronulla with sky-high prices, wall-to-wall apartments and zillions of people. They definitely wouldn't be the laid-back beachy places they are at the moment .

gedge

glad somebody understands me
we've taken it to the extreme and gone round the bends too, now if only the council would consider my residents only access scheme i'd be laughing

CarlaA

This site is helpful (if you haven't already used it). The nearer the city you get on in the morning, the fuller a bus is likely to be. It also makes quite a difference whether you can easily walk to work from where your first bus/train ends. Catching a 2nd bus to go a short distance across the city can be frustratingly slow.

http://www.131500.info

NickyC

That's my dream too. It's a bit unreasonable , I know, but I look at the hordes of people down at Coogee at the weekend - crossing the road against the lights, filling up the cafes, dropping sand on the supermarket floor - and want to say 'sod off home, the lot of you...'.

emigratingherberts

Wow, I feel I've stirred up a hornets nest here There are so many differring opinions. I must admit OH is quite happy not to have to sit on a train to commute, he rather fancies a ferry or even a bus for a change. Also weekends on a laid-back sandy beach with not too many tourists sounds like it may be worth a slightly more difficult commute.

Any opinions on Mosman or Balmoral from anyone? They look nice and seem to have lots of schools and the commute looks very easy. OH is going out for 2 weeks on Saturday so we are trying to narrow down his search a bit.

Thanks