"The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

Views on this as a place to live?

In terms of:

1. Is it a nice place.
2. Schools (Private)
3. Accessibility to CBD

Any advice appreciated. :thumbup:

Re: "The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

Is this Balcolmbe Hills, Winston Hills, Castle Hill, Northmead area? If so, very nice been there on and off for over 10 years as we have family around there, just far enough out of Sydney but still able to get to the city when you want to. Infact if we had stayed in Sydney and not fallen madly in love with Melbourne this was the area we were thinking of moving to when we emigrated 4 years ago.

Don't know about private schools as ours would have gone to public junior schools.

LJJ

Re: "The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

Oh no - i thought the Hills area of Sydney was very sterile and Macmansion like, lots of huge houses on small plots of land that look ridiculous. It is also a fair trek to the CBD by bus (45 - 50 mins on bus, plus you need to factor in getting to bus stop and getting to work at the other end). Limited amenities within walking distance of most homes, you'd have to drive to the shops / restuarants.

I guess it depends if getting a 4 bed detached house, probably with a pool, within an $800K budget is your number one goal in terms of living in Sydney. It is certianly not seen as a classy area, but not a dump either. Seems pretty safe but there are much nicer areas to live in Sydney but you'll pay more and get a smaller house.

Re: "The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

I totally disagree.

We live in Castle Hill and think its fantastic. We moved from the Upper North Shore and much prefer this area. The people are much friendlier and down to earth, and the area has a lovely atmosphere about it.

There is no train line here but a good bus service into the CBD which takes about an hour, or there are train stations not too far away in Beecroft, Pennant Hills, Thornleigh, Normanhurst and Hornsby etc

There are lots of different types of housing, yes there are the big newer houses with small gardens but there are also the older style housing as well, where you get a bigger garden and also just down the road in Dural, Kenthurst, Glenhaven etc(the more rural areas) there is acreage!!

There is so much around here, big shopping mall - Castle Towers, Homemaker centre which has all of the big furniture and electrical shops etc, Cinemas, Ice Skating rink, Rock climbing centre, the showground, parks, plenty of very good restaurants, and lots lots more. The Hills District is a fantastic place to bring up kids in, there is so much to do, and you dont have to go far for anything.

There are good schools both private and public and church schools too.

Hope this helps you! If you need any more info feel free to pm me.

Re: "The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

Getting to the city is a nightmare. Most hills commuters wish it only took an hour to the city. It takes colleagues an hour just to get to North Ryde from the hills. The M2 is a snarl up and a toll road as well.

The place is very average and really has nothing of note good or bad except a lot of houses built in bad taste. Very suburban Australia. There are a lot of good seventies numbers that haven't been decorated in over 30 years and are probably quite hip today and would make a great porn set. "I've come to clean ze pool".

The bummer is that it is one of the few places in Sydney where you can get a house for under 600,000 and I wouldn't mind bringing up the kids. I just feel that my soul may die there.

Re: "The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

My sentiments entirely, it is a pretty suburban souless place decidedly lacking in the character of a lot of the other Sydney suburbs in the Northern Beaches or Eastern suburbs. And this coupled with the very average transport links are the reason for the lower house prices.

Re: "The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

I'm with Rachel on this one.

If you think the Hills is just full of McMansions then you have not taken the time to drive around the different areas - have you looked at much of Castle Hill, Glenhaven or Dural? It's certainly not overpriced compared to other areas - such as those closer to the beach. As to 'not classy', well no, it's not Palm Beach, but it certainly has an excellent reputation as a safe and 'good' areas to live - there are some suburbs to avoid though.

As to the commute - with the new Lane Cove Tunnel, an hour into the city at peak time from Castle Hill is about average - my hubby does it. To North Ryde it's about 25 mins (he did that journey for 4 years). Off peak into the city it's around 35 to 40 mins.

The Hills is a very family orientated area with many activities. Schools are generally excellent. If you are looking at private schools, again there are many with excellent reputations - try Hills Grammar, Northholm, Tangara - which are all close by and then others, which have a school bus running to them - Abbotsleigh, Pymple Ladies College, Kings Boys School, Tara and others.

Hope that helps

Rudi

Re: "The Hills" Northwest Sydney
 

Some pretty diverse opinions there! Thanks for the opinions.

We are coming in October for three weeks (prior to a move at the end of January) to look around and generally get a feel for the place. I am not so worried about commuting although I have been really spoilt in the last few years (15 minutes) but when I lived in London it was 80-90 minutes so somewhere in between would be fine. I may go back to commuting by motorbike (as i did in London) which generally materially reduces door to door time.

I guess there are sacrifices in everything. Of course we would like to live near the city and the beaches but frankly I don't want to do that if I will be spending all my hard earned on funding an oversize morgage.

Anyway, thanks a lot. :thumbsup: