TRJP

We are moving to Sydney and have 1 Son (21 mths) so are looking for a nice family orientated place in Sydney, not too far from CBD up to an hour away. We have researched and it looks like the Nothern beaches are the best bet however I know alot of it will be really touristy ie: Manly.

Can anyone help with suggestions?? I am 30 and my husband is 33 so we are looking for somewhere that has things to do and is geared towards kids (playgrounds, schools, clubs etc) but not that is full of backpackers...

Sweet Chilli

I would imagine places like Killara, Gordon and Pymble would suit you, the train commute to the CBD is about 35 minutes.

Wahroonga Boy

We're about the same age as you with a 17 month old boy. We choose Wahroonga as my wife thought it would be funny if we lived somewhere I couldn't pronounce But it's great up here for families. Loads of space, lots of parks. Can be at Bobbin Head in 20 mins. Takes me an hour door to door to get to Darling Park. 5 mins walk from town hall.

The further up the train line you go the cheaper it gets.

One great thing is a lot of the cafes and restaurant's are very kids friendly.

TRJP

Yeah, how do you pronounce it ??!!

Sounds good. What is property like in Wahroonga? We are looking for at least a 3 bed house. What sort of prices can we expect to pay?

gavstrad

Check out http://www.domain.com.au/ and do a search on Wahroonga. Looks like 3 bed places start from $550,000

Gav

HeatherandTim

If you are looking at northern beaches then the best suburbs are Harbord, Allambie Heights, Beacon Hill, Colloroy Plateau ,Dee Why, Frenchs Forest and others. I would say better than Pymble/Wahroonga because you are close to the beach. Centre of Manly may be noisy and there are lots of tourists in summer but I think the area is great if you have kids.

Wahroonga Boy

It always depends what your looking for. One thing that the northen beaches were not good for me was the transport links. There's no train service and for going north it's quite difficult. I'd have loved to be next to the beach but for one reason and another we decided not too :-(

chocaholic

Look on the North Shore train line: Roseville, Lindfield, Killara, Gordon etc upto Wahroonga - these places are a bit expensive because of being on this train line. You'll find places like St. Ives a bit cheaper, because it's off the line. The Forest area (Belrose, Frenchs Forest) doesn't have a train service, only buses - but is less than 15 mins from the beach and 30 mins from CBD (by car). The whole area is very family oriented. Manly is the only really touristy area IMO. But try and avoid living somewhere where you have to go into town via the Spit bridge and Mosman - it gets really congested there, even on a Saturday.

bondipom

I guess that 30 mins is out of rush hour.

chocaholic

I suppose just before the rush hour - leaving between 7 and 7.15 for parking space at Town Hall. If it's raining....add extra 15 mins (By the way, it's not me doing the commuting - so maybe husband is over-positive about the time between here and CBD)

It takes 20 minutes to be on the harbour bridge out of the rush hour, from here - even I've noticed that.

bondipom

I drive the other way and see the qs for the harbour bridge, even at 7:15 am.

chocaholic

Just checked with the driver. If he leaves before 7 (pref. 6.45) it takes 25 mins - walking out the garage at Town Hall. If you leave from here after 7 it can take 40 mins. I don't think he's a particularly pushy driver either - but he does have e-tag. But - of course - alot of people don't want to start that early.

bondipom

Even when my shift is due to start at 9 I come in about 8ish to avoid the traffic.