tanialak

Hello all,
my husband is currently in negotiations for a job based in North Ryde, Sydney. We have 2 children (6&7) and can anyone recommend good family suburbs within easy travelling distance from North Ryde or perhaps recommend North Ryde itself?
Schooling is the most important.
My husband wold like max 30 mins drive.
I'd like to be near a beach, although as long as we can get to one within 45mins ish that would be fine. It's lovely if you can, but in reality it's costly!
We'll be renting & would need a 4 bed......
ANY info you can offer would be great as I have not got a clue where to start!

Thanks alot,

Tania

Rosscarbery

West Pymble and South Turramurra are nice, leafy suburbs close to North Ryde with good schools. You're also fairly close to the train line to the city.

I'm guessing your OH would be driving to work? If you look on the map the distance between the beaches and North Ryde don't seem far, but the roads are really busy in rush hour. We're in St. Ives which according to Google maps should be a 20 minute drive, but my OH spent a couple of days working there a few months back and it took 45-60 minutes due to the car park that is Ryde Road in the mornings.

Having said that St. Ives might be a good compromise for you if your OH leaves early in the morning, we're a 20 minute drive to Mona Vale beach. Primary schools are good (there are three public schools in the area, all with good repuations), St. Ives Shopping Village has everything you want and it's 10 minutes drive to Gordon station. Houses tend to be on nice big plots, lots with pools. It's not the cheapest area of Sydney though (West Pymble and South Turramurra would be cheaper, but not Pymble or Turramurra themselves if that makes any sense). Not sure what kind of budget you had in mind for rent but have a look on domain.com or realestate.com to get an idea of rentals in the area.

Kooky.

Hi Tania, look for some posts by "plantpot" who is moving to Sydney soon and has been asking about similar areas.

My husband works at Macquarie Park, North Ryde, and we chose to live at McMahons Point on the Lower North Shore. It takes him 20-30 minutes to get to work depending on time of day and whether or not he uses the Lane Cove Tunnel (paying a toll fee).

Katherined0

We find North Ryde to be a good family friendly suburb, with good access to CBD and the beaches (but I am anxious not to get into another scrap with anyone!!! It is perhaps not as "nice" as the areas mentioned above by Rosscarberry but that is reflected in the lower rents etc. in this area. I have been impressed with all the primary schools we visited (North Ryde, Kent Road, East Ryde, Truscott Street, Denistone East) and understand that Epping Boys School and Riverside Girls School have good repuations. Ryde secondary (co-ed) is less well spoken of locally, but that is purely hearsay so I possibly shouldnt really comment! The traffic into North Ryde in the morning is a bit of a nightmare from all directions and is especially bad from the Mona Vale/St Ives direction. You could also consider North Epping (different to Epping which is less nice IMHO) East Ryde, Lane Cove, Hunters Hill and Marsfield all of which are good solid family areas and are close to North Ryde and would be an easy commute. There is a new rail line due to open before Xmas (dont hold your breath) which should ease some of the traffic conjestion....

Plantpot's thread on the relative merits (or not!) of Ryde can be found here!
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=ryde
I would personally say that that thread should come with a bit of a health warning as getting into a battle about the relative merits of Ryde vs Mosman or Ryde vs the Norther Beaches is not exactly comparing like with like -- but it gives you others' views of the Ryde area (not that I share them!!!!)

tanialak

Thankyou all so much for your replies. I read the threads with interest. It's so difficult knowing where to start.
I will be back with more questions soon!
Thanks again, Taniax

Helen-17

Hello there,

Well, I have been living in North Ryde since Feb, when I moved to Australia. There are no children involved, so I am afraid I can't comment on schools.
What I would say, is I am happy with North Ryde. There is Maquarie shopping
centre, which offers you everything you need. It has easy access at the weekend to the CBD or to the beaches.
As many people have mentioned, traffic is an issue. We find North Ryde perfect for us as I work in North Sydney, and the bus service from North Ryde to either North Sydney or the CBD is excellene, (if you work in either CBD or North Sydney public transport is a must as you would never drive to work due to crazy traffic and rediculous parking costs). My husband works out at Seven Hills. There is an excellent motorway link straight from NorthRyde out that way - so it is perfect.
So far, the suburb appears safe, as mentioned, shops are fine.
It does not have the romantic beach location you may dream of, but you have to be realistic. You go to work, come home, eat dinner etc - just as you always did. The chances of you hanging out at the beach after work are slim. For us, we never sit down before nearly 8pm, so we find it more important to have a safe, pleasant location with an easy commute, than a trendy beach location where we would have to battle traffic daily. To get to the beaches from North Ryde is no trouble at all at the weekend.

Good luck - and any other questions please let me know.

tanialak

Thanks alot Helen. I will be back with more questions later I'm sure! Glad that you are happy there.
Tania x