Wigan Warrior

Hi,

I'm trying to get some info on the different areas of Sydney.

I'd like to be no more than 1 hours train/car journey from the CBD and same to beach.

I have a 3 year old girl, so need to keep schools, things to do, beaches!! etc.. into consideration.

Are there any areas that should be avoided?

Working on the presumption that accommodation will be cheaper the further out from the CBD we go!

Still haven't decided if Melbourne or Sydney is going to best suit our needs (I work in I.T. and looks like Sydney and Melbourne are were the jobs are at), I've already asked for info on Melbourne areas so am now researching Sydney!

Thanks,
Martin

Manc

Skelmersdale

Wigan Warrior

You're not wrong!!

Thydney

South Sydney mate you'll feel right at home there. Their rugby team's a shit bottom six side and wins **** all too

Wigan Warrior

That stings!!

Anyway, moving on from the current situation of the mighty (or not so mighty as the current case maybe!! ) Wigan Warriors.....

any recommendations for location?

binbird

Hi Martin

I can only comment on the northern suburbs as I don't know south of the city at all. What I would say though, for ease of commuting you should look at the suburbs that run parallel with the Pacific Highway as the train line runs alongside. So, you've basically got from Lindfield, north to Hornsby before you get too far from beaches. And I have said it before, nothing seems very far away in Sydney. As for areas that should be avoided, I have heard that out west can have a tendency to be a bit rough.

The best bet though is to allow yourself enough time to get a feel of various suburbs when you get here. We got here mid September and didn't choose an area to settle until end of October.

Good luck

Binbird

hubbard

We live in Paddington, Eastern suburbs. It is a really nice area with lots of nice pubs, restaurants and shops all within walking distance - great not to have to drive everywhere. We also have Centennial Park (similiar to hyde Park) about 5 mins walk away. Fabulous for running, walking, horse riding, and having lazy picnics. To get into the CBD by bus is about 20 mins, and takes about the same by bus or car to Bondi Beach. It is not the place if you want big MacMansion type of house with a swimming pool. Houses tend to be quite old, lots of Victorian terraces. We live in place that is very similiar to place we had in London. Property prices are fairly steep but rents are pretty reasonable. I really like the area.

Wigan Warrior

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Wigan Warrior

As a starter, can anyone tell me how far I can get in each direction that is more than an hour away from CBD and beaches.

i.e. Is Newcastle as far north before it starts taking over an hour?

Thanks,
Martin

Fireman Al

Martin,
Newcastle is over an hour away and to be honest (without slating anyone) you'd be better off looking south mate, you'll get decent property plus keeping close to some dam fine beaches.

Al.

Wigan Warrior

Cheers Al.

How far south can I get from CBD within the hour/hour and half?

Gonna be renting initially and until get a job will be living off what we take with us, so can't go to the expensive (though very nice) locations.

soapy©

Hi WW, you don’t need to be that far away to have a really nice area here. We have a lot of friends on the north shore. Not sure how long it takes to get to work, but its less than an hour.
We live in Malabar, just south of coogee. Takes about 30mins by bus in the morn. There’s a lot of really nice places round our way. Bronte, Coogee,Maroubra and ……auch theres too many to list. Get the map out and draw a circle round the city.
Do a search on Sydney meets and send some members a PM asking about an area. They are very good at helping out. Heres a few links to maps
http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgs.../mgresults.cfm
http://www.multimap.com.au/
http://www.multimap.com/index/AS2.htm
http://uk.ask.com/fr?u=http%3A%2F%2F...f970fc283606fd
good luck
soapy

ABCDiamond

You could go West.

I used to live near St Marys, and the train to the CBD was about 1 hour.
Advantages: Plenty of shops, near to the Blue Mountains, cheaper houses (3 bed houses on 700sm land start at about $300k, or $250pw rent). Very near to Australia's Wonderland, Sydney's largest theme park.

Disadvantages: No beaches, and it gets hotter in the summer, compared to being by the water.

NickyC

Bit out of date there ABC! Australia's Wonderland closed down sometime last year, from memory.

To the OP:

If you live on or near a train line, then you could live anywhere from Cronulla (south), Hornsby (north) or St Marys (west) and be within a 1-hour commute. If you're not on a train line then the distance you can live from the CBD is reduced as you'd be reliant on buses or driving in (not an option unless your job comes with parking).

There are huge numbers of suburbs within a 1-hour commute range so very difficult to recommend specific ones. Naturally the suburbs closest to the CBD/train/beaches are the most desirable and that's reflected in their rental/house prices.

Avoid the inner south-west suburbs around Bankstown and the suburbs around the airport.

Newcastle is too far to realistically commute to Sydney, it's well over 2 hours drive on a good day. Even the Central Coast, which is a lovely area, has a long commute that puts off a lot of people.

If you want to be close to a beach and eventually want to buy somewhere nearby, then look south. If you're happy to rent, then look east.

ABCDiamond

Wow ! Any idea why ?

We did move up here three years ago though So I suppose many things could have changed. But that did surprise me.