KelnIan

Hi All

I have been looking at rentals around Maroubra on the net, and there seems to be more avalability and slightly cheaper than say coogee. Was just wondering it there is anybody that knows these areas, any information would be appreicated. Husband has a job in Rushcuttersbay Sydney and we have a 5 year old, so anything on family life, commuting times and schools would also be appreciated.

Whilst doing my research on places to rent, i seem to always stay away from Maroubra and cronulla, the only reason being because of the riots last year. Do these suburbs have a reputation for this, or was that a one off. I have read a previous post about Cronulla being the only city beach that has a railway station, there for people can come from the furthest point, but is that the same for Maroubra. Is it a safe place to live with a young family, was that riot last year just a one off.

I keep getting the impression that the Eastern suburbs are not as good as the northern, but why is that? I read that eastern are full of youths making lots of noise and partying, is that just in Bondi.

If there is anyone living in and around these suburbs, I would love to hear any information you have.

Many thanks

KelnIan

gedge

Bump!
Hopefully Soapy will see this and respond. He was a local till deserting us for a spot of banana bending up north.

There are some quiet pockets in the East, but I'm not best placed to tell you where having been one of those rowdy lads round Bondi many years back, I'm now living a more sedate pace in the northern beaches. IMO there's less space in the eastern suburbs, more hustle bustle, but that ain't a bad thing sometimes. I wouldn't let the riots put you off, AFAIK it was a one off.

hubbard

Eastern suburbs have some of the most expensive Sydney real estate (Double Bay or as the locals call it Double Pay, watsons Bay, Woolhara etc) so definitely not all full of 'youths'. Backpackers seem to head to Bondi Beach and Cogee and they can be noisy, and croweded. But other parts of Eastern suburbs are superb. I wouldn't live anywhere else in Sydney. Top reasons for picking Eastern suburbs:
Sea breezes
Lots of bars, restaurants, shops, and amenities
Proximity to CBD
Beaches and open air swimming pools
Centennial Park
Proximity to airport
Beautiful old victorian terrace / villa type houses - very attractive.

NickyC

I've lived in the eastern suburbs on and off for over 25 years and I wouldn't live anywhere else. It's a fantastic area - lovely beaches (loads to choose from), best shopping in Sydney, heaps of cafes and restaurants, plus it's close to the CBD and everything else that Sydney offers.

We live in Coogee, just up the hill from the beach and it's not the slightest bit noisy or crowded. If you lived right on the beach front, near the pub, you might be bothered by noisy backpackers in the summer (all the backpacker hostels are clustered together) but that area is not exactly residential so it's unlikely that you'd be living there. We have a great shopping centre for everyday needs, including a small Woolworths Metro, and it's five minutes drive to Bondi Junction which has the best shopping in Sydney. If you can't find what you need in Bondi Junction, then it doesn't exist.

All the primary schools in the east are fine. The only primary school I'd avoid is Bondi Beach public. High schools are a bit different - far more people use private High schools around here than public so the State Government has closed three public high schools (and merged two others into one) in recent years, as the numbers were dropping. That's not to say there are no kids around, we have more facilities for kids here than you could possibly use.

You cannot compare the eastern suburbs with the northern beach suburbs. The only thing they have in common is beaches - otherwise they're chalk and cheese. The east has a buzz and there's always something going on whereas most northern beach suburbs (away from Manly) have a suburbia-by-the-sea feel.

gedge

As much as I like the eastern subs, I must come to the defense of the northern beaches.
Up here we have the best of both worlds. We've got the busy buzz places for a good night out, but we've also got peace and quiet to get away from it all. It's so much greener and cleaner and certainly less packed. Plus, and this is a plus, we have no train lines to bring in the trouble makers.

NickyC

Didn't mean to knock the northern beaches! They'd be great to live in, if you want a quiet life .

But I have to remind you that no train goes direct to any eastern suburb beach. The closest you can get is Bondi Junction, then you have to get a bus. Whilst Bondi does get quite a few western visitors (mostly the ones that have cars or know how to catch a bus) it's nothing like the hordes that pour off the train at Cronulla. I've spent a lot of time (probably too much) at Bronte and Coogee beaches and never witnessed any problems or trouble whatever.

renth

...But try surfing at the local break at Maroubra without the permission of the 'Bra Boys and you'll get bricks thrown at you and your car trashed.

Jimclevs

Gedge

Are you known as Avalonians there ?

Jim

gedge

Mate, that's too long a word. We don't waste any effort on anything except taking it easy. We're the Avos, not to be confused with avocadoes

Jimclevs

.. or the Arvos...... which is another word for taking it easy.....in builder-speak at least!

Abject_Rage

This is just my personal opinion based on my own experience, so please hold the flames, but we lived in Maroubra 4 years ago for a year and it was the worst residential experience of my life. Lived in Yorktown Parade, surrounded by commission housing, and had the car broken into and garage raided regularly, was very noisy, very anti-social. Coogee seemed nice but too full of British backpackers for me.

When the police came the last time my car was wrecked, one came to the door and the other stayed by their patrol car because (they said) otherwise it would get stolen.

Maroubra beach was fantastic but, personally, you couldn't pay me to go back there.

Sattman

We've been living in Matraville, just South of Maroubra for a couple of weeks.

We have four beaches within a 5-10 minute drive and the road in which we live, just off Anzac Parade, is absolutely dead. There is a bit of noise from the airport, but we can certainly live with that. You can also just about hear the Anzac Range, but as I am a shooter it's not a problem for me

Their is no train link, but the buses to the City run down Anzac every 5 minutes or so. I get the Circular Quay bus which runs every ten minutes , and depending on your timing and whether you get an express bus it is a 35-50 minute run. Also, the buses run 24 hrs.

As far as facilities are concerned, you've got everything you could possibly want within a ten minute drive.

We're quite new to the area so haven't seen any of the problems that were mentioned in the previous post. We chose Matraville after looking at the inner west because we seemed to be able to get about the same rental rates but a lot closer to the beaches.

Let me know if you need any further info, and I'll see what I can find out.

soapy©

i dont know where to start here?
ill start with the poster who lived in Yorktown Parade
when we first arrived we looked at a house there and could see it was a dive.
but and its a big but. the problem this little area has, seems to be confined to that area. we live (fitzgerald ave)there for 2 year and loved it. its a great area.
our kids had friends from every culture u could think of and all the kids were great. im not talking about young kids im talking about teens. my daughter had her 18th party at our house and about 50 kids where there. we didnt get one broken glass or any trouble at all. its one of the big things i miss about sydney.
Maroubra is a great place to live. if u live just one street off the main road, its perfect. the schools where great.
transport is the best in sydney
a huge shopping centre
great fishing
a beach (i know plenty of people who have been out on the water with no probs) the inceident Renth is talking about was hyped. the bra boy(about 36 years of age) who got caught had been bulling the other guy for a long time and used this as an excuse to do something about it.
it reminds me of a story my girls told me. they claimed that u had to kill someone to join the bra boys. i told her that it must then be the smallest gang in the world. as only two people had been murdered in the area in 20 years. i spent plenty of time on the beach and so did my kids. we never came across any trouble at all !!!!!
i could go on and on for hours about how much we love the area, but i think nickyc knows the place better than any of us. he knows his stuff it would be wise to take advice from him.

i must add. both my girls dont like me at the mo, for taking them away from the area.
if u want to ask me anything else, just PM me
good luck

soapy

NickyC

Thanks for your kind words, Soapy - but I'm actually a she

I can only echo what Soapy says - if you're looking for a nice area with good facilities for kids, fantastic climate and close to everything that's great in Sydney, then there's only one place to live - and that's the east.

gedge

I knew you'd come up with the goods.
How's the banana bending?