Where to live near Sydney?
 

I'm thinking of taking a job in Sydney, and moving out there with my wife and 20 month old son, but we don't really know where to look, can anyone give some advice please?

We would like a British suburb so my wife won't feel so out on a limb in the first few months (Mum being at home on her own could easily feel isolated) and she can start making friends quickly, we'd also like a garden for little Ben, 2/3 bedrooms and close to the countryside. We have a budget to rent of about £2000pcm - is this realistic? All the property websites I've found so far are for city centre apartments.

Any advice please? Thanks

Nick

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Unfortunately, in Sydney, suburbs tend to be Australian. If you must live in a British suburb, I'd advise staying in Britain.

However if you're prepared to risk an Australian suburb, your budget is good and should get you what you want in quite a few areas.

Checkout the Hills District, Upper North Shore or Northern Beaches on
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Choo...rent&state=NSW.
All those are to the north of the city and are good areas with proximity to either National Parks or the bush. South, east or west of the CBD is far more built-up.

Good luck
:)

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Thanks for the steer on locations. Am I right in thinking that if the website doesn't state it, that the rental is per week not per month?

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Yes, rents are always quoted as weekly.

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

With that budget you can get a good place in most decent areas.
When you say British I assume you mean caucasian? We live in Manly, beach, restaurants, great family town (apart from after midnight when the seaside idiots come out to play!!) ferries and buses into the CBD. Lots of UK expats here and lots of parks for the kids too.
Countryside can be further out and I am not an expert on that or the commute, but maybe northern towns like St Ives or Terrey Hills might suit.
Just think of the wildlife, its not all cows and sheep here ya know!

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

If you are moving to Sydney you should really think about where the job is and how long you are prepared to commute each day before commiting to a location to live as commute times can be a nightmare.

On a purely unbiased basis the best combination is the lower and upper north shore - suburbs which appear cheap (generally west) are cheap for a reason - you need to really visit and take a drive around.

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Hi Paddyo,

how long does it take to commute to the CBD from Manly? It's one of the first places I wanted to live when we move but reckoned it might be a bit far to commute?

ta!

Therese

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

The only british surburb I can think of is called Perth.:)

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Hi Therese,

Its too easy to get to the CBD from Manly. 30 mins by ferry, 22 mins by Jet Cat, 40 mins by bus, hour by car!!!

I work in Potts Point/Woolloomooloo and its an hour for me door to door.

Compared to a lot of suburbs the journey is not too bad, especially by ferry/jetcat, relaxing on the harbour journey drinking a coffee, reading the paper and every now and then watching the whales and porpoises!!!

One thing I learnt here is that long commute times are common, Sydney is such a vast place and some of my colleagues travel from as far north as Gosford and as far south as Woolongong. I was used to a 15 min commute back in UK so even this hour was long to me, but I have got used to it and by and large public transport is not too bad. It costs me $46 per week for as many ferry, bus and train trips as I want and that covers most of the Sydney region.

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Thanks for all the info, looks like north of the city is ideal then. I was interested to see if there was a British quarter, rather like the Greek, French Polish quaters in London and Paris for example, that way it might have eased the transition until we found our feet. Looks like Sydney is a good all round mix.

The ferry journey sounds a lot better than the M3 or London Underground!

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Mate, having done both very regularly I can confirm that 30 mins on the ferry is far far better than any time on the M3 between 0630 and 0930!!!

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

We (me and the missus) live in Neutral Bay which is about 30 mins walk from the CBD. And it's a walk across the Harbour Bridge which still makes me go a bit gooey! We're 20 mins walk from North Sydney & Milsons Point train stations, the Neutral Bay ferry wharf is 5 mins walk and there is a regular bus to and from the CBD on our door step.

We regularly head out to the Blue Mountains or down to the Royal National Park for our fix of 'countryside', both are a couple hours car ride.

We currently rent a 3 bed house with a good sized garden. It's really too big for us but we like our space. We currently pay about $3k/month. It would be perfect for your situation Meatbomb. Try searching Domain and Real Estate for 2/3 beds in the North Shore, Northern Beaches, Lower North Shore area.

Are you currently in the UK? If so, don't expect to get something before you arrive. Rentals go *very* quickly and you may have to look around for a while before you find anything decent.

As for the "British suburb". I can see why you ask but, now that I've been here for over a year, don't see the point. Sure it's nice to have a few mates who can understand what you're saying but if you're serious about living here then you have to integrate at some stage. Get to know the locals, they don't bite!

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

If i were you i'd pick the location depending on where the job is based as Sydney public transport is half-baked at best and pretty strained. If you are based in North Sydney across the bay i'd live that side of the bay as its not easy to get to from certain soughtafter locations like the eastern suburbs.

Additionally if i was moving to Sydney for work i'd live next to a beach at least to start with - may as well enjoy it.

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

give the search function a try at the bar in the top, I think theres been a lot of posts regarding places to live in sydney

Re: Where to live near Sydney?
 

Why are you leaving Britain then?!

Australians are not aliens, they are good, bad and in between too.

No doubt you probably tut at the fact Asian people live in ghettos in Britain, and you're about to do the same on the other side of the planet!

Shame on you.