JSK

Hi
Just got my PR Visa and we (that is My wife ,our baby and myself) are heading to sydney by the end of May ? can anyone recommend where are the good places to live in sydney ? i do not mind leaving in the subrubs as long as it is decent driving time from the city so which ones are the good ones ?
Any idea where i can rent an ocean front accomodation in decent price?
Thanks for your help
J

kevmitch

Have a look at this - it should help. http://australianz.topcities.com/sydney.htm

We're in the same position. From what I can see the Northern Beaches (Manley up to Collaroy) and across towards St Ives seem to be the better Suburbs - and look to be well served with (cheap) public transport. But, you'll have to pay more to rent/buy - guess it depends upon your budget and lifestyle.

Do a search on this site - there's plenty of recent advice about Sydney.

Good luck - hopefully we won't be too far behind you.


Kev

Ari

Hi, we are also heading to Sydney end of May 2003!

Can anyone recommend a source, more descriptive than the postcode snapshots, for the Northern Beaches/Lower North Shore area?

Herman

Have a look at www.domain.com.au
They have some suburb information as well as great listings of property for rent and to buy with pictures.
There is a big difference of opinion amongst Sydneysiders as to whether the eastern suburbs or the northern suburbs are better. We prefer the northern suburbs as the beaches are better and its less crowded. However, the eastern suburbs have a lot more character and are better for nightlife, cafes, social scene and are generally full of the 'beautiful' people.
We live in North Sydney because its convenient for my commute to the CBD and my wife's commute to North Ryde. We would love to live in Manly, Curl Curl, Dee Why or another of the lower Northern beach suburbs but the commute is too much for us. It would take me almost an hour on the bus and my wife would have to drive about an hour and twenty each way. We both work very long hours and part of the appeal of Sydney was being able to afford to live closer to work, so we have avoided suburbs that are a long commute in.
However, I would recommed a look at Curl Curl, it has a lovely beach which is not usually that crowded and a nice feel. The issue you will face in Sydney is that the nice suburbs are expensive, there's no getting away from that.

Ari

Thank you Herman!
Yes, the nice ones are expensive, but the "cheap ones" are also not cheap! So I try to see the rent issue as adding only 10-20$ per day for better living, and... what is Australia without the sea?

BTW - From what I saw at "domain" Curl Curl & Manly are much more expensive than Dee Why - what could be the reason?

colind

Basically, they are nicer suburbs.

The Northern Beaches is a great area to live but as Herman rightly says, you are not going to find cheap property there. We live way up near Newport. I work in North Sydney and it takes me 45-50 mins to drive in. My wife works in the City and I drop her at the bus stop near Northbridge and she gets the Express bus over the bridge - about an hour for her. We figure it's worth it based on the quality of life we get living where we do. We had the same commute in London and lived in a poky flat on a main road.

Ari, before we came out we tried to decide where we wanted to live by looking at web sites and although you will get a good idea, nothing beats driving around the suburbs and seeing it for yourself. Good luck with it...

Colin