Joseph Young

Hi all,

I'm wondering if you can recommend any good suburbs to live in Sydney? I'm going to work in Sydney CBD (near St Martin Place) and would like to find a 1-bedroom apartment that is a 20 minute commute to the office. I was thinking of Glebe, Newtown, Balmain, Paddington, Annandale and Surry Hills. Not sure how these areas are though in terms of convenience and safety so feel free to let me know what you think of these areas. Any other recommendations?

Thanks!

Jacque

What's your budget?
Do you need to catch public transport?
What are your lifestyle needs?

chels

You should have no problems finding somewhere in those areas. All are relatively safe (as long as you don't do anything stupid like walk around flashing huge wads of money about). From Glebe, Paddington and Surry Hills you'll be able to walk to work, Balmain catch a ferry, Newtown a train, Annandale a bus. All easy commutes, popular with young professionals, lots of nice bars and restaurants, with gyms, pools etc in some of the unit blocks or nearby in local leisure centres. Other suburbs you might want to consider are Bondi Junction (about 10 mins on the train to Martin Place), Randwick (bus to the CBD), Darlinghurst (close to Paddington and Surry Hills, but closer to the CBD), Potts Point etc.

Your best bet is to look round all the different areas and get a flavour for each one and decide from there. In the meantime, websites like www.domain.com.au can give you an idea of what you can rent on your budget.

PS - it's Martin Place, not St Martin Place :-)

Joseph Young

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm looking for a non-dodgy neighborhood with a good mix of shops, cafes, restaurants, etc but without the seediness and noise you find in places like King's Cross. I heard that the Eastern (Randwick, Kensington, Kingsford) and the Northern suburbs (North Sydney, Chatswood, Crow's Nest) are better since it's newer and cleaner. It's also farther though. I'm in my late 20s and I'm wondering if these areas are skewed older (especially the Northern suburbs)?

NickyC

Kensington has very little in the way of decent shops and cafes, it's more residential - lots of large federation houses in wide streets.

Kingsford is not particularly nice - though it does have loads of cheap asian restaurants catering for the zillions of students around the UNSW.

Randwick is OK for everyday shopping but not renowned for its cafes, bars and nightlife.

In the east, Paddington/Woollahra/Surry Hills would be your best bet for a lively area that's not dodgy at all. Or check out Bondi Beach for a more laid-back feel.

North Sydney is dead at night and weekends but Crows Nest has lots of bars and restaurants. Chatswood is really a giant shopping centre with loads of new blocks of flats which are popular with chinese migrants so plenty of chinese restaurants there.

Kirribilli is nice and you could also check out Neutral Bay on the northside.

louie

As the last poster has suggested, I'd recommend Kirribilli (my preference) or Neutral Bay, maybe also McMahons Point. Ferry to Circular Quay then walk to work. Fantastic way to start your day.

lucyloo

Randwick also has a place called THE SPOT which has a good choice of restaurants and an old cinema and a big pub. Then if you fancy a bit more of a night life can go down to Coogee, plus the beach is there! Bus to city from Coogee is 25-35min / from Randwick 15-25 min.

Just watch out for some areas of surrey hills though as some can be a bit rough.