Moving to Sydney

[UltraMarginal]

what Crankcase76 said is pretty right. to add from personal experiance:

living in the eastern suburbs makes it pretty easy to get to some of the beaches by PT (Buses)

Around the East and the inner west, the only way to really save much on rent is to rent a house with a bunch of people, and it'll be an old place too (50 to 80 odd years). 2 bedroom apartments below about $400 or $500 a week are starting to get rather old and poorly kept.

My Wife and I lived in a nice fairly large 2 bedroom apartment near chatswood for just over $500 a week. Chatswood is about 20 to 30 minutes out of the city by train.

South of the city there is a lot of new apartment block development, I'm not sure what the prices are like but there has been a masive boom in the area.

Newtown is expensive and kind of bohemian (a bit). also the best coffee shop in sydney.

there are express bus lanes along many of the major roads into the city. Parramatta road, Anzac Parade, and over the bridge from lane cove road. These really cut down travel time into the city.


Traditionally spring and autumn in sydney are beautiful and temperate, winter can get very cold at night, especially in older brick buildings from early last century. and summer can be hot for the same reasons.
lately though it's been cold and wet for the last 4 months. .

Major shopping centres that I am at least a bit familiar with are: Eastgardens, Chatswood (westfield and the chase), Macquarie, Bondi Junction, Parramatta, Miranda and the CBD. there are plenty of others but they are the larger ones that come to mind.

if you're researching public transport times from place to place the cityrail website is very good.
www.131500.com.au

Randwick, Kingsford, Bondi Junction, Chatswood, are all about a 30 minute commute into the city. main stations in the city are Town Hall, Wynyard and Central.

The older suburbs tend to be a bit more tightly packed, especially the inner west, north of the bridge is a little more leafy, as is the western and southern suburbs. Most areas of sydney have parks and sports fields not too far apart.

Where Not to live really depends on what you like in an environment. ie: maroubra is the best swimming beach, Coogee is the sunbathing beach , and Bondi is the shopping beach. Bronte Beach isn't much of a beach but there is good snorkelling/Diving I think. descriptions like that cover all of Sydney.

Parramatta is considered the geographical centre of the city but it's a solid hour from the CBD>
Hope that helps a bit.

[Prowl]

My Wife and I lived in a nice fairly large 2 bedroom apartment near chatswood for just over $500 a week. Chatswood is about 20 to 30 minutes out of the city by train.

Chatswood is nice. Lived there for two years & in Lane Cove for five. Lived in Forestville for 20 years so yeah the North shore/beaches is where it is at

there are express bus lanes along many of the major roads into the city. Parramatta road, Anzac Parade, and over the bridge from lane cove road. These really cut down travel time into the city.

I drove across that bloody bridge nearly every day for years. What a nightmare anywhere from 30-90 minutes travel time from the Cove to Mascot. My worst trip was 3 hours on a Friday night

[i_amtrunks]

It should be noted to take everything we all say with a grain of salt, each Sydneysider has soft spots for certain areas, and (generally) unreasonable / very reasonable hate for others!

Living nearish to a train station is a very good point if you need to live further out from the city.

With the half an hour restriction, that rules out everything further west than Parramatta (Parra is probably 40 minutes but is a good cut-off point), All the Hills district is out (nice area, but expensive and probably the worst to get into the city from). Anything north of Chatswood is out and South of Mascot through to Canterbury.

Suburbs in that Goldilocks zone to avoid: I'll leave my personal bias out as best I can!
- Lakemba, Campsie (And areas in the Yagoona-Punchbowl area which is further out) as that is the current drive by shooting capital of the city. Not a true reflection on the suburbs but best to avoid.
- Mascot and the general Botany Bay area due to the airport.
- Glebe, Annandale and Camperdown. Great places to visit, good food but crazy priced for what you get.
And depending on your feelings towards Uni students you my want to avoid the Randwick area!

I'd suggest doing some real estate searches for the inner city and surrounds and see what areas strike you and then maybe ask us for the lowdown on them.

[UltraMarginal]

I drove across that bloody bridge nearly every day for years. What a nightmare anywhere from 30-90 minutes travel time from the Cove to Mascot. My worst trip was 3 hours on a Friday night

I only said it was good if you were on an express bus in the bus lane
or on the train, as long as the train doesn't break...

[Verno]

Ok, so to compile a list of possible suburbs in, as Trunks put it, the Goldilocks Zone, that you guys have recommended:

Parramatta
Ryde
Bankstown
Chatswood
Epping
Manly
Bondi
Newtown
The Lower North Shore
Belmore
Sutherland
Canterbury
Randwick
Kingsford

They're all in about the 30-40 minute commute range, right?

Thanks for your help on this too lads, it's greatly appreciated.

[crankcase76]

that's about it Verno, best bet is to get onto the real estates up here and look at places in those areas. good luck in your search to finally become a New South Welshman, and will be cool to meet you when you get up here dude.

[Verno]

Yes indeed. I can finally put a few faces to all the names.

[i_amtrunks]

A few other places to look up:
Newington
Concord
Croydon
Canada bay
Five Dock
Lilyfield
Leichardt
Stanmore
Summer Hill
Ashfield
Alexandria
Erskinville

And you may want to avoid: Bondi, Maroubra, Mascot, Pyrmont, Glebe, Double Bay, Coogee, Randwick for various reasons including, but not limited to rice, value, tourists, idiots, airplanes, uni students and hovels!

[dirge]

Ok, so to compile a list of possible suburbs in, as Trunks put it, the Goldilocks Zone, that you guys have recommended:

Parramatta
Ryde
Bankstown
Chatswood
Epping
Manly
Bondi
Newtown
The Lower North Shore
Belmore
Sutherland
Canterbury
Randwick
Kingsford

They're all in about the 30-40 minute commute range, right?

Thanks for your help on this too lads, it's greatly appreciated.

You'll find that some of these places are a _lot_ dearer than others - the Lower North Shore, Bondi & Manly in particular. Some (Belmore, also Lidcombe which hasn't been mentioned) are much cheaper.

Some have excellent Public Transport (Canterbury, Newtown, Chatswood, Sutherland). Some have poor PT (Bankstown is a LONG PT trip to the city - over 40 mins and not a nice area really, Kingsford is a fairly long bus trip, Ryde has no trains - look at West Ryde or North Ryde instead).

Some can group together - Chatswood is on the Lower North Shore (which is a region) - Randwick & Kingsford are quite close together as are Ryde & Epping. There are Coles pretty much everywhere. Including two in the CBD, for what it's worth.

My 2c - if you're looking for a cheaper suburb with good transport that's not too far from the city I'd look at either Ashfield, Lidcombe, Sutherland, Kogarah, Mortdale/Penshurst (they're next to each other). If you're willing to pay a _little_ more and a little closer you could look at Newtown/Erskineville/Alexandria, Canterbury, Ashfield, Marrickville/Dulwich Hill.

There's nowhere in the middle ring that's inherently dangerous, though Auburn, Riverwood, Lakemba, Punchbowl & Bankstown are somewhat less savoury. Do NOT live in Sydenham/St Peters unless you like the sound of jumbo jets overhead all day long.

Trent touched on the southern train line to Waterfall (techically the "Illawarra" line). I've lived on this line my entire life & it's pretty good with frequent trains (especially Kogarah, Rockdale, Hurstville & Sutherland - all of which are good suburbs, but Sutherland is the least expensive). The Bankstown line (Bankstown, Campsie, Lakemba) is slow with unsavoury types. The Western (Parramatta, Lidcombe) & Inner West (Newtown, Ashfield) lines are also good although the Western line can get overcrowded. Chatswood is on two lines, is also a good option (although it's relatively expensive). Bondi, Manly, Randwick & Kingsford are bus only.

[GoktimusPrime]

Parramatta is relatively cheap considering its convenience as Sydney's second CBD. Ashfield gets aircraft traffic too - I used to live there when I was a toddler - my brother and I would run out to the balcony and get all excited any time an airplane flew over.