Sydney Sider -BB'er! I need your help

Hello!

so lately DH and I have been discussing moving to sydney which is a pretty big move for us as we have avoided cities for the past 6 years for lifestyle reasons....

but dh is getting restless and sydney is the only place to progress career wise...

so my question is i need help with locations!

our needs are:

1. Needs
2. within 45 mins by train to cbd
3. Safe / low crime area
4. min 3 bed house/townhouse under $600/week
5. close-ish to a hospital

we dont know sydney from a bar of soap so any help is greatly apreciated.
As DH will be working long hours i need it to be a safe area as i will be home by myself without any support or friends :( 80% of the time

xx

TIA;)

I live about an hour and a half out of Sydney (north West) and love Sydney as we are still rural but close enough if we need to get there.

45 mins by train to Sydney will give you plenty of options. May I suggests you get google map up and real estate dot com dot au to work out the rent prices.

Is there anything YOU want to be close to?

We live around the Penrith area, we are around a 45 minutes to the CBD by car, around the same by train, most houses are well under $600p/w here. Some places aren't the best crime wise, but there are quite a few good suburbs :) if you're interested, let me know and I'll give you a list :)

Oh, and we are about 5-10minutes to a good hospital, and no more than half hour or so to major trauma hospitals

I can't really give places to look at, but I will say to avoid the south west, western suberbs. Places around Fairfield, liverpool, Yagoona, Yennora, greenacre. These are all places that are in the news constantly for all the drive by shootings recently. I live in the outer south west and it is lovely out here but to far for your needs.

Maybe places around Bella vista, Dural might be a nice area.

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I can't really give places to look at, but I will say to avoid the south west, western suberbs. Places around Fairfield, liverpool, Yagoona, Yennora, greenacre. These are all places that are in the news constantly for all the drive by shootings recently. I live in the outer south west and it is lovely out here but to far for your needs.

Maybe places around Bella vista, Dural might be a nice area.

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I can garuntee (sp) you won't get anything in that price range around bella vista or dural.
I live in Kings Park (nearly kings langley/quakers hill). its a nice area with lots of families around. there are plenty of 3+ bedroom houses in the area and in that price range. We are about 5 - 10mins max to the hospital and about 40mins to the city (Dh goes regularly as do I). There are some nice schools around also. Your DS is around the same age as my DD and I would happily send my kids to the schools here. It's an older area so lots of trees etc also. :)

Yeah, I thought as much, but I really have no idea, I just thought it was a good reference point to start a search and then move to were the price range fits:)

I've lived all around Sydney and have family scattered all over - outer west, north-west, east, northern beaches. What sort of lifestyle are you after? North-west is good for young families, I'm not sure about rent but $600pw in that area sounds reasonable for what you're after. They only have buses, no train line, but you can get to the city on an express service in under an hour.

mmmm as long as there is parks i can take the kids to and good schools i am happy. i have searched a few re.com.au and those that look affordable i have heard on the news lol!
so it is hard when i dont live there :( was looking at peakhurst/riverwood area... any suggestions there?

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I live about an hour and a half out of Sydney (north West) and love Sydney as we are still rural but close enough if we need to get there.

45 mins by train to Sydney will give you plenty of options. May I suggests you get google map up and real estate dot com dot au to work out the rent prices.

Is there anything YOU want to be close to?

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would love a list (pm me if you feel better that way :)
45 mins by train is good. dh prefers the train to buses. that allows up to 15mins to get to the train station etc. x

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We live around the Penrith area, we are around a 45 minutes to the CBD by car, around the same by train, most houses are well under $600p/w here. Some places aren't the best crime wise, but there are quite a few good suburbs :) if you're interested, let me know and I'll give you a list :)

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sydney is so expensive! i doubt i will be able to work so will be living on dh's wage - so couldnt afford to go over $600 - (gosh we have to sell our house here to even think about that amount of rent).
i was looking at quakers hills this morning and seemed afforable. there is a train line there?

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I can garuntee (sp) you won't get anything in that price range around bella vista or dural.
I live in Kings Park (nearly kings langley/quakers hill). its a nice area with lots of families around. there are plenty of 3+ bedroom houses in the area and in that price range. We are about 5 - 10mins max to the hospital and about 40mins to the city (Dh goes regularly as do I). There are some nice schools around also. Your DS is around the same age as my DD and I would happily send my kids to the schools here. It's an older area so lots of trees etc also. :)

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ah ok! im not sure dh will bus to the cbd but it may be something we need to look at. it will be a learning curve living down there (we vowed never to return to brisbane as it was too busy pmsl!!!!!)

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I've lived all around Sydney and have family scattered all over - outer west, north-west, east, northern beaches. What sort of lifestyle are you after? North-west is good for young families, I'm not sure about rent but $600pw in that area sounds reasonable for what you're after. They only have buses, no train line, but you can get to the city on an express service in under an hour.

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What about around seven hills area?

I have PM'ed pink palace :)

On and I'm pretty sure there's no train line in Quakers hill/Kellyville, unless its really new :)

I wouldn't live there, too close to blacktown and those surrounding suburbs which aren't too good :/ but others may disagree with me there

there is! i saw one. but the trip from quakers is about 50mins so pushing it... if seven hills inward along the train line is a nice area then it would be perfect distance

Would you try the lower end of the central coast? You can get an express train right into the city, major shops, hospitals, schools, parks etc. Rent isn't over the top either

i honestly dont mind where cause we dont know sydney at all! i was looking at the sutherland shire but not sure what is was like then down peakhurst?
what do you think cmkm

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i honestly dont mind where cause we dont know sydney at all! i was looking at the sutherland shire but not sure what is was like then down peakhurst?
what do you think cmkm

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I've lived all over Sydney, and love where I am now (which is near Gosford). I hate the hustle and bustle which you get too close to the city. I've lived out west (Penrith, Mt Druitt, Doonside, Seven Hills, Blacktown, Pendle Hill etc), down south in the Sutherland Shire (Sutherland, Menai, Miranda), inner city (Arncliffe, Ashfield, Five Dock) eastern suburbs (Bondi Junction), and in the St George region (Penshurst) - yep I have moved an awful lot, but have finally found somewhere which is ideal for myself and DD.

You will find the Sutherland Shire more on the expensive range, as you pay for the name. If you want more of a lifestyle, I can highly recommend heading a bit north and looking around the lower end of the Central Coast (Woy Woy, Umina, Gosford etc) You can get a comfortable 3 bedroom house/townhouse for well under $600pw.

If it is pivotal to being right near the city, you would definitely be getting up there price wise. I paid comparable rates for Penrith as in Miranda (for 2 bedders) and am paying roughly the same now on the coast (but then I have a beach 700m away, DD's health is awesome, and we have a much better life)

You will also find the travel from Gosford isnt at all bad, a lot of people commute and there are frequent express trains right into the middle of the city. The trains also go through Epping/Rhodes which is an up and coming business centre with a lot od companies moving to there instead of being in the CBD.

I used to travel from the majority of places I lived into the CBD for work, and would try and catch the intercity trains (less stops, slightly less travel time, but a lot more crowded).

I guess its a big thing to do, you have to weigh up the options between what lifestyle you want. Good luck :)

I love the north side of sydney. How about Hornsby? Or anything on the North shore line.

The Central Coast is awesome (and much cheaper) but definitely further than 45 minutes from the city. It's about an hour from Woy Woy and an hour and twenty mins from Gosford. We are just north of Gosford and my hubby spends an hour and a half on the train, plus 10 minute walk from home and 5 mins from train to work so min 1 and 3/4 hours each way.

I use to have a small business in Riverwood. In the 3 years, my car was stolen and then used for bag snatches, my new car was vandalised, there was a shooting right out the front and out store window was smashed. Not a nice area. Menai was mentioned that is close to there and a bit nicer, Peakhurst and penshurst are close and nicer then riverwood too.

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sydney is so expensive! i doubt i will be able to work so will be living on dh's wage - so couldnt afford to go over $600 - (gosh we have to sell our house here to even think about that amount of rent).
i was looking at quakers hills this morning and seemed afforable. there is a train line there?

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Yes there is a train line at Quakers Hill..... you can look cityrail dot com dot au to see where the train line is. Marayong station is the closest to kings park, otherwise quakers hill does have a station (the next one to me :) )
Seven Hills is ok too - again, depends on which part of seven hills also, i quite like lalor park but again - depends on which part of lalor park.
The other thing I know lots of people from around here do if they don't want to catch the train from the particular station is drive to blacktown or seven hills (both have undercover parking) and catch the train from there (Both are interchange stations)

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The Central Coast is awesome (and much cheaper) but definitely further than 45 minutes from the city. It's about an hour from Woy Woy and an hour and twenty mins from Gosford. We are just north of Gosford and my hubby spends an hour and a half on the train, plus 10 minute walk from home and 5 mins from train to work so min 1 and 3/4 hours each way.

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. we live on the beach at the moment (up near coffs harbour) but would rather see my husband more than have the beach. he will be doing long hours 730am -7pm so 2 hours travels etc either side would kill us. i may as well stay here and he fly down each working week lol

this is getting hard. sydney is so big!

hornsby seems ok price wise... what is it like there?

I haven't lived in Sydney for a while now so I'm not sure what Hornsby is like now. It was a big bogan-ish (but not too bad) when I used to live on the north shore (Artarmon) given that it's a little more affordable. I would imagine it's just getting better and better to live there though as prices have gone up IYKWIM. Hornsby is a hub suburb so the express trains all stop there, it has a large shopping centre, hospital etc. Some of the surrounding suburbs can be a little quieter and good too- Mount Colah and Mount Kuring-gai are gorgeous but you've got to time your trains well. You can't go wrong with anything on the north shore line- Waitara, Wahroonga etc. Thornleigh, Normanhurst etc on the top end of the north line are good too.

When you say 45 to the city, do you mean by public transport or driving?
You could go to the bus, train and ferry website (131500 dot com dot au), and see different travel options to the city and other places and how long they take.

We currently live in Revesby, which is about 30 mins from the city by train and 45 mins driving. I think the suburbs around here would have houses in your price range. My friend bought a house in the Seven Hills area last year, which she says is a nice and affordable area.

thanks girls!
yes via public transport and preferrably train over buses.
i have done a general search in all lines but the distance we can afford there are alot of mixed reviews ont he suburbs or they are close to bad rough areas!
do you like revesby>

Ok sorry if This is a lot of questions but have no one else to ask :(
Opinions on rockdale/kogarah and lidcombe areas???

I used to live near Lidcombe.
It is near the area that is in the news a lot for drive by shootings lately but TBH it has a much stronger sense of community than other parts of Sydney that I lived in. It's just a few train stations away from Auburn which is the most multi-cultural suburb in Australia so if you're a foody you can buy obscure ingredients for just about anything on your doorstep and you're just a stone's throw from the Flemington markets for fresh fruit and vege and a farmer's market in Liverpool for even fresher produce and organic food.
The train ride to the city is less than 45 minutes. If you catch an express it only stops about 5 times.

thanks onyx