Relocating to Newcastle area, where to live?

[belindar]

Hi there,
Was hoping to get some advice from anyone familiar with the areas around Newcastle. We are looking to move there and were possibly looking at Kotara, Glendale or Belmont (am open to any other areas surrounding these). Any information on what the areas are like, ie family friendly, any particular public primary schools/preschools/daycare that you would recommend or know of would be wonderful to know to help make our decision.
Thank you in advance for any advice!

[Lily Dust]

Thought Id bump this for you, hun. There are Hunter girls on here that may be able to help

[Lisa]

It depends on your lifestyle really.
What's important to you? Do you want to be close to beaches, shops? Do you need to be close to work? How much do you want to pay in rent? How many bedrooms do you want? Do you care about the age of the house?

Glendale is not near the beaches, but it has a big shopping centre - Stockland Glendale. The houses out there vary between Dept of housing, to lovely estate areas. There doesn't seem to be a lot in the way of 4+ bedroom places that come up for rent out there, but 3 bedrooms and under are fairly regular. It's a lower priced area for rent compared to surrounding areas.

Kotara is probably about mid way between Glendale and Newcastle City & the beaches. Kotara is higher priced for rentals than Glendale but it has pretty much everything you could need shops wise. There is Westfield Kotara and the Homemaker Centre at Kotara. Kotara South public school is fantastic. 4 bedroom houses pop up every now and then but it is mostly 3 bedrooms that are usually available.

Belmont I am not very familiar with, but it is close to beaches and the lake. The hospital there has a great birthing centre.

I particularly like New Lambton, New Lambton Heights, Lambton, Kotara & Kotara South, Garden Suburb, Rankin Park, Elermore Vale (which is where I am) & Maryland. Closer to the beaches obviously becomes more expensive and most of the suburbs around there are brilliant.

Let me know if there are any other areas you're interested in or anything else I can help you with

[belindar]

Thank Lily for bumping it for me!

Lisa thank you so much for all that information. We would like to be close to the beach (15 min drive or so would be fine) We have a 4yr old son and 1 yr old daughter so family friendly areas shops/playgrounds/playgroups. Public schools with good reputations as my son would be starting in a year and good range of sporting organisations.Also good daycare/preschools for my daughter. We like areas with a community/village type feel with cafes/shops. We have definitely crossed Glendale off the list, so depending on where my husband may get offered job it will be between Kotara and Belmont. My mum lives in San Remo so we may be more inclined towards Belmont as it is that bit closer or south of Kotara.
We would probably be willing to pay up to about $350 in rent, 3 bedroom house, I don't care if the house looks old on outside but would want to be ideally fairly good/modern on inside and more importantly a big leafy backyard.
What you told me about Kotara is really helpful, if you know anyone who may have more info on Belmont or areas around it would be great to know. Epecially if there are certain streets/areas that are housing commission or have a bit of a reputation.
We will drive up soon and have alook at the areas to get a better idea but it's good to know particularly about the schools as I don't want to move to an area and then discover the schools are pretty bad.
Thanks again!