Good places to live within 2 hours of Sydney?

[stickso]

Maybe I'm just turning into a grumpy old prick, but my discontent with living in Sydney seems to be growing. To be fair, I'm very lucky in many ways with some good riding close to home, great neighbours and family not too far away. However the traffic, tolls and general increase in population/congestion is wearing thin.

I'm increasingly working from home (which helps) so I have some flexibility on location but when I look at areas outside of Sydney a mortgage free home wouldn't just be a dream. My wife & I have 2 girls (4 & 7) which adds some complication to the mix as it isn't just about us.

If you live within 2 hours of Sydney (with good riding close by naturally), what do you love and what don't you love? Or if you've moved away from Sydney and come back, why did you do that? With both our immediate families all in Sydney we wouldn't be looking at a big move or going interstate.

I'm sure there's plenty which we currently take for granted right now which we haven't even thought about if we moved further away, but we equally don't know what we're missing out on.

 

[notime]

Blue Mountains.
Hour to the City (yeah not peak)
Hour and half to Gong
Hour and half to Central Coast
Hour to Rydal, extra half hour to Bathurst, extra 40 to Orange
And loads of local riding.

I work at Eastern Creek and get there faster than people coming from much closer distances. Google says I can get from your place to Eastern creek in the same time it takes me to get there from the mid mountains near 20k further away.

 

[stirk]

Blue Mountains.
Hour to the City (yeah not peak)
Hour and half to Gong
Hour and half to Central Coast
Hour to Rydal, extra half hour to Bathurst, extra 40 to Orange
And loads of local riding.

I work at Eastern Creek and get there faster than people coming from much closer distances. Google says I can get from your place to Eastern creek in the same time it takes me to get there from the mid mountains near 20k further away.

The cats out of the bag and people are realising that it's nice up here, and relatively quick to get to most parts of Sydney. Property prices are skyrocketing as a result and sadly it's not really that affordable anymore.

 

[stickso]

Blue Mountains are area I've been looking at. Prices in the lower Blue Mountains are getting up there and I can see why the demand has increased.

Anything you don't like about it?

 

[Mr Crudley]

The cats out of the bag and people are realising that it's nice up here, and relatively quick to get to most parts of Sydney.

Quick Stirk, leave you rubbish on your neighbours front yard and park your car on their grass. They will leave paving the way for your new neighbour Stickso. Quite a cool but evil plan, eh...........

 

[stirk]

Blue Mountains are area I've been looking at. Prices in the lower Blue Mountains are getting up there and I can see why the demand has increased.

Anything you don't like about it?

Not really although there will be more pressure to release land up here and it will become more crowded and lose some of its appeal, but still it won't get like Sydney.....I hope!

Quick Stirk, leave you rubbish on your neighbours front yard and park your car on their grass. They will leave paving the way for your new neighbour Stickso. Quite a cool but evil plan, eh...........

No way, my neighbours don't have kids, it's peaceful, until my kids start yelling that is!

 

[stickso]

Not really although there will be more pressure to release land up here and it will become more crowded and lose some of its appeal, but still it won't get like Sydney.....I hope!

I think you're safe but I've seen Sydney change so much since I was a kid. I grew up not far from where we are now and I still remember the farms and saw mills. Soon we'll have a train station and high rise apartments a few streets away.

 

[aidan84]

Southern Highlands isn't too bad, although it's got a lot busier/more expensive over the last 10 years. I can ride out my driveway onto the XC course at Welby and there are other nearby places with good riding like Wingello. It's only an hour and a half to the CBD of Sydney and about 2 hours to Canberra where there are more riding options. It does get noticeably colder here in winter than Sydney, though probably not as bad as somewhere like Katoomba.

 

[pink poodle]

Do you have a van, shuttle trailer, and plenty of spare time? If so I know a great place...a little more than 2 hours though.

Quick Stirk, leave you rubbish on your neighbours front yard and park your car on their grass. They will leave paving the way for your new neighbour Stickso. Quite a cool but evil plan, eh...........

If you need a hand we can drop my flogged out old van in front of your neighbours house and I'll come live in it for a while.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

There is no such place...if you feel tied to Sydney then more fool you.

We left our families a decade and a half ago. They still love us and relish our annual visits plus they even enjoy their annual escapes. No one misses out. But then our families are a bit special.

If yours aren't then I'd leave them in Sydney. They'd deserve it.

 

[stickso]

Do you have a van, shuttle trailer, and plenty of spare time? If so I know a great place...a little more than 2 hours though.

No on all those counts unfortunately.

There is no such place...if you feel tied to Sydney then more fool you.

We left our families a decade and a half ago. They still love us and relish our annual visits plus they even enjoy their annual escapes. No one misses out. But then our families are a bit special.

If yours aren't then I'd leave them in Sydney. They'd deserve it.

Moving away from family or Sydney entirely isn't a big deal for me and I'd be happy to look further afield... my wife is a different story though

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Moving away from family or Sydney entirely isn't a big deal for me and I'd be happy to look further afield... my wife is a different story though

Sydney is no longer an answer. Only a question. Why?

 

[pink poodle]

No on all those counts unfortunately.

Damn. I'm pretty sure we could have found space for you in our wrecking crew.

 

[stirk]

Sydney is no longer an answer. Only a question. Why?

We have hills, well in the mountains we do.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

We have hills.

To paraphrase: that's just nitpicking.

 

[stickso]

Sydney is no longer an answer. Only a question. Why?

Don't really have an answer to that, but if you've worked out women could you let me know?

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Don't really have an answer to that, but if you've worked out women could you let me know?

My beloved ran from Sydney a year before I did...

 

[born-again-biker]

I grew up in northern Sydney many years ago. I was very lucky - it was paradise. It was quiet and beautiful and had everything a kid could want.
But after a long stint overseas in my late 20's/early 30's I returned to Sydney (and my family & friends) and it just wasn't the same. It had become so crowded & expensive & stressful.
So, for a bunch of reasons we moved to Tasmania.
3rd best thing I have ever done. It's great. The people are awesome. The lifestyle is f@cking epic. My mortgage is less than a deposit on a shit box in Sydney.
And my family (the Aussie side & the Canadians) visit regularly....and love it.
We go to Sydney now & again to visit but I can't wait to get outta there. It's hell.
It's crawling with wankers and rules & regs & overpriced everything.
They can have it all.



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[stickso]

Southern Highlands isn't too bad, although it's got a lot busier/more expensive over the last 10 years. I can ride out my driveway onto the XC course at Welby and there are other nearby places with good riding like Wingello. It's only an hour and a half to the CBD of Sydney and about 2 hours to Canberra where there are more riding options. It does get noticeably colder here in winter than Sydney, though probably not as bad as somewhere like Katoomba.

Having a good ride from home is gold. Sounds like you're in a great spot.

I grew up in northern Sydney many years ago. I was very lucky - it was paradise. It was quiet and beautiful and had everything a kid could want.
But after a long stint overseas in my late 20's/early 30's I returned to Sydney (and my family & friends) and it just wasn't the same. It had become so crowded & expensive & stressful.
So, for a bunch of reasons we moved to Tasmania.
3rd best thing I have ever done. It's great. The people are awesome. The lifestyle is f@cking epic. My mortgage is less than a deposit on a shit box in Sydney.
And my family (the Aussie side & the Canadians) visit regularly....and love it.
We go to Sydney now & again to visit but I can't wait to get outta there. It's hell.
It's crawling with wankers and rules & regs & overpriced everything.
They can have it all.



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Tassie has a lot of appeal - especially the North East! Can't see us getting that far though.

A few friends of ours have sold up & moved out of Sydney and are loving it which was one of the instigators of the whole thought process. Puts the focus on what's really important.

 

[rangersac]

I grew up in northern Sydney many years ago. I was very lucky - it was paradise. It was quiet and beautiful and had everything a kid could want.
But after a long stint overseas in my late 20's/early 30's I returned to Sydney (and my family & friends) and it just wasn't the same. It had become so crowded & expensive & stressful.
So, for a bunch of reasons we moved to Tasmania.
3rd best thing I have ever done. It's great. The people are awesome. The lifestyle is f@cking epic. My mortgage is less than a deposit on a shit box in Sydney.
And my family (the Aussie side & the Canadians) visit regularly....and love it.
We go to Sydney now & again to visit but I can't wait to get outta there. It's hell.
It's crawling with wankers and rules & regs & overpriced everything.
They can have it all.

Replace northern Sydney with eastern Melbourne and you've accurately summed up my life story.