Where to live in Sydney?

[Link]

Hi,

I'm moving to Sydney in a few weeks and I don't really know where to live. Can Rotorburn help?

I'm ideally after somewhere within riding distance to the city, that has a good village atmosphere (ie: cafe's, local stores), and has a sense of space (either: parks, bush, bay, beach), and that isn't more than 1hrs drive from good riding (DH and XC).

At the moment Mosman is ticking most of my boxes, but it comes with a high price tag - I'm open to listening to other ideas or stories from people who have experience living in Sydney on what to look for / avoid.

Thanks!

 

[Dozer]

Wow, you're going to be disappointed.

I believe there is some grant being offered from the Government trying to get people to move to the north coast of NSW. I heard it is a payment of a few thousand dollars. Have you considered that? Surely anything is better than Sydney for someone keen to do some riding?

 

[scblack]

I lived in Artarmon for a few years. That'd be a good option close to CBD - or Chatswood, Lane Cove region.

Close ride to city, good access to plenty of riding.

As for cafe's and stuff, depends how much like Mosman you want. Chatswood has plenty of options, Artarmon is pretty OK.

 

[pink poodle]

I lived in Glebe for a while. it was good and would tick most of your boxes. the surrounding suburbs are pretty good as well.

Dozer - the north coast would be great, but the only jobs I can find in coffs are fork lift drivers. my main skills are shit stirring and piss taking, know anyone looking for that kind of a guy?

 

[tubby74]

horsnby perhaps? express trains to city, on the fringe so you are a straight on the highway to ourimbah/Awaba. A few decent tracks locally and some good road riding. Ride to the city could be difficult but not impossible (depends on your rule for riding distance), get to to the NP and through browns waterhole path to epping road or M2. Decent town centre and huge shopping centre

 

[AzonicNick]

I'm in Cremorne which is beside Mosman, very quiet and lots of restaurants and a few good cafes. There are a couple of pubs etc around too. Close to Manly Dam and Hornsby which are the two local trails I hit up the most. It's not DH by any means tough!

Was in the inner-west before the move over the bridge (Glebe then Camperdown) and there is certainly more life there in terms of going out and more of a cafe culture. It depends what you are after. We love it in Cremorne but we live a quiet life.

 

[Bermshot]

Yagoona son.

 

[johnny]

Cremorne, Crows Nest, St Leaonards, Cammeray, Northbridge.

There's local riding (short, fun little bush sprints), cafe's and town centers, it's less than Mosman, I rode to Syd uni every day from there and you're less than an hour from Red Hill and Manly Dam.

 

[Elbo]

If you want cafe culture you're going to have to pretty much stick with the inner west or north shore suburbs.
Artarmon has a nice little village shopping atmosphere and is probably quite reasonable rent-wise compared to surrounding suburbs.
Lane Cove is really nice and apparently the best place to raise a family in Sydney (read that somewhere).
Neutral Bay would be good too, but probably just as expensive as Mosman.

 

[Dozer]

Dozer - the north coast would be great, but the only jobs I can find in coffs are fork lift drivers. my main skills are shit stirring and piss taking, know anyone looking for that kind of a guy?

I may need an assistant. It's a tough gig for me to manage hanging shit on the knuckle draggers I work with all day long.................

 

[Link]

Thanks all - very helpful.

Based on what people have said, my investigations on GoogleEarth, and my GFs refusal to go north of Military Road, I think Cremorne/Neutral Bay might be the go.

 

[johnny]

Refusal to go north of Military?! Wow, that's very restrictive and doesn't really leave much choice at all.

Prepare to lose serious capital on paying some of the highest real estate rent in the world. And with that, why not be done with it and just move to Kirribilli or The Rocks?

 

[Elbo]

My criteria would be refusal to go anywhere near Military Rd! Hope you're going to commute by bike because Military Rd is a fucking nightmare in traffic.

 

[Knuckles]

Hi,

I'm moving to Sydney in a few weeks and I don't really know where to live. Can Rotorburn help?

Melbourne.

 

[B.utters]

I lived in Crowsnest for 2 years and had pretty much the same requirements as you. It took about 15 minutes to ride into the city and wasn't too far to manly dam or up to Ourimbah/Awaba. It has plenty of cafes and shit too.

My other piece of advice is to just not live in that soul sucking shit hole known as Sydney.

 

[johnny]

My criteria would be refusal to go anywhere near Military Rd! Hope you're going to commute by bike because Military Rd is a fucking nightmare in traffic.

The traffic on Mil road is a nightmare in and of itself, regardless of your mode of transport.

 

[Link]

Refusal to go north of Military?! Wow, that's very restrictive and doesn't really leave much choice at all.

Prepare to lose serious capital on paying some of the highest real estate rent in the world. And with that, why not be done with it and just move to Kirribilli or The Rocks?

The rent on the north side of the harbour is turning out to be dramatically cheaper than the equivalent distance to the city on the south side (i.e.: Paddington, Woollahra, Bellevue Hill, Bondi, Clovelly, Balmain, Rozelle), especially if you factor in things like access to bush/open spaces/water. Anyway, my GF wants to be right in the city - so anywhere north of the harbour is a significant victory for me. If I had my way I'd definitely seek out somewhere more like Forestville (geographically at least - I have no idea what the suburb is like).

And for those concerned about my move to Sydney, don't be, I ride almost everywhere, and remember I'm coming from Melbourne. Traffic sucks here too, plus the city is completely flat, devoid of nature, it's basically cold/windy/rainy for 10 months of the year, the streetscapes are tired and depressing to look at, and my standard drive to go riding is 1.5 hrs each way, oh and jobs pay less. Some things suck about Sydney to be sure, but, at the risk of igniting a parochial net-fight, I reckon it still craps all over Melbourne.

 

[scblack]

Some things suck about Sydney to be sure, but, at the risk of igniting a parochial net-fight, I reckon it still craps all over Melbourne.

Yep, I'm hearing you. Sydney is pretty good.

If I had my way I'd definitely seek out somewhere more like Forestville (geographically at least - I have no idea what the suburb is like).

I played rugby for Forest for 10years or so. Great suburb, but pretty much suburbia. Not much in the way of cafes etc but sits right in the bushland mostly. If I won lotto I'd be buying in Duffys Forest in a snap.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Are you looking for houses or apartments?

If apartments try Wollstonecraft/Waverton area. They have train stations with >10min ride to CBD, short walk to Crows Nest which has supermarkets and bucket loads of cafes / restaurants, walk to Balls Head or Berry island nature reserves.

 

[cleeshoy]

The rent on the north side of the harbour is turning out to be dramatically cheaper than the equivalent distance to the city on the south side (i.e.: Paddington, Woollahra, Bellevue Hill, Bondi, Clovelly, Balmain, Rozelle), especially if you factor in things like access to bush/open spaces/water. Anyway, my GF wants to be right in the city - so anywhere north of the harbour is a significant victory for me. If I had my way I'd definitely seek out somewhere more like Forestville (geographically at least - I have no idea what the suburb is like).

And for those concerned about my move to Sydney, don't be, I ride almost everywhere, and remember I'm coming from Melbourne. Traffic sucks here too, plus the city is completely flat, devoid of nature, it's basically cold/windy/rainy for 10 months of the year, the streetscapes are tired and depressing to look at, and my standard drive to go riding is 1.5 hrs each way, oh and jobs pay less. Some things suck about Sydney to be sure, but, at the risk of igniting a parochial net-fight, I reckon it still craps all over Melbourne.

I'm from Sydney and moved to Melbourne. Melbourne has better riding (both road and mountain) and has a much more bike friendly culture. No way would I ride a bike on the road in Sydney without being in some some of group/peloton - if you think Melbourne drivers hate cyclists, you ain't seen anything - Sydney drivers' hatred to cyclists is on another level.

Your choices of suburbs sounds right - of course, the majority of people want to live there also. Competition for rental properties in those areas is pretty fierce. We used to live in Erskineville (near Newtown) which is kind of like Brunswick - a bit alternative, less "trendy" but plenty of great food places (if you live near King Street, Newtown, you will never have to cook) and cheaper rental.