Best neighbourhood in Sydney for a Londoner to settle in?

[Sharon_Moller]

Hello Sydneysiders, I'm an Aussie expat who has spent the last 13 years living in London and I'm planning to relocate to Sydney in August /September. My company gives me the first 4 weeks accommodation, thereafter I need to find my new home. Can you recommend an area to start looking ?
Here's a little more about me:
• I'm currently living in east London near Canary Wharf which is modern and high density but not the centre of town. I also live near the river and I like being near water although it's not essential to my life.
• I'm a keen cyclist and really enjoy cycling culture. Otherwise I rely on public transport to get around. I've never owned a car the entire time I've lived in London. My job will be in the CBD and ideally I want to live within about 15 km radius so I can ride to work.
• I would like to buy a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment although I'd be willing to rent for about 12 months to get a feel for an area if there is no real advantage to buying straight away.
• I have a good budget but wouldn't want to be considering anything above $800 per week. I'm not a postcode snob so have no preference for trendy neighbourhoods, lively night scenes are wasted on me because I rarely go on a big night out. Weekend brunch cafes are more my style.

I'm really looking forwards to my new life in Aus!

Sharon

[David_Arnold]

Welcome back

I think your plan to rent for a while before picking a more permanent location is a good plan: there's quite a few different areas might work, and checking them out over the course of a year will give you a chance to get a good feel for them. The different areas have quite different cultures, and it'd be hard to recommend something specific until you've actually been there.

Your budget sounds ok -- as of May 2017, $800 will get you something decent, but by no means excessive.

I am most familiar with the inner west area. Less so with the other side of the city, but there's lots of options there too. No trains on that side, but buses are decent.

Pyrmont might fit? Lots of apartments, a bit of a café scene, and close enough to the city to ride, ferry, light-rail, or walk to work with some great harbourside parks. It can seem a little sterile though. The harbour fringe bits of Glebe might suit too, although there are fewer apartments and more terraces there (and they're getting beyond your budget).

Staying inner west, Surry Hills, Newtown, Chippendale -- further away from the harbour, but good brunch options and well serviced by bus or train.

Another option to think about is that you can catch a ferry to the city quite easily. That gives your a great twice-daily trip on the water, but means you can consider suburbs substantially further from the CBD, including on the northern side of the harbour.

The beaches are also lovely, quite different in general "feel", and the public transport options are more limited (basically buses). Bondi, Bronte ... work your way down the coast.

If you have specific questions, I'm happy to try to answer.

Good luck!

[Rachel_Ansell]

Hello! The cycling culture isn't really as big in Sydney as it is in the UK. There just isn't much designated area for it on the road. However, most people travel by public transport. I would say the most trendy and popular areas are Glebe, Surry Hills, Newtown, Alexandria. Some trendy areas a little further out, but still close to the city - Petersham, Dulwich Hill, Stanmore. These are all quite close to the city and have a lot of things to do (bars, cafes, shops). If you want to live in the heart of the city, Pitt street is cool. More expensive areas include Rushcutters Bay and Double Bay. Hope that helps. All of them are pretty great places to live.

[Alex_North]

Your radius of 15km gives you many options. Rachel is right that cycling isn't as big here, but plenty of people still cycle to work.

North of the bridge, North Sydney and Neutral Bay are options; quieter but somewhat removed from the city centre. From what you've written I'd say everything trendy East of the CBD (Potts Point, Paddington, Darlinghurst, even Surry Hills) are wasted on you - you'll find better value and less pretension elsewhere. Redfern, Alexandria and Erskineville are good fits south, easy cycles. Skip Newtown (too trendy/loud), but Marrickville and Leichardt are great. For proximity to water, Pyrmont is hard to beat, though expensive. Glebe is a great village, and everything around onto the Balmain peninsula would fit your criteria well, too. You could cycle or ferry to work from Balmain.

[evan16]

Hi Sharon!

This is a little bit of self-promotion but I think you might find this particularly useful.

A mate and I (he moved from London) created a tool (www.liveable.co) to help find the ideal neighbourhoods for a person based on their lifestyles.

I punched in what you said you were looking for and got the following results: http://bit.ly/2rrkmrw

It suggests the following as the top suburbs: Bellevue Hill, Mosman, Carlton, Ashfield, Clovelly. The link above will give you further breakdowns on the neighbourhoods and their characteristics. You can also adjust your preferences accordingly.

I hope that helps!

[Mirella_Torrisi]

Hi Sharon,

I thought you ought to know the following:
1. Sydney is currently in a property bubble and the burst hasn't happened, but I would definitely wait as long as possible before purchasing. Please read The Guardian Australia on housing or SMH to inform you and avoid the Murdoch owned press as it will not inform you.
2. The City of Sydney Council is pro-cycling, but the current conservative State govt isn't. In fact they are currently building a AUD$45bilion toll road all over Sydney. They have also torn up cycleways paid for by the City of Sydney council to accommodate it. Cyclists have a hard time here, but you can do it, providing you are very confident in traffic.
3. I live in Glebe. From here I can walk to the CBD. I strongly suggest you stick to Glebe, Surry Hills or Redfern (all have great brunch/cafe/restaurant options) as in the event of industrial action or transport delays, you can walk home. This will become even more important in the future, as public transport is beginning to be privatised and out population is growing.
4. There's no night life left to speak of in Sydney, unless you go to Newtown. We have lock out laws in the CBD and to the East. Because Newtown falls just outside this zone, this is where people now go. You will not like the noise on a weekend. Don't move there.
5. Subscribe to Concrete Playground Sydney or Broadsheet Sydney to get a feel for what goes on here and good food/coffee https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney
6. Finally do not move to the North Shore. You will feel isolated.

Sydney can be beautiful. It really can. It is currently being mismanaged and you need to be aware of the pitfalls. I strongly suggest you start reading our news.

[Sharon_Moller]

Thank you everyone for your replies. There's lots of suggestions here so I feel like I have a good place to start. There are plenty of different views too which is interesting to consider different opinions.

I'm a transport planner and I'm have spent my time in London working on various upgrade projects for London's transport system ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games; and afterwards. I'm hoping there is a similar desire in Sydney to invest in good quality public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure; because it's hard to do my job when there's no support for it. I'm familiar with antagonism from motorists when out on my bike but it sounds like rage towards cyclists is taken to a whole different level in Australia.