Oatley Suburb Review

Upmarket suburban living offers the best of "Shire-esque life" without having to cross the bridge.

Summary: Striking one of the best available balances of city-meets-country environments available to Sydneysiders without crossing one of the nearby southern bridges, Oatley offers a blend of exceptional nature and family-oriented amenities. In addition, while most other suburbs that offer this balance come with the pitfall of bad transport connectivity, Oatley remains an exception with solid heavy rail services. It’s a little lacking in things to do outside of the natural, and it comes with a decent pricetag, but its rental market is quite affordable given the positives it offers to make it one of the best suburbs in Sydney overall.

Key stats

Fringed by water and draped in greenery while still having a solid infrastructure in terms of transport, amenities and shops/dining, Oatley’s one that should be near tops on the list of Sydney suburbs for families of above-average means.

Most other Sydney suburbs with a similar mix of offerings either lie far further away from the city – it definitely has a “Shire” feel to its streets and demographics – or are even more expensive.

It’s heavily tree-lined, with wide, open roads and a huge quantity of freestanding houses on large blocks, yet its train line offers the prospect of a 25 to 30 minute commute into the CBD.

This is something of a rarity in Sydney, offering parents the chance at a reasonable trip to and from work with more time to spend with the family at the end of the day; given how priceless time is, this shouldn’t be understated.

If you’re the type who wants dashes of convenience – including a smattering of pretty good cafes, most essential services, and a fairly large neighbourhood yet without crowds – Oatley definitely delivers.

The suburb trickles out from its hub around the train station where a few high-density, older apartment blocks can be found and its main small shopping and dining strip offers a decent mix of cuisines and small-scale retail.

Peaceful yet Connected

Its signature Oatley Hotel is a pub with a decent history and serves as the focal point for what amounts to “nightlife” here. While it’s not exactly Newtown, it’s another feather in Oatley’s cap that most peaceful and green Sydney suburbs don’t have. The venue offers live music and some good pizza, and draws plenty of visitors from surrounding suburbs and the greater St. George region.

And that’s about it in terms of man-made entertainment that Oatley offers; the majority of its things to see and do some courtesy of its natural environment.

It’s home to a range of wide open and pleasantly green public park areas with both play equipment for families and some great views looking out over the Georges River, while its location offers pretty good access to the beaches of Cronulla and the like nearby as well.

Oatley’s streets are wide, leafy and feature large blocks

One other notable aspect is Oatley’s excellent array of cycling tracks. The recently heavily-upgraded Oatley Park itself is an obvious highlight, with a great aspect overlooking the water, but there are multiple potential routes on offer running through lovely green areas that aren’t too taxing even for the casual bike rider.

This greenery carries over to most of Oatley’s residential streets. They’re wide, green and leafy and feature some truly massive houses on big blocks, and there’s actually chances at getting on-street parking here without a fight too. Waterfront views are on offer for the wealthy, with huge homes that come with a pricetag to match.

Being one of the most desirable suburbs in its immediate area, buying here is far from cheap with Oatley carrying a premium pricetag – but it also isn’t the stuff only of dreams like some equivalent suburbs on Sydney’s North Shore or the Eastern Suburbs.

Small-scale house prices here hover around the $1.5 million mark for purchase, which may be out of reach for many but still represents “fairly good” value this close to Sydney city given the quality of lifestyle on offer.

Fortunately, its apartment rental prices are more reasonable still. There’s a number of older buildings still in good condition that offer not-too-shabby accommodations for under $500 per week; settle for something basic, and even $400 per week for a 2-bedder isn’t out of the question.

“If you’re the type who wants dashes of convenience – including a smattering of pretty good cafes, most essential services, and a fairly large neighbourhood yet without crowds – Oatley definitely delivers.”

This makes for a pretty damn good compromise for those who are happy with downsizing their own living space in exchange for having plenty of open public spaces outside. It’s also not sacrificing size for a life-sapping commute, and is worth considering for those who have perhaps moved to Sydney for the first time from a more country-oriented area.

It’s funny, but being over “this side” of the bridges of the Shire also has a kind of mental effect of feeling less isolated from Sydney proper. While it’s only a short drive (or a couple more train stops), Oatley still feels more a part of “true Sydney” than some of its adjacent Shire suburbs.

Families in particular will benefit from calling Oatley home, as it’s got great public schools which are renowned for their achievements. Add in daycare and preschool opportunities dotted throughout – along with all these lovely, clean public play spaces – and both kids and dogs alike will likely find a lot to love living here.

For those who prefer a busier lifestyle however, boredom may be a factor here. There’s not much in terms of attractions, and the extent of its shopping is largely limited to supermarkets like Coles or Woolworths in nearby Mortdale. For larger-scale retail needs, you’ll likely want to make the 10-ish minute drive to Hurstville Westfield not too far away.

Oatley also offers close proximity to major toll roads that provide a springboard to elsewhere for those travelling by car. Lastly, one thing to note about its train station: while it sees a great number of services closer to peak hours, you’re looking at half-hour intervals for trains arriving outside of this which can be a pain.

While it’s a pretty friendly community, many residents here are long-termers, and the demographic trends a bit older than many suburbs. As a result, younger professionals or uni students who are after easy access to a thriving pub, dining or social scene will likely want to look elsewhere.

Oatley’s sure visually and naturally pleasant, but at its heart it still is a little bit of a conservative, bland suburbia for those who like things more alternative. For those who want things with a touch of extra grit (and to save some more coin), neighbouring Mortdale, a.k.a “the poor man’s Oatley” may be more your speed.

The Verdict

At its core, there are few more family-friendly suburbs in what can still reasonably be called “inner Sydney” than Oatley. The ability to have access to all the pillars of what a family requires – living space, good education, safety, and still decent public transport connectivity – offers a blend that many other Sydney suburbs cannot.

It’s got enough food, dining, and drinking to keep things mildly interesting while still retaining a very peaceful atmosphere, and while its bigger properties are pricey they’re not too ridiculously into the upper tier like some other parts of Sydney.

In short, Oatley surprised us when looking at the combination of all our core rankings. It’s ended up as one of the highest-rated suburbs in all of Sydney when combining all the points we consider essentials for an enjoyable daily life.

If you enjoy life a little slower-paced but still want the city within easy reach, there’s a lot to like here and it probably deserves more public attention than the suburb currently gets. It’s even got ourselves seriously considering moving there at some point a little later in life.