Castle Hill Suburb Review

Hilly (surprise) and green-bush-rich suburb with big houses and room to move has a rapidly changing face, bringing more amenities, more crowds, and more traffic.

Summary: A high-end slice of the “Hills District”, Castle Hill was formerly a secluded and peaceful slice of escapism amongst the greenery for those looking for big, spacious housing blocks outside Sydney. It’s undergone significant change, with the rapid development of its urban centre, Metro connectivity, substantial amenities and an increasing number of highrise apartment blocks changing the landscape entirely. It still offers plenty of space, quality schools and some great views for those with money, but distance from Sydney city combines with the increasing traffic and crowds to dull some of its shine.

Key stats

Times they are a-changing in Castle Hill. Perhaps no other part of the Hills Shire Council area has been impacted by “progress” in recent years quite as much as this wealthy and family-oriented slice of suburbia.

The inherent appeal of the Hills Shire was always sacrificing distance and connectivity from Sydney city in return for ample personal space, and while that hasn’t changed for long-term residents, it’s become something that’s having to be shared with an increasing influx of more and more people.

It’s not hard to see why one would be drawn to the area. It’s highly leafy, and a land that mixes together well-manicured suburban greenery with large, towering gum trees and other signatures of Aussie bush. There’s wildlife and bird life aplenty here too as possums, cockatoos and more add to the charm.

Castle Hill couldn’t be more different than the high-density apartments of say, Rhodes and Mascot, or the gritty and cramped terraces of the Inner West – at least, that’s the theory.

There’s still plenty of the remnants of “original” Castle Hill. Big and spacious homes with large yards, multiple bedrooms and multi-car garages are prominent, and much of the suburb is still low-density, freestanding residential. If you’re after a home that has a roomy driveway and can accommodate several cars and kids alike, there’s a lot to choose from here.

It’s eminently spacious and green outside of people’s homes as well. There’s a cavalcade of well-maintained public grounds to choose from in order to stretch your legs, have a picnic, or play some sport; of all its separate clusters of residential homes on each side of the suburb, practically none is within more than a few minutes walk away from a quality green area.

Outside of its signature Castle Hill Showgrounds – a prominent space with a slight vintage aspect that’s often used for standalone events, night markets and more, it’s Castle Hill Heritage Park which is the standout here.

Boasting massive amounts of room, great playground and barbecue facilities, well-kept public toilets and some interesting placards documenting local history, it’s probably the best spot in the suburb to take the kids or the dog (who has to be kept on-leash).

Add in the other various reserves dotted across the suburb, its vet and animal clinics, and multiple pet stores, and you’ve got a highly pet-friendly place to live.

Families likewise will discover much on offer here. It’s not hard to see why Castle Hill is a major draw for this demographic; there’s several prestigious choices for education, an array of childcare facilities, and potentially plenty of space both public and private for the kids to run around.

For overall atmosphere, it’s becoming increasingly multicultural as a whole, is a land dotted with churches, and offers a decent blend between being buzzing in the centre and sleepy outside – a nice option to have.

Changing Faces

Amenity-wise, Castle Hill is very well covered. People can say what they want about its central area’s (over)development, but the array of stores, restaurants and services on offer is comprehensive.

The focal point of all of this is obviously the Castle Towers complex – a massive and well-equipped shopping centre which covers most major big-box retail, smaller scale stores, food and cinemas – but also extends to the strip along Old Northern Road which is decked out in a mix of cafes, dining options, and other services such as the post office.

While it’s almost always eternally busy around here, it’s not your only option for shopping and retail either. Add in the little Oakhill Village centre for those on the east side as well as the bigger-scale warehouse type shops in the main industrial area around Victoria Ave, and you’ve got access to basically any store – both big and small – you could want without having to leave the suburb proper.

The Castle Hill RSL Club down at the end of Castle Street is worth special mention – this isn’t your typical little old rundown RSL, but a full-blown, modernised and multi-purpose venue that’s as great for watching sport on TV as it is for catching a live show. It’s got multiple options for dining and plenty of entertainment for the kids, with price being its only main downside.

In terms of topography, Castle Hill is quite a large suburb, and getting from A to B can be a pain, for a couple of reasons.

The first is its terrain; living up to its name, Castle Hill is truly “hill-y” and one of the least-walkable suburbs in Sydney. You seemingly can’t go 100 metres without rapidly ascending or descending and then having to do vice-versa soon after, which can put a severe burn in the calves.

This means that most will want to hop in the car to go even relatively short distances, and adds to one of its main problems: the traffic situation. While back streets on the suburb’s extremities are generally fine, go anywhere close to the more populous retail or work areas and things quickly escalate to the point where there’s pretty much congestion at all hours of the day.

With the addition of more and more apartment blocks being built to feed yet more cars onto these (often narrow, one-lane-each-way) roads, and it’s not a pretty picture.

It also ties in to the main downside of living in Castle Hill, which is dealing with the commute.

As the suburb itself is not really a boom area for jobs/businesses other than for self-employed people and those who work in the Victoria Ave area, many will still have to head into Sydney City for work. The increasing “concrete jungle” aspect of Castle Hill adding more cars to what was already a strenuous commute isn’t a big help.

Most will point to the Metro as key, but it can only do so much. Even taking the new train option, it’s not the quickest of journeys; you’ll still have to transfer at Chatswood to get through to the city (expect around a 45 minute trip), and any kind of issue with delays due to the Metro’s teething problems can quickly blow things out.

“I most like the older more established residential areas of the suburb with plenty of space and trees. I least like some of the new multi story high rise residential in the area as the infrastructure such as roads and bus services barely cope now,” says Simon Hookham, a Castle Hill resident.

“The Metro will only alleviate this a little.”

Castle Hill’s central area is very well-equipped with dining & shopping

After all of this period of rapid development in its urban centre, it’s easy to see how someone who originally moved here for the purpose of escaping crowds and urban sprawl might be miffed. This has flow-on effects to Castle Hill’s housing situation as well.

For housing, Castle Hill historically offered mostly low-lying, freestanding residential although that is also changing. The general rule is the further you go from the station, the bigger the homes get, up to the point of some truly massive properties around the suburb’s edges. The Rogans Hill side offers a slight middle-ground, with houses which are still big, but more tightly clustered together in return.

There’s quite a lot of newer, higher-density builds that have popped up in recent years too – not only apartment blocks, but townhomes and duplexes as well. The highrise buildings have changed its landscape and general “feel” in particular, and the echoing sounds of ongoing construction puts a little damper on the noise situation somewhat, although there’s no flight path noise to deal with.

Price-wise for property, Castle Hill is generally expensive due to the sheer size of many of its homes. Average prices hover around the $1.4 million mark, but there’s some massive outliers which skew things slightly.

“It’s quite a lot to pay for a fairly distant location that’s set to become even busier in short order, yet it offers a whole host of appealing positives.”

You will typically get a good amount of space for your investment, but it’s a lot to pay for somewhere that’s physically quite far away from the city. There’s huge amounts of personal space, sure, but it doesn’t really feel like you’re in “Sydney” – it could really be anywhere an upmarket residential part of the world (Virginia, USA anyone?).

For rentals the market is more normalised, with around $500 per week for a 2 bedroom apartment the norm, but this is warped a bit by all the new construction. It’s teetering on the point of an oversupply of apartments with not enough people to fill them, or infrastructure to support them.

The Verdict

Castle Hill is a little awkward to recommend as a place to live due to its rapidly-changing circumstances. It’s quite a lot to pay for a fairly distant location that’s set to become even busier in short order, yet it offers a whole host of appealing positives that make it very nice and highly desirable – room, greenery, good shopping, great schools, safe and generally clean, amongst many others.

The closest way to sum it up would be some kind of hybrid mix between Hornsby and Lindfield – it’s got the mansions, leafiness and peace and quiet but also the modern transit hub and retail centre of both.

It’s a great choice for families in terms of its overall offerings, but distance needs to be weighted carefully depending on your personal situation. Where do you work? Can you take public transport, or do you need to drive? Do you need to access the Airport often? (If so, good luck). It’s also a good option for both retirees and those with elderly parents due to its abundance of quality aged care.

It really depends on if you feel you need a large house with multiple bedrooms; bigger families (or those intending to become bigger) will likely be happy with the compromise, while smaller ones or professionals could downsize and cut down on daily stressors by living elsewhere. And bear in mind: where you’re buying into now, could be entirely different just 5 short years down the road.