Leichhardt Suburb Review

A must-visit suburb for dining that’s a coin toss for living depending on your preferences.

Summary: One of Sydney’s true “dining capitals”, Leichhardt is a hub of activity that’s home to some of the city’s best restaurants and cafes. Its longstanding Italian heritage remains obvious, and it boasts one of the most interesting mixes of architecture of any suburb. Despite a lack of a heavy rail station, it’s still very well-serviced by public transport and has a great mix of amenities to offer families as well. Its main downsides are traffic, price, and noise – both at ground level and from the air – that make it an amazing place to visit, but a mixed bag for living.

Key stats

For those who prefer their Inner West living active and buzzing rather than passive and peaceful, Leichhardt has a lot to offer. It’s a suburb pretty much everyone in Sydney – resident and visitor alike – should take time to visit; not only for its incredible range of dining opportunities, but for its interesting and varied streetscape as well.

It’s traditionally been a preferred settlement spot of Italian migrants, and this heritage still permeates the suburb strongly today, if diluted a little. Nowadays older Italian families coexist alongside young western professional families who love the mix of activity and convenience Leichhardt offers.

The suburb’s cafe scene has always been strong and continues to boom. Norton Street itself is home to a high enough quantity of quality cafes, restaurants, bakeries and delis that would put most larger entire suburbs of Sydney to shame – if you’ve got a passion for Italian cuisine or a top-notch coffee, you’ll be spoiled for choice here.

Its signature Italian Forum is of particular note, with the associated colours and Tuscan decor of the “homeland” offering a unique outdoor dining atmosphere. It’s not as bustling and vibrant as it once was as most of the crowds seem to have shifted further up to the northern portion of Norton Street, but is a distinct spot to photograph and gawk at nonetheless.

Always something to do

In addition, it’s not only food and drink opportunities that Leichhardt excels at. The suburb’s amenity-rich in general; chemists, gyms, museums, rec clubs and more all coexist alongside a helping of bigger-box retail as well. IGA, Aldi, Target, Woolworths, Coles… they’re all here, with Marketplace Leichhardt being the shopping focal point of its south western portion.

The streetscape of Leichhardt is an interesting one, as its mixed heritages have produced some distinctive examples of architecture. Most of its smaller houses are weatherboard rather than English-style red brick, and its terraces and rows of townhouses do have a charming and distinctive dash of European influence in their design.

Leichhardt’s Italian Forum is iconic, although it’s seen better days

Its post office, council building, and a handful of its churches are worth special mention that all show a blend of Italian/Victorian styles that are highly photogenic and have been kept in good condition.

There’s a bit of a working-class atmosphere to the suburb stemming from its origins, however nowadays its mostly upmarket living – a result of the prices its convenient location brings.

Buying property here isn’t cheap as it’s above the regional median for its block sizes; something to be expected given its close proximity to the Sydney CBD. All it takes is a short drive into the city either via the southern route or over the Anzac Bridge, with a 15 minute travel time to be expected.

Prices for small freestanding homes hover between the $1.3 to $1.5 million mark, with apartments around $850,000 at time of writing. The rental situation here is okay, although many of its buildings are older – $550 per week for a 2 bedroom rental is typical.

Leichhardt’s also a bit of an odd one in that it doesn’t have a dedicated heavy rail station yet is still very well-serviced by public transport. The suburb sees extremely frequent bus services along Parramatta Road; commute to work and you’ll have a bus swinging by every few minutes (although they’re almost always packed and notorious for their tardiness).

It’s also home to multiple light rail stations that head into Central and are the method of choice for those who work in the city or connect to elsewhere.

“The streetscape of Leichhardt is an interesting one, as its mixed heritages have produced some distinctive examples of architecture.”

Leichhardt’s pretty well-equipped for small families, with a good selection of local schools both primary and otherwise along with an excellent aquatic centre. While its streets are a little concrete-heavy they’re still decently tree-lined and grassed enough, and it’s got some good-sized slices of public parkland to help make up for things.

Pioneers Memorial Park in particular is a huge open space within an easy walk of the cafes that’s for plenty of play equipment for the kids and space for dogs. Add in its nice design and lovely landscaping, and it’d make for one of Sydney’s best parklands if it wasn’t for one factor: noise.

Leichhardt’s two main achilles heels are noise and traffic, with one reflecting the other. The busy roads that fringe the suburb don’t help, and Parramatta Road is a hodge-podge of traffic at the best of times. Norton Street, too, suffers from road issues – it’s particularly lacking in parking given the popularity of its dining and amenities.

Its residential back streets aren’t as bad and several of the best are exceptionally peaceful, at least from the road.

But it’s the air noise that will likely be the make-or-break factor for those considering living in Leichhardt long-term. The suburb cops a lot of aircraft flyover – some at surprisingly low altitudes – that generates a noise that’s often hard to ignore. Sure, you could eventually “tune it out” to an extent, but there’s a limit.

If you’ve got young children who have difficulty sleeping (or are a light sleeper yourself), you’ll either want to invest heavily in double glazing or consider living elsewhere. While parts of the suburb fall outside of the worst parts of the flight path, they’re typically the most expensive and tightly-held as well.

Given all of Leichhardt’s benefits in terms of location, character and amenities, you may feel that’s a sacrifice that’s well worth making.

The Verdict

Leichhardt is a fine example of compact, vibrant and buzzing inner city suburban living. If the prospect of having some incredible dining opportunities and a pretty warm and welcoming community on your doorstep sounds appealing – and you don’t need a massive house to feel content – then it’s a great choice.

It’s got a distinct flavour that other suburbs in the area lack, while being absolutely chock-full of necessities for daily life and entertainment. Likewise, if you want to live somewhere in Sydney that friends and family will be highly interested to visit (and give you a lot to show them), Leichhardt delivers in spades.

Its location and public transport are both pluses, and while it’s a little concrete-heavy and rundown in spots, its back streets are quite charming and its parklands are also excellent, particularly with the water over on the west side.

It’s mainly those noise and price factors that drag the suburb down somewhat. The planes are hard to ignore – even long-time residents still often complain – and it’s a suburb that has a bit of a “go-go” atmosphere as there’s almost always something going on and plenty of people around.

Younger urban families are probably the best demographic who should consider living here, as are young couples and professionals happy to downsize and enjoy all the amenities it offers of a weekend, with the rest of the Inner West’s entertainment on your doorstep as well.