Lewisham Suburb Review

Peace, school options and public transport outweigh a lack of things going on.

Summary: A small, nondescript suburb of the Inner West, Lewisham is quite quiet, visually appealing, and highly leafy. Its main strengths lie in its excellent public transport connectivity with multiple options for getting from A to B, a great choice of schooling options for families, and its range of charming heritage style homes give its streets some lovely character. It’s got some notable traffic issues and is almost entirely lacking in dining, shopping and general “things to do” however, and is mostly best served as a pretty place to lay one’s head.

Key stats

As far as Inner West suburbs go, Lewisham is one of the more unassuming names on the list. It’s smaller than neighbouring Petersham, has less dining and cafe options than Dulwich Hill, and fewer multicultural influences than Leichhardt, yet its location still provides most of the benefits of its peers along with fairly reasonable prices to boot.

It’s probably one of the least interesting suburbs in the region to visit, but also very serviceable as a place to live. The main attraction for newcomers is going to be taking a gander at many of its impressively charming, turret-style homes with a mix of Art Deco and Victorian designs that are mostly kept in tip-top condition by their owners.

The mix of large, leafy trees and quirky house designs along with immaculately-kept gardens that Lewisham possesses is visually appealing, if nothing else. It’s also pretty quiet given its convenient location, and while it’s still slightly under the flight path it suffers far less aircraft noise than the likes of Petersham or Stanmore not far away.

The main factors of appeal for living in Lewisham are twofold. First, its public transport options are excellent – the suburb has both heavy and light rail connections, along with frequent bus services along New Canterbury Road. For those looking for a reasonably quiet place to lay their head and then still be able to commute in around 20 minutes into the city, it’s a great choice.

Get Schooled

Secondly, the array of schools on offer here and nearby are a major boon to families in particular. There’s multiple, high-level education options dotted both throughout Lewisham itself and neighbouring Petersham, and given the generally safe environment of the suburb, living here provides the chance for the kids to simply be able to walk to and from school each day.

It might not seem like much, but is a huge benefit instead of facing the daily stress of the morning scramble for parking in school pickup/drop-off areas.

Other than that, the suburb is a bit of a mixed bag. As it’s almost purely residential, Lewisham is definitely not the spot to choose if you want to be able to walk down the road and expect nightlife or a lot going on.

Lewisham is lacking in standard amenities such as shopping

There’s not much to do here in general as it’s quite lacking in the mix of dining, shopping and parks outside of a couple of cafes and its main drinking option of the Huntsbury Hotel – a decent if unspectacular corner pub.

While it’s a pretty leafy suburb in general, it’s a little lacking in parkland, with the exception of Morton Park which provides some nice shaded areas and play equipment for the kids.

Of particular note is Lewisham’s somewhat bizarre lack of a supermarket or even grocery store. You’ll have to go to nearby Ashfield (Ashfield Plaza), Leichhardt (Coles/Woolworths), or Summer Hill (a large IGA) for your shopping needs. We’re not talking too far in terms of distance to any of these, but it is still a small factor to consider.

Sure, Lewisham is close to lots of other places WITH stuff to do which alleviates things somewhat, but that’s more a positive of those other suburbs that can’t be directly credited to Lewisham itself. It’s lacking even the upcoming boutique cafe scene or public gathering points of say, neighbouring Dulwich Hill – which isn’t exactly “jumping” to begin with.

“As it’s almost purely residential, Lewisham is definitely not the spot to choose if you want to be able to walk down the road and expect to see nightlife or a lot going on.”

Traffic is its other glaring issue. It’s bad in almost every direction during peak from Lewisham given its proximity to major arterial roads, however its array of public transport means it’s going to be possible for most to avoid dealing with this.

Housing-wise, Lewisham is fairly reasonable considering the Inner West Sydney boom, but still not cheap on the whole. Most of its freestanding housing are these large and grand multi-million dollar heritage options on pretty big blocks (outside of a cluster of modern high-density apartments on Old Canterbury Road) and are priced appropriately.

They’re damn pretty, but you won’t be able to grab yourself one for anything under $2 million – even small semis go for around the $1.3 million mark. Its newer releases of apartments have opened up some additional supply for renters, and $500 per week for a 2-bedder that’s in good condition is common.

As a temporary rental base for a couple of years while saving for a property either here or elsewhere in Sydney, Lewisham is quite appealing and not too overpriced overall. Its apartments are also a decent option for a buy if you’re content with high-density living.

The Verdict

Lewisham is pretty and well-connected, and purely as a place to live is worth considering – especially for those with kids. Its public transport is a major plus, it’s charming and quiet, and is safe and pleasant enough.

It’s lacking in some basic conveniences or any real kind of communal hub however; while this can be attributed to the fact that it’s simply small, it seems like a bit of a missed opportunity to develop a bit more of a miniature central retail strip somewhere.

Small families should definitely consider it, as its schools are excellent, while professional couples who don’t need all the entertainment in the world on their doorstep are a good demographic for Lewisham as well.

While it’s mostly more of a technicality of a lack of amenities given its neighbouring suburbs with plenty to offer are “right there”, it’s still has to be mentioned, and driving here should be avoided if possible.

Other than that, there’s nothing really negative to say about Lewisham other than it’s easy to see how it can be considered a little boring – younger renters or buyers may want to look elsewhere nearby, as the Inner West has some great choices for that demographic.