Padstow Suburb Review

An upper-mid-tier suburb that provides a good balance between price and home size, with a respectable array of amenities to boot.

Summary: Technically located on the “tip” of where the Western Suburbs begin, Padstow is a pleasant and well-balanced slice of suburbia that offers both well-sized living spaces and solid value for money.

It’s got good connectivity by both road and rail, and its relatively central position between east and west makes access to either side quite reasonable. While around a quarter of the suburb is light-industrial, it still offers good greenery and also escapes some of the crime stats from which a few of its neighbouring suburbs suffer.

Key stats

Formerly a largely working-class suburb, Padstow has been gentrified somewhat while still retaining some of its historic elements. While it’s “unspectacular” as a whole, it also has few faults and represents a very good starting point for young families in particular who don’t want to be too far from the city without spending a fortune.

Padstow is an above-average sized suburb, but that’s a little deceptive as its northern portion is mostly a concentration of warehouse-type businesses and light industrial – think auto mechanics, offices of manufacturers, tiling and paint and the like.

The majority of its residential lies to the west of Davies Road, and offers a solid mix of housing types including low-density residential and duplexes, as well as low lying complexes of villas and townhouses.

This gives the suburb a good amount of diversity to accommodate a wide range of people of different financial levels and family situations. It’s not one of these newer highrise-apartment heavy mass produced Sydney suburbs, nor is it one of the ridiculously elite spots limited only to mansions.

Padstow’s historic legacy still largely remains, as there’s plenty of older weatherboard-type homes dotted throughout, most of which are very well maintained. This is a very tidy suburb with only the occasional neglected blip; don’t let your preconceptions about “Western Sydney” fool you.

These go hand-in-hand with an increasing number of new, big modernised homes as the demographics of the suburb gradually continue to change. The suburb’s relative affordability as people get pushed out from the Inner Sydney ring means you can have a lot more house for the same price as elsewhere only slightly closer to the city.

Many of its houses are on large blocks with big yards, and even its duplexes and townhouses provide plenty of room to move. This also combines with a number of other positives that help make Padstow quite liveable.

Padstow’s residential streets are also generally quite wide and tree-lined and offer plenty of parking, while still being quiet to boot.

A Value Proposition

It’s got a decent (if not amazing) selection of green spaces, with Virginius Reserve in its south-west the main standout and a pleasant and large public green space that spills over into neighbouring Revesby.

Equipped with playground and picnic amenities as well as cycling paths, it’s a spot where you can see ducks and other water birds leisurely soaking up the water.

Padstow Park provides a spacious ground for sporting events, and various other smaller green spaces dotted throughout help balance out its streetscape and provide close-by spots for kids and pets alike to play.

The Padstow War Memorial is also a nice and well-maintained little tribute to our veterans that is quite photogenic.

Padstow is a well-kept residential suburb with little to fault

Good educational offerings are also a plus in Padstow’s favour. TAFE has a campus here, and a trio of schools provide schooling for children of each main age group. Padstow’s also quite safe; for whatever reason – likely its communal vibe and demographics – it’s statistically exempt from some of the crime issues neighbouring suburbs such as Riverwood have dealt with.

It’s easy to see why, as Padstow’s main retail and dining strips do feel quite welcoming and down to earth.

Its main little retail/services and dining strip down and around Padstow Parade is quite well equipped, with multiple local restaurants, services such as chemists and hairdressers, and a Woolworths Metro to serve as the main supermarket.

It’s not a massive hotspot for dining and there’s not much open on Sundays in particular, but it’s still quite well-rounded and more than respectable for a pretty quiet and largely residential suburb.

It’s lacking in major retail goods, appliances and the like outside of boutique stores, as most of its larger-scale brands in the north part of the suburb are actually the offices and warehouses of those brands rather than the storefronts themselves.

The massive Bankstown Central is only a short drive away for bigger-sized shopping opportunities, however.

“Expect to see Padstow make an appearance on our “Best Value Suburbs in Sydney” list later this year.”

The Padstow RSL is a nice venue and the main go-to place for a drink or a game of trivia, and the demographic here still trends a little to the older side.

It’s not exactly a jumping-off suburb in terms of nightlife, although other spots like the Padstow Park Hotel offer a bit more of a modernised environment for a drop of the good stuff. As a result, it’s more suitable as a place to live for the family-and-older demographics than the younger crowd.

Padstow’s connectivity is its other main selling point. It’s got solid heavy rail connections (expect about a 40 minute trip in to Town Hall) and adequate bus services as well.

Its road connectivity is also a bit of a standout – while Davies Road is busy and noisy, it’s away from most of the residential side of the suburb and provides a good artery north and south, while the M5 is easily accessible as well.

Price-wise, Padstow ranks above average, and is pretty good value as a whole. It’s far enough out of Sydney’s main “trendy ring” that sub-$1 million property prices for homes are still an actual thing, particularly if you’re willing to compromise with an older duplex, townhouse, or villa.

Around $900,000 can get you on the house property market here, although its increasing number of new constructions frequently go well above the $1 million mark. With apartment rental prices hovering around an average of $450 a week, that’s well below the overall Sydney average and again represents good value for city workers with a reasonable commute.

It’s a package that makes Padstow a pretty damn good starter suburb for those looking to acquire their first home (particularly apartment) without having to deal with a ridiculous commute.

Expect to see Padstow make an appearance on our “Best Value Suburbs in Sydney” list later this year as a result.

The Verdict

Padstow’s a Sydney suburb that, while not particularly outstanding in any one area, represents a place to live without many flaws either.

It checks all of the important boxes for a place to live – convenience, safety, amenities, access – that one would require for daily life without truly excelling in each; yet when you add them all up you’ve got a very solid offering overall.

While it’s not the most lively or thrilling suburb in terms of its attractions or streetscape, for a mostly residential location it’s still a very good option for those who want a bit more space to move in their daily lives.

There’s no plane noise, more than enough greenery to get by, and its amenities offer a good cross-section without being over the top.

Its rail and road connections are an obvious plus, yet the suburb’s still not overpriced like some others elsewhere in Sydney that offer a similar commute for more $. It’s not “cheap”, but it’s still reasonable as far as Sydney property goes in a place where you can feel safe walking down the street.

Sure, the average person may have no real reason to go out of their way to visit Padstow outside of working in its warehouses or offices, but there’s simply nothing wrong with just being “good”.

I’d live here in a heartbeat.