St Peters Suburb Review

Convenient, gentrifying suburb with some noise issues.

Summary: As a suburb, St Peters feels almost directly like Erskineville’s slightly rougher, grittier little brother. Conveniently located and with good city connectivity, the suburb offers a (slightly) more affordable smattering of terrace and high-density housing, a range of drinking and dining opportunities, and streets dotted with colourful murals and other bohemian art. There’s an overall edgy feeling here and some noise issues that may not appeal to all, but its positives in terms of location and convenience can generally outweigh its relative lack of full-blown gentrification.

Key stats

St. Peters is an odd duck to sum up, in that it mixes together elements of Newtown and Erskineville yet somehow doesn’t really have a character of its own as a result. It’s quieter and more laid-back than Newtown (at least in term of street-level noise), and slightly cheaper and less pretentious than Erskineville, and for those looking for a balance of the two thus makes for an interesting choice as a place to live.

As with most other Inner West suburbs on a train line, one of the foremost benefits of St. Peters is raw location. It’s got excellent connectivity to Sydney city and other areas both via its own dedicated heavy rail station and its proximity to Marrickville Metro, and its bus services are frequent and reliable as well.

As a result, living here gives you access to a great variety of options nearby both for work and general “things to do”, and yet the suburb itself doesn’t really have that much going on. In other words, it’s easy to get out of St. Peters and entertain yourself, while the suburb itself remains fairly uneventful.

This can be both a positive and a negative depending on how you look at it. On the plus side, a lack of reasons to visit St. Peters from outside means that it doesn’t have as many of the annoying issues with a lack of parking or noisy streets as, say, Newtown does; however it also means you’ll have to head out a bit for some decent quality entertainment.

St. Peters has been quite gentrified over recent years although not to the extent of some of the other ritzier Inner West suburbs.

It still retains a certain layer of authenticity, grit and grime that’s reflected just by walking its streets – its terraces feel like they’ve largely been kept in their original condition instead of being given a modern facelift, it’s not completely overrun with modern highrise accommodation, and its main retail and dining streets still retain a slightly Marrickvillle-esque edge to them.

Property prices in St. Peters have also soared in recent years as people have realised the benefits of its convenience as a commuter suburb. While it’s not quite as high as Erskineville, the gap has largely closed and median freestanding house prices now sit around the $1.2 million mark. 

Even apartment rentals have climbed substantially – it’s hard to come away with anything reasonably-sized and in decent condition for less than $600 per week. It’s up to you whether the convenience of its location makes St. Peters worth the investment.

Size versus convenience

It’s a lot to pay given that the majority of its housing options sit on small blocks and don’t provide much breathing room. The suburb is also limited in terms of green, open spaces within its limits; there’s a couple of small pockets of greenery in the back streets but as a whole it’s a fairly standard and bland streetscape.

Of course, the massive and pretty focal point of Sydney Park does a lot to make up for this. Although it technically lies outside the border of St. Peters’ suburb limits – the park is in Alexandria – it’s within walking distance from practically anywhere in the suburb and offers an excellent and expansive public space teeming with amenities.

St Peters’ streets offer some conveniences without being too busy

Kids playgrounds, great bike paths, exercise facilities, water and wetlands, and plenty of open areas for children and dogs alike make this one of Sydney’s best public spaces and a great example of public works done right. Without Sydney Park, St. Peters would score low marks for pet-friendliness, yet it singlehandedly turns that on its head.

One of the most unusual – and character-rich – aspects of St. Peters is its high proportion of street art. Walk around any random back street corner in the suburb and you may suddenly stumble across a massive wall mural of art in a range of styles, many of which showcase some excellent talent.

“Walk around any random back street corner in the suburb and you may suddenly stumble across a massive wall mural of art in a range of styles.”

Make no mistake, this is no mere “graffiti”; it’s legit artistic expression with subject matter that ranges anywhere from local iconic people, to landscapes, to political statements and more. It goes a long way to adding an extra layer of intrigue to what would otherwise be pretty mundane suburban roads.

In terms of amenities, St. Peters boasts a solid range of dining and small-scale retail options as well as a few breweries nearby which have popped up in recent years. It’s not exactly a buzzing hub in the vein of say, Crows Nest on the North Shore, but there’s enough to get by and provide variety. It’s also walking distance to Newtown, which obviously opens up a huge range of options with minimal effort.

The noise issue

One of the biggest negatives of St. Peters is something that soon becomes obvious upon stepping inside the suburb: aircraft noise. Although it’s not quite as bad as some other suburbs slightly to the south, the suburb is still located under the flight path and this plays a big factor in lowering the overall peace levels here.

Sure, double glazing in an apartment can help, but it can’t work miracles – as a result, if planning to rent here be sure to ask if your new home comes pre-equipped with it otherwise you’ll be in for a world of annoyance. Home buyers will want to invest in some for themselves ASAP, as well.

The Verdict

Having trouble deciding whether you should live in Newtown or Erskineville? Then opt for St. Peters and get the best – and worst – of both worlds. It may sound like we’re being overly harsh on the suburb, and that’s not the intention; it’s a solid choice in terms of balance between what most people want in Inner West living, and its public transport and lack of crowds are both major pluses.

Just bear in mind the fact that it’s no longer a cheapy alternative for the region, and its aircraft noise issues are a factor that you’ll have to come to grips with at some point. Get past those, and St. Peters is a good all-rounder with plenty of opportunities surrounding it.

It’s ideally suited more to small-scale families, young professionals and professional couples than the likes of bigger families or retirees.