Professionals

Summary: Tranquil, substantially green and overall upmarket, Denistone is a quiet pocket of classy North Shore goodness sandwiched between two drastically different suburbs on either side. It’s physically a relatively compact suburb which runs up a hillside, providing some often impressive views from atop its streetscape which is mainly dotted with large-scale freestanding homes.

Denistone has the benefit of a central location and good transport connectivity without any of the bustle or crime which usually comes along with these, and while that also brings a bit of a “retirement village’ vibe along with it, its level of peace and decent traffic situation helps balance this out. It’s great for those with pets and who appreciate greenery, but is a near-total wasteland in terms of amenities with little to offer outside of medical services. It’s also pricey, due to both the age and size of its many impressive homes. Read Review

Summary: A largely working class, fairly central Sydney suburb offering a mixed bag of good value prices, wide and varied public green spaces, iffy traffic and a solid array of amenities, Riverwood has a “little bit for everyone” that comes with a decent location along with the occasional surface-level blemish. It’s a bit of a hodge-podge without much consistency in design, layout and home styles, but this also offers wide variety in environments and property types to choose from as a result.

Good transport connectivity and proximity to main roads and highways help make it quite accessible, while its mix of demographics and cultures is reflected in its diverse blend of stores and restaurants. There’s some neglect in its otherwise impressively varied public spaces and nature strips and it has some statistical issues with crime, yet for families, pets, and general all-round living it’s about the best price you’re going to be able to pay this close and connected to Sydney city.
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Summary: Perhaps THE premier hub for Asian dining in all of Sydney, Eastwood consists of an ultra-dense central district packed to the brim with restaurants and services, coexisting alongside high-end, premier residential back streets for quite the suburban contrast. It’s a place that has experienced marked demographic change over the past few decades, and now provides an interesting mix of legacy stores and homes along with pockets of brand-new development added in.

It’s well-connected in terms of public transport by both road and rail, and has an extremely good array of suburban greenery which – along with its upper-tier education options – make it highly desirable for families as well. Some parts of its central area could use a slight facelift and it faces some significant issues in terms of both traffic & parking, while prices for its often-massive freestanding homes in particular may prove prohibitively expensive for most. Read Review

Summary: A suburb for those after a fairly premier, central spot and who don’t want to pay the absolute premiums of some of the truly elite Eastern Sydney suburbs, Kingsford is a largely residential slice of the city in which location is its primary selling point. Close proximity to educational facilities, beaches and even Sydney City itself coupled with its newly-added light rail system give Kingsford a connectivity factor that’s easy to appreciate.

It’s also a suburb with enough variety in housing – with a large contrast between its classy and expansive houses in the east and higher-density living in the west – to cater to both students and families, however it brings along with it high pricetags in return. Its amenities are increasingly solid if unspectacular and it’s not the greenest suburb in the world, while traffic is also another factor. It’s fairly peaceful outside of its central hub, while families will have multiple options for education nearby as well.
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Summary: Situated in a position where the “true” Western Suburbs of Sydney begin to come into full effect, Roselands is a solid all-rounder suburb that represents a pretty good house value vs. safety mix despite a few flaws. It’s in a slight no-man’s-land when it comes to access, with both the Sydney CBD and Parramatta a little awkward to get to due to traffic issues, however it boasts large and roomy homes along with a mostly pleasant and green streetscape in its many spacious residential areas.

Rich in amenities courtesy of its major shopping hub and strips of warehouse-sized stores, it’s also quite busy with multiple main arterial roads carving it up. Missing rail connectivity, limited green public spaces, and a lack of restaurant-style dining are its other notable weaknesses, but if you’re after a spacious home for a relatively decent price without being in the middle of nowhere it’s otherwise worth considering. Read Review

Summary: Conveniently located relative to Sydney city, Rosebery is a fairly compact suburb where the old and new collide, and which has a lot of pretty cool stuff packed in to a relatively small space. Its southern portion is a pleasant mix of older low-level homes, local stores and leafy streets, while its northern slice is an extreme example of rapid, high-density urban development.

While it may be tempting to compare it to other suburbs in similar phases of development, Rosebery has far more character and communal atmosphere than most of these, with some other unique offerings that help it stand out. Its prices, slight rail disconnect and some traffic issues are its only real downsides. Read Review

Summary: A suburb for those after a chance at decent-sized living space without compromising on the best possible public transport connectivity to Sydney city, Sutherland is the key access hub of its namesake Shire. It boasts a good mix of home sizes and types, with some lower-priced options due to its abundance of older builds and continual new higher-density modern blocks being added all the time.

It’s not completely “beautiful” as a whole but is mostly green, spacious and has a number of pretty parts, and its central area offers a very solid selection of small-scale local services and food options. It has a handful of slight safety issues and isn’t the most lively of places for nightlife, but is quite well-balanced overall. Read Review

Summary: Formerly one of the true “wild west” suburbs of inner Sydney, in recent years Redfern has substantially – though not fully – had its face changed by the forces of gentrification. Nowadays it’s basically an extension of neighbouring Surry Hills, with a similar burgeoning cafe and pub culture dotted amongst its array of narrow, street-facing terraces and low-rise apartment blocks.

It’s hard to match for convenience with immediate city access and comprehensive public transport, and is highly walkable/bikeable. Redfern’s also still home to significant slices of public housing, an above-average crime rate, can be noisy and traffic-heavy, and retains a mix of quirky demographics from the high and lower ends of socioeconomic society. Read Review

Summary: One of the most amenity-rich suburbs in all of Sydney, Hurstville is teeming with options for shopping, dining and services. It’s also one of the most mono-cultural, being home to the highest proportion of residents of Chinese descent of any suburb in Australia.

Combine the two, and you’ve got a suburb with a central area with an always-busy and distinct flavour that’s quite a contrast to the rest of its streetscape – which is mostly residential and home to large, freestanding houses or mid-rise apartment blocks. It’s quite safe, has great public transport connectivity, but can feel hectic and a little unkempt in spots, while multiple new constructions continue to make it even busier. Read Review

Summary: Not-quite-Inner-West and not-quite-Western Suburbs, Campsie is a suburb that screams “potential” but is not quite all the way there just yet. There’s the skeleton of a well-balanced and desirable place to live here, with a good physical location that’s well-serviced by public transport, diverse housing options, plentiful amenities, and a range of wide green spaces that are roomy if somewhat unkempt & featureless.

It’s far safer than it used to be and has gentrified in spots, but it still needs a helping of “TLC” and additional maintenance/upkeep to help it reach the best version of itself. Read Review