Small Families

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: The winds of change are slowly blowing on Canterbury, an older suburb now seeing multiple helpings of newer, modernised elements creep in. If you’re put off by the prices of the Inner West, yet not wanting to sacrifice much in the way of distance or location from the Sydney CBD, Canterbury is a solid fall-back option that doesn’t differ too much in the way of quality of life.

Its mix of location, connectivity and quantity of green spaces is exceptional for the price, while it’s also largely safe and peaceful outside of its main road-adjacent spots. At surface level, it could do with a fair bit of extra polish and maintenance and makes the suburb look “cheaper” in many spots than it actually is; that and its issues with traffic are its two main black marks. All of this otherwise makes for a good quality “sleeper” suburb that’s a decent spot to both live and invest, particularly with upcoming infrastructure projects on the horizon.
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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: Exceptionally well-equipped for families, if you’ve got (or are about to have) children of school-going age it’s hard to argue against Croydon as one of the best suburbs in all of Sydney. Quaint and peaceful yet well-located and connected, this is the clean, charming side of the Inner West that retains its heritage roots while adding elements of gentrification largely without breaking its original atmosphere.

It’s got a lot of character in both its local stores and streetscape, a couple of truly excellent parks, and is very safe – yet it’s the array of schools that help set Croydon apart from its peers. It’s not the cheapest to buy in, has some traffic issues and isn’t a nightlife hotspot, but otherwise remains one of the most underrated suburbs in Sydney.
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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: Quiet, conveniently located and heavily residential, Bexley is a bit of a sleeper suburb that’s not often talked about yet offers a surprising dose of upmarket living for a pretty good price. Given its position relative to the Sydney CBD and its overall balance of safety, amenities and home sizes, Bexley is probably still undervalued overall and – while it’s still not “cheap”, being Sydney prices – is worth considering as a slightly-cheaper alternative to neighbouring suburbs that still has good public transport connectivity. Read Review

As if choosing a suburb to live in Sydney for yourself wasn’t difficult enough, a whole extra layer of complexity and decision-making comes into play once kids come along. Children …
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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

Summary: Convenient, well-positioned and incredibly well-equipped with amenities, Rockdale isn’t the prettiest suburb in the world but packs a ton into a relatively small space. It boasts good connectivity to the city and elsewhere by both road and rail, and a wide variety of housing types suitable for a range of budgets and lifestyles. It’s also very busy in sections, with its main roads packed with traffic and a continually growing number of apartments adding to its population. It’s also decent value, considering its location. Read Review