Where to live in NSW?

[JamesSC]

I am seriously considering immigrating to NSW for a few years. My wife has lived abroad and loved it, and I've always wanted to go to Australia. So I guess it's time to get serious about it We've been looking at the NSW area, mainly because all of the employers I have spoken to seem to be based out of Sydney (IT - Infrastructure development) , so that's where we'll be.

Can anyone recommend some good suburb areas outside of the city? We're taking a second trip to Sydney sometime in the next few months. More of a scouting session than a vacation. So, if anyone has some recommendations, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

[Sl!m]

Where, Depends on what your budget would be

[SliM]

yeah bro, i mean it all depends on your budget, but i live in near the suburbs of Taren Point, Sans Souci, Ramsgate, Monteray, Brighton....... they are about 20 mins from the city and 5mins from the beach. Nice areas and i dont think i prefer to live anywhere else

[ApleX]

The lower north shore is nice, very close to the city, but expensive to buy or rent. but well worth it.

[Babylon]

mount druitt is a nice place : )

JKZZZ

i thought sydney was a dry spot for IT jobs

[SliM]

it prolly because he is from overseas that firms want to hire him, all businesses like people from overseas, dont know if that applies to IT but it is especially true for investment banks

[always_me]

theres a house for sale next door perfect for small family, point piper

[carlo]

Instead of us all giving him heaps of options

www.domain.com.au

have a look around that site. It has rental and house prices. then once you decide what suburbs you like you can ask us about them.

[monkeykplunk]

And as for budget....

the guy is from the US, by the time he gets here he'll be a millionare with the poo way the doller is!

[someonestolecc]

Typically metro Sydney is divided in main areas like so-

City area - high price, apartments mostly and inner city isn't really a kiddie friendly area. Great buses, trains.

North Shore - this area is basically the most socio-economically well off area, typically made up of middle class and upper middle class suburbanites. Known as the North Shore as it's north of the harbour, 15-30mins from the city. Great trains, good buses.

Northern Beaches - north of the north shore extending up the beaches area, mostly surf like feel and easy going feel. Can also be expensive here and there's some really nice houses, bit a pub culture and yahoos if you go way too north. 30-40 mins from the city. Great buses, no trains.

Southern Beaches - south of the city, the suburbs mentioned above in a post belong tehre. It's more a trendy feel instead of suburban feel. I don't personally think it's as easy going as other neighbourhoods but there are nice beach side cafes, shops and stuff like that. Great buses, no trains.

Western Suburbs - I don't know about these as I've never lived out west as I dislike living inland (really.. really hate it). Typically it's socially economically not as well off as other areas. (No offense anyone who lived there). Good buses. Trains exist.

Any more questions just ask or PM.

[carlo]

Northern Beaches - north of the north shore extending up the beaches area, mostly surf like feel and easy going feel. Can also be expensive here and there's some really nice houses, bit a pub culture and yahoos if you go way too north. 30-40 mins from the city. Great buses, no trains.

I live on the northern beaches

Horrible busses.. takes about 1 - 1:30hr to get to work in the morning by bus (i work in the rocks.. get off at wynard)..

Getting home at night sucks.

Im moving to the lower north shore.. Trains > Busses

[JamesSC]

it prolly because he is from overseas that firms want to hire him, all businesses like people from overseas, dont know if that applies to IT but it is especially true for investment banks

Yeah, as soon as I had made a resume available to people in australia, I was getting pounded with response. The money sounds good, but it's interesting that you guys say IT jobs are a bit dry in sydney. I'd hate to get there and something happen and not be able to find work. I've checked a few of the job sites for australia, seem to be a good bit of postings in the sydney area for work (?).

At any rate, thanks for the info thus far! Very helpful!

James

[zohnny]

Typically metro Sydney is divided in main areas like so-

City area - high price, apartments mostly and inner city isn't really a kiddie friendly area. Great buses, trains.

North Shore - this area is basically the most socio-economically well off area, typically made up of middle class and upper middle class suburbanites. Known as the North Shore as it's north of the harbour, 15-30mins from the city. Great trains, good buses.

Northern Beaches - north of the north shore extending up the beaches area, mostly surf like feel and easy going feel. Can also be expensive here and there's some really nice houses, bit a pub culture and yahoos if you go way too north. 30-40 mins from the city. Great buses, no trains.

Southern Beaches - south of the city, the suburbs mentioned above in a post belong tehre. It's more a trendy feel instead of suburban feel. I don't personally think it's as easy going as other neighbourhoods but there are nice beach side cafes, shops and stuff like that. Great buses, no trains.

Western Suburbs - I don't know about these as I've never lived out west as I dislike living inland (really.. really hate it). Typically it's socially economically not as well off as other areas. (No offense anyone who lived there). Good buses. Trains exist.

Any more questions just ask or PM.

Hey, Thanks for the info. I'll be moving to Sydney soon and was going to ask same question.

[PLYNX]

Hey, Thanks for the info. I'll be moving to Sydney soon and was going to ask same question.  

At the foot or just on the Blue Mountains. About 50km to the city(express trains if you dont want to drive). About 50km to over the mountains right into the country. Just about the same down south and up to the north with fairly good motorways connecting them. A lot more reasonable prices for real estate and a great place to live.

[TommO]

Hi James,

There's enough IT jobs to get around, especially if you are skilled (not helpdesk or basic support type roles). If you present yourself well, and have experience, you'll have no problems getting a position (generally anyway). I think your best off looking at contract work, as unless you have permanent residency, I think you'll have problems getting a full time role... but contract work won't be a problem for you.

Best places to look for IT jobs are: www.seek.com.au, and Candle Recruitment: www.candle.com.au. Make sure you sign up to every possible recruitment agency before you leave to Australia, and you'll have a ton of offers when you arrive Recruitment agencies are THE WAY TO GO ! You'll have so much less stress when you arrive and they should have already arranged interviews etc.

Regarding where to live, it depends what budget you have, and thats about it. I live out west (45 minutes from the city), but in a nice area where houses go for $1million pretty easily. Central locations (ie west, south, north, east) doesn't always depict prices in Sydney, it's more based on the specific suburb. However, the guys are right, there's a higher percentage of cheaper houses out West, and a few specific suburbs you should avoid. If I was you, i'd find out where you intend to work, and then look at finding a place to stay. No point choosing inner city, and then finding out it takes 1.5 hours to get to work everyday. Either way, there's plenty of options

Cheers,

Tommo.

[Silver-Arrowz]

Stay away from SW Sydney. I'll even pay you to stay away from here.

hahaha!

[someonestolecc]

I live on the northern beaches

Horrible busses.. takes about 1 - 1:30hr to get to work in the morning by bus (i work in the rocks.. get off at wynard)..  

Getting home at night sucks.

Im moving to the lower north shore.. Trains > Busses

We gotta go for a cruise sometime maybe, noticed your location is akihabara god I love that place.

Yeah I'll pay that the traffic is horrible, but there ARE buses. If you're commuting from there it would suck that's true. If you're coming from Av or Bilgola that would suck in peak hour.

I used to live in St Ives, so I think Northern Beaches had more buses BUT took longer because it was far away. I also work in the rocks.. hmm there ain't too many places in the rocks maybe you work next to me eh

No probs for the info for the yanks/pohms. Just remember I'm biased so everyone will have a story for you. There are some groups of suburbs that have a certain feel, if/when you get here if you PM me I'll be happy to talk you through my impressions of them to compare to others because definately Sydney is so very extremely different.

I've lived in some different areas from when I came to this country so for the 15years or so I've been here that's the biggest thing you learn bout Sydney.

You can also try www.jobnet.com.au for IT jobs.

Thing I've noticed about IT jobs is there are a lot in certain fields and less in others. If I was moving for a job I'd try to have one lined up, but I guess that depends how much of a good "chess piece" you are, if you're highly skilled and niche companies would be willing to do that, otherwise if you're a pleb forget it there are people with IT degrees doing helpdesk roles here.

But yeah I think this year and next IT will be coming back up mostly in mid-big corporations as projects and IT budgets get re-aligned for growth, updating and further integrations etc.

[GTR_Legend]

Vote #1 for The Druitt

Sweet place, no trouble, 15 min from city once the orbital is complete

[JamesSC]

Hi James,

There's enough IT jobs to get around, especially if you are skilled (not helpdesk or basic support type roles).  If you present yourself well, and have experience, you'll have no problems getting a position (generally anyway).    I think your best off looking at contract work, as unless you have permanent residency, I think you'll have problems getting a full time role... but contract work won't be a problem for you.

Best places to look for IT jobs are: www.seek.com.au, and Candle Recruitment: www.candle.com.au.  Make sure you sign up to every possible recruitment agency before you leave to Australia, and you'll have a ton of offers when you arrive  Recruitment agencies are THE WAY TO GO !  You'll have so much less stress when you arrive and they should have already arranged interviews etc.

Regarding where to live, it depends what budget you have, and thats about it.  I live out west (45 minutes from the city), but in a nice area where houses go for $1million pretty easily.  Central locations (ie west, south, north, east) doesn't always depict prices in Sydney, it's more based on the specific suburb.  However, the guys are right, there's a higher percentage of cheaper houses out West, and a few specific suburbs you should avoid.  If I was you, i'd find out where you intend to work, and then look at finding a place to stay.  No point choosing inner city, and then finding out it takes 1.5 hours to get to work everyday.  Either way, there's plenty of options

Cheers,

Tommo.

Good info, thanks! I deal mostly in higher end infrastructure functions, AD deplpoyment and design. I'm even an ex-microsoft employee, which usually gets some good conversations going with recruiters. Most of the job enticements/offers I've gotten from recruiters have been in the 110-140K range depending on location and work type, which seems fairly good with todays exchange rates.. 90% of companies I have spoken to are contract based, which is fine. I've been doing contract work for years. Still researching cost of living there and other factors. I think it's the about the same as my current work area.

As far as perminent residency goes, I qualify for a permanent visa based on my skillset and other factors (had to take that little test and stuff based on the SOL) if I wanted to go that route. After 2 years, I can decide to become a full citizen, which gains me SS and other incentives from what it sounds like. We would be there for 1 year minimum, probably closer to 2-3.

I'll know more here in a few months, but thanks to everyone who has added their .02 in the thread!

James

[Jago]

oberon/hartley valley, Jyndabine, etc etc

Beautiful places, but, a fair hike from sydney.

Either that or the sutherland shire in sydney aka God's Country

Sutherland Shire, great for kids as there are allot of sporting clubs, surf life saving, beaches, shopping centres etc. Plenty of good schools. As i mentioned before it's close to the beach, right next to the world's second oldest national park : The Royal National Park (great place if you love the outdoors and hiking etc).

Good transport with trains and busses and what not, between 20-40 mins by train to the city, about 25-30 mins drive to the airport etc etc. Damn i should be a real estate agent or something. Also have an art gallery here, plenty of good restaurants, a few pubs and clubs, lots of libraries, friendly people with a great atmosphere. You get pretty much everything here that is good