What are the Child-Friendly Sydney Suburbs?
 

I know all things are relative, but I wanted to see people's thoughts on which neighborhoods around Sydney CBD they considered to be most kid/family-friendly and within walking distance of great primary schools. My family and I (small children) will be moving there within the month and would like to possibly narrow down our searches as we will have only a couple of weeks of temporary housing allotted to us. My husband will be working in Darling Harbour. If we can avoid having a car, we would. However, I'll admit I'm an American born and raised in the suburbs of NY and CA and am finding it difficult to be able to function without such a resource :)

Most inner city suburbs are within walking distance of good primary schools. It would depend on your budget, prices are highest in the area around the CBD, and on average they are higher in the inner East (Paddington, Woolhara, Bondi Junction, Edgecliff) and the North Shore (Mosman, Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Kirribili) than the inner West (Glebe, Leichhardt, Rozelle, Balmain). All of these suburbs are well served by bus, train or ferry, so you wouldn't necessarily need a car.

If you don't want a car you would find the inner West much more convenient than Mosman-Cremorne unless you're right at a ferry wharf, and the prices there will be very high. [Kirribilli is more convenient, but it's mostly high rise and expensive. Better options on the north side would be Wollstencraft or Artarmon.] To the inner West suggestions I would add Stanmore and Erskinville - young family areas with good primary schools and train stations. For Eastern Suburbs convenience you would need to be near a train station as the road traffic is pretty choked.

Hi KimandMarc,

I'm an American living in Australia (Sydney's North Shore) as well. The advice you have received above is spot on. Artarmon, Wollstonecraft, Waverton, Naremburn are all on the train line...10 minutes or so to the CBD. Cremorne, Mosman, Neutral Bay all require a bus to the city. Not a big problem, but a bit less convenient

Depending on where you live, a car is not really needed. I didn't drive for almost a year after first arriving. We live right near a train station on the North Shore and believe me, a car is more of a hassle most places....and this is coming from a Detroit girl!! :)

You may want to check out the website http://yanksdownunder.net/index/

Lot's of answers to questions you may not have even thought of yet there!

Devona

I think I would be inclined to live in Manley and hubby can get the fast Cat to work and you can have the pleasure of living in a vibrant beach community with great restaurants and cafe's everywhere. Its a nice way to get to work using a ferry.

Thank you all for your responses. Devona, I've been looking at the yanks website and have been enjoying reading all the threads. Thank you! We are planning on moving within 3 weeks, although we are still waiting on our Visas to be approved, so no flights yet. Through our research, we think we will look into areas like Balmain, Pyrmont and those surrounding areas. All exciting and yet won't really know until we get there. Let's hope for a smooth transition. Thanks again!