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Hello All,
I will be transferring for work from Cleveland, Ohio to Parramatta starting in late November for a year. My company has told me my salary will be 130,000 Australian dollars. I am single, late 30's and female.
Where would the recommendations be to live? I will be looking for a furnished apartment. I really do not want to deal with a car if possible and wont mind a bit of a train, bus, commute.
Obviously since I will be by myself, I want to be in a safe area. I like to be able to walk to cafe's, stores, etc.
Thoughts?
Hello All,
I will be transferring for work from Cleveland, Ohio to Parramatta starting in late November for a year. My company has told me my salary will be 130,000 Australian dollars. I am single, late 30's and female.
Where would the recommendations be to live? I will be looking for a furnished apartment. I really do not want to deal with a car if possible and wont mind a bit of a train, bus, commute.
Obviously since I will be by myself, I want to be in a safe area. I like to be able to walk to cafe's, stores, etc.
Thoughts?
With your salary being $130,000, you should be able to afford up to $800 a week (they usually say a third of one's weekly pay is the best way to work it out).
Parramatta itself has some high rise flats and has good transport links into the city (train to city (also buses and ferries (although ferry trip is quite long)).
If you wanted to live closer to town, it would be an easy trip out to Parramatta and you have the added advantage of having less packed trains because you would be going the opposite direction to everyone else although that would mean fewer trains per hour (although still frequent):
For example, you could live in Redfern/Surry Hills (Redfern is near Redfern Station, Surry Hills is closer to Central Station) and commute out. These suburbs are expensive but they are in the trendy part of town with plenty of cafes:
You could also live on the lower North Shore because all of the Parramatta trains seem to start out of Chatswood (they go through town and then out to the western suburbs). I rather like Wollstonecraft and Waverton if one is going to go the lower north shore route (although they aren't near cafes).
I know you wanted furnished but I couldn't find that many prefurnished places and they seemed overpriced. My thought is that you could rent furniture weekly although I'm not sure how much that would cost. However, you would have more choice with actual apartments to rent if you rented an unfurnished one and then rented the furniture and the cost might end up being the same (and you would get funiture you liked)
There are also some nice suburbs that are able to be reached by bus eg Rozelle, Drummoyne but the trips are longer than by train:
Parramatta is the centre of Sydney now. & is easy to get to by train & ferry. Bus would be a nightmare I'd think..
However it's not a location I'd like to live as a young single female.
Like the PP I'd look at Waverton, North sydney, & McMahons point (My favourite) is near Nth Sydney train station & you could get a ferry to Circular Quay (main ferry hub) & then change & go to Parramatta.
You could rent your own place or rent a room while you're getting used to the place & trying to figure things out. People list on Gumtree.com.au as well.
Just be aware that the Parramatta ferry is affected by the tides. During low tide the service will terminate at Rydalmere and the remainder of the journey is by a replacement bus service.
Just be aware that the Parramatta ferry is affected by the tides. During low tide the service will terminate at Rydalmere and the remainder of the journey is by a replacement bus service.
It seemed quite infrequent too. It might be OK for a place like Drummoyne (which also has a bus service) but shouldn't be relied on as the chief source of transport.
The inner city places I liked best are East Sydney, Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Redfern. The first three have high gay male populations which make them fun places to live for a young female (most of my clubbling in my younger years (80s/90s) was in gay male nightclubs - much more fun than straight clubs were at the time (I think today's straight nightclubs are probably better than they were in the past (maybe - I wouldn't know) - whatever the case there do seem to now be some good straight nightclubs in the inner city as well).
Thanks again for all the great info. When speaking with my work location in Australia last night, she let me know the office is actually in North Rocks, does this make a difference do you know for the info that has been provided?
Thanks again for all the great info. When speaking with my work location in Australia last night, she let me know the office is actually in North Rocks, does this make a difference do you know for the info that has been provided?
North Rocks isn't near a train station. There is a bus that goes Parramatta-North Rocks-Epping - North Rocks seems to be half an hour from both those stations (both station are major ones):
The timetable itself seems to have a typo - the stop "North Rocks&Benghazi Road" is actually in Carlingford not North Rocks.
If one got the train to and from Epping, that does open up other transport links, eg there is a train now from Epping to Chatswood and then along the lower North Shore line. The main Epping line is the Northern one which goes through to Strathfield/Burwood and then into Redfern/Central.
There are a couple of suburbs on the Northern Line that have been undergoing a renaissance in the last few years, eg Rhodes and even more recently Meadowbank. They are a short trip from Epping (10-12 minutes).
I know the Northern Line very well - I used to live in Epping and travelled the line for years. Rhodes used to be best known for its smell - Arnott's had their factory there and it would smell like yeast (or like weetbix/milk that had been left in its bowl). The smell is long gone Meadowbank didn't have much to it
I know you were after furnished flats and this one in Meadowbank has a lovely outlook with glimpse of the city (which I wasn't aware was possible from Meadowbank):
Meadowbank is on the water and also has a ferry. Both Rhodes and Meadowbank are a half hour trip by train into the city (if one wants to go on the weekend or after work). if one wanted to take the scenic route into town, one could get the ferry (same timetable as previously linked)
If it's in North Rocks you're probably in one of the industrial parks. I would check with the folks at your location to see if they have a shuttle from one of the nearby stations.
If you really don't want to deal with a car and be public transport dependent you would do well to look closer to the inner city or one of the main train stations. For instance Epping may or may not be suitable for your needs. There is a bus which runs from the station down North Rocks Road to Parramatta and on the weekend you are a short hop from Chatswood, the City and Hornsby. From Chatswood you have easy access to the Northern Beaches.
Cafe culture is predominant in Australia but the more bohemian aspects in Sydney are centred around the inner city areas of Glebe, Newtown and Paddington. All will be a little painful to get to work at North Rocks, even with a car.
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& is easy to get to by train & ferry. Bus would be a nightmare I'd think..
