NSW Hawkesbury area?

Now that I am based in Parramatta for work, wifey and I have begun the process of looking at moving out of Sydney a bit to an area with a bit more space where we can afford a decent sized house, as we're fast outgrowing our 2 bedroom unit. We're currently in the Inner West and while we love the area, we've slowly resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll never afford a decent sized house here. Our budget is around the $900k mark.

Working in Parramatta means that the perennial commuter favourites, the Central Coast and Wollongong, are not really an option as the travel time would just be too high for me. As a result we've begun looking at the Hawkesbury as we've always loved it there (beautiful scenery especially around Kurrajong) and it seems to have a very 'nice' feel to it (in parts it feels kind of like the Cotswalds in the UK, grand houses on acreage and picturesque little villages like Kurrajong), plus there's a direct train to Parramatta that takes about 45 minutes.

However we're not locals so don't really know the area besides what we've seen on drives through it. We like Kurrajong and Richmond/North Richmond looks alright too from what we've seen, but what about the rest of the towns and villages? Any areas to avoid? What about schools (public and private)?

Thanks in advance!

 

Private schools are lacking. Most of us had to go out of area for that. I went to St. Paul's in cranebrook, had mates go to arndell. You've got bede polding near Bligh park / Windsor, as a catholic school. Never heard much good about it, nothing terrible, just nothing all that flash.

My folks still live at east kurrajong on 25 acres, good area, I enjoyed growing up there. But parents had to do a bit of driving over the years being so far out from public transport. Up along comleroy rd is nice too. I can't think of any areas to avoid per se. South Windsor was always a bit "hey how you going" and sunny side cr in north Richmond.

Public schools, I've honestly heard good things about colo, had a few mates go into med from there but this was back in 08 roughly.

Ethnicity wise, it's still pretty white but that is changing, slowly coming into a more multicultural area!

 

Thanks Glorion!

We had a brief look at schools and St Paul's Grammar came up, looks a bit expensive but a possibility for high school (our eldest is 6 and in kindy, so HS is a few years off). One of the graduates working in my department went to St Paul's and he highly recommends it. Arndell also looks good, and Colo High looks decent if we were to go public, though we don't like the look of either Richmond or Windsor Highs (their NAPLAN results on My School are poor).

I'm guessing by 'hey how you going' you mean a bit housing commission/bogan? Just did a Street View of Sunnyside Crescent in North Richmond and it looks rough, but most of the surrounding streets look like your average middle class suburban area. Is there anywhere to avoid in Richmond itself though?

 

I've never had any issues with Richmond, it's quite laid back. One of my good mates runs the restaurant stock bar n grill just near the marketplace, he's been there a few years and had 1-2 breakins (apprehended) - other than that I don't really have anything bad to say.

Haha fair call about Richo high, as well as Windsor, wasn't all that good back when I was high school too.

 

Have you considered the lower blue mountains? Winmallee, yellow rock, springwood. Different feel but still nice and there are express trains through to Parra. Plus schooling you could look at St Dom's in Penrith

 

There is a planned joining up of the F1 (years since I lived in Sydney I know it's changed names) to the M2. This will cut a lot of the crap that is Pennant Hills Rd out & make Central Coast an option in my opinion. Unlike the Hills train line, I don't think that infrastructure improvement has been fully priced in.

 

Only problem with the Central Coast suggestion is that it forces the employee to drive to work every day, and there's no free parking at Parramatta unless you are happy to walk for 15 minutes or longer. Its much more convenient and flexible to be on a train line that directly goes to Parramatta.

Richmond area (Well, i'm a big fan of the Bells Line of Road drive) and the lower Blue Mountains are the areas i'd be keen on if I was the OP.
Richmond area does feel far out for me though, it takes me a while to drive there, and if you get a job in the city later I can imagine it would take a long time to get to work. And maybe the whole North West will fill up with houses so you will be at the edge of the suburban spawl at some point in time sooner or later.

Edit: I thought It would be quicker to get to the city from the Lower Blue Mountains than from Richmond but from what I see on the city rail timetable, it seems to be about the same time to commute. The difference is though, that Richmond only has trains half hourly even in peak hour whereas the Blue Mountains gets a lot more trains. Having the flexibility to not have to try to catch a particular bus or train service is great if you are like me. Not just in the morning either, but also at night. If you can save 15 minutes in each direction....

Edit #2: I realise after studying the timetable some more, Richmond has direct services to Town Hall whereas for Blue Mountains services you'll always have to change somewhere. But its not something you have to worry about if you are working in Parramatta though.

 

Thanks everyone.

The reason for ruling out the Central Coast was mainly the commute to Parramatta, I am aware of the new tunnel but even with that tunnel I can't see the drive to Parra being less than an hour and 15 minutes, even if we were to live in Kariong. There's also the issue of parking in Parramatta, as my work doesn't provide parking, and the cheapest parking station around is about $12 a day which, plus the M2 toll and petrol, would all add up. Part of the reason we like the Hawkesbury is that it has a decent train link to Parramatta and the CBD.

We have been looking at the lower Blue Mountains as well, but like the Hawkesbury we aren't all that familiar with good/bad areas, schools etc.