Size & surroundings vs location

Let's say you've got a choice between two places which are roughly the same price but the key differences are:

Place 1 has bigger bedrooms and is on a nice quiet street surrounded by multiple parks and a primary school with a small shopping district down the road. The closest public transport is a bus stop but the trainstation is a 20 minute walk away.

Place 2 Has smaller bedrooms but it's in a slightly better location as in it's 5 minutes closer to the city, it has a tram stop right at the door step, a major shopping center within 10 minutes walking distance, it's surrounded by universities, fast food outlets and all other kinds of amenities but it's on a busy street so isn't as tranquil and family oriented as other place.

You're young and with no dependents. You want somewhere to live but also have good investment potential in terms of renting were you to move out.

Which would you choose between these two places?

 

Hard to know without more crucial info needed but most likely Place 2 for me.

 

As an IP
Place 2 for me also

 

Place 2 and I have 2 young kids. They get driven to childcare/kinder/school. I have to catch PT to work

Be wary of renting to students later on if it's close to lots of unis though...

 

Place 1 for me. Close to Uni is off putting for me. Also, places high in amenities tend to be taken over by affordable housing units lately (or likely in the future). Would want to be reasonably close to amenities though and Place 1 sounds reasonable. It just depends on what works for you.

 

Wait for a third property to come on the market that ticks all boxes?
Option 1 isn't terrible but a 20 minutes walk is a tad too long as a walk for the station for most people.
Option 2 is appealing except for the busy road factor.

What you could do is letter box drop all the owners of the homes you want to buy. Handwrite them a letter. You never know. That's how my aunty secured her block of land in the mid 80's.

 

Place one of was to be a PPOR but place 2 if it’s only going to be a temporary PPOR then permanent IP