Life on the Central Coast - is it worth the commute?

[Linc]

G’day Raiders,

Since moving to Sydney earlier this year and renting, it is obvious that we won’t be buying a nice house in the area anytime soon. Neighbours of ours are getting ready to move to the central coast in order to buy their own place which got me looking into the real estate up there.

The houses and the location look like amazing value for money. I’d have to commute into work each day which would be a drag but could probably handle it in order to be able to buy such a nice place within budget.

The more research I do online though, the more I hear about dodgy schools, crime rates and hoards of unemployed bogans. Having never even been north of palm beach for a weekend away (yet) I have nothing to base my opinions on other than what I read online.

I know a few raiders live on the central coast and would love to hear some opinions of a good area for a family to buy into and commute in to work. My boy is 7, so a decent public primary school would be a must.

The idea of living so close to the water is a huge plus for me but wouldn’t do it at the cost of my family’s safety.

We’re currently in West Ryde which we find very comfortable if that’s anything to compare against.

Cheers,

Linc

[REBSS]

Hi Linc, After a separation I moved up to Umina beach from Nth Ryde for the property prices and do not regret it onebit. The crime rate is fine, I haven't had a prob in 9 years. There are dodgy places with high crime rate, unemployment etc etc, but you also have that in Sydney areas. My neighbours kids catch a ferry over to Palm Beach and go to school there. The commute to Sydney isn't so bad, mind you I work in Hornsby and it takes me about 50 mins. I have guys at work who live in Sydney and spend more time than me on the roads. I picked Umina as it was close to Sydney and also close to the beach and waterways. I am also 10 mins away from Brisbane water and the Hawkesbury which is perfect for boating.

Cheers

[Linc]

Hi Linc, After a separation I moved up to Umina beach from Nth Ryde for the property prices and do not regret it onebit. The crime rate is fine, I haven't had a prob in 9 years. There are dodgy places with high crime rate, unemployment etc etc, but you also have that in Sydney areas. My neighbours kids catch a ferry over to Palm Beach and go to school there. The commute to Sydney isn't so bad, mind you I work in Hornsby and it takes me about 50 mins. I have guys at work who live in Sydney and spend more time than me on the roads. I picked Umina as it was close to Sydney and also close to the beach and waterways. I am also 10 mins away from Brisbane water and the Hawkesbury which is perfect for boating.

Cheers

Thanks for the input Rebss, Umina is actually one of the places we were focusing our search on so far, it looks like a great spot.

Interesting about the ferry to palm beach for school, that could be a good option. Thanks again.

Any tips on certain parts of the peninsula to steer clear of?

[Ray R]

Mate the central coast is no worse than Sydney areas or anywhere for that matter, I have lived here for 30 years and a part time liver and holidayer for the other 25 years of my life.

I did commute for 10 years but that was back in 80s, 90,s.

I see a lot of Sydney holiday makers and they are surprised at how easy going it is up here and pleasant the people are.

This is still the kind of place where you actually get to know people, like being recognised in the street or wave from an oncoming car, they even give way to you on the streets up here, not a lot of rushing going on.

Park your car in the car park and still there when you get back don't even lock it sometimes.

Schools are great, no probs with my 2 going all the way through, both finished now with good jobs..

Anyway good luck with your quest but for me 5 mins is as far as I want to be from the water..

[Linc]

Thanks Mako, Some really reassuring words there, Kincumber was another of the places on our radar, there's some beautiful properties around there up on the market at the moment.

[Gibsonblues]

Hey Linc . . .

Much the same as the others here mate . . .lived here for 35 years (25 years @ North Entrance & 10years @Terrigal) and came for holidays as a lad with the family for the other 15 or so.

Nothing to complain about as a resident here . . . seen a lot change for the good and the bad . . either way its home to me.

Did commute to the city for work for a many years and the trip down the F3 or M1 as its called now isnt that bad unless an accident has closed more than one lane down . . . . but once you cross the Hawksbury River on the way home its the best feeling to finally leave all the hustle and bustle behind you.

Goodluck in the pursuit

Regards Gibson

[oz_brett]

I realy hope it stays just the way it is, Ive already bought a house there as an investment until I am able to move there.... be seeing you locals in a couple of years!

[Linc]

thanks for the info guys getting excited browsing the real estate thats available there

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[spaners]

The Central Coast is a great place to live and bring up a family. There are bogans on the coast but there are bogans in some Sydney suburbs also.My advice is to come up a lot and have a good look around.Go to Erina fair then go to Westfield at Tuggerah.....Umina and Kincumber are are nice,but Kincumber will add a bit of extra time on your travel.

If you want a list of bogan areas pm me as I dont want to offend the nice people who live in those areas.

[davebrewer]

You don't mean the blowins at Terrigal on the weekends do you Whiting?

Pick your school well and monitor your kids' peergroups as they grow up, the youth drug and alcohol problem is certainly just as prevalent here as anywhere else,and with high youth unemployment they will benefit from a good education and strong work ethic.Of course fishing and outdoor activity(plenty of top bushwalking choices) is a great grounding,anything that keeps them away from screens(fishfinders and GPS excepted) and bloody social media.

[Linc]

anything that keeps them away from screens(fishfinders and GPS excepted) and bloody social media.

Love it! Just got myself a touch screen Simrad unit so the training that the young fella has had on the ipad can now be converted to good use

[Jewhunter]

Just a side note to Dave B & Linc.

Mako, Whiting, Morwong, Flathead etc relates to the number of posts a member

has made & is NOT their user name.

You will notice that you are both flathead. 'Ray R' is a Mako. 'Wher'd all the fish go' is a whiting.

Cheers,

Grant.

[outdoordan]

Hahaha.... I was starting to think everyone had come down with some wierd case of "fish turrets syndrome".

Thanks yellowfin tuna, moderator

cheers, Snapper

[Linc]

Just a side note to Dave B & Linc.

Mako, Whiting, Morwong, Flathead etc relates to the number of posts a member

has made & is NOT their user name.

You will notice that you are both flathead. 'Ray R' is a Mako. 'Wher'd all the fish go' is a whiting.

Cheers,

Grant.

Ah thanks, I didn't notice I called Ray Mako, First and last time I promise

[Jewhunter]

Hahaha.... I was starting to think everyone had come down with some wierd case of "fish turrets syndrome".

Thanks yellowfin tuna, moderator

cheers, Snapper

:074:

[davebrewer]

Whoops-cheers Grant.Need more coffee.

[Catchin Jack]

The coast is nice BUT it is becoming over populated with lack of infrastructure, it's also getting the "sydney mentality".

Further north is quite nice but again growing rapidly, public transport is ok and not to long except when there's track works or fires.

[Bruce the Postie]

Before you settle on any property have a chat with the local postie,he will put you straight on the area,street,neighbours etc(this should apply to any area).

Cheers,

Bruce.

[Linc]

Before you settle on any property have a chat with the local postie,he will put you straight on the area,street,neighbours etc(this should apply to any area).

Cheers,

Bruce.

That sounds like good advice bruce, I'll have to stalk him when we settle on a certain area

[pogsy]

I moved from Sydney to kincumber about 5 years ago and we still feel like we're on holidays.we picked kincumber as its central to Gosford erina fair and the beaches. im Lucky as I scored a job in Gosford (20 mins drive) but I can imagine the commute would get annoying and parking is ok before 630 am.Theres good schools if you are willing to pay. Some of the public schools have very bad reps, but not all.But really the main thing is the fishing, umpteen boat ramps,and miles of water to explore. Good luck mate

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[elferoz777]

Have you considered the South Coast?

The commute is about 20 mins less (in heading to Central) and the crime rate is reasonable.

I had mates that I used to work with in the rail way and they said that Umina beach is like mount Druitt by the sea........not sure whether that is a good or a bad thing as I have never been to either place.

I did hear some horror stories from their daily commute on the train though.......

I would say it would be no less worse than Wollongong and surrounding areas.

Unemployment is higher because people in these types of cities refuse to commute for work.

I would rent for a bit if I were you.

At least you have an out of you land in a dodge area.

[Testlab]

It's terrible up here, really awful. If takes me 5 mins to walk and launch the dinghy to row out to the Sea Ray and I only have 5 boat ramps within 10 mins drive for the trailer boat. The damn kids down the street annoy me by trying to help me drag the dinghy out. There is so much alcohol that the guys visiting our local wharf keep giving it to me when I wander down to see if anythings on the chew. There is the skeleton of a 100cm fatty nailed to the pole down the street. Someone added a second one two weeks later. Bloody vandals.

Seriously it's that bad. Stay away.

We moved up here 22 years ago. Spent 20 of that up near Tuggerah Lakes and then moved to the other end near Empire Bay. Raising three kids, all born up here and apart from the problems every public school faces I can't say any stand out as places to avoid. There are problems with bogans but it's probably far less of a problem than in other places around Sydney and they seem to keep to their own kind. Crime doesn't seem any worse than anywhere else.

I have commuted for 22 years and if you are a normal, considerate and capable driver it's fine. But you need patience and forgiveness because there are times other people can really annoy you on the M1/F3 and you can't retaliate like a tool. It's too dangerous for everybody.

The trains are far better than they used to be but unless you work near a northern line station or the city then forget it. The time to connect and move further afield is ridiculous. I work in Dural and it takes roughly 75 mins drive if I time it to miss peak hour. By public transport it takes (without taxis) over 3 hours.

Housing is a mix of old blue collar workers holiday/retirement style bungalows through to multi million waterfronts. There is a generational change happening... The retirees of the 70s and 80s are dying and the houses being sold by their inheritors, renovated or demolished. A lot of people who can't buy investment properties in Sydney are flocking up here as are their children (who are priced out of owner-occupying in Sydney) but they turn their noses up at the cheaper 50s and 60s type housing and the non-city centric lifestyle. If you like clubbing and city nightlife you won't find it up here but it is only a train ride away. So there are good bargains.

As for fishing, there isn't any. None. The Brisbane Water entrance is home to the The Kracken (see Pirates of the Caribbean) so only the brave ever venture through there and the edge of the world is known to exist somewhere in Broken Bay (way else would it be broken... duh). It's a shame really, you'd think the pristine headlands would hold piscatorial interest but unfortunately they don't. Hundreds look there every week but nobody have ever admitted to catching anything. They do keep carting eskys away with samples for research but there's no fish.

There was a lot of interest in an area offshore called The Flathead Grounds but archeologists discovered it was a Neanderthal settlement drowned by rising sea levels.

As I said, stay away, it's awful. 22 years ago I said I'll leave as soon as I find somewhere better.

[Linc]

Great write up Testlab, you should be a writer for a travel magazine

It really seems like it comes down to the commute and whether I can handle that. At the moment my office is in Wentworthville but will be moving in the next six months to "somewhere closer to the CBD between Wenty and the CBD" so that could be just about anywhere, but hopefully wouldn't change the drive all that much. I could handle 75 mins drive, maybe 90 on a bad day but I wouldn't want to be driving much more than 75 mins each way, would you say I'd be on the road more than that on an average day for Wenty (and closer in on the same latitude?

[Yowie]

elferoz,

Some parts of Nowra are 'Campbelltown-by-the-sea'. A copper from Nowra told me he would like to put a moat containing crocodiles between Nowra and Campbelltown.

As a kid and teenager, I fished Lake Illawarra a lot (from grandparents caravan around Windang) not too many problems back then.

Same with the Central Coast, some bad areas and some good areas.

For those considering moving to another location by-the-sea, have a drive around the area for a day or 2 where you are thinking of moving, so you can see the locals in action, quality of the houses and occupants, speak to people in businesses and coffee shops, observe the locals walking the streets, etc.

[martymonsta]

I lived in Umina from 1990 - 2001 (aged 15-26) and commuted to Sydney for most of that, education as well as work. This was before the upgrades to the F3 meaning that traffic was worse back then.

As a parent you would put up with the daily commute but after 10 years it got to me and later settled in Sydney (mind you I'm considering relocating to Port Macquarie next year). I found as a teenager growing up pretty boring for the area but you probably get that everywhere. It's where I developed my love for fishing though and Brissie Waters was (and still is) a great place to fish.

Good luck with the move.

Marty