Adelaide suburb advice needed

[Robbie_P]

Hi guys,

We are currently living in Pasadena and we really enjoy the area. Although an older area, its pretty central and convenient for us (work, beach, kids activities etc)

As we are fairly new to Adelaide and are not really familiar with suburbs further out, I was wondering if you guys had any advice on the below suburbs:

Hallet Cove

Sheidow Park

Trott Park

Happy Valley

Woodcroft

Reynella

Port Noarlunga

Seaford Rise

We are currently renting, but feel that for the rent we currently paying we could probably be paying off a mortgage in the areas I mentioned above, which is why we may consider buying something next year in these suburbs.

I work in Unley (Greenhill Road) and my wife works in the CBD. My kids (1 and 3 years old) both go to a Wanslea Daycare in Kingswood.

Any advice on these suburbs will be much appreciated. Some things we would want to consider are:

1: Transport to work (Unley and the CBD). We happy to drive, get public transport (train or bus) or even cycle. Im a keen cyclists and would be more than happy to do the occasional cycle (provided its a safe route)

2: Schools in these suburbs (public and private)

3: Places of interests / Shopping Centres etc.

We were actually in Port Noarlunga (briefly) a few months back and we really liked the feel of it. It felt very quaint and different. It also had a stunning beach.

Look forward to hearing from you guys.

Regards,

Robbie

[miraclebabycaw]

Hi Robbie

We are in Seaford Rise and have lived here for approx 7 months. I'm not sure about Trott Park but here is what I know/have seen of the rest.

Happy Valley/Reynella. Happy Valley has bigger plots and is not too bad. Reynella is much older and one of the areas the "Southerners" tell you to stay away from. Nothing really wrong there from what I can see but seem to have a lot of Bogans there. Have a look at Flagstaff hill as well. This is a more "upmarket" area within nice hills and reasonable. Only issue with flagstaff hill is that there is only really one road in and one road out so it can be a bit busy (I don't know though how busy during peak seasons). There isn't a train through here though so you would have to catch buses or travel by car from here.

Woodcroft - Some really nice houses, some really old houses,but newer than the likes of Reynella

Port Noarlunga and Seaford Rise -PN is up and coming. Some also really old houses and some new modern properties. They are trying to bring the area up now. Divine beach and snorkling in summer. SR has bigger and better properties I think although the "new" estates at seaford meadows are small, but modern. We have a really nice large 4 bedroom house with big rooms and pay $400 a week in rent.We could get a decent house in these areas with 4 bedrooms for around $400 000. You should also look at Moana which is alongside Seaford Rise

Hallett Cove/Sheidow Park - I'm biased because I love Hallett Cove and would love to live there. More expensive than PN and Seaford Rise.Beach is not a swimming beach really..or rather it has pebbles not sand, but it's a "hilly" area and just very pretty. Sheidow Park is just across the main road and is a bit cheaper but just as nice. Of course no sea views but you are still close.

In terms of work, PN, Seaford and Hallett Cove and surrounds are all going to be on the train routes come the new year so getting into the city on Public Transport will be easy and faster than the bus. Out to Unley via public would mean though a train in and then a bus out. Travelling by car would be your fastest and is about a 30-40min drive. I Travel up to Payneham every day from Seaford. Takes me 50min in the am and just over an hour in the PM. Will b a bit quicker once the Southern Express way is finished and you can travel the full 100km per hour. Am not sure about from Hallett Cove area but I do have friends there that travel to Kent Town and Rose Park every day and they say it is fine. All other areas you have access to the Southern Express way. I travel this route then up Goodwood and onto Cross every morning and the traffic flows quickly.

wrt schooling..The primary schools in the areas are fine. Port Noarlunga Primary is good. If you live in Moana kids can go to Moana primary which I have heard is excellent but is zoned. Hallett Cove schools are also good. These are all public. There is also really good Lutheran, Catholic and Inter denominational schools like Southern Vales Christian College. High School is a bit harder if you want to go public. Private there is a couple of really good one's in the Mid price range. Public.....hmmmm I have an issue with all the public high schools down here but that is me. Others have been happy.

There are LOADS of really great areas to cycle through down here, and of course along the beachfront. Far too far to cycle to work though from all the areas you mentioned.

Collonades is a big shopping centre in PN. Hallett Cove also has a shopping centre, as does Seaford albeit a bit smaller than Collonades. They are busy building a new big one though in the Seaford Area.

HTH

Shout if you want more info. We are also looking at buying next year and trying to decide

[Robbie_P]

Thanks for all the advice, MUCH appreciated.

Out of interest, do you have any idea:

1: how long the train to the city will take from Seaford, PN or Hallett Cove?

2: when the South Expressway roadworks are due to bed completed?

Once again, thanks for all the feedback

[miraclebabycaw]

I believe there are express trains that take approx 40min from PN (prob 45 from Seaford when it opens in the new year) and 30min from Hallett Cove. The advantage of the train is I believe that they have a special bicycle compartment or something and a lot of people catch the train in and then ride their bikes from the train to their respective works. This is what I have heard. We arrived last December and the trains closed in Jan so I haven't seen it in action.

The Southern Expressway roadworks are going to still be a little while yet..I think till end of next year. That portion currently takes 20min to cover from start to finish if you follow the speed limits (mainly 60 and in some places 80). I think it would still take about 15min once it's open

[wiltonest]

I believe there are express trains that take approx 40min from PN (prob 45 from Seaford when it opens in the new year) and 30min from Hallett Cove. The advantage of the train is I believe that they have a special bicycle compartment or something and a lot of people catch the train in and then ride their bikes from the train to their respective works. This is what I have heard. We arrived last December and the trains closed in Jan so I haven't seen it in action.

The Southern Expressway roadworks are going to still be a little while yet..I think till end of next year. That portion currently takes 20min to cover from start to finish if you follow the speed limits (mainly 60 and in some places 80). I think it would still take about 15min once it's open

The trains will be back from Noarlunga next month and the trains will be running from Seaford from the middle of next year. The standard travel time from Noarlunga to the city was 40 minutes and the express trains took 29 minutes. Add 5 minutes on when the Seaford link is up and running.

[Robbie_P]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the advice..

At the end of it all, we ended up buying in Flagstaff Hill as we decided that we wanted to be close to where we currently renting (Pasadena) and also wanted to be close to my work in the city (well Unley).

Managed to find a property of a decent size block, +1000sqm, although the garden is terraced. We only about 12km from my office in Unley and 15km from the CBD.

Settlement is in 3 weeks

Cheers,

Robbie

Edited October 21, 2013 by Robbie_P