Best places to live near to beaches

[Kooky]

I know this really varies person to person but can anyone recommend a place that isn't too big a suburb (we like semi rural in England) but is easily accessible to beaches, hills and possibly the city? We would like to be close to very good schools (not private) and we have a friend in flagstaff hill so close to her would be a bonus. We don't want to be living on a massive estate but appreciate that is appears a lot if the suburbs are like this so maybe need to be on the edge of one? We have 2 young boys (4&6) so school is really the most important thing.

 

Any ideas so we can start to look for houses?

[guspjmh]

I love Port Noarlunga, (it seems most people on here do!) which has a beatiful beach and jetty, good shopping locally, access to city by train (about 40 min drive). The primary school is very good, and cardijn is a good senior school, but is fee paying (not extortionate).

[Guest Guest75]

No "one size fits all" answer but you may want to look at areas from Hallett Cove down to say Seaford / Moana - and inland from there for a start.

 

Not too much commute ,near beaches but backed by the hills. Not too crowded and still affordable.

 

Big area I know!

[snifter]

I'm not overly smitten with Flagstaff Hill but if you are in that area or Aberofyle Park there are some great primary schools and a very good high school (check zone for this). Also Happy Valley opens up a couple more good primary school choices but the high school that covers that zone doesn't seem to have such a a good rep when I've asked around. Coromandel Valley is also nice but its perhaps more inland than you might want.

 

What I like about parts of Aberfoyle Park and Happy Valley is if you around the edges you do feel more rural as you can be out on a reserve pretty quick or into the hills and also lots of open spaces, parks, gully walks and trails and so on. I don't find this so much in Flagstaff hill. But you'd be close to your friend around there and not too far to get to beaches either further down south or heading in closer to the city.

 

I like some of the southern coastal suburbs but living near the beach isn't a priority for us and tbh I prefer the trees and hills scenery and setting more than the more flat beach area. Hallet Cove is nice but again for us, beach not important and tbh I find it a bit lacking in greenery (yes it has trees and park space etc but not quite the same feel and look as more inland nearer the hills) although the little hills of it all are nice. Less choice open to you for primary school although you can travel of course (so long as not zoned).

Edited March 23, 2014 by snifter
added a bit more blurb

[Diane]

Have a look at suburbs around Belair - Blackwood, Hawthorndene, Glenalta - you have the advantages of a nice semi-rural setting, esy access to the city for work, easy access to the beaches (about 15 mins from Brighton), some good village-type shopping centres, plus access to big malls like Marion for major shopping, plus excellent primary and high state schools. The further away from the city you get, the less choice of schools you get - wherever you choose you may have to sacrifice some of your requirements: Belair and surrounds might be a little further from the beaches than you were hoping for, but go closer to the beaches and you will sacrifice choice and quality of state schools, and ease of access in to the city for work/culture etc.

[jimmyskinner]

Grange.......

[Guest Guest12727]

Grange.......

 

Not exactly semi-rural, which is what OP asked for.

[jimmyskinner]

Not exactly semi-rural, which is what OP asked for.

Mmmm I only read the title.

[zebedee]

We are enjoying McLaren Vale very much as a good mix of being a distinct separate town, semi rural, still only 10 minutes from the beach....but, it is just that bit further out and the commute into the city is quite long (though getting better with infrastructure improvements).

[NicF]

Not all suburbs are massive estates, or feel like massive estates. I've tried to upload a picture of the street I live on, not sure if it has worked though. Definitely don't feel like I'm on a massive estate here. I feel like I'm right on the edge of civilisation and yet I'm still 9km from the CBD. Not so handy for the beach though as you have to either drive through the CBD or around it.

 

I would be wary of the southern suburbs as these are likely to be the growth areas. Especially once the train line and express way are sorted out. What seems semi rural now may well be part of a massive estate or suburban sprawl in 10 years time. I would look at places like Eden Hills, Blackwood, Banksia Park, Tea Tree Gully and Vista. All lovely places with easy access to everything but a very rural feel.

 

For schools check out http://house.ksou.cn (also has suburb information). This site gives a table of all the schools 2011 Naplan results for years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It also has information about each school and the suburbs they are in. Excellent site for looking in to suburbs and things.

[zebedee]

Not all suburbs are massive estates, or feel like massive estates. I've tried to upload a picture of the street I live on, not sure if it has worked though. Definitely don't feel like I'm on a massive estate here. I feel like I'm right on the edge of civilisation and yet I'm still 9km from the CBD. Not so handy for the beach though as you have to either drive through the CBD or around it.

 

I would be wary of the southern suburbs as these are likely to be the growth areas. Especially once the train line and express way are sorted out. What seems semi rural now may well be part of a massive estate or suburban sprawl in 10 years time. I would look at places like Eden Hills, Blackwood, Banksia Park, Tea Tree Gully and Vista. All lovely places with easy access to everything but a very rural feel.

 

For schools check out http://house.ksou.cn (also has suburb information). This site gives a table of all the schools 2011 Naplan results for years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It also has information about each school and the suburbs they are in. Excellent site for looking in to suburbs and things.

 

A fair comment about the south....its expanding for sure. I think Seaford is getting the most. Another reason we picked McLaren Vale as the area is protected from urban sprawl....for a good thirty years at least. Same with the Barossa. I really like Athelstone too with the hills on your doorstep....and still quite affordable. Check out Old Noarlunga too....I dont think much more building is likely there as its heritage. Very pretty.

[Kooky]

Not all suburbs are massive estates, or feel like massive estates. I've tried to upload a picture of the street I live on, not sure if it has worked though. Definitely don't feel like I'm on a massive estate here. I feel like I'm right on the edge of civilisation and yet I'm still 9km from the CBD. Not so handy for the beach though as you have to either drive through the CBD or around it.

 

I would be wary of the southern suburbs as these are likely to be the growth areas. Especially once the train line and express way are sorted out. What seems semi rural now may well be part of a massive estate or suburban sprawl in 10 years time. I would look at places like Eden Hills, Blackwood, Banksia Park, Tea Tree Gully and Vista. All lovely places with easy access to everything but a very rural feel.

 

For schools check out http://house.ksou.cn (also has suburb information). This site gives a table of all the schools 2011 Naplan results for years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It also has information about each school and the suburbs they are in. Excellent site for looking in to suburbs and things.

 

Where abouts are you NicF? Certainly doesn't look like a sandwiched in massive estate! Looks great.

[NicF]

Where abouts are you NicF? Certainly doesn't look like a sandwiched in massive estate! Looks great.

 

I'm in Rostrevor. Bits of the suburb are more estate like than others, but the bit where I am is very not estate like. At the end of our road there is a tree lined path that brings you out at Morialta conservation park picnic area and just a couple of blocks down from us is a creek that runs right through the suburb. It's not to everyone's taste and I rarely recommend it as a place to live but I love it here.

[Guest Guest12727]

I'm in Rostrevor. Bits of the suburb are more estate like than others, but the bit where I am is very not estate like. At the end of our road there is a tree lined path that brings you out at Morialta conservation park picnic area and just a couple of blocks down from us is a creek that runs right through the suburb. It's not to everyone's taste and I rarely recommend it as a place to live but I love it here.

 

The older more established suburbs along the foothills tend to be like this. The blocks are larger with lots of established trees, which means it feels more rural, even though you are close to the city.

We are in Highbury, not far from Rostrevor and just the other side of the river from Athelstone. From the back of our house, and our entertaining area we have lovely view of the hills and big gums in a reserve.

 

The newer suburbs have smaller blocks although they still have more character than most UK estates as the houses in the street tend to vary in style. This is changing a bit with some of the new developments, that are building rows of houses, but they tend to be situated around squares etc, providing a point of interest.

 

The foothill locations are about 20mins to 40mins to beaches. So it depends on your definition of close.

[Kooky]

This is really helpful. Thanks everyone. Apart from getting the first time buyer grant for a new build does anyone think it is better to get a newbuild? Also do any of the builders build on small sites? And also anyone got any experience of finding an independent builder and buying a plot of land somewhere? (Or any thoughts on this from people out there?)

[snifter]

If building don't buy a new build off the block on a small site imho. Most I've seen are not great, terrible layout and overpriced for what they actually are. They might look lovely but often we have found corners cut, shoddy finish, paper thin walls and so on.

Lots of developers squish 2,3 even 4 houses on a block where one once stood.

[guspjmh]

We are currently living in a Rivergum home which was built in 2010. I would not recommend it at all. The roof is made of a cheap tin that rattles in the rain, there is no sound insulation and generally it's like living in an oversized beach hut. It looks beautiful from the outside, and is finished nicely within, but these aesthetic positives are what they use to sell pretty shoddy homes in my opinion. The prices are higher on new homes, despite them being of incredibly poor build quality.

 

We've arranged to buy an older house which is double brick and I cannot wait to get into a properly built house again!

[kadina]

Yes Rostrevor is very nice, love the Morialta conservations park, we used to live in Athelstone, also equally as nice xxx

 

I'm in Rostrevor. Bits of the suburb are more estate like than others, but the bit where I am is very not estate like. At the end of our road there is a tree lined path that brings you out at Morialta conservation park picnic area and just a couple of blocks down from us is a creek that runs right through the suburb. It's not to everyone's taste and I rarely recommend it as a place to live but I love it here.

[snifter]

Where abouts are you NicF? Certainly doesn't look like a sandwiched in massive estate! Looks great.

 

None of the areas I've seen here look anything remotely close to a UK style 'estate'.

 

I think of them as suburbs yes, but not estates or anything close to that as we think of in the UK. Most of the houses in any one street all look different, have different styles, layouts, landspace and so on. Nothing so uniform and bog standard as a Wimpy estate or Barrat homes in the UK.

 

Pretty much every suburb we have viewed houses in has had its plus and negative sides, they all do. Its working out what is best for you and what you can or will compromise on if need be. I love some of the eastern suburbs and we are looking in a few of them but we tend to find the property within our budget is less well maintained or definately in need of doing up before wanting to live in it long term. Most need new kitchens, carpeting/flooring/decorating and bathrooms. They are all stuck in a 70's (some earlier) timewarp and its not what we want to live in. If we went higher price wise we'd get something more up to date cosmetically but we don't really want to go an extra $30-50,000. I also am finding that many of these houses don't have the extra family room living space. Being built in the 50's or 60's they tend to have the kitchen, dining room and lounge room is all. Some have a fmaily room but its often a thin walled extension room on the back of the house that again needs work to bring it up to scratch for us. We also prefer the more modern open plan living space and find the older houses in the east often don't have that or if they do, its because walls have been knocked down to make it happen. And then for me often the flow of that doesn't work as if its actually built that way to begin with, if that makes sense.

 

We are concentrating our search over about 6 suburbs/areas or so between Glenalta, Hawthorndene, Eden Hills to Coromandel Valley and into Flagstaff Hill (this is the one suburb I am far less keen on overall and so tend to only view houses there if they really look good and tick all the boxes), Aberfoyle Park and perhaps into Happy Valley a ways. We are also keeping an eye on property in and around Stirling, Bridgewater, Aldgate and a few others small places up there. I've done my homework on school options and hubby has no commute so we can be really flexible on where we buy.

[guspjmh]

None of the areas I've seen here look anything remotely close to a UK style 'estate'.

 

I think of them as suburbs yes, but not estates or anything close to that as we think of in the UK. Most of the houses in any one street all look different, have different styles, layouts, landspace and so on. Nothing so uniform and bog standard as a Wimpy estate or Barrat homes in the UK.

 

Pretty much every suburb we have viewed houses in has had its plus and negative sides, they all do. Its working out what is best for you and what you can or will compromise on if need be. I love some of the eastern suburbs and we are looking in a few of them but we tend to find the property within our budget is less well maintained or definately in need of doing up before wanting to live in it long term. Most need new kitchens, carpeting/flooring/decorating and bathrooms. They are all stuck in a 70's (some earlier) timewarp and its not what we want to live in. If we went higher price wise we'd get something more up to date cosmetically but we don't really want to go an extra $30-50,000. I also am finding that many of these houses don't have the extra family room living space. Being built in the 50's or 60's they tend to have the kitchen, dining room and lounge room is all. Some have a fmaily room but its often a thin walled extension room on the back of the house that again needs work to bring it up to scratch for us. We also prefer the more modern open plan living space and find the older houses in the east often don't have that or if they do, its because walls have been knocked down to make it happen. And then for me often the flow of that doesn't work as if its actually built that way to begin with, if that makes sense.

 

We are concentrating our search over about 6 suburbs/areas or so between Glenalta, Hawthorndene, Eden Hills to Coromandel Valley and into Flagstaff Hill (this is the one suburb I am far less keen on overall and so tend to only view houses there if they really look good and tick all the boxes), Aberfoyle Park and perhaps into Happy Valley a ways. We are also keeping an eye on property in and around Stirling, Bridgewater, Aldgate and a few others small places up there. I've done my homework on school options and hubby has no commute so we can be really flexible on where we buy.

 

 

I think the newer seaford estates like seaford meadows are very Similar to British estates.

[Guest Guest12727]

We are currently living in a Rivergum home which was built in 2010. I would not recommend it at all. The roof is made of a cheap tin that rattles in the rain, there is no sound insulation and generally it's like living in an oversized beach hut. It looks beautiful from the outside, and is finished nicely within, but these aesthetic positives are what they use to sell pretty shoddy homes in my opinion. !

 

Many Rivergum homes are built as beach shacks and not intended for permanent living.

 

You may regret your double brick home in mid-winter and mid-summer. I hope you don't. but just check your insulation is up to scratch and make this a priority money spend if needed.

[guspjmh]

Many Rivergum homes are built as beach shacks and not intended for permanent living.

 

You may regret your double brick home in mid-winter and mid-summer. I hope you don't. but just check your insulation is up to scratch and make this a priority money spend if needed.

 

 

Got vented ac and heating if things get too bad, with solar to offset bills!

 

the insulation has already been done, not sure how effective it will be...

[guspjmh]

They may be built as beach shacks, but this one sold for near enough £500k to our landlords, and is intended for year round residence. It's incredible really, just a timber frame with some cladding and a tin roof. It's basically a 500 thousand dollar garden shed.

[snifter]

I think the newer seaford estates like seaford meadows are very Similar to British estates.

 

Seaford all the way down south? I don't know that area. Driven through/past it a few times, never stopped. Doesn't appeal to me that far south so don't look there much housing wise.

 

I was meaning the suburbs closer to Adelaide itself tbh. The areas I wrote about certainly don't resemble UK housing estate style.

[Guest NatalieJones]

I would suggest you look Hallett Cove (a large suburb close to Glenelg and City to Sellicks (rural town with no schools or shops but in close proximity to).

Good Luck

Natalie Jones

Edited July 2, 2014 by snifter
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