Where to rent - North, South, East, West?

[ashorr]

My British partner and I are relocating to Adelaide in November. I'm Australian but have never been to Adelaide so could really use some tips on which suburbs/areas to focus on looking for rentals.

We're both in our late-20s, and need to be within a 30 minute cycle to Adelaide Uni, and preferably also within walking distance of a train station. 

We'd prefer a detached house with a bit of yard for our cat and would ideally be walking distance to a nice brunch spot. I've seen some beautiful renovated early 1900's houses on realestate.com.au in places like Prospect and Thebarton, but really don't know enough about the districts (North, North-West, West etc) to know what they're like or which other suburbs to add into the search - I've mostly just done it by looking at a map so far! 

 

Thanks

[snifter]

Hello and welcome. 

If you want a cycle route then I'd suggest a starting point of the cycleway that runs along most of the tram line from Glenelg to the CBD and the suburbs off that. No train station but it is on the tram route which runs often and is air conditioned in summer. TBH Adelaide doesn't have a big train network and so your options there would be limited. 

We used to live in Glenelg and would often cycle into the city along the bike path and it was great to use. 12km or so. Its a flat easy ride other than going over one bridge but its not a hard bridge to cycle over at all. And in wet or cold weather or if going for a trip out, we could hop on the tram. Glenelg has Jetty Rd and lots of cafes, restaurants, bars and so on and is a popular place to socialise. It also has a stunning beach and other facilities (cinema, good range of shops, parks and the marina. Plus lots of events go on in and around there over the year. 

Info on the bike path here

http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/infrastructure_projects/greenways_project/greenways_project/mike_turtur_bikeway

The suburbs you mention tend to be pretty pricey because of their proximity to the CBD. Also rentals may well turn out to be investment properties so the landlord is just sitting on the house and letting it go to crap while they wait for their moment to sell, sub divided or rumble and rebuild. And you'd be paying a fair whack for them. Decent up together properties as you may well want would probably be the premium price and in demand. There are plenty of options further out too if you look around. 

Re garden and cat. Be aware that there is a push here to keep cats within your own yard or indoors. While you can have a cat that can roam outdoors, many people are not happy about this because of the damage to native wildlife. Lots of people have cat runs or cat proof fencing that cats cannot jump over. Apparently new by laws are coming in soon so keep an eye on those.

http://goodcatsa.com/cat-by-laws

Also certain councils already have things in place re chipping and de sexing

http://goodcatsa.com/cat-by-laws

I won't recommend specific suburbs as tbh there are many to choose from that would suit your needs. End of the day, your budget and wish/want list will be what you go out from. 

I'd suggest taking a short term furnished rental for a few weeks when you arrive to enable you to get your bearings, check out suburbs, go to some opens. Rentals are often later afternoon, early evening opens for 30 mins or so and open house. 

 

 

[NicF]

For cycling I'd actually recommend somewhere along the Torrens.  That would bring you right to the back of Adelaide Uni.  Not sure why you want a train station near by - if you are going to be 30 minutes by bike then a bus route would be quick enough.  I'd only be considering train stations if I lived further out than a 30 minute bike ride (unless you ride super quick).  If you go North East along the Torrens you could make use of the O-Bahn, which is basically a bus on rails.

As I always suggest, I would get a short term rental somewhere central and have a drive round a few places to get a feel for them.  What seems to tick all the boxes on paper doesn't always feel right when you get there.  

[llessur]

Would highly recommend Bowden, Croydon or possibly Woodville etc along the Outer Harbor rail line. 15 mins by bike, 7 mins by train from Croydon - less from Bowden, slightly more from Woodville. Really easy access until the CBD by any mode of transport, off-road cycle path from Croydon all the way into the heart of the city. I've put suburb guides on here for Bowden & Croydon.