rohanhet

Rhodes is one of those suburbs that tend to draw very polarised views - obvious from the various reviews here on this site. Having read through other reviews and having now lived in Rhodes for over 1 year (bought a waterfront apartment) I can understand both sides of opinions.

For myself - moving to Rhodes has been one of the best decisions and I do love living here. There are very few places that are literally 5 minutes to public transport (train station, public buses), 5 minutes from a major (yet not too big!) shopping complex, waterviews with gorgeous scenes of sunsets (if facing the west), amazing walking pathways and walking distance to several parklands - all of this 20 minutes from the Sydney city. For myself - a young professional (who often struggles finding more hours in a day) - it is the convenience of Rhodes that is its greatest asset!

The crowd you find in Rhodes is very much professionals; older retirees and young couples. I do have to agree with most that it is overly priced - both in buying and renting. However in being so it does filter the type of people that reside here - the majority are very conscious in keeping the place clean. I've never had issues with safety or hoons - I often go for jogs late evening on the west facing walking track. There is always a vibrant feel at this time with others going for runs / cycles, walking their dogs, playing with their kids in the park - a great community and family sense about the place.

Although I live in an apartment I find Rhodes extremely quiet! In fact in the first few months when I first moved to Rhodes I found it eerily quiet .. too quiet! I had to always put on the tv just to have some sense of activity.

So why such contrasting views about Rhodes?

The comments by some about Rhodes being dirty and smelly: The council does a great job in keeping Rhodes clean, but yes trolleys being left in the streets is a problem. This is because local residents live walking distance to the Mirvac shopping centre and simply bring trolleys of their shopping home - usually from Coles or Ikea (and I have to admit to doing this too!) But it isn't so bad as there is a nightly trolley pick-up to get these stray trolleys.

Comments about the smell of Rhodes - when I first came to Rhodes at times I couldn't help but notice a distinct smell about the place at certain times. This 'smell' comes at low tide - the smell from the Mangroves and swamplands nearby. It isn't at all that bad and is only evident at low tide. It's the smell of nature! I'd prefer this any day to the smell from polluted congested traffic.

Comments about polluted water - yes Rhodes was built on commercial factories and it has been well documented the toxic levels of the water. This is well on the improve. The half yearly reports which come out show the water has improved considerably and is now at the same pollution level as water in the Darling Harbour. (At one stage I had heard it was twice as bad). It is now not uncommon to see pelicans, crabs and exotic sea birds on the Rhodes water while walking along the waterside path! On weekends there are even the local dragon boat crew training on the waters.

Some apartment blocks are better managed and are more cleanly than others. I can only comment on my own and state I've never had issues with untidy neighbours. Within my own complex the neighbours very much keep to themselves. The strata fees are around $1K per quarter which isn't too bad. (I was considering buying at Breakfast Point previously and was told the average strata was up to $2K).

Street parking is an issue in Rhodes. All streets have a 2 hr parking limit till 7pm. The shopping centre offers 3 hr free parking as an alternative.

I must admit I have questions over the new apartment complexes coming up on the north side of Rhodes. I have doubts how well the planning has been managed in this area as some complexes are boasting 25 stories high. This is much different from the apartments closer to the shopping side which are on average about 6 stories high.

Another problem with Rhodes is the internet options. Telstra has a monopoly on the suburb (with resale options available via TPG and other smaller ISPs) and only DSL is available (don't even consider wireless broadband!). Being located 4k from the Concord exchange the speeds are quite average (think ~200-400kpbs. Compare this to the avg 1Mbps I was getting while living in Parramatta.) Once NBN is rolled out however this will no longer be a problem.

So in all - yes there are aspects of Rhodes which are on the down, but overall in my opinion the advantages of Rhodes greatly outway its down sides making it a great, vibrant, family friendly, convenient place to live!