Carlingford, NSW 2118

A home in Carlingford is a jewel to be had, if you know which home to buy/ rent in the area.

Cant go wrong with a home with the usual: tree-lined street, near station/ transport, school, shops and other convenience. Also nice to be close to a green reserve (privvy) for good recreation option with the dog or the family. Parks and large ovals are also plentiful.

Close to school is great. It will save you from buckling kids in and out of the car.
Wake up, wash your face and off to school gate. Nice to dodge the rush hour traffic and jams. Great for sanity.

Some of the super schools (in no particular order): TARA Girls, James Ruse Agricultural High School, The Kings School, American School, Chatswood West Primary, Murray Farm Primary (Source: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/my-school-primary-2012)

"Maybe its in the water" - Most of the best schools all seemed to be in Carlingford.. Who knows :0)

Golf Course, Tennis Course, Swimming Pool and Fitness First Gym around the area, as well as good parks for weekend's soccer and playgrounds.

Local piano teachers seems to be on the plenty. Violin and chess done at school.

A good pocket in Carlingford can offer a gentle atmosphere for the whole family.

Parramatta CBD is close-by for work purposes and it is home to many daily businesses which may be convenient for many working people or for some serious shopping purposes.

Westfield North Rocks is next suburb away, home to ALDI and all the other everyday convenience

Macquarie Park is another neighbouring suburb, housing many large and famous businesses being offered there.

Macquarie University is not too distant away

Epping is a neat place next suburb away for a quick getaway with its good train line.

Plenty of churches for church goers too. Hillsong is also not far at all, only few suburbs away across the Hills District.

Carlingford's owns its own train station (better than nothing..)

Carlingford Court and Carlingford Village - home to yummy take aways, asian restaurants, KFC, Maccas, cake shops, florist, Coles, Woolies, Target. Home to good, cheap butchers, oriental and herb and spices shops.

Carlingford Pizza Hut and Dominos Pizza are both local. Love pizza and movie nights!

Carlingford Court is home to good doctors, dentist and pharmacies and x-ray places and other medical attention.

Bunnings Carlingford is here too..

Carlingford piano shop, in case you need to buy one.

So.. if it is local to everyday necessities like: food and good schoolings, good sporting and social venues, shopping centres, large parks and reserves, close to work, close to health and medical attention centres, close to CBD..... What else can one want?

So far so good..

It depends where you live in Carlingford. If you live closer to Carlingford Court, you land in the Hornsby Council. If you land closer to North Rocks and on the train station side of Pennant Hills Rd, you get The Hills Shire Council (one of the richest council's in NSW) and if you end up on the other side of Pennant Hills Rd closer to Telopea, you end up with Parramatta Council. If you get Hornsby or the Hills Shire Council, you're in the sweet. Streets are well maintained, no rubbish on the road, great customer service when you need hedges or trees trimmed, renovation approvals, excellent schools (Tara is the most exclusive and expensive girls private school in NSW and further down you've got James Ruse Selective School and The Kings School), shopping centre (Carlingford Court & Village) and well maintained library. And best of all there are NO COUNCIL PICK UP DAYS! You can call the Hills Shire Council and they've got an On Call Kerbside cleanup! So no unsightly garbage dumped on the road near your place which causes pest issues. However, if you get Parramatta council then it's the complete opposite, lots of rubbish, and badly maintained public areas. And Carlingford overall has been re-zoned to medium density, there are a lot of apartments going up. It's starting to look like Unit City. Another issue is street parking is getting ridiculous. Sure you get a garage with your apartment but what happens to your partners car or when friends come over? And you definitely will need a second car as public transport is ridiculous with Carlingford train station being absolutely useless. To get to the city you have to catch the train to Clyde and change platforms to get to the city and in peak hour, you're lucky to get a standing spot. Did I mention trains come once every hour? So because of that, traffic is insane on Pennant Hills Road with bottlenecks happening at Carlingford Rd, Marsden Rd and further up at the motorway (which causes buses to run late if you're trying to get to Epping station to go to the city) cause everyone gives up with public transport and drives every where. Another issue is because of the amount of schools in the area, traffic crawls during school hours. Another thing to keep in mind is that Telopea and Dundas which are suburbs located around the corner and on the same train line is full of housing commissions which means there are "interesting" sounds at night. Other than traffic, it's a really quiet area with lots of families but strangely and unfortunately no childcare centers in the suburb. I haven't heard of any major crimes in the area so it's quite safe. The Fitness First at Carlingford Court is excellent and has an attached swimming pool if you're into fitness. Has several excellent medical centers in the area with x-ray, pathology, optometrists, chemist, physiotherpists and dental care all in walking distance of each other. If you want more than just grocery shopping, there's hours of shopping at Parramatta Westfield, Macquarie Centre, North Rocks Westfield and Castle Towers that is no more than a 20 minute drive. So like every suburb there's good and bad sides but what council you end up with does make a difference. And yes, there are a lot of Asian families in the area who are attracted by the schools, close by universities, large Asian community which means you can get by day to day with knowing limited English and a good quiet suburb which means buying or renting a place in the area is really really overpriced but it does mean cost of living is quite cheap because Asians are cheap when it comes to having to pay for groceries and clothes etc. I know this is a fact, cause I'm Asian. :-)

A quiet place, it's nice to live in Carlingford as long as you stay way from the high voltage powerlines

Carlingford is a leafy region in north-west Sydney with well established houses (giving off a pleasant feel) and quality local schools in the area. With top selective school in the state, James Ruse Agricultural High School, and OC schools such as North Rocks and Carlingford West Public School, the education aspect alone ranks Carlingford as one of the most liveable places. Department stores and groceries shops can be located in Carlingford Court, with other supplies in Westfield North Rocks, Westfield Parramatta and Macquarie Centre. Transport into the Sydney CBD isn't all too convenient, with the train station's recent shutting down (even before that, the commute was inefficient and slow). You'll have to hitch a bus to nearby Epping or Parramatta station, and take it from there. If you don't commute to the Sydney CBD, but instead Macquarie Park, Parramatta or Ryde (all major employment hubs), then Carlingford becomes much more convenient, with the suburbs being just a stone's throw away.
Residential streets are generally very tranquil, an added bonus considering propinquity to all the aforementioned amenities. New high rise to medium rise developments are revamping (in a sense) Carlingford's property market. Most of these developments are near landscaped parks and reserves, which I can say, Carlingford prides itself on, being at the crossroads of the North Shore, Hills Shire and Parramatta region.
Overall, not a terrible choice, with a profound array of amenities to choose from, and at least, one will cater to you.

Great people, good diversity, comprehensive shopping centre.

some nice houses and people not full of the north shore egocentric types. good mix of professionals. semi pros and trades
great place for families. weekend sport
good school choice. public and private
get in a culdesac and make friends easily- no worries with through traffic. cricket in the street
plenty of shops
centred between work at parramatta, castle hill, bella vista
some great homes backing the bush or parks

Been living in Carlingford for 7 years now (along Pennant Pde). This part of the suburb is very quiet and the neighbours are very considerate and friendly. The recently refurbished Ray Park is a great finishing touch; plenty of fun for the young ones as well as adults especially with the gym equipment that they have installed. Great suburb to walk hassle-free as you can wander into Epping and leafy Beecroft. Public transport over at this side of Carlingford is plentiful with 546, 549 and M54 services. This side of the suburb used to be under Hornsby Shire Council before Parramatta took over. Personally, I have had very good experiences with both councils and both of them have kept the suburb very clean. Hornsby Shire were very responsive to requests. Haven't touched base with Parramatta yet but based on what I see (tree-lopping and street cleaning regularly, improving the bus-stop shelters), they seem pretty good.

Dunrossil Avenue and Alamein Avenue seem to be hotspots for theft and break-ins (on this side of the suburb). This is based on the safety report letter that gets distributed every now and then. I personally have had a break-in many years ago but that was due to us leaving a window open at the back. Since then, we have taken every measure to maintain a low profile. Even though the crime rate is relatively low, I would strongly urge everybody to maintain a low profile and keep all windows shut especially during summer!

Carlingford Court is super handy, however, this place is going to get ridiculously jam packed with traffic especially after all the apartments they have built. Carlingford Court car park is also a hotspot for car break-ins and number-plate snatching and this has increased significantly in the past few years. I just wish they would increase the surveillance in the car park as it is currently non-existent.

So sum it all up - this side of the suburb (Epping/Beecroft side) is very clean, quiet and hassle-free. Take every precaution to secure your house and your car if it is parked on the street (which is common sense). Plenty of amenities for kids and adults.

Good schools, easy shopping, easy access to M2 for driving or buses. Generally and easy place to live. 30 mins to city on M2 buses. Low crime, easy going.

My Wife and I thought of buying here years ago, but quite frankly, who wants to spend close to a million dollars on a 3 bedroom post-war butter box with no garage??

It's a nice suburb, and admittedly there are good schools in the area, but quite frankly, Carlingford, Eastwood, Epping, Denistone etc are overpriced to buggery!

And it's overpriced for one simple reason: The Chinese fascination with a good education for their kids and their mistaken belief in the myth that unless you school your kids in these areas of Sydney, you might as well flush their futures down the toilet!!

And it is just that; a myth that is milked for all it's worth by the Real Estate Agents in the area. At the end of the day, the only people who are smiling at overpriced real estate in these areas are the vendors, Estate Agents and banks.

My Sister is a Teacher, my best mate is a school teacher and head of Modern History, My other best mate's Wife is a school teacher and education coordinator and they all say the same thing; "It doesn't matter what area you school your kids in, as long as they have the right upbringing and the school itself is reasonable.... They will have an equally good chance of getting into University.

I think this is one thing Chinese families need to realise; This is Australia, it isn't China! You don't need to make your kids into competitive, cut-throat, robots and school them in these areas to give them a good chance of success in life! - Hence the ridiculousness of the property prices in these areas.

And before you say; "Typical white anglo-saxon Australian with wallet-envy who doesn't understand Chinese culture" Well, my Wife is from Beijing, and she agrees with me!

Some homes could do with updating. Needs more cafes and restaurants. A nice pub wouldnt go astray either.