Hornsby, NSW 2077

We have lived in Hornsby for 3 years now, on the west Hornsby side. It’s nice and hidden away from the hustle and bustle, when people visit they say they feel like they are in a jungle!
We work in the city so commute, but enjoy coming home to the peaceful space. We have little kookaburras thy visit our backyard daily.
Good access to ammenities, Westfield and Hornsby hospital.

Having rented near Rosemead Road, 20m next to the national park, my experience has been mixed.

WFH
- When I first moved to Hornsby, the nbn was not set up yet and would take a week. WFH was a nightmare as I used Kogan mobile, Amaysim, Woolies mobile as a hotspot (before the nbn was installed) and I had no reception. The internet telstra sim that came with my work laptop didn’t have any reception. Couldn’t take or receive any calls unless I walked out of the house to the road. Only Telstra works in this area if you want to receive calls, so no cheap mobile services can be used here. Very challenging time when I was looking for a new job and couldn’t receive any calls.
- NBN was also a bit patchy and would drop out with certain providers.

Humidity
- Bought many humidity meters (hygrometers) for the house. Averaged 75%-80% most of the time , which is very high humidity. Mould started growing on my leather bags, shoes, even if they were stored away in boxes or luggages.
- The white walls appeared dark during winter. It was previously badly wiped over by the owner in an attempt to hide the, you guessed it, mould! During winter, there was a stench of mould in the house. Landlord refused to do anything about it and told me to clean it up myself. So beware if you are a renter in this vicinity, the house will be cleaned up before you inspect it. I got sick more frequently, was lethargic and had many unexplained symptoms. I was WFH a lot which made it terrible.
- Was forced to buy a couple of desiccant dehumidifiers ($500 each) to stop the mould from spreading and get rid of the moisture in the air. Not a great experience as a renter, and given rents are so high in this area and the bonus of dealing with mould, I would rather rent elsewhere.
- Turning on the heater or using the wood heater made the mould spread like crazy during last winter. Absolute nightmare.
- The part of sydney is about 1.5 degrees colder than inner sydney in winter.

Inconvenience/inaccessible
- There are no nearby buses that stop along these roads or go near the national park near Rosemead road. Having young children, it would be inconvenient as you have to chauffeur them everywhere and the hills are too steep to walk up, it’s all right to walk downhill though. If you go to the office, you need to drive to get up and out of the forest as it’s too steep to walk up comfortably with a work laptop/bag.

Would I recommend it? Depends, you would be very car-reliant and would become an expert with dealing with mould in the winter.

Previously lived close to the blue gum walk near the national reserve for four winters (downhill of Pretoria Parade and Rosemead Road), so I can only speak for that area of Hornsby.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
- You literally have to drive down a valley to get to your home. If anyone was speeding downhill or if cars parked at a turn, that would be a blind spot and an accident waiting to happen.
- Public transport to get home? Nope, only Ubers, getting a ride, or driving your own car to the train station is the only way you’re getting home. It is possible to walk from the station to home, but the reverse direction is very long, hilly and almost impossible as a daily commute.

Environment
-Peaceful, trees and quietness. This is not just unique to Hornsby, most of north shore is like that too.

-Each winter, the neighbors would burn wood instead of heating their houses with gas/electricity, so the whole valley would smell smokey instead of fresh forest air.

- The worst part: the mould! There is not much ventilation at the bottom of the valley as such, some of the houses here tend to have mould or moisture issues. The brick house I was living in was poorly insulated and was an average built. In winter it was freezing, moist and mouldy. Drying clothes sometimes was an issue too as there wasnt enough sunlight.

Would I live here again?
-Absolutely, Hornsby is lovely and so beautiful. The Westfield is great. The express train is also great. The serenity and quietness is unmatched. But I wouldn’t live close to the national reserve, I value my health and living in a environment or house that breeds mould is not one of them. I moved to another suburb with better ventilation, lots of greenery and am now living mould-free.

A great place in general because of convenient cafes, jobs, healthcare, shopping and higher education. Hornsby will be even better when the Hornsby Quarry parklands are complete. A shame they didn't use the catchment as swimming spot. I know quarries are dangerous to swim in because they are deep and cold but they should have turned it into a shallow lake like Lake Parramatta.

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Former wealthy area that is slowly getting a de-gentrification. Two train lines to the city, express to Newcastle, Central Coast.

Local shopping centres have everything you need, and plenty of restaurants or take aways. Locals are humble, polite, shy, keep to themselves; there are no snobs. Rent is affordable.

Some of the old units are run down and ugly (Albert ln?). There’s always police at the mall and train station, a buzz-kill, but they’re always polite. Loud train noise in some str

Hornsby is actually in a great little place and has improved over the years. It’s great for transport, however, travel distance is far. After a working week, it was great to be able to get to northern beach or central coast quickly or even yes up the road to Berowra, Berowra Waters or Brooklyn. Westfield is great as it has unique stores and shops/restaurants you wouldn’t find in Eg Parramatta. It’s has nice festivals too. A laid back area, but not without issues. There is extensive housing commission blocks and Hornsby Hospital has a psychiatric section, where they are treated in lockdown. Often these housing commission blocks, cater for the psychiatric patients, which gives them access to the hospital. Issues from this are: theft, screaming, graffiti, drugs, alcoholism, homelessness and kids hanging around the streets.

Hornsby has the hustle and bustle of a busy suburb, but the added convenience to get you places and of course some hidden gems. Barker College on your doorstep, plus the choice of many, many schools in the area: only a walk, bus or train ride away. Westfields has everything! Hornsby, Waitara, Normanhurst, Wahroonga Railway stations, the best cafes and village life anyone could ask for. The Blue Gum walk , Lisgar Gardens, and the Galston Gorge, all great tracks to hike and enjoy nature. Hornsby aquatic and leisure on Peats Ferry Road has indoor and leisure pools that are heated, they also do lessons. The outdoor pool is not for the faint hearted, a little cooler! Pending reopening schedule. From my experience the Hornsby South area has homes and neighbours of great character and friendliness.

I’ve tried to live in the suburb twice now but my experience was so terrible that I simply couldn't tolerate it & had to move away.
The rents are too high for what you're getting. It's too congested with traffic & parking & can live less than 5 minutes from the centre of Hornsby & have no connections to tv, phone or internet.
I have lived in Rosemead Rd for 12 months, & while it appears beautiful to the eye, living there is a vastly different thing. I have no internet facilities. The stench coming from the sewage treatment plant every night forces you to close every window. There is no bus service. Constant water pipes issues through the street, often broken and flooding the street with water. I've seen homeless people camped by the railway, @ the near the brothels on Peats Ferry Rd & Dural St.
In the past, I lived on William St, I had drunks stumbling out of the RSL every weekend night, trouble with youths setting fire to bins. One night even witnessing a young woman being beaten.
I stand by my view, I do not like Hornsby, I understand that others do and I respect their opinion. I would prefer it if they had the same respect for my opinion & not make comment on what is my experience which is based on factual evidence.