Rhodes, NSW 2138

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!

Lived in Rhodes for 3 years now and the list of greivances with the maintenance of the area keeps on growing-this includes bike riders virtually running down pedestrians on the busy foreshore area, motor bikes doing hoon, rat runs down shoreline drive at night, over height ugly towers tgat line the foreshore, and filthy garbage left littered along the foreshore! It’s a shame because Rhodes should have a lot going for it but somehow it’s being slowly destroyed!

Noisy. Transient populace. Absolutely no feeling of community.

If you love to live in an apartment and enjoy simple life by the river where everything is at your finger tip then Rhodes is for you.
20 mins to the CBD
15 mins to Parra
5 mins to Eastwood and Epping
5 mins to Stratfield.
Plus the new ferry and lots of bus network, Rhodes has so much potential to be the next CBD
Love living here. So easy to commute everywhere.

Faced no issues living here. Convenient and easy access to grocery stores, restaurants, cinema, ikea, and healthcare. Great for outdoor activities.

I moved in Rhodes from Burwood.
I didn’t know Rhodes has a lot of features such as a riverwalk and also recently opened the Rhodes central which is included woollies and Asian restaurants and cafes.
Great mixing with natures and convenience!

I was worried about internet connection but even faster than when I used to live in Burwood.

I didn’t expect a lot to live in Rhodes but actually it’s very nice place for living!

I don't tend to like newly created high rise developments but Rhodes is saved from out of control development by the river surrounding it which has a very nice walking path along it, nice views, a good shopping centre and a train station.

Having retired and wanting to downsize and simplify our lives, we purchased a unit in Rhodes a year ago. While downsizing from a very large house to a fairly small apartment has been a challenge, we couldn't be happier with our riverchange. Rhodes is a great suburb, modern, yet with a community feel. It's fairly close to the city with good transport links. The shopping centre, eateries, cafés, parks etc. are all within a walking distance, so we hardly use our car. The public areas are better maintained than in many other suburbs, although Covid seems to have had an impact on the frequency of cleaning and gardening. The Promenade is a lovely walking track by the river, but there are quite a few others - one of our favourites is to the wetlands in the Sydney Olympic Park. Across the river is Wentworth Point (accessible by foot or a free shuttle bus) with its own small shopping centre and restaurants. All in all, Rhodes location and facilities are excellent. People are friendly, crime rate is low and the infrastructure keeps improving. Can't wait to see Rhodes Central finished and the area around the train station beautified.

I've lived in Rhodes for two years in a spacious studio apartment as a single female professional, near the waterfront. There are pros and cons, depending on your personality.

My personal assessment: After several years of suburb-hopping, most likely I'm sticking around the Rhodes and Wentworth Point area for the foreseeable future. It's been a long time since I've felt safe at night in a suburb, and the first time I've faced zero harassment or stalking the entire time I've lived here. Public transport is decent with the train station nearby, but plan your trips because off peak trains sometimes only come every 15 minutes.

Rhodes Shopping Centre and Marina Square in Wentworth Point across the bridge are a huge bonus in terms of convenience and amenities (both have Coles and Asian grocer/s, RSC has Aldis), as well as many, many good breakfast-lunch areas - Bare Witness gets the obligatory mention for waterside dining, and the newly opened Monas Flower Cafe is equal parts quirky and calming. RSC's IKEA makes household shopping easy, and Reading Cinemas means cheap $10-12 movie tickets all week. Despite the high density, the air feels clean especially away from the train station; I don't feel like I'm inhaling lungfuls of dust like I do in Parramatta. I have no idea what people are talking about RE: a strange smell, but I do live away from the mangrove areas.

The roads are and walking areas and spacious and full of greenery; there seems to be parkland and landscaping everywhere. The waterfront is wonderful for long walks or jogs by the river, especially at sunset. Internet for me is lightning fast with TPG at about 100 Mbp/s. Where I'm located (Shoreline Drive, away from the train station and facing the water), the place is extremely quiet despite the high-rise area. The area is pet-friendly (for owners at least - renters may need to negotiate); there's a large dog park near the river bridge which sees generous use.

As for the demographics, I primarily see young families with children, and often pets. After that it's young couples, single working professionals like myself, and older retirees. I actually don't find the rent too bad, but I'm comparing it to places like Darlinghurst, Potts Point and Chatswood - compared to those areas, I'm paying less and getting far more value for money in terms of space, quality of life, and apartment build. Between two people with decent incomes, Rhodes should be on the high side of affordable ($240s - $350s each per week for a 1-2BR?) for its proximity to the city. If you have a problem with Asians - which a disturbing amount of people who complain about Rhodes seem to have - then it's best to do everyone a favour and stay away, because Rhodes definitely has a high East Asian population. Population density is theoretically high in general, but I oddly don't find Rhodes particularly crowded.

As far as I know, once Rhodes Central has finished construction (in about 2 years), that's the last of Rhodes that will see in new apartments for a long time, except for this one weird plot near the train station. The area seems to be heavily developed by Bilbergia (retail and residential), which so far has impressed me with their build quality. Big bonus: most apartments come with a parking spot and a large storage cage, which I now cannot live without.

So what are the cons/mixed opinion points?
- We do have a problem of shopping trolleys being left around here and there, but there's a nightly collection of them all, so it's not so bad.
- While most of the place is clean and green, the area immediately outside the train station does see some mess and is currently undergoing heavy construction. Every now and then it's council collection day and everyone dumps their old furniture by the road for a week, which is annoying, but that's to be expected for collection day.
- That one guy who occasionally goes around revving his engines around the neighbourhood at night. We get it, you're a very special boy who needs attention.
- People are typically friendly and polite, but not overly warm. This is a plus for introverts, but a minus if you're expecting to become best friends with your neighbours and automatically have animated lift conversations. There ARE communities though - the community center has group activities, I do see old ladies with their dance groups, and once every corgi owner in the area gathered in the dog park for some kind of corgi event, which was a delight to watch.
- No nightlife whatsoever. The plus side is you don't get drunken partygoers causing trouble at night.
- Some of the real estate agents aren't very responsive, or just real jerks. I've had good experiences with Rhodes Realty including the agent rescuing me off-hours when I locked myself out at no charge, and terrible experiences with LJ Hooker Rhodes.
- Not much of an LGBTQ scene as far as I know.

All in all, that's been my experience - it seems to have improved/remained stable over the past couple of years going by the reviews, but I'm wondering if Rhodes Central being completed will shake things up. Overall, my impression has been very positive, and I'm very happy to live here.

Pros
Close to city, public transportation, shopping facilities, beautiful waterside walks , safe

Cons
Been living here for a year, cant think of anything as such!
A suburb for "apartment" kind of people!