cdgw

Lived in Ashfield for over 25 years.

The good:

1) Proximity
Very close to the city no matter how you slice it, express trains that takes you to Redfern with one stop. Even the all station ones don't take you longer than 20 minutes to reach CBD. Buses runs well into the night closing at 11 PM, this is as late as you can get for Sydney buses. Driving is a no brainer, you got Liverpool Road, Parramatta Rd, Anzac Bridge, WestConnex.

2) Convinence
You've got closes and wollies, you've bunnings, you have Kmart and many restruants nearby, eating out is never a problem, shopping isn't a problem either.

You've got medical, dental and x ray, you got your coffee shops and groceries.

3) Pokies and Clubs - There are enough in Ashifled, enough said.

But that's about it.
The bad list is longer.

1) Overdevelopment

Every public car park, empty patch of land and abandoned warehouses have been turned into ugly shoebox apartments. Who would've thought they are low enoug to stack stories of crap on top of Ashfield Mall. (A dull shopping mall with 3 supermarkets and doesn't connect itself, you can never get to point A to point B wihout Zig Sagging different dimensions)!

2) Parking
If one has to rate parking in Ashfield out of 10, it's a solid 0.

Parking is always busy in Ashfield anywhere! Every street requies a permit to park and many older apartments simply don't have enough spaces. If you hav e a car, it is likely that there won't be a spot for you. most homes don't have driveways let alone a garage.

3) Driving is just as bad as parking

Ashfield is an old town, really old! So most residential streets are narrow! Which leads them to be "one way" street. Driving in Ashfield is like driving in CBD, you can't get anywhere in a straight line and it's ofen easier to just walk out to town then it is to take your car. There are countless needless speed humps, roundabouts and speed cameras surrounding Ashfield and the council is expending them every year! From my knowledge there are at least 4 speed cams covering all exits of Ashfield, all in all driving is a bad experience in this town!

4) The houses are really small (And ugly)

The unit and houses in this town are just plain old and small. Heritage you say? Maybe! They are old houses i grant you that! But just because they're old doesn't mean that they're beatuiful! Most of them are not decent to look at and if an exception is found, they're likely to be surrounded by apartment blocks! The older units are even worse, probably got 6 carspaces out of 20 apartments with shared or disconnecting laundary. The new ones obviously digs deep enough to give one carspace for each apartment but the materials are awful, it might aswell be built with cardboard boxes cause soundproofing is non existance.

5) The noises.

Most streets are really noisy, trains ramps through almost 24/7 unless there's another trackwork, roads are non stop with traffic. Trucks, Buses and emergency vehicles buzz through the town all day long. Subsequently, this kicks in the dusts in every home! (No wonder it's called Ashfield)

6) Crime

In all honesty Ashfield is safe, in a sence that you won't get stabbed and there is no drug factory next door (cause the houses are so small and you can't park).

But there are alot of loones hanging around the station these days, some homeless people sleeping in parks. stealing, break ins and petty crimes are quiet common if you live on the north side althrough this is now extending to the south.

Althrough you won't find any drug lab, it's likely that you'll find a dealer nearby. And you'll hear break ins near you (if not you) every now and then.

7) Schooling and Daycare

Let's face it, Ashfield Boys and Primary is not the worse but far from the best in any field, there are daycare but nothing good.


So in sum: If you're a young arevage single or couple with a job in CBD, enjoy the convience and don't mind the noise, go for it.
If you don't ABSOLUTELY require the proximity to everything, then i strongly recommend you turn elsewhere!

Cause altho Ashfield looks modest in terms of house prices, pound to pound Ashfield estates are quiet expensive! Remeber i said the houses in Ashfield is small and ugly? Yet they sell around the same price as some charming home in many further suburbs! You can easily double your value for money even if you look at Croydon Park just next door!

After 25 years in Ashfield I'm throwing in my towel, easily doubled my living space up North with a trade in.