jade123

Truly brilliant location that's close to the airport, M5, the beaches of brighton-le-sands and three train stations (Bexley, Rockdale and Kogarah).

There's a bunch of GP's and medical centres about and St George Hospital (and St George Private) is only one suburb over in Kogarah so its actually fairly easy to find a good local GP or specialist.

There's so many parks and reserves sprinkled throughout the suburb, some with regular activities like Tai Chi you can join in on and there's some beautiful heritage homes about that make it a great suburb to go for an afternoon or evening stroll about.

Our neighbours met us with glasses of homemade lemonade when we first turned up with our delivery truck and proved to be the kind of neighbours you dream about; kept an eye on our place, happily minded the kids when we got stuck and there when we needed to borrow a cup of sugar but without feeling each of us was living in the other's pocket/yard. Our kids still call her 'nonna' (grandma).

There's genuinely good shopping at nearby Hurstville, Kogarah and Rockdale and some of the best (and cheap!) food and restaurants can be found here and in the ethnically diverse suburbs surrounding Bexley - I genuinely do miss the food!

The downfall is the phenomenal volume (both in terms of quantity and decibals) of aircraft noise from 6am to 11pm, with the occasional smattering of turbo-props or propellar aircraft outside of this. You don't realise its getting to you until you realise that you wake up seconds before that first flight goes over the top each morning ie you're waiting for the plane you know is coming, before you even hear it. The hours also mean its impossible to get 8hrs sleep unless you're the heaviest of sleepers...

The driving skill level is also surprisingly bad in Bexley and its surrounding suburbs; I stopped counting how many accidents I was nearly having after it hit double digits in the first month and in addition to these close calls and similar experiences thanks to the slew of learner vehicles that must be driving the test route for the nearby Rockdale RTA, I personally saw two vehicles go into properties (1xshop, 1xhouse) in one street alone. You really have to see it to believe its that bad!

So its one of those suburbs that could be unbelievably perfect...if it weren't for the not-so-minor detail of Australia's largest airport being 4minutes drive (30sec flying time?) from it. But if you want Sydney proximity on a budget, this may be something you're prepared to make a trade-off on....

We looked throughout SW Sydney before settling in Harrington Park and after 6 months we couldn't be happier. Wonderful neighbourhood that's graffiti free and where you see everyone walking their dog, playing with their kids or mowing their lawns and tending their gardens on a Sunday. People say hi to one another and soon enough you know your whole street (if you want to) but without anyone being overly nosey. The shopping centre has most of what you'd want and anything else you can get 2min away at Narellan centre. Its certainly not in the sticks and we're both at work in under an hour but we truly love that its dead quiet at night; no aircraft, no drunken louts and no cars. Nearest trainline to the CBD is Campbelltown but that'll change soon enough with the line being extended out to Leppington.
We looked at Harrington Park on a friend's recommendation and now two more friends are looking in the Suburb and another is building two streets away in Harrington Grove so yes, we'd recommend it to others!