manolif

We are relatively new to the area, renting an older apartment on Cope St. It has been a nice area to spend lockdown with access to lots of parks and trails that follow the watercourses in the area. The urban wildlife is lovely with lots of bird. Locals in Lane Cove compared to other areas of Sydney from our experience seem to be quite unfriendly. People rarely smile or greet you if you cross paths with them on a walk for example. There are a lot of old people in the area and they have time to nit pick and write passive aggressive notes. We used the "wrong" clotheslines and car washing bay when we moved into our complex. Instead of someone coming out and telling us they left nasty notes in our letter box. Very neighbourly!
Access to the city in peak hours is quite fast via express busses such as 251. Outside of peak hour it can take over an hour to get home if you have to make your way from the Southern end of the CBD via public transport. You can cycle into the city via the Freeway / Harbour bridge, it is fairly well connected. On the way back from the CBD the cycle paths are less direct as you have to detour via North Sydney.
There are lots of nice shops and restaurants in the main centre. In non-covid times traffic through the Lane Cove area along Epping Rd, Pacific Hwy and Centennial Ave. is appalling and usually grid-locked as lots of people in the area seem to drive everywhere. Lane Cove is under the flight paths so at times can be noisy. The tree-lined streets and lovely character filled old homes seem to gradually being replaced with apartments and ugly tasteless duplex / townhouse developments. It is a quiet area better suited to old people and families. There is not a lot of life outside of business hours for younger people.