stephen51

We purchased a home here at the end of last year, on the north side of Victoria Road near Cowell's Lane Reserve. We had been looking around Ryde and in the Inner West, and by comparison Ermington, Melrose Park and West Ryde all seemed to offer much better value.

So far we've been impressed by the beautiful parks, central location, proximity to the river, transport to the city via bus (or a few minutes up the road to West Ryde or Meadowbank for the train), and the Coles and Woolies at West Ryde are both excellent. The local Ermington shops have a few new Cafe's and the Woolworths is handy. The suburb has changed a huge amount over the last fifteen years, particularly since the new development near the river, and we think it's only getting better.

With the Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 going in that will connect Ermington and Melrose Park to both Olympic Park and Parramatta, including the new Gateway Bridge over to Wentworth Point and Centennial Park, we think we've moved in at a great time.

The Melrose Park North and South developments will be big, and we expect a lot of new Cafe's and amenities to become available as they're built too, within walking distance. For now, Hungry Boys down the hill, and Laziza or Dose of Chocolate in the Ermington Strip are all good.

In summary, the good parts from our experience are:
- Friendly, diverse neighbourhood
- Leafy and green, with heaps of parks for dogs and kids
- Quiet at night (particularly compared to the Inner West where we lived before).
- Large blocks with a mix of new and older homes
- Very central to both CBD's, with good access to both for work or University
- Excellent value compared to suburbs only 7 minutes drive closer to the city.
- Hundreds of options within 10 minutes for eating out and for food delivery (access to everything from Parramatta to Ryde).
- Bunnings at Rydalmere is one of the better ones, only 5 minutes up the road.
- Heaps of development means new amenities and increased demand in the area, as well as Government investment.

The areas for improvement
- Extra public transportation (Stage 2 light rail is coming which will be great)
- Traffic on Victoria Road is heavy in peak hour, and more development means more traffic could come
- We'd like another good cafe around the bottom of Kissing Point Rd (we're expecting a few to arrive as the Melrose Park development finishes construction), and better parking/traffic management in the Ermington Shopping Strip.
- A pedestrian crossing/bridge over Victoria Rd at Kissing Point Rd.
- The closest nightlife is mostly in Parramatta (10-15 minutes drive away), though it's not hard to get into Sydney CBD either.
- A traffic light dedicated green arrow turning right from Spurway St onto Victoria Rd would be good.

I'd recommend Ermington for families or professionals. Have a drive around the area and walk the beautiful parks in Cowell's lane Reserve and George Kendall Reserve. I think in 5-6 years the suburb will be even better for entertainment and transport, and being so central and close to the river with large blocks of land, I expect the area values to keep going up.

Hope this feedback helps.