WhalanBear

Whalan is a suburb near Mt Druitt that is often tainted with the misconceptions and stereotyped prejudices of people who have never lived in an affordable bedroom suburb. It is close to main transport such as rail to the city and major shopping malls at Mt Druitt, Blacktown, Penrith and St Marys. While there is public housing in the area the majority of homes are either owner occupied or private rentals and the majority of public housing tenants make great neighbours. Getting around is easy and there is always parking wherever you wish to go, all services and retail facilities are here or within a few minutes drive. Schools, public transport and other infrastructure is here with a good level of medical and dental services available. The community is a working class suburb with approximately 35% receiving some form of Centrelink benefit and one of the largest percentages of indigenous people in an urban locality however crime is less than many more affluent suburbs and Whalan is a very safe, peaceful and quiet place to live and to raise a family. More importantly, it is very affordable and great value. I first bought here in 1995 and sold up to move overseas in 2002. Upon my return in 2006 I again bought a house just 100 metres from my old place. House prices are sensible and mortgages affordable. Even with five kids and self employed I am able to live well enjoying a standard of living I could not dream of if I were back in Randwick where I grew up. While I miss the beach it is less than an hour away and the Blue Mountains are visible from my back verandah. Traffic is reasonable for Sydney but as I work from home I rarely have any traffic hassles. In the last four years my home has appreciated nearly 30% on what we paid for it and is now worth $60-70K more than we bought it for. Some of the people here are a bit 'low-rent' so to speak, we have our share of bogans, westies and what have you but pretty much all of them will be there if you need a hand, even the roughest! Whalan is a WISIWYG kind of place,no pretense and great value for money.