Is Sydney ugly?
26 Comments
Aside from the upper North Shore and North West, Sydney is not much to look at really. I have driven out to the Eastern Suburbs on occasion and nothing there struck me as that attractive. Alot of old houses and unit blocks with the old exception. I even drove down the most expensive street (forget its name) and you wouldn't think it (yes I know, it's the location and waterviews etc). I think it is when you take a drive out to the suburbs you see what the real Sydney looks like and it ain't all pretty. There are some nice housing estates on the Central Coast. Modern houses that actually face the street (not just the garage)...smooth roads, landscaping, modest pricing, close to amenities, beaches, low traffic etc.
I think we might not be old enough to look pretty... we dont have a huge history, especially when it comes to property and in the history we do have most of the property has been built on the cheap and not much has gone into the look of places...
Plus the current new designs of houses really ugly, like we have this house on the corner of our street we cant tell if it is finished or not... its a concrete house that doesnt look like its been painted (looks extremely gloomy when raining), but there are a lot of these boxy looking houses, and then you have the suburbs and suburbs of McMansions.
I love Sydney, is Sydney ugly, i think not. Travel the world and you will see that we have quite a clean city. We may not be as modern as some , or as historic as others, but what we do have is a great blend of old and new and we sit on one of the best harbour cities on this planet. Wouldnt leave it for the world.
Having lived in 3 of Australia's cities - being Brisbane, Melbourne & Sydney - I think Sydney is beautiful. Sydney is now my home and I love it's mix of cosmopolitan lifestyle with Beach atmosphere. Each beach is different, and although there isn't a consistent streetscape - I like this. Every property is unique.
Head to QLD and all you will see is the new building types using blueboard, timber and rendered brick. It gets very monotonous and repetitive. There's little individuality but grantedly, some great designs.
Melbourne is great - I won't doubt that.
But Sydney has the history of the Rocks, it is the oldest of all of our cities, and I love the character this brings. We have federation, colonial, workers cottages, Art Deco, Californian Bungalows, Mid 60's-80's brick & tile and even the modern mix in certain areas. I love that I can walk down any street and picture a bygone era and the people who would have lived there, their clothes and what life may have been like.
Is Sydney Ugly? Sounds like a topic posted by someone looking to get a range of reactions! I'm fortunate to live in a beautiful area, but it still has some ugly bits. Definitely agree with Phillip Cox's view - you can clearly see the ineptitude and developer favoritism of past planning laws and govt planners and councillors, so Sydney is like every other big (2M+ people) city around the world, with some areas people have to live in rather than choose to live in.
The development of Barangaroo promises to be a showcase of new thinking and considered, inclusive inner city space - hopefully!
Some parts of Sydney are ugly. There is way too much traffic. Some areas of Sydney are beautiful and if you are a millionaire you can enjoy living there. I am still angry that there are high rise flats next to the Opera House blocking the view of a national icon. Ridiculous. There are beautiful beaches. I like Martin Place. It has class and is clean. I am getting older and thinking of a tree change. Sydney is too busy for me these days.
Not at all. But I guess it depends on taste. I really like the look of Sydney all year round. Although different to other city's, it has character of it's own. Don't look at it as a whole, but when you drive down the streets just look at all the houses and the things that make each street unique.
Generally speaking Sydney is ok. It's VERY lucky though, because of the harbour. If we take out Sydney harbour, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, then what's left is just "ok". There's a few leafy suburbs though that are quite nice, but generally Sydney is just "ok" when compared to some of the really great cities of the world.
Sydney is a mixing pot - different areas have their different flavours. And in many areas you see how an area has evolved over time.
This is very true of Belmore - you can see newly re-built houses & new developments next to renovated houses of vintage, such as Federation, Californian Bungalow etc. Many shopping districts have just a mix of flavour too.
I just love Sydney. Sydney is my favorite place i every seen. is Sydney ugly, i think not. Its definitely not. Sydney is one of the famous city in Australia. Everybody knows that Sydney is heart of Australia. I have some amazing information about Sydney, Australia. Its very useful information : http://www.australiavoyage.net/kings-cross-sydney.html
Some of these comments are seriously delusional. Sydney is more than just the CBD and Bondi.... Take a trip out to the Western Suburbs for some perspective. Anyway, the lower North Shore would be my pick with the exception of the snobs, most of which are school children surprisingly. If I had to live in Sydney and had the money, somewhere like Wahroonga would be nice. You can easily get away up north for a break but it is not too far from the North Sydney where I work.
Sydney is beautiful.. We live in the western suburbs( and we are very happy) it takes us 45 minutes to drive into the city of Sydney and we love it.. We have the prettiest harbor in the world I could never get sick of looking at it. Last weekend we stayed at "Harbor View Motel" North Sydney.. the City view and lights were amazing 3 course dinner, parking, buffet breakfast, chocolates,bottle of bubbly with a fantastic harbor view for $260.. What a great night.. We love Sydney..
Sydney is one of the most naturally beautiful cities on the planet - however, Sydney has been badly let down in architecture by the people up the top. Including Clover Moore, one of the most disgraceful people that has ever graced Sydney. The laws her and the stupid city council brought in has completely destroyed the city. Height restrictions is one such issue. Sydney has 1 too many midget look highrise and ugly designs at that.
High rise or skyscrappers are NOT suppose to have balconies from top to bottom, that is for suburb flats about 2 or 3 floors high. The colour of choise of the high rise in sydney, seems to be white - ermm yes white. is this a joke!! UGLY!! where are the tall, glass building sydney needs 400+meters and higher.
Chop down centerpoint tower NOW! retro trash tower. Knock down the AMP building at circular quay. along with the cahill expressway. North Sydney should also have super tall or twin towers over looking the harbour to give the city a powerful and sophisticated look.
Bondi needs a complete make over from the beach, to the strip to the road. The outer suburbs. that is another story and most cities have average suburbs. My point is the city itself.
Its a brilliant place to live.
Sydney was once a beautiful city and parts of it are still beautiful but there are now it is being progressive destroyed by bad architecture, bad planning, and stupendously ugly renovations / redevelopment of heritage housing and heritage buildings. Millenials are obsessed with the latest things, have no idea of heritage, they just want the latest crappy white boxlike construction and call this modern architecture. As for looking like Dubai or Hong Kong, have not been to Dubai but Hong Kong is one of the ugliest cities I have ever seen. Went on a tour and all they showed us was one ugly building after another as if they were proud of this. I surely do not want Sydney looking like Hong Kong.
Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Little pollution, great variety of architecture (buildings as well as houses) and suburbs. The northern beaches are lovely, the eastern suburbs have their good points, although very compressed and difficult to park for residents. The Rocks area is marvellous and has so much history, the inner west is becoming very genteel with its wonderful terrace houses. The upper northern suburbs are comprised of large, well-designed houses on lovely large blocks of land with lots of trees and beautiful gardens, the northwest Hills district also has great lifestyle options and the southern suburbs have many waterways for boating and beaches for swimming. The Blue Mountains villages are quaint, with beautiful gardens and healthy fresh air and lots to see. Altogether, I think the people of Sydney are truly blessed and should be thankful that we are fortunate enough to live in this wonderful city.
Hell yes! More ugly than beautiful. I mean there are small pockets of beauty here and there but it's just a terribly planned out city.
A mess and no proper regulations on what buildings can be built in regards to the environment so you have these hideous "luxury apartments" that are copies of low income public housing buildings.
We have great coffee but nowhere nice to sit and drink it.
The garbage seats they have at Pitt st mall and Martin place is an embarrassment, why not create a nice environment for people to enjoy their lunch outside? Nope let's make the ugliest most uncomfortable seats on this planet so nobody can enjoy a day shopping.
I've lived here all my life and all over Sydney and I still can't understand it.
I think that Cindy is on the mark. Our town planning laws have not served us well. There is little of beauty in suburban shopping strips. Narrow footpaths with little room for people to sit outside. Rusting and badly maintained huge flat awnings everywhere. Very few open spaces with ambiance. Buildings scream at each other. Renovators and developers have got away with murder over the years destroying streetscapes. Many gross ugly mega mansions with no aesthetic. The natural beauty of this city's setting has possibly saved it from being a very ordinary metropolis. Look at streetscapes in French cities with contiguous buildings and welcoming and tree'd outdoor grand spaces. Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide are better. I think Sydney has lost the built beauty race.
Ever been to Brisbane? Housing style looks gruesome ugly 🤮
I can see the problem in some of the comments here. Making Sydney look like Hong Kong, Moscow or Abu Dhabi - I cannot think of any thing worse. The problem is that people are moving to Australia who do not respect what is here and is destroy our beautiful heritage housing due to greed +/- ignorance. I would not move to another country and just destroy buildings that have stood for over 100 years. What complete arrogance.