G

gasman

3 Reviews0 Questions0 Answers

Reviews

Terrigal

"Big city population without the infrastructure and services"

I will try and be as factual as I can as each and everyone of us will have a different perspective and requirement of where they live.
I have lived around here for 38 years with an interlude on the Gold Coast in between. Came back to Terrigal in 2004 for family reasons.
Looking back I was impressed with the dual lane (Wyong Shire) road from Tuggerah to The Entrance road, as of when I left, this was a future plan. This and other under construction improvements around the Gosford Shire lead me to beleive that finally they where progessing, but 7 years on this has been a mirage.
If thinking of moving to Terrigal, take a good hard look at the Central Coast, as with any holiday area, it always looks good when on holiday, but in reality your problems will come with you.
If you live in Sydney's west, you will think is it heaven, If you are used to infrastructure, you will find it hell. The Central Coast is the forgotten land by all levels of Govt and it's not looking good for at least another 7 years according to Sky News Property Guide.
Sure the beach life is cheap compared to Sydney, but beach culture is rife as well. Lets face it, if you or I were on the dole, would'nt it be better to be beside the beach?
The ABS stats show a high % of tradespeople for the CC, so if you fall under this, look elsewhere as most have to travel to Sydney for work. On this point, get up early, head up to Terrigal and leave the beach for Sydney at 5.30am. This will give you a good indication of how much work is around here and don't forget to do the trip back in the PM to experience the traffic jam from Kariong through to Terrigal/Avoca. Oh and also do the train thing, better get there early or you will miss a seat.
Transport options are irregular if non existant and are frustrated more by roads from the1800's.
Basically one way in and out for 150,000 pop (Gosford Shire) to move around, especially for Terrigal/Avoca/ Copacabana residents.
Again depending on where you are coming from will determine you priorities, but remember to set the bar low.
Eating out in Terrigal will be your first disappointment compared to Sydney as the choice is Thai/Thai/Thai. Tongue in cheek, yes, but you will get what I mean when you sample.
Beach access in winter is excellent, but so is Bondi. In summer or weekend/holiday periods forget it, Terrigal is just to small to accomodate all who come.
Finally, Terrigal is the jewel of the Central Coast's, well, crown? and has some fantastic beaches and bush areas and if you can overlook the failing of Local Govt to provide basic services, then it's the place for you!

Great for

  • Beach

Not great for

  • One lane road to get in
  • Crowded
  • Grubby
0
The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
Report
Terrigal

"Big city population without the infrastructure and services"

Great for

  • Beach

Not great for

  • One lane road to get in
  • Crowded
  • Grubby
0
The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
Report
Gosford

"Local police call it Mt Duritt by the sea,mmmmmm"

An alarming fact is that the Central Coast is one of the most voilent areas in NSW according to the NSW Attorney Generals Office.
However I still call the coast home and have lived here on and off for over 35 years, with my wife being born here.
From the outside, the CC has a holiday atmosphere and carefree nature compared to Sydney and your experience will depend on the time of day, day of the week and your reason for visiting.
However several factors should be considered before taking the step to move here and I hope to provide a candid and unbiased opinion.

LIVING ON THE COAST:
The CC is one of the most unique places along the eastern seaboard. That's why it is such a popular place to live, however the lifestyle you are after will largely depend on whether you have to commute for a living and as most of us do, living on the coast will have it's drawbacks.

RETIRING TO THE COAST: As I have had no experience in this age bracket (yet), I will not comment.

COMMUTE BY TRAIN:
If commuting by train, you will have to use your car to get to a station as buses are very limited and infrequent. Parking at the station will require you getting there early as there are limited spaces, so a walk/run is usually required. A pain when it's raining.
You will find the trains over crowed and depending where you get on, you will have to stand all the way there and back.Your day will start at 5.00am and finish at 7.00pm and you will find working on the train journey will be impossible.
Allow 4 hours a day door to door if travelling to Strathfield/Sydney.
Cost at time of writing $75 pw
Not safe though after 9.00pm

COMMUTE BY CAR
Again, depending on where you are will depend on the travel time to get onto the freeway.
and getting onto the F3 at Kariong can be frustrating.
I live at Terrigal and at 5.30am it takes 20 mins to reach the F3, then another 30 mins to Wahroongah.
Same for the way home except the downhill run into West Gosford and beyond is a nightmare.
Once on the F3, you can settle into a good rythm providing it is not raining as this adds another element of danger and if there is an accident, make sure you have provisions as you may be there all day or night if coming home.
The next snarl will be at the end of the F3, although West Pennant Hills rd is usually not a problem until after 7.30am
Fuel cost as time of writing is $120 per week plus significant wear and tear on your vehicle and in addition to high servicing costs, resale values of high mileage vehicles will not do you any favours. Allow up to 4 hrs per day especially towards the end of the week.
In addition, fuel pricing is very high compared to Sydney, to the point where a certain service station at West Gosford had the highest price fuel anywhere in NSW for that weekend.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND AMENITIES:
This is where the coast is really let down. Compared to other areas of the same demographic, we have the drawn the short straw. The road system especially in Gosford Shire is antiquated and always under repair which adds to the already congestive nature that zero planning has caused.
However, Wyong shire leads the way for sensible development providing decent transport corridors between the coast and the freeways.
Unfortunately though, over the last 35 years, Gosford City council have not kept up with the pace of development and is severly lacking kerb and guttering, footpaths and other basic infrastructure, my rates are more than $2,000 pa with no sewerage or the afore mentioned and my daughter has to walk 1 klm on a main road to get to school. These lack of basic services, really spoil the experience of living in such a beautiful place, but that is just my opinion.

ENTERTAINMENT AND EATING OUT
The entertainment for youth on the coast is restricted to Djs at pubs and nightclubs, although there are only a few compared to when I was growing up here.
There are no live acts for the young, only country singers in the clubs designed for the retired set.
My 20 year old would rather go out in Sydney as he says it's safer and obviously more enjoyable, but the train trip home presents another problem and bashings and robberies are common.
If you are used to eating out in Sydney, you are in for a rude shock. The choice here is very limited and the food is not great. On top of this it is expensive compared to Sydney even though there is duplication of cuisines:Thai/Chinese.
The local clubs offer good meals and represent value for money if you don't mind the usual menu.


PERSONAL SAFETY AND POLICING:
My kids are in their twenties and late teens and we have been lucky to escape so far without the trauma that a lot of folks have had through voilence.
Serious assults are unfortunately very common as with malicious damage to property and cars. They seem to occur around clubs and pubs more than random acts in the suburbs.
From personal experience and information from my kids, police numbers are totally lacking for the amount of trouble that takes place on weekends.
A lot of youths come up from Sydney and this only adds to the existing problems.

During daylight hours, you will feel relatively safe, but personally would not venture out after dark in Gosford, Umina or Wyong.

HEALTH CARE:
Most surgerys have closed their books as they cannot cope with the patient load. This means you will have a hard time seeing a doctor. You have the option of outpatients at the hospital or emergency dept, but the wait will kill you first.
The local hospitals are have experienced funding cuts to where they are ineffecient and cannot meet demand. This is highlighted on the front page of the local paper every other month depicting up to 7-8 ambulances waiting in line for hours on end to unload their patients.
Obviously this is not a slur on the staff, they all work very hard, it comes down to funding.

As I said previously, if you put the negatives aside, the coast isn't a bad place to be, however I would suggest prior to moving anywhere, look up the ABS site and go to Census Quick data.
There you can check out the demographics of all areas in Australia and compare.

Some posters have taken offence which is to be expected. I cannot talk for these people, however having worked and commuted to Mt Duritt for 5 years recently, I have a good idea of both areas. Take note and perform due diligence no matter where you might be thinking of moving.

Who lives here?

  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
5
nryan2ace

Very disappointing review - I have lived on the central coast for all of my life as does my whole family
I have worked in all parts of Sydney including Mt Druitt and Blacktown
The Central coast does not rate as a difficult dangerous environment compared to most of Sydney suburbs so this person must have lead a very sheltered upbringing, I would ask whether he has ever travelled on the train from Central to Parramatta after 7pm it isnt a fun train trip and much worse than anything I have ever witnessed on the central coast trains that I regularly travel later than 9pm on

I agree always check for areas of concern wherever you buy and be diligent with checking the nearby vicinity but as I said there is good and bad in any suburb

Honestly where can you live 5 mins from a great deal of beaches for the same cost less than 1.5hrs from Sydney

Johnlight

Without casting dispersions, I agree with you nryan2ace. The original poster admitted they lived in Terrigal though which is the sort of area this rubbish usually originates from. A lot of these people consider themselves to be like people in Double Bay would look at people who live in Parramatta.

I have lived in Sydney in Ryde all my life and moved up to the Coast recently. I am living near Umina which is considered one of the more downtrodden areas on the Coast and I have never feared for my safety here. I work a late shift and was getting off the train to Gosford at Woy Woy at 11:30pm every night, and while I'm sure as with any area, problems can and do occur, I never had a problem, and always see tonnes of working people get off the trains at all hours.

Anyone who calls anywhere on the Central Coast Mt Druitt by the sea has obviously never been to Mt Druitt. I have and I can tell you, nowhere on the Central Coast except maybe Wyong/Watanobbi even compares, and even then those suburbs still aren't that bad really. A quick check of census will show anyone that Mt Druitt and similiar areas of Campbelltown not only have more unemployment than anywhere on the Central Coast but also significantly more housing commission too. The NSW Police Crime Maps. (Search Boscar NSW in Google) also show that nowhere on the Central Coast has the level of crime per capita as anywhere in Western Sydney. In fact all areas except Wyong/Watanobbi were on or below the state average for crime.

Lilly001

Well Umina is not Gosford. The peninsula and the bays around it are great except that we are the land the Gosford Council forgot and the Gosford itself is ugly blight on the landscape. Personally I do look down on Gosford mostly because the staff of Gosford Council won't fix my road, apparently because as they have actually told one of my neighbours they 'don't like the road'. It is small town provincialism gone mad, and I am sure that everyone working in Gosford Council is a second cousin of someone else. That is the only way it seems you can get a job in the organisation - if you inbreed for a couple of generations. I grew up in another place like that and I do look down on it! Johnlight lives on the Peninsula so I am not sure why he is so defensive of an area that gets the very megre resources that are available for provincial activity while we all get, no government jobs, no infrastructure, no events funding and we can't even claim to be a region although we are over the water and over the mountains from the region we 'belong' to - that means that the area goes nowhere and we have very high youth unemployment and very high levels of social disorder in some parts (Gosford, sniff). In fact Gosford may get all the local council resources but it is the nastiest part of the entire central coast. Umina, Woy Woy, Blackwall, Ettalong, the Bays - throw a dice they are all great for something - the central coast is still a great place to live as long as you don't live in Gosford.

TimSnodgrass

Where else can you find a place that closes up before 6pm every weeknight(no late night shopping in Gosford) most shops are closed on weekends. Pubs start closing at 8pm. Forget about eating out once the street lights are on, there is nothing open. Steer clear of Frogys and the old clocktower after dark, this is where the authorities allow the homeless to live instead of giving them the help they need.
The tv reception is third world, the coverage on telstra is ok, vodafone coverage is a bit hit and miss,must be one of the areas that vodafone oversold.
The positives are the cheap rent fresh air and peace and quiet.

KateHall
KateHall

Thanks for taking the time to post this, Its very refreshing to read honest posts like this as there are always pros and cons to living anywhere.

gh

yep agree terrigal is dangerous after dark and Umina gets invaded on weekends and I would not attempt to commute from there poor choice.
did have my car scratched in the carpark once.
medical well after 5 major operations in gosford hospital no problems fairly fast for non urgent care was great

bethk

2 break ins in two weeks and mail being stolen. Sounds of gunfire late at night. A train full of 80 kids with pupils the size of dinner plates abusing other customers, with a trail of blood from one end of the carriage to the next and cops who seemed unable to do anything. I'd say Gosford, particularly Gosford West, has seen much better days.

But yeah, the bushland is spectacular.

jimr3

I must say that opinions on this matter are based on individual experience, and what one has been exposed to, among other things. I have worked in Mt Druitt, and Parramatta, and after this moved to the central coast. My thoughts are that socially speaking the type of behaviour, rudeness, and anti-social behaviour in parts of the central coast including Gosford itself, have been for a number of years including lately almost a mirror of Parramatta and to a lesser extent Mt Druitt around it's health centre and shopping centre.

I know that there will always be people who both agree and criticise what I say, but I'm going on experience and in response, perception and what I've seen and personally experienced. I can think of a considerable amount of areas that I would prefer to live outside of Sydney and also in Sydney, and am planning my family move.

Jim

The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
Report