Double Bay Suburb Review

Summary: This high-end, hilly inner eastern suburb is renowned for both its lovely waterfront views and its high property prices, with both of those remaining its calling cards into the present day.

Often jokingly referred to as “Double Pay”, Double Bay has a multi-million-dollar barrier to entry in return for its lovely aspect, extremely pet-friendly main parkland area, and connectivity to the CBD via ferry.

It’s undeniably pretty and upmarket, with enough amenities and boutique stores in order to satisfy daily needs without going elsewhere. Accessing its nearest train station will put a burn in the calves due to the hilly topography of most of the suburb, and it’s not very walkable in general however.

Key stats

When factoring in Double Bay’s combination of aspect, abundant nature, conveniently central location and truly grand properties, it’s not hard to see why this ranks as one of Sydney’s most expensive and desirable suburbs.

Extremely pretty yet surprisingly understated and relatively unpretentious, Double Bay lies in a position that provides the best of many worlds all in one.

It’s close to the CBD, yet still quiet; it’s quite well connected with public transport yet still isolated enough to feel escapist; and it’s got enough in the way of amenities for daily life without drawing in too many people from afar and ruining its otherwise serene atmosphere.

The first and most obvious aspect upon visiting here is the grandiosity of its houses and streets.

Double Bay is home to some truly astounding homes that have fetched some of the highest real estate prices in Australia – the average freestanding home purchase price hovers over the $7 million dollar mark here, and while some of the truly top-tier properties skew this figure somewhat, it’s never going to exactly be cheap.

Even its lower-end terraces are going to be out of reach for most; a shame, as many of them are impressively-kept examples of art deco design and extremely charming to look at.

Ironically, the suburb is also home to a reasonably high number of older mid-density apartment blocks as well, meaning that those willing to compromise on size, quality and modern touches can still grab a small 1-bedroom for around the $800 per week rental mark. Still pricey even by Sydney standards, but not excessively so when compared to detached housing.

It may just be worth making the compromise for many people, too. While Double Bay does not have its own dedicated train station, it’s a fairly short (and hilly) walk up to Edgecliff Station which offers frequent services and a quick trip to both Sydney city and the eastern beach suburbs.

Otherwise it’s physically quite compact, has solid if unspectacular tree cover amongst its residential streets, and its flatter portions are a pleasure to explore on foot – particularly around its signature waterfront areas.

Lacking for Nothing

It’s well-serviced by buses, and boasts a ferry station for CBD connectivity that makes for a wonderful commute that can be completed in a sub-20-minute trip.

Renting one of Double Bay’s cheaper apartments and catching the ferry to work offers a relatively reasonably-priced journey that ranks as one of the most scenic commutes in the country – passing by the Sydney Opera House and into Circular Quay without having to deal with any traffic – and is well worth considering experiencing even for just a year for CBD workers.

In addition, while in the past Double Bay used to be fairly empty in terms of amenities (its retail stores largely centered around its high-end clothing boutiques and swanky drinking and dining establishments) the additions of both a Woolworths supermarket and Dan Murphy’s liquour store have helped round out its offerings.

There’s thus a lot more overall convenience here these days, instead of having to head “up the hill” just to get regular groceries.

It’s home to an ever-increasing array of drinking and dining options, and its high-end boutique stores for fashion and luxury labels around Cross and Knox Streets are still going strong, too.

“When the faults that a suburb has can be narrowed down to “it’s a little bit hilly and sometimes too quiet”, it’s no surprise that an incredibly high price point also immediately follows.”

Pet owners will find a lot to like about Double Bay as well. Its centrepiece of Steyne Park is a wide and wonderful dog-friendly park with a gorgeous waterfront aspect, and its streets are quite wide and very green.

Add in a couple of small mini-beaches that offer a little slice of sand and some flat-water wading, and it scores high mark for the overall “nature” category (although they’re obviously not comparable to Sydney’s “true” beaches).

Families who can afford it will likewise find little to fault here. It’s home to a primary school, the park offers a great play space, and buses provide access to other schools nearby.

It’s also safe and quiet, with a generally low crime rate other than the occasional drunken altercation at one of its pubs and some spillover of undesirables from neighbouring suburbs.

Of course, there’s also a generally older demographic and not much of interest here for younger partygoing types either; but its easy access to Kings Cross and Darlinghurst just down the road provides much less of an isolated feeling than, say, the similarly-priced Mosman on the North Shore.

The Verdict

When the faults that a suburb has can be narrowed down to “it’s a little bit hilly and sometimes too quiet”, it’s no surprise that an incredibly high price point also immediately follows. Add in its gorgeous physical aspect, and this is a suburb that will be out of reach for most looking for a detached house.

Such is the case with Double Bay, in which it’s generally going to score high marks across the board – yet the reasons it obtains those scores are precisely the reasons that keep most people out.

As with many of the other elite suburbs in Sydney there’s a strong presence of “old money” here, yet Double Bay also somehow feels a little more subdued and not as pretentious as some other upper-echelon Sydney suburbs.

Double Bay also has enough character in its physical beauty and the craftsmanship of its homes to make it well worth a visit on a day trip – if only to enjoy a picnic in the park, then gawk and admire what it offers from a distance.

For those willing to compromise with an apartment, Double Bay remains still reasonably within reach; and even using it as a temporary spot to live for a shorter-term period of time may be worth it for enjoying its offerings.