St Leonards Suburb Review

Summary: Centrally located, convenient and well-equipped with amenities, if there was any one word to describe St Leonards, “functional” would probably be it.

This is a fairly dense North Shore Sydney suburb that has everything you’ll need for daily life should you be happy with small-scale apartment living, yet is almost entirely lacking in other character or any kind of personality.

While it has no real negatives other than a lack of affordable standalone housing and some noise and traffic issues, St Leonards is fairly bland overall; its main saving grace is its connectivity & access to the city, and proximity to the suburbs which surround it.

Key stats

In many ways, St Leonards may be one of the most “unremarkable” suburbs in all of inner Sydney in that it’s entirely unspectacular in terms of character.

That may come off as an insult, but it isn’t entirely – not every suburb has to be a trendy hub of street cafes – while St Leonards is incredibly well-equipped in requirements for daily living, it’s safe and clean, and it’s got good connectivity to the main rail network.

There’s also almost absolutely no reason to visit here from elsewhere in Sydney unless you’re visiting the hospital or here for work, as its rather uneventful streetscape is a bit of a bland concrete jungle, and mostly devoid of anything remarkable.

When a suburb’s main highlights are that it has… multiple gyms and a couple of good hospitals? … it’s generally a sign of it being truly utilitarian, and that’s the case with St Leonards.

Perhaps the best thing going for it is its central location, as St Leonards lies sandwiched between a number of other suburbs that each have something different to offer.

Walk down to Wollstonecraft and get a dose of greenery and heritage housing; land a job in North Sydney and enjoy an envious commute; stroll over to Crows Nest for excellent drinking and dining opportunities; or ride the train a couple of stops up to Chatswood for massive shopping options.

That’s all well and good, but they’re more positives for the other suburbs mentioned rather than St Leonards itself.

As with many other suburbs situated on a prominent railway line, it’s the ease of access to the city that’s going to be St Leonards’ major drawcard for most.

A 20 minute train ride to Town Hall – or a 7 minute ride to North Sydney – is a major plus, and the appeal of daily savings in terms of mental stress and wasted commute time can be hard to pass up.

St Leonards is also now a beneficiary of the new Metro system rolled out, offering an additional layer of connectivity to elsewhere in Sydney (notably Chatswood & the Hills district) accessible at nearby Crows Nest.

Add in frequent bus services, and it’s certainly one of the better suburbs in Sydney in terms of overall public transport connectivity.

Convenience over charm

St Leonards Station itself is well decked out with small-scale eating and takeaway food options as well as supermarkets attached, and is far more modern and safe feeling than many other train stations. It makes for a definite time-saver when tired after a day of work to simply grab what you need after jumping off the train before walking home.

Statistically, St Leonards is also a highly safe suburb overall – largely a result of its lack of action – ranking towards the lower portion of crime rankings for all of the major indicators of a safe place to live (break and enter, assault, domestic violence, etc.) and makes for a low-crime environment on the whole.

St Leonards thus is mainly a viable base for young professionals heading in to the CBD for work, as the majority of its residential options are limited to highrise, apartment-style living. Many of these are towering, fairly sterile high density buildings that are again an example of the suburb’s function over form approach.

Its southern portion has a small cluster of residential streets with freestanding homes, but their limited quantity combined with desirable location makes them incredibly tightly-held and out of reach of most.

This desirability reflects in the suburb’s high prices for housing. Unless you’ve got a spare $3 million (minimum) lying around, you can forget buying a detached house in St Leonards, and there’s seldom any on the market anyway.

It’s quite a lot to pay given there are suburbs surrounding it with more to offer in terms of character, parkland, schooling and other major daily desirables.

“St Leonards is mainly a viable base for young professionals heading in to the CBD for work, as the majority of its residential options are limited to highrise, apartment-style living.”

This is a suburb that’s mostly about apartment living, and while its higher-density living prices obviously fare slightly better, you’re still looking at over $1 million purchase price on average at time of writing for anything bigger than a shoebox.

Apartment rentals likewise don’t come cheap given it’s a popular suburb with working professionals – expect a $800+ per week price for something decent in this category as well.

So what do you get for your dollars?

Balanced, if bland

Aside from the aforementioned transport connectivity, St Leonards has a good selection of supermarkets, fairly good (yet not amazing) variety in dining options, excellent access to healthcare on both large and small scales, a fair bit of traffic and construction noise, and a couple of small pockets of greenery among streets that are generally quite concrete-heavy.

It’s a bit lacking in greenery and overall nature, particularly when compared to the majority of its surrounding suburbs. Outside of Newlands Park – which is a pretty yet sparsely-equipped slice of parkland – it’s not the most pet friendly of suburbs, particularly given its inclination towards apartment living. Its central streets are fairly lacking in greenery, too.

Other natural offerings also require heading out of the suburb itself; the pretty Balmoral Beach is around a 15 minute drive from St Leonards, although given it’s typically a nightmare for parking taking the 30-ish minute bus ride instead is often a better alternative.

For those with kids, there’s decent schools and childcare options in adjacent suburbs including some of the more prestigious North Shore private options, but unless you’re one of the lucky ones who can afford a freestanding home, the kids will be a little restricted on space for living and play as well.

Noise is also a bit of a factor here. While it’s not under a flight path, most of its apartment options are situated near main roads, and its current and upcoming developments (including the ongoing development around the Metro project) mean construction noise plays a bit of a role as well.

The Verdict

St Leonards is a perfectly viable suburb for both professionals and smaller-sized families who are looking for a (slightly) more financially viable rental option on the Lower North Shore.

Its location means you’ve got everything you could need on a daily basis at your fingertips; it’s a generally safe and low-crime area; and for those willing to minimise and commute to the city it’s got a lot going for it and comes recommended.

It’s not as cheap as it once was however, with houses too pricey for most and its limited options for living space make it a bit of a non-viable option for bigger families or retirees in search of somewhere green with peace and quiet.

St Leonards’ absence of character and lack of any kind of signature attraction or focal point may be a complete non-factor for many people – “why would I care when all I need is a place to lay my head?” is a viable question in this case.

If you’re the type who puts a priority on convenience over charm, then St Leonards may just be for you. For anyone else, there’s probably a suburb nearby that is better suited to your tastes.