Wollstonecraft Suburb Review

Summary: Full of greenery, home to some truly impressive houses, and highly peaceful, Wollstonecraft is an unassuming & quaint Lower North Shore suburb that’s seldom discussed.

This is likely largely because it’s a highly “utilitarian” suburb in that it skews much more towards the “good place to live” as opposed to “good place to visit” end of the spectrum. It’s connected to heavy rail, offers a decent assortment of housing types and… that’s about it.

There’s almost zero to do here, and as a result it’s only a place you’d want to use for resting your head – albeit a quiet, safe, and highly impressive (albeit very expensive) one with great city connectivity to boot.

Key stats

The first things one will likely notice when visiting Wollstonecraft is how quiet and leafy it is – no mean feat, given it’s so close to bigger and much livelier and concrete-heavy suburbs just a stone’s throw away.

There’s a fair bit of money floating around here, too; any suburb in which a high percentage of its large houses have names like “Beecroft” and “The Worthington” is going to set you back a pretty penny to acquire property. They almost universally boast lovely, well-manicured front lawns and are that grand old heavy-brick style which populates most of the other “wealthy Old Sydney” suburbs.

With the highrises of North Sydney on the skyline in the distance, it’s quite impressive how wide and heavily tree-lined Wollstonecraft’s streets are. Walking down its residential roads is quite calming and pretty, and there’s ample grassed areas and roadside greenery that contribute to it being very pet-friendly as well.

There’s plenty of birdsong in the air, and little to no traffic to speak of, making for a serene environment as a whole that’s reflected in a high level of sleep quality. If you’re after a mixture of decent proximity to both North Sydney and the CBD while maximising peace and quiet, Wollstonecraft may just be an ideal choice in this regard.

There’s also enough of a range of blocks of higher-density accommodations to cater somewhat for those on a tighter budget as well.

While as a whole the suburb is expensive – average detached house prices hover around the $4 million mark due to a combination of large blocks, desirability and limited availability – there’s enough of a supply of these older apartments that a $600 – $650 per week rental price for a 1-bedder isn’t out of the question.

The perks of peace

So what else are you getting for choosing Wollstonecraft as your home?

One, its heavy rail station on the North Shore line is an obvious selling point, as you get connectivity to the city within a 10-ish minute train ride and frequent services to boot. This also provides the benefit of easy northern access and bigger shopping opportunities in Chatswood and the like not too far away.

Two, as with most of the rest of the Lower North Shore, the suburb is highly safe and boasts very low crime rates per capita. And three, the aforementioned greenery and quiet as well.

It would be an entirely appealing package if it wasn’t for one glaring factor: there’s absolutely nothing to do.

Most other even small and uneventful suburbs will have at least a single signature dining and shopping street; Wollstonecraft has none to speak of – it’s got basically one decent cafe and a historic club in the entire suburb, and that’s it.

Sure, Crows Nest and its pubs and dining are just one suburb away, but that’s a 20-plus minute walk, and requires a drive if you’re going to be grabbing any substantial kind of shopping or groceries back home.

“There’s plenty of birdsong in the air, and little to no traffic to speak of, making for a serene environment as a whole that’s reflected in a high level of sleep quality.”

There’s a couple of tiny (tiny) little shops around the station, but nothing to really service full-blown daily needs, and it’s lacking other conveniences such as chemists, hairdressers and the like. Again, just because they are “not far away” in Crows Nest, it’s still a strike against Wollstonecraft itself.

Its greenery is also – while pretty overall – quite generic, with not much interesting to look at. The one exception is heading down towards the waterfront at Berry Island Reserve, which is a great, expansive green area that offers an excellent spot for a picnic with great harbour views and playground for the kids.

Wollstonecraft is highly family friendly, with several schools not far away, a large hospital complex nearby, and plenty of safe space for them to run around and play. Other than that, it’s not particularly noteworthy.

The Verdict

In the end, Wollstonecraft is “beautifully boring” in that it serves its main purpose – a quiet place to live not too far away from the action – very well.

It’s charming without really having too much “character”, and any kind of young adult or young professional would likely wish to base themselves almost anywhere else in Sydney in terms of entertainment or things to see and do, with neighbouring Crows Nest perhaps being a more obvious choice for this demographic.

For families after a mix of convenience, greenery and quiet, retirees who can afford some upmarket North Shore life, or higher-end professional couples who prefer a sound night’s sleep as opposed to bright lights and pretty colours, Wollstonecraft otherwise makes for a great choice.