Milperra Suburb Review

Summary: Tucked away and rarely discussed, Milperra in Western Sydney quietly offers a bastion of sneaky-good value living for those after a detached house not too far from the Sydney CBD, largely due to a now-dated “rough” reputation. That this pocket of well-kept residential living is “hidden” behind half of a suburb which is otherwise unappealing warehousing and industrial estates allows it to fly under the radar.

Home to a healthy array of parks, reserves, ovals and other green spaces large and small, a nice little smattering of local shops and bigger stores on its fringes, and a low crime rate, Milperra only really has two real glaring flaws.

With a lack of a train station it’s driving-dependent, while its homogenous housing profile means its “freestanding house or look elsewhere”; if neither of those apply to you, then Milperra provides a potentially great value place to live (in Sydney terms) given its location.

Key stats

With a stark contrast in streetscapes that range everywhere from fairly ugly warehousing and industrial estates through to pretty, manicured residential – as well as ample, wide-open public green spaces – Milperra is an interesting beast as far as Sydney suburbs go.

On the surface, this is a relatively small and nondescript Western suburb that most will only visit for the purposes of work (or pass through on their way to or from work elsewhere). Either that, or perhaps to study, or for playing the odd round of golf.

It’s not frequently brought up when the topic of reasonably-priced and convenient places to live in Sydney is discussed… which is a shame, as this skips over what could otherwise serve as a place with many positives for living.

Physically, Milperra sits in a location to Sydney’s south west that makes it easy to pass by; not only is it not a particularly large suburb, but most will experience it zipping past at high speeds via one of the two major arterial roads which border it.

Both Milperra Road and the South Western Motorway form artificial borders on both the north and south sides of Milperra, while its large section of green space backs onto the Georges River, providing a layout that is “enclosed” but in turn provides immediate access to main roads for drivers.

These are both heavily used by cars and trucks alike, and generate quite a bit of road noise; fortunately, the bulk of Milperra’s residential area sits far enough back from either of these to not be too affected by it.

It’s thus easy enough to jump onto either of these via Henry Lawson Drive and head to bigger and busier suburbs for shopping, work & more – such as Revesby or Bankstown – in short order. 

Getting through to the CBD is more of a chore, with multiple possible routes available but none particularly appealing during peak hour, with traffic on the M5/M1 making for a journey that’s at best around 40 minutes, and prone to blowouts.

Milperra’s lack of a train station makes for an awkward public transport-based commute into the city as well, with a cumbersome connection via bus to Revesby Station and on through to Town Hall that’s around an hour journey in total.

These combine to make Milperra a better base for those who ideally work in other, non-CBD-based locations (or even within Milperra itself).

This is a possibility due to Milperra being home to a wide array of medium and large-scale warehousing and industrial parks and associated businesses in its eastern portion, which bleeds into more of the same in Revesby as well.

There’s a diverse range of businesses here, from auto electrical, to tiling and roofing, trucking, importers and everything in between. It’s not a “pretty” part of Milperra and is prone to litter, but is practical while not necessarily reflective of the suburb as a whole.

In addition to these more functional businesses, Milperra is pretty unique in some of the amenities it offers, particularly on the entertainment side.

While many residential suburbs’ entertainment offerings top out at maybe a small shopping complex, a cafe/restaurant or two and a pub if you’re lucky, Milperra has a few extra quirks that help set it apart. These come in multiple, entirely different forms.

One of the most specific is the suburb’s seeming obsession with golf, on both a large and small scale.

Significant chunks of Milperra are taken up not only in legitimate form by the Bankstown Golf Club and its well-taken-care-of grounds, but also by the long-defunct (and quite wasted) slice of land that remains of the former Riverlands Golf and Recreation Club (which Mirvac are aiming to transform in the coming years).

These are also augmented by a golf driving range and even a mini/putt-putt golf course; it’s a golf-centric percentage of the suburb’s physical land that would make Moore Park blush. Additional sporting facilities also help round out its non-golf-based exercise amenities as well.

Non-golfers, meanwhile, can find other distinctive entertainment via the large, appropriately-named Entertainment Park on its northern border which is a massive, mixed-entertainment venue offering plenty of diverse fun.

Go-karts, bowling, racing simulators and more make for something that’s at least a little bit different than the conventional “highlights” your average Sydney suburb possesses.

Milperra does fare quite well in terms of conventional amenities, too.

While it has no true flagship major shopping centre, it’s home to several little smaller-scale corner-style shopping villages dotted fairly evenly among its western residential section.

Both of the creatively-named Milperra Shopping Village and Milperra Shopping Centre are tiny little clusters of shops, with both equipped with bottle shops and bakeries while the former also has a couple of local restaurants, and the latter both a high quality cafe / coffee shop in Four Little Foxes and a Friendly Grocer for small-scale grocery needs.

It’s quite handy as neither of these are very far away from where most of the houses here are concentrated.

For bigger supermarket-style shopping needs, ALDI is the main option here on the corner of Milperra Road and Henry Lawson Drive, where a small cluster of fast food restaurants can also be found.

Elsewhere further down on Henry Lawson Drive, Milperra’s residents’ passions for gardening and home improvement (we’ll get to that later) are well-served by the large Flower Power Garden Centre with its garden-centric focus, major pet store, and more.

Add in a massive Bunnings along the highway, gyms, pharmacies and local pub/hotel The Mill as a large, renovated and family-friendly spot to grab some bistro or Asian food and enjoy a drink, and Milperra punches well above its weight in terms of covering most amenities and services.

Given there are even more on offer not too far a drive away in both Revesby and Bankstown, and it’s certainly not lacking for retail options outside of its fairly average dining scene.

The large Bankstown campus of Western Sydney University also resides here, with a big and pretty green campus on offer that again is not particularly “beautiful” but is functional enough, although it is set to be replaced via an alternative in actual Bankstown in the not too distant future.

Family needs are taken care of by its duo of schools, with both standard public and Catholic options available, as well as its little preschool near Newland Reserve.

Combine these with Milperra’s abundance of playground equipment on offer and a fairly low overall crime rate – Milperra clocks in at 0.08% crimes per capita, which places it alongside more “prestigious” suburbs like Dulwich Hill and Kingsford – and you’ve got a pretty solid spot to raise kids as well.

Milperra’s other standout is the deceptive amount of greenery on offer spread throughout its layout.

Discounting the aforementioned golf facilities, Milperra still provides a pretty hefty amount of greenery that – despite not being particularly beautiful in most cases – means there’s often an acceptable green space within a short distance from most houses here as well.

Multiple small but tidy little reserves that are compact and unspectacular but well maintained are dotted in multiple locations throughout Milperra, and while a few of them such as Beatham, Thompson and Vasta reserves amount to little more than tidy flat grass with some playground equipment, they’re still a boon to people with both kids and pets.

Outside of these, there are a couple of larger spots that are the exception and impressive in their own way.

Newland Reserve is probably the most notable – this roomy, wetlands-based park is quite pretty, boasting a substantial main body of water with plenty of ducks, and walkways, wooden decks, and footpaths which encircle it and playground and picnic amenities as well.

Elsewhere in its northwestern portion, there’s plenty of wide open green space as well in the form of Gordon Parker Reserve (a large sporting field), and the Vale of Ah Reserve.

This last spot is particularly noteworthy for pet owners, with a dedicated dog park section that is pretty huge and offers a ton of room for dogs to burn off energy.

Its only real downside is it’s not segregated by dog size, so it pays to keep your eyes on your dog and those of others to avoid any unpleasant incidents.

This green focus carries over pretty well to Milperra’s residential streets as well. Pretty much all of Milperra’s housing is clustered together on its western side above the South Western Motorway, with its most immediately notable feature being a complete lack of any high or even mid-density housing.

Everything here is detached, freestanding homes – no townhouses, villas or unit blocks to speak of – lending it an open and airy feel where plenty of sunshine is free to come in.

Back roads are likewise wide and offer plenty of room for street parking, though its streets don’t really offer much shade or tree cover, despite there being plenty of trees lining the roadsides; they’re smaller-scale, and “tree-lined”, rather than “tree-draped”.

This mainly just means they’re not the “leafy canopy” style of greenery you see in some other suburbs of Sydney (typically on places like the North Shore).

Big front lawns with multiple cars parked in driveways and on the lawns and a passion for groundskeeping are a key feature here – Milperra has some of the best-kept front lawns we’ve seen.

The gardens themselves aren’t necessarily flashy, but the grass areas are almost universally neatly-trimmed and maintained and well-kept overall.

With a lack of through-traffic, Milperra’s residential streets are very peaceful, consisting of mostly older fibro homes that have been given facelifts, the occasional larger brick build, and only the odd new modern block under development. They’re pleasant and easy to walk through, with no real major highlights but no negatives either.

Milperra in general is largely flat and extremely walkable in terms of terrain, with one notable flaw.

Most of Milperra’s non-residential areas are randomly lacking concrete footpaths, or have footpaths that only run for a short distance on one side of a main road, forcing you to cross over for another brief distance, then quickly cross back over again.

It’s inconvenient and annoying, with the choice to either deal with that criss-crossing, or end up walking through fields of reeds instead.

In terms of property price, Milperra is quite reasonable for Sydney given the average size of its homes and their blocks.

Its lack of a train station might be an inconvenience for some, but by association it also means you’re not paying the “train station premium” that typically jacks up the price of property as a result.

“Big front lawns with multiple cars parked in driveways and on the lawns and a passion for groundskeeping are a key feature here – Milperra has some of the best-kept front lawns we’ve seen.”

Even in the current volatile real estate climate, homes in Milperra are quite good value by Sydney standards, with prices around the $1.1m-$1.2m mark for some of the smaller freestanding homes still a possibility.

The obvious flaw comes from Milperra’s otherwise lack of supply; being purely detached housing results in not only fewer potential properties to buy, but will exclude a big chunk of the population looking for apartments or the “missing middle” such as townhouses and villas, although the occasional new high-end duplex is popping up as time goes by.

The Verdict

Milperra may not be a “glamour” suburb, but it’s another that flies under the radar a little bit more than it should as a place to live. Most of this probably comes from its perception as merely an industrial workplace; however look behind the “rougher” side of town and you’ve got this hidden, pretty and highly-maintained residential sector that is pleasant and well-kept.

A high level of house pride from the residents typically translates into a safe and comfortable neighbourhood, and Milperra has that in spades. Add in a train station, and Milperra could somehow still maintain its property prices it would quickly become one of the best suburbs for the price and location ratio in Sydney; as it is still, it’s still very good value in terms of the house you get for the location.

Milperra’s downside of traffic on its major roads its one that’s more a “Sydney” problem than a Milperra-specific one, and is likely only going to be a massive enough turnoff for those who work in the city to consider looking elsewhere instead. Its lack of high-density housing means that traffic is never an issue within Milperra itself; it’s only once you hit (or attempt to hit) the highways that things become painful.

Its decent layout and mix of amenities means that it’s not too much of a pain or a hike to grab basic groceries, and while it doesn’t have much of a dining scene or cafe culture outside of one or two exceptions, it’s more than enough to get by.

In truth, Milperra probably suffers more from its reputation due to some long-past incidents and its proximity to Bankstown more than it should on a realistic basis. Its green spaces range anywhere from simply practical to massive, its handful of unique entertainment options help set it apart, and its tendency towards providing playground equipment on seemingly every other block make for an obvious drawcard to families with young kids as well.

Overall, Milperra’s a “no-nonsense” suburb that ticks a hell of a lot of boxes in at least above-average ways, and that’s about all you can ask without forking out several million dollars for a place to live in current-day Sydney.