Adelaide’s top 10 suburbs to live, work and play revealed in PwC CityPulse research

ADELAIDE’s top 10 suburbs in which to live, work and play have been revealed in innovative new research — and they’re probably not where you think. See how your suburb rates based on 35 measures including transport links, access to amenities, house prices and crime rates.

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ADELAIDE’s top 10 suburbs in which to live, work and play have been revealed in innovative research which compares the city with itself for the first time.

Using 35 measures including home affordability, crime rates and job accessibility, the CityPulse Adelaide study ranks the top suburbs into the three groups and produces detailed insights to guide future planning.

Adelaide’s top 10 suburbs are unique for Australian capital cities in that they are relatively close to the CBD, primarily because inner-suburban homes interstate are significantly more expensive.

The report, produced by professional services firm PwC Australia, determines inner-western Plympton is Adelaide’s most liveable suburb, followed by near-neighbour Richmond, and the northeastern suburbs of Paradise-Newton (some are grouped together) and Windsor Gardens.

Richmond, Plympton, Windsor Gardens, Goodwood-Millswood and Unley-Parkside rate in the top 10 for all three groupings of live, work and play.

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PwC Adelaide managing partner Kim Cheater said areas such as Plympton and Richmond rated highly on housing affordability but also were very close to the CBD and transport options. The report also highlights Paradise and Windsor Gardens’ home affordability.

“This demonstrates the great potential for Adelaide and its attractiveness for a future workforce as there are so many highly liveable areas, close to facilities and where there are affordable housing options,” the report says.

Statistics used to determine the “live” rating include:

ACCESS to amenities such as schools, childcare, aged care and universities;

CRIME rates against people and property;

COMMUNITY health and access to medical centres, dentists and hospitals;

HOUSING affordability, including property prices, building approvals, rental and mortgage payments.

Future Adelaide special report defcon artwork

Greater Adelaide is highlighted as “a great city for workers’ accessibility” in the report, which declares this is more pronounced than in other cities and is likely a reflection of “how easy it is to commute”.

“The strong ‘live’ results for Plympton, Goodwood, Paradise and Windsor Gardens demonstrate the enormous value light transport options, such as trams and the O-Bahn, have delivered to enhance accessibility,” the report says.

“Adelaide is a very accessible city but there is a clear opportunity to enhance light transport options.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Adelaide CBD is the highest rated for the “work” top 10, followed by Toorak Gardens, Windsor Gardens, Richmond, Plympton, Unley-Parkside, Mawson Lakes-Globe Derby Park, Goodwood-Millswood, Mitcham and North Adelaide and Glenelg ranked as equal-tenth.

The “work” measure is compiled using economic factors including business activity, employment rates, access to jobs, welfare dependency and economic performance. The Adelaide CBD also is top-rated on the “play” measure, which considers aspects such as entertaining, dining, bars, retail centres, sports and fitness facilities and access to open space, such as parks, ovals and beaches.

The report argues the importance of maintaining momentum from sporting and cultural investments in the CBD, saying the new Liberal government has recognised this by focusing on the Old Royal Adelaide Hospital site as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to develop a central hub supporting industry, education, culture and heritage.

PwC predicts a proposed Aboriginal Art and Culture gallery there would become a “major drawcard”.

Jason and Renee Scott with their children Noah, Phoebe and Leah at their North Plympton home. Picture: Matt Turner

WHY PLYMPTON IS NUMBER ONE

FOR diesel mechanic Jason Scott, it’s little surprise that Plympton is the top-rated place in Adelaide to live.

Jason and wife Renee, a paediatric intensive care nurse at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, have lived in the area for the past 13 years, raising their three children.

Their North Plympton home is a relatively short drive from Renee’s work, particularly when she has finished night shift. It’s also close to Goodwood and Glenelg, where Jason and his son play football and baseball.

“We really love living there. We’ve got a great park across the road from us, with a playground and a basketball and tennis court,” said Jason, 37.

“There’s heaps of stuff for our kids to do. They can get outside — they don’t have to watch TV or play a computer game.”

Their children have “a bunch of friends” nearby and Jason says the family feels secure in the quiet neighbourhood. They don’t notice much noise, if any, from the relatively close Adelaide Airport.

“I can’t see us moving anywhere in the future,” he said.

“It’s fairly quiet and we don’t have anyone doing anything stupid, like burnouts in the street or any of that sort of carry-on.”

PwC Adelaide managing partner Kim Cheater said the top rating for Plympton (including North Plympton) reflected very good access to transport, particularly the nearby tram.

Plympton rated equal-highest with Mt Barker on housing affordability, including a good ratio on weekly rent to income and also had a high number of building approvals.

Dr Agnieszka Mierczynska-Vasilev and Professor Krasimir Vasilev with their daughter Olivia in their family home in Mawson Lakes. Picture: Matt Loxton

PLANNING MAKES PERFECT IN MAWSON LAKES

MAWSON Lakes researcher Krasimir Vasilev and his family are reaping the benefits of arguably the most lasting outcome of the ill-fated MFP project in the 1990s.

In one of the final acts of the grandiloquently named Multifunction Polis, an $850 million “Smart City” was conceived at Mawson Lakes and, ironically, pitched as becoming a place to “live, work and play”.

Amid much controversy in late 1996, State Cabinet approved plans for about 4000 homes, a series of lakes to naturally cleanse stormwater and a business precinct.

The so-called Smart City had previously been earmarked for Gillman and was viewed as the key feature of the MFP, since the project was first suggested in 1987 by a visiting Japanese trade delegation.

This extensive planning, which culminated in a joint venture with private consortium Delfin Lend Lease, has now been praised in the CityPulse report for “getting it right”.

“This demonstrates the value of a co-ordinated and planned approach and having the right combination of facilities to support people to live, work and play in the area,” the report says, almost echoing old MFP promotional material.

For Professor Vasilev, it’s a great mix. He works as a biomechanical researcher into medical devices at the University of South Australia’s Mawson Lakes campus and lives there with wife Agnieszka Mierczynska-Vasilev and their daughter, Olivia, who goes to the local primary school.

“It’s a nice middle-class suburb not far from the city and northern beaches, with nice lakes and parks. It’s close to work and school,” Professor Vasilev said.

He started working there in 2005 and moved to the suburb in 2009. Until 2014, Dr Mierczynska-Vasilev also worked at UniSA but now is a research scientist at the Urrbrae-based Australian Wine Research Institute.

Professor Vasilev enjoys living in a suburb dotted with trees, including in a median strip opposite his house and at a nearby park.

“You look out of the bedroom window and see these trees, which is nice,” he said.

Another attribute is being able to drop Olivia at school and get to his office within about five minutes of leaving home. This proximity means he can pick her up easily for judo, gymnastics and piano classes.

Professor Vasilev also works near the business precinct, where he sometimes lunches with colleagues and, occasionally on weekends, with his family.

In an example of the MFP’s environmental goals, homes have recycled water. But Professor Vasilev does not have broadband internet, relying on ADSL, so the hi-tech city has not been fully realised.