North Shore (Sydney)

North Shore (Sydney)
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The suburb of Chatswood lies in the centre of the North Shore

The North Shore is an informal term used to describe a primarily residential area of northern metropolitan Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The term usually refers to the suburbs located on the north shore of Sydney Harbour between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove River. The north shore is an affluent area of Sydney¹. The residents of the north shore are largely Anglo-Celtic in composition, and have the highest income levels in Sydney along with the residents of Sydney's eastern suburbs². The North Shore area is not clearly defined and therefore can be used to refer to the suburbs further west to the Ryde Bridge.

1 Lower North Shore
2 Upper North Shore
3 History
4 Geography
5 Transport and commercial centres
6 Notes and references
7 See also

Lower North Shore

Main article: Lower North Shore

The Lower North Shore usually refers to the suburbs adjacent to the harbour such as Neutral Bay, Waverton, Mosman, Cremorne, Lavender Bay, Milsons Point, Cammeray and North Sydney. The Lower North Shore has an eastern boundary adjacent to Middle Harbour, or at the Roseville Bridge at Castle Cove and Roseville Chase. The term Lower North Shore can include the local government areas of Municipality of Mosman, City of Willoughby, Municipality of Lane Cove, North Sydney Council, Municipality of Hunters Hill and City of Ryde^{citation needed}.

Upper North Shore

Further information: Upper North Shore

The Upper North Shore usually refers to the suburbs north-west of Chatswood up to the upper reaches of Ku-ring-gai and includes suburbs such as Pymble, Turramurra and St Ives. The Upper North Shore can include the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai council and Hornsby Shire.

History

After the establishment of Sydney in 1788, settlement of the North Shore of the harbour was quite limited. The first settler was James Milson. The north shore was more rugged than the southern shore and western areas of the harbour, and had limited agricultural potential. The early activities in the area included chopping down many of the tall trees which grew there, boatbuilding, and some orchard farming in the limited areas of good soil. The North Shore Line was originally built in the 1890s to link the settlements in the area, and suburban development gradually expanded. However access to Sydney, located on the southern shore of the harbour, remained very limited. The completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 marked the commencement of a massive expansion of suburbs on the North Shore between 1932 and the 1970s.

Geography

Most of the North Shore suburbs are part of the Hawkesbury Plateau, a large sandstone plateau overlaid by a system of ridges and gullies. The Plateau begins north of the Port Jackson and runs up until the Hawkesbury River. Thus much of the North Shore is hilly with many steep valleys running down into the harbour and the rivers on either side. These ridges and valleys were originally populated with dry sclerophyll forest, much of which still remains. There are many small parks and areas of the sclerophyll forest adjacent to and within residential areas, earning the area the nickname "the leafy North Shore". The Lane Cove National Park and the Garigal National Park include many areas of remnant bushland adjacent to the Lane Cove River and Middle Harbour. There is excellent bushwalking, abseiling and bouldering around Lindfield. Gordon houses one of Sydney's largest bat colonies in a Bat reserve leading to Middle Harbour.

Transport and commercial centres

The main transport routes on the North Shore are the Pacific Highway and the North Shore Line which provide access to downtown Sydney over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Significant commercial and retail centres on the North Shore include North Sydney, Crows Nest, Chatswood, St Leonards, Neutral Bay and Gordon.

Notes and references

^ Daly, Margot (2003). The Rough Guide to Sydney. Rough Guides, 6. ISBN 184353116X. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
^ Collins J, Poynting S (2000). The Other Sydney: Communities, Identities and Inequalities in Western Sydney. Common Ground, 46. ISBN 1863350179. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.

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