New to Sydney...advice needed on residential areas!

Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills are both pretty good. Lots of places to rent, both houses and townhouses. Fairly nice and safe. A little bit out of the way when it comes to public transport, if that's an issue.

Dundas is a little bit more run down, but only slightly. It also has a lot of redevelopment going on. Plenty of houses and townhouses to rent. Not a bad area. Again public transport is a bit of an issue. There is a train line but there aren't many trains along that line.

Primary schools are everywhere. The ones in those areas would be fine. The hills district has grown alot in the last few decades so the schools would probably be a bit newer there.

All in all. I'd rank them around the middle of the road. You could do better, you could do worse. It's all about your budget and transport needs.

Thanks Adrian....well our budget is upto $400 per week. We require a house/townhouse/villa of 3bedrooms and I've been looking at the properties available for rent on domain. These areas have pretty new properties listed in our budget range coz I prefer something fairly new and in good condition! But for me the primary schools are the most important consideration since my son will be starting school this coming year. Another consideration is we are Muslims and want to live in an area of ethnic diversity. Which areas would you recommend in terms of schooling, safety and general living standard?

I'm still looking around, can somebody plz give a few more suggestions.... Which areas would be closer to CBD and still be reasonably priced, safe and have good primary schools?