Whether you like it or not, there are some immediate signs — some subtle, others more obvious — that indicate when you've entered a posh suburb.
It could be something simple and easy to spot, like well-kept gardens and manicured lawns. But in a Reddit thread started by u/wuhanlabrador, where they asked "What are some good indicators of a posh suburb in Sydney?", Aussies touched on the more subtle signs of wealth in suburbia.
As someone who grew up in North West Sydney, I found the answers to be super interesting (am I more posh than I realised?!) — especially since a lot of them could apply to Australia in general and not just Sydneysiders. Here's what was said.
1. "Chargrill Charlie's."
2. "No shopping trolleys on the street."
3. "Poor places have wire or that cheap metal fencing, middle class places have no fencing, rich places have stone fencing."
4. "Price of coffee and larger than usual number of cafes serving smashed avo on toast, spotlessly manicured lawns, lots of private school kids in posh uniforms, no fast food outlets in sight, no stations nearby or a lack of public transport."
5. "European SUVs with ski racks."
6. "Bourke Street Bakery or similar."
7. "Grocery shopping is done at Harris Farm."
—u/endersai
8. "The school uniforms in the local area use straw hats of varying designs."
—u/moxeto
9. "Closeness to the water."
—u/tinmun
10. "Cars NOT parked all over front lawns."
11. "R.M. Williams store."
12. "Good pickings on council collection day."
13. "Lack of fast food like Macca's and Hungry Jack's. Lack of Aldis."
14. "Porsche Cayennes and Teslas of any description, especially with P or L plates. Further to the Teslas, street charging points for electric vehicles."
—u/ZippyKoala
15. "Many small shops for women's clothes and homewares in which the prevailing shades are off-white, oatmeal and biscuit, and the prevailing fabric is linen."
—u/ZippyKoala
16. "A piano store next to a chandelier store (Paddington)."
—u/boenwip
"Or a piano store next to a Porsche dealer (Willoughby)."
—u/BattyLotte2
17. "When potholes are fixed within a couple of days after the rain."
18. "No RBTs on a weekday morning."
19. "Moreton Bay figs and jacaranda trees lining the streets."
—u/fatmarfia
20. "Just trees in general. The bigger and the older, the better as a sign of a nice area"
—u/ICEDJaguar
"And a sign that the trees are appreciated and retained, instead of cut down and concreted over as seems to be the favoured approach in less affluent areas."
—u/Pomohomo82
21. "Accent changes to a more neutral, almost British one (probably due to private school years)."
22. "The ever present stay-at-home mother in gym wear sitting at a cafe after having dropped off the kids at school in a Mercedes/BMW."
—u/0nionlover
23. "Pruned hedges and well-kept gardens."
—u/aszet
24. "Poodles and every variation of oodle dog breeds."
25. And lastly, "Leafy streets, well-maintained English-style gardens and streets that are relatively hilly and not flat. Plus, people exercising and wearing branded gym wear, unique dog breeds, European SUVs and hatchbacks, homes built prior to the 1980s, a lack of graffiti, posh cafes and a lack of large stores and super centres."
Note: Some Reddit submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.