North Shore (Sydney)

Before British settlement, the Lower North Shore was home to the Gorualgal (Mosman and southern Willoughby) and Cammeraygal (North Sydney and Eastern Lane Cove).[1]

After the establishment of Sydney in 1788, settlement on the North Shore of the harbour was quite limited. One of the first settlers was James Milson who lived in the vicinity of Jeffrey Street in Kirribilli, directly opposite Sydney Cove. 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 tree felling, boatbuilding and some orchard farming in the limited areas of good soil. The North Shore railway line was built in the 1890s. Access to the Sydney CBD, located on the southern shore of the harbour remained difficult until the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. This led to the commencement of the development of suburbs on the North Shore. [2]

The four local governments that together form the Lower North Shore (the City of Willoughby and the municipalities of Mosman, Lane Cove and North Sydney) were created from the Parish of Willoughby, a cadastral unit used for land titles that was created in the early years of European settlement. "North Sydney" was formerly known as St. Leonards. [3]

The suburb of Chatswood is a regional administrative and shopping district in the North Shore

As the "North Shore" is customary, not administrative or legal, its boundaries amorphous and variable. Generally, the "North Shore" includes the peninsula immediately north of Sydney Harbour and an area further north. In this general conception, the North Shore is bounded in the south by Sydney Harbour, in the west by the Lane Cove River, in the southeast by Middle Harbour, and in the northeast by Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. East and north of this boundary are the Northern Beaches region and to the west is the Hills District.

This conception of the North Shore includes the local government areasof the City of Willoughby, Municipality of Lane Cove, North Sydney Council, Municipality of Mosman and Ku-ring-gai Council.[4]

In this conception, the North Shore roughly corresponds with the cadastral parishes (used for land title purposes) of the Willoughby (in the south) and Gordon (in the north).[5][6]

However, these boundaries are not fixed, and those suburbs that sit close to the boundary between, for example, the cadastral Parish of Gordon and the neighbouring Parish of Manly Cove in the east, may be identified in different contexts as part of either the Upper North Shore region or the Northern Beaches region. The entirety of the Lane Cove National Park is often regarded as part of the North Shore region.

Likewise, while the Municipality of Hunters Hill is west of the Lane Cove River and in the Parish of Hunters Hill, the suburbs in that parish along the northern shore of the Parramatta River are sometimes referred (especially in commercial contexts) as part of the Lower North Shore.[7][8]

Most of the North Shore suburbs are part of the Hornsby 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.[9]

Parks and areas of sclerophyll forest are present throughout the area. The Lane Cove National Park, Garigal National Park and Sydney Harbour National Park contain remnant bushland along the Lane Cove River, Middle Harbour and Sydney Harbour respectively. Bushwalking, abseiling and bouldering opportunities can be found around Lindfield and North Turramurra. Gordon has one of Sydney's largest bat colonies in a bat reserve leading to Middle Harbour.[10]

The main transport routes on the North Shore are Military Road, the Pacific Highway, the Warringah Expressway as well as parts of the Pennant Hills Road, Ryde Road, Epping Road and Mona Vale Road. Smaller but major arterial roads on the Upper North Shore include the Eastern Arterial Road at St Ives, East Killara and East Lindfield, the Comenarra Parkway at Thornleigh, Wahroonga, Turramurra, South Turramurra and West Pymble, as well as Lady Game Drive at West Pymble, Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and West Chastwood, providing access to major commercial hubs such as Chatswood. The North Shore & Western Line provides access to the central business district of Sydney over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Many bus routes also serve the area, particularly the lower North Shore, and ferries connect many of the harbourside suburbs with Circular Quay in the central business district.[15]

Much of the North Shore is accessible to Railway Transport with the T1 North Shore line providing rail services between Sydney's Central Business District, North Sydney and Hornsby via Chatswood. The T9 Northern Line also serves parts of the Upper North Shore, while the Sydney Metro Northwest which opened on 26 May 2018, serves the suburbs of Chatswood, North Ryde, Macquarie Park, Macquarie University and Epping before continuing to Tallawong in the Hills District, replacing the previous Epping to Chatswood railway line after almost 10 years of service. The remaining Sydney Metro City & Southwest stage to the Lower North Shore and Bankstown, is projected to be completed in 2024. The completed metro line will provide rapid transit between North West Sydney and South West Sydney via the Lower North Shore.

Transdev NSW provide frequent bus services to the Upper North Shore.[16] Busses on the Lower North Shore are mainly serviced by the State Transit Authority.[17]

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

The North Shore's largest commercial centres are at North Sydney and Chatswood. A number of international companies having their Australian or Asia–Pacific Headquarters in this part of Sydney. North Sydney does not have any of Sydney's major shopping centres, however, it has a number of speciality stores and cafés. Chatswood is one of the largest retail precincts in Sydney, and has a large amount of high density residential buildings. It is home to large shopping centres such as Westfield Chatswood and Chatswood Chase. Nearby Chatswood, Macquarie Park is home to one of Sydney’s largest shopping centres, Macquarie Centre. Macquarie Park also has a substantial amount of high density residential buildings and office space. St Leonards is another large commercial area featuring mostly office space and apartments.

The Lower North Shore has many unique landmarks such as: The Sydney Harbour Bridge, Taronga Zoo in Mosman, Admiralty House (Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia), Kirribilli House (Sydney residence of the Prime Minister of Australia), Luna Park, and Balmoral Beach. At a Sydney or local level, however, landmarks are more plentiful and include: The Lane Cove Azalea Beds, Blues Point Tower, Eden Gardens, the Balmoral Rotunda, the Stanton Library in North Sydney, Lane Cove Plaza, Zenith Towers at Chatswood, Northpoint Tower in North Sydney, Cammeray suspension bridge at Cammeray, Echo Point Park in Roseville Chase, the Royal North Shore Hospital, the Hornsby Water Clock, and 'The Forum' in St Leonards.[18]

The region is home to hundreds of parks and reserves, including Sydney Harbour National Park and the Lane Cove National Park. Major local sports grounds include North Sydney Oval, the region's largest in capacity, and Chatswood Oval.

The Willoughby Spring Festival is held throughout the Willoughby local government area, in September each year. The festival lasts for a month and features over 40 events including live music/entertainment, exhibitions, cultural celebrations, business events and many more community activities. The highlight is the annual Willoughby StreetFair where the Chatswood CBD is taken over by market stalls, performers, dancers and musicians. The StreetFair features the Willoughby Street Parade which included over 1,000 participants in 2007.

The Lower North Shore's other main festivals/events include: Tartan Day at Lane Cove, the Guringgai Festival honouring northern Sydney's Aboriginals, the Moocooboola Festival at Hunters Hill, the Mosman Festival, Lane Cove's Cammeraygal Festival, Chinese New Year at Chatswood. Mosman, North Sydney, Willoughby also holds an annual art prize. All local government areas in the region and around the country celebrate Australia Day, which is on 26 January.[19]

The local newspapers are the Sydney Observer, Hornsby and Upper North Shore Advocate, The North Shore Times, The Mosman Daily, Northern District Times and the North Shores' local lifestyle publication Northside.

Like the rest of the Sydney basin, the North Shore has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa). Turramurra receives one of the highest rainfalls in the Sydney area, with an average of 1,400 millimetres (55 in) per year.[20] The inland parts of the North Shore are somewhat cooler than other areas of the surrounding Sydney basin in the winter months, particularly the CBD, and the further inland the area (particularly the Upper North Shore), the cooler the weather.

• 
  A historic home turned function centre in the suburb of Lane Cove.
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  Taronga Zoo, Mosman
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  The Forum, St Leonards
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  Lavender Bay Wharf
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  Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards
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  Wollstonecraft, Bay Marina
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  Long Gully Bridge viewed from Naremburn

This list is not exhaustive.

The suburbs and localities of the region generally known as North Shore are: