Increase your wellbeing and make village life your new normal

Make village life your new normal

Emerging from the two years of covid restrictions, lockdowns and isolation, so many of us are desperate to have a strong sense of community again. Given we are social creatures, this sense of belonging and engagement in our community is critical to our wellbeing. And the world over, village life promotes this sense of belonging and engagement.

Village life has multiple benefits. Living where everything you need is close to home allows you to live small, walk everywhere and shop local. This frees up time that would otherwise be spent driving and parking and it’s far lower impact on the environment. The close-knit sense of community that a group of people living small in a thriving village is highly uplifting. Village life creates a sense of safety, where you know your neighbours and the shopkeepers, offering a feeling of protection. And perhaps best of all, people in villages seem far friendlier and happier.

With so many of us living in large cities, we can be forgiven for thinking that this village life is unobtainable and feel rather anonymous and disengaged. However, within cities, there can be a strong sense of village life and connectedness – you just need to know where to look. And there are a few progressive developers who are creating purpose-built villages within our city in an effort to improve our quality of life and provide an instant sense of community.

 

Surry Hills Village by Toga

Innovative and highly respected developer, TOGA, have pioneered modern, architecturally superb urban villages that provide the best of all worlds for their residents. With artisan providores, restaurants, cafés, boutiques and workspaces, the village life is well and truly at your doorstep. Surry Hills Village offers a beautiful European-style retail arcade and a vibrant market-style laneway. For ultimate convenience, there is a brand-new Coles supermarket and a Vintage Cellars. And to top it all off, there are lush green spaces throughout where you can find a spot to chill out, read a book or sit with friends.

Wicks Place Marrickville by Toga

Another superior example of a strikingly hip village development is Wicks Place on the Park in the dynamic suburb of Marrickville. This urban village precinct is bursting with energy and vitality, offering an imaginative retail and dining experience that will greatly benefit its residents and locals alike. Wicks Place features cafés, restaurants, boutiques, reimagined warehouse spaces and lush landscaped gardens and lawns, all in a friendly walkable neighbourhood. And the pumping cafes, restaurants, craft beer houses and eclectic, creative culture of Marrickville is just around the corner.

Marrickville Library

TOGA has been mindful of selecting locations where there is already a fantastic sense of community and an incredible public transport system that enables its residents to easily access wherever they want to go in Sydney. Marrickville and Surry Hills have both been voted by TimeOut magazine as the coolest neighbourhoods in Australia. In fact, Marrickville made the top ten coolest neighbourhoods in the world! So, if you are looking for a cutting-edge property in the perfect village setting, look no further than Surry Hills Village and Wicks Place on the Park, where you will not only own an exquisitely crafted apartment, but you’ll be living your best village life.

Here are some of the architecturally extraordinary apartments available to purchase now:

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The Sydney suburbs that are a foodie’s paradise – the food fest continues… Marrickville

The Sydney suburbs that are a foodie’s paradise – the food fest continues… The Marrickville Edition

Apartment Living Chronicles Part 8

There are several Sydney suburbs that have it all in the way of artisan providores and grocers, where produce is treated with the utmost of respect and food is fun and fantastic. As such, Marrickville and Surry Hills get our vote as joint winners of Sydney’s Foodie Capital. Recently we walked the streets of Surry Hills in search of our food nirvana, and now we’ll take a look at all things gourmet in Marrickville.

 
 
First stop is the Paesanella Food Emporium, which carries with it a 60+ year history. The Italian founder brought Sydney one of its first tastes of the best cheese in Italy, and now the Emporium stocks freshly made buffalo mozzarella and ricotta, along with cookbooks, pasta and imported delicacies. And if you are after a choice cut of meat or the best pate this side of Paris, try Whole Beast Butchery.



Then for the freshest groceries in the West, you can’t go past Panetta Mercato. Located in the Marrickville Metro store, the cheeses, meats, sundried tomatoes, olives, dips and much more, mean we are spoiled for choice. Create your own grazing table that will stand up to any Tuscan mid-summer spread. There are also Vietnamese green grocers offering best of Asian produce to invigorate and vary your meals.

 

Leading the way in building ecosystem health and biodiversity, Feather and Bone butchery sources from local farms. Pick up a copy of their book, The Ethical Omnivore, and learn how you can eat meat and still feel like you are doing the right thing by our planet. From crumbed lamb loin cutlets and goat and lemon thyme sausage to smoked Aylesbury-Pekin duck breast and paleo boxes, you will get your iron up at one of Sydney’s very best butchers.

If you are looking for the real McCoy in New York deli bagels, you can’t go past Brooklyn Boy Bagels Drive-Thru. With a bagel to satisfy any taste, choose from onion, blueberry, sesame and gluten free to the exotic rainbow, pumpkin and famed everything bagel. Generous tubs of luscious cream cheese come in plain, jalapeño, lox with capers, garlic and chive flavours. There’s even something for the vegans among us, with the almond ‘cream cheese’ version. You can even pick up the quintessential toppings such as lox and pastrami. If you are really not one for bagels at the end of all this, fear not, as Brooklyn Boy also make a mean sourdough, challah or rye bread or pushcart-style pretzel.

No meal is complete without a good coffee (at least in my book) and The Wood Roaster will live up to any coffee aficionado’s standards. Using their one-of-a-kind air roaster, their wood-fired artisan roasting technique is second to none. For a drop to wash it all down, pop into Where’s Nick Wine Bar and Shop (see image below) proponents of the natural wine movement who primarily source from sustainable and organic winemakers. And with Marrickville the home to Sydney’s best craft beers, pick up a bottle (or a dozen) from Sauce Brewing Co, Batch, Stockade, Wildflower or Bucket Boys Crafty Beer Co.

For certified organic, super-fresh produce, there is no better place to shop than the Marrickville Organic Markets. An Inner West institution, loyal Sydneysiders make the Sunday pilgrimage to the markets from all over the city. You can find almost anything here, from vintage goods, to seasonal fruit and veg, to fresh honey and seafood. Located at the Addison Road Community Centre, there is plenty of lawn to have a picnic after you’ve grabbed exactly what you’re craving from one of the many market stalls.

If you want to make life easier by having the best grocery stores and providores just around the corner, check out Toga's incredible village development, Wicks Place, Marrickville, being sold exclusively by Cramer Property.