To help you get a feel for CT suburbs here are what a few of us think about where we live.
Siobhan: Devil’s Peak
Fantastically central. Easy commute to town (less than 10 mins to office), beach, restaurants, bars etc. Lovely little ‘High Road’ with a decent Spar (they SMS regulars when the owner brings in a tuna) and quite a few bars and restaurants. All very friendly and cute. Views of the city bowl and the sea and the mountain. Bit pricey but there’s lots of development and the market really seems to be slowing down.
Sandy: Edgemead
Lovely family-oriented suburb north of Cape Town with fairly reasonable accommodation. No high walls or electric fences! Lots of parks and open spaces, great little shopping centre with an amazing Spar. Very good primary school! Takes just 35 minutes to get into town during peak hour traffic (15 minutes on the weekend). Quite close to Milnerton Beach and Blaauwberg beaches. Gumtree.co.za is a good place to find places to rent!
Amy: Woodstock
After years spent commuting, the best part of living in Woodstock is that I’m only 5 minutes’ drive from work. It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood with lots of new developments and its own “improvement district”. Despite its proximity to the city, prices are still very reasonable and there are lots of bargains to be had. It’s close to shops and schools in the city and the Southern Suburbs. With a mixture of new young inhabitants and families who’ve lived there for years, Woodstock has a real community spirit. Your neighbours will all greet you in the street.
(BacktoSA spy adds)
the organic food market on Saturdays at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock is absolutely fabulous … a lovely, friendly, deliciously tasty place to hang out on Saturday morning, meet up with friends, drink great coffee, taste new/foreign beers and wines, eat a pancake, do a bit of food shopping.
Alison: Tamboerskloof
Tamboerskloof is close to town, 5 minutes to Camps Bay and also the waterfront, yet still leafy and a pretty suburb, loads of trendy coffee bars/funky restaurants and delis, deer park great for walking dogs. The best suburb in CT! (somewhat expensive)
(BacktoSA spy adds)
Tamboerskloof may be the best suburb in CT but Deer Park is actually in my neck of the woods (2nd best suburb, Devil's Peak)
Craig (with the legs): Kloof Street
Calf-muscles like coconuts – exercise your legs and your clutch in Kloof Nek. Centrally located. Easy drive or cycle into town. Streets full of restaurants and bars, with the trendier, more cosmopolitan Long Street a few minutes walk away. Like New Orleans on a Friday night. Good views, if it wasn’t for a bloody great flat rock in the way. Parks for dogs, grandparents and smokers. Library. Real McCoy Swiss German barber for men, all the gossip. Practice your French, Swahili and Arabic with the car-guards – they will love you for it.
Tracey (I wish I lived in Sandton): Durbanville
I live in Durbanville in the Northern suburbs of cape Town. Although I travel a round trip of 70km a day to and from work, you definitely get a lot more bang for your buck when you buy property out there as opposed to in the City Bowel (as I like to call it) or the Southern Suburbs. Durbanville is really pretty – it’s on the doorstep of the winelands and the countryside. There is a small-town atmosphere (everyone refers to the little CBD as “The Village”) and supporting local business is the thing to do. Tyger Valley Centre is one of the biggest shopping centres in Cape Town and there is a smattering of other smaller shopping precincts with everything you could possibly need or want. There are loads of restaurants in the area offering a range of cuisine from authentic Italian to the best steakhouse in the country (dinkum, it’s awesome). There are also a variety of wine farm dining options, as well as fine dining at the likes of Poplars restaurant. Schools, especially primary schools are really good. Although there are still more Afrikaans speakers than English (about a 60:40 split) more and more English speakers are moving into Durbanville and all the schools are dual-medium. Bus services for scholars run to Paarl and Stellenbosch too, so if you fancy one of the schools out there, it is an option.
Watch this space!
The Devils Peak development. What's hot and happening in Devils Peak!
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