Ranking Inner West Suburbs by How Hard It Is to Leave Once You’re In

Some suburbs are like venus fly traps.

Not in a bad way — in the “we were going to move, but…” way. The kind of place where routines settle, friendships thicken, and leaving starts to feel like breaking something that’s working.

This ranking looks at how hard it actually is to leave an Inner West suburb once you’ve arrived, based on long-term residency patterns, repeat buyers, and how often people genuinely follow through on plans to move on.

1. Haberfield

Haberfield is famously immovable. Families buy with decades in mind. Homes are extended, passed down, and defended. People don’t leave Haberfield — life eventually makes the decision for them.

2. Annandale

Annandale holds people quietly. Schooling, street consistency, and proximity without chaos mean residents tend to stay longer than planned. Leaving usually feels like a compromise.

3. Summer Hill

Summer Hill traps people softly. The village rhythm, schools, and walkability make it hard to justify leaving. Many people upgrade or downsize without leaving the suburb at all.

4. Glebe

Glebe anchors people emotionally. Long rental tenures and repeat buyers are common. People stay through life changes because the community feels hard to replace.

5. Earlwood

Earlwood is built for staying. Families settle, routines lock in, and the idea of leaving becomes abstract rather than practical.

6. Dulwich Hill

Dulwich Hill’s stickiness comes from ease. Once daily life feels smooth here, moving feels like adding friction for no real gain.

7. Lilyfield

Lilyfield holds people through calm. Once you adjust to the quiet, greenery, and proximity, it becomes surprisingly difficult to give up.

8. Lewisham

Lewisham keeps people longer than expected. It’s comfortable, predictable, and low-drama — the kind of suburb people pause in and then forget to leave.

9. Alexandria

Alexandria holds people through amenity. Even when space tightens, density and convenience delay exits longer than planned.

10. Drummoyne

Drummoyne keeps people through lifestyle. Water views and calm routines anchor residents, though exits do happen as needs change.

11. Hurlstone Park

Hurlstone Park retains families through balance. It doesn’t overwhelm, and that steadiness keeps people in place longer than expected.

12. Stanmore

Stanmore holds people by contrast. Close to everything, but protected from intensity. Once you adjust, it’s hard to trade that balance away.

13. Petersham

Petersham keeps people through habit. Routines settle in deeply, but some eventually move on when space or schooling shifts.

14. Russell Lea

Russell Lea’s stickiness is lifestyle-based. Calm, water, and predictability hold people — though it doesn’t trap them emotionally.

15. Forest Lodge

Forest Lodge retains people through convenience. Proximity to everything makes moving feel unnecessary until life forces it.

16. Canterbury

Canterbury’s stickiness is growing. Infrastructure and affordability mean more residents are choosing to stay rather than leapfrog.

17. Enmore

Enmore holds a specific group tightly, and everyone else briefly. If it fits your life, you stay. If not, you leave quickly.

18. Leichhardt

Leichhardt should probably be lower — but it’s held up by one undeniable force: Italians don’t like to move. Long family ownership, cultural loyalty, and multi-generation households keep turnover artificially low, even when logic says people might leave.

19. Ashfield

Ashfield holds people practically, not emotionally. Many stay until something better presents itself.

20. Marrickville

Marrickville feels sticky culturally, but in reality many residents do move on once life stages shift. People love it — they just don’t always stay forever.

21. Croydon

Croydon keeps people comfortable, but not anchored. Movement happens once needs change.

22. Sydenham

Sydenham is still transitional. Some residents stay longer than planned, but few fully commit yet.

23. Newtown

Newtown is emotionally intense but not always sticky. People fight leaving it — and then eventually do.

24. Ashbury

Ashbury is calm and stable, but doesn’t lock people in. Exits happen quietly.

25. Tempe

Tempe sees steady turnover. Access draws people in, but long-term anchoring is rare.

26. Campsie

Campsie sits last not because people dislike it — but because many residents arrive with an exit plan already in mind. Practical, valuable, but often temporary.

The hardest suburbs to leave aren’t always the flashiest. They’re the ones that quietly remove reasons to go.

People don’t leave them because something went wrong.
They leave because something finally forced them to.

From the Desk of Ramon Raneal