Glen Alpine is a suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, in the state of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Glen Alpine is located 56 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district

Sydney central business district

The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...

, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur

Macarthur, New South Wales

Macarthur is a region in south-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region includes the local government areas of the City of Campbelltown, Camden Council and Wollondilly Shire. It covers an area of 3,067 square kilometres and has a population of close to 240,000 residents...

 region.

History

Glen Alpine began as a golf course estate with houses constructed mainly inside the looping design of the 18 hole course. From the late 1990s, development expanded outside this ring towards the local shopping centre Macarthur Square.

In the past few years a new estate, Macarthur Gardens has been developed in the area between the 6th hole, Menangle Road and Macarthur Square. This development included the creation of a local shopping and tennis complex 500 metres from the golf course clubhouse. This development consists of over 50 new single and double story houses on much smaller blocks than those of Glen Alpine. The modern style of these homes complements those of Glen Alpine. Englorie Park

Englorie Park, New South Wales

Englorie Park is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Englorie Park is located 55 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.Englorie Park is a relatively...

 is another new development in this area between Glen Alpine and Ambarvale

Ambarvale, New South Wales

Ambarvale is a suburb of south-western Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Ambarvale is located 55 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region...

.

The name Glen Alpine dates back to the 1820s when Thomas Reddall, who lends his name to Thomas Reddall High School

Thomas Reddall High School

Thomas Reddall High School is a public coeducational high school in the suburb of Ambarvale, New South Wales, Australia. The school was founded in 1991, with its first class completing the Higher School Certificate in 1996....

 in neighbouring Ambarvale

Ambarvale, New South Wales

Ambarvale is a suburb of south-western Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Ambarvale is located 55 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region...

, built a house with that name. The house burnt down in the early 1900s and the site is now called Heritage Park on Abington Crescent. But not long after the house burnt down, property owner James Sheil built a new Glen Alpine and this house still tands in Bell Tree Close.

Housing

The suburb is low density residential with blocks between 800sqm and 1600sqm. Most homes are less than 20 years old and are styled as modern heritage though other designs are common. The area has been accused of succumbing to the trend of larger homes, though usually by residents living in older high density areas.

According to the 2006 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australian Bureau of Statistics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...

, 99 percent of Glen Alpine homes were detached housing. Virtually all were owned outright (30%) or in the process of being bought (61%) with virtually no rental properties. The median home loan repayments of $1842 per month was substantially more than the national average of $1300.

People

The 2006 census recorded Glen Alpine had a population of 4,403, who could be categorised generally as wealthy families from English-speaking backgrounds. The median household income for Glen Alpine was $1965 per week, almost double the national figure of $1027. Nearly two thirds of the suburb were couple families with children while the national figure was less than half. Nearly 80 percent spoke English only at home with the most significant other language being Cantonese (1.3%).

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