Stretching from Royal National Park in the north to Lake Illawarra in the south, the Wollongong local government area has a population of about 213,000.
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Thanks to the ready availability of coal in the Illawarra region, heavy industry was first attracted to Wollongong in the 1920s, along with blue-collar workers from around the world who have contributed to the enduring multicultural character of NSW’s third-biggest city.
The most famous of its myriad heavy industries was the BHP steelworks at Port Kembla, which employed more than 20,000 people in the 1960s and ’70s.
By comparison, the BlueScope steelworks now employs about 3000 workers.
It was a decline that caused many to fear for the future of the city. But that fear seems to have been misplaced.
In recent years, medical services, higher education, hospitality and residential construction have created job opportunities and breathed new life into the city.
David Geary, of MMJ Wollongong, says there’s been a 20 per cent increase in population in the past eight to 10 years.
“Thirty-two large apartment blocks have been completed in the past two years and 20 apartments are now coming out of the ground,” he says, adding that most had been bought by owner-occupiers, not investors.
In Helensburgh, to the north, there isn’t much room for expansion owing to the surrounding Illawarra Escarpment, national parks and a conservation area.
According to Mattias Samuelsson, of Ray White Helensburgh, the area is becoming popular with young families who have been pushed out of the Sydney market.
Thanks to the express rail link, they can continue working in the Sydney CBD, approximately one hour away.
“Helensburgh is a bit out of the way but it offers a nice, small-town community feel and it’s just minutes from the beach,” he says.
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