Region. Shared housing

Highlighting the lack of affordable housing, ABS figures show the nine of the top 10 suburbs with multi-family homes – that is, the number of households shared by three or more families – are in Western Sydney: Auburn 340, Cabramatta 267, Blacktown 253, Canley Heights 221, Bankstown 191, Prestons 181, Quakers Hill 172, Merrylands 167 and Fairfield 155.

Region. Appealing to Westies

The Sydney Opera House is actively pursuing audiences from Western Sydney as ticket sales reveal a distinct lack of patrons from the west. According to the latest box office sales, Mosman and Surry Hills residents were by far the biggest arts enthusiastic followed by inner city, lower north shore, eastern suburbs and inner west were well represented yet Western Sydney postcodes were noticeably lacking. “We’ve got to give a good reason for then to come,” said CEO, Louise Herron.

Macquarie Park. High concentration

Macquarie Park contains a high concentration of IT and pharmaceutical sector leaders, as well as Macquarie University, according to Infrastructure NSW’s State Infrastructure Strategy.

Penrith. Mayor's priorities

Penrith’s new mayor, Mark Davies, said his his immediate priority was to boost employment in the city. He said the Nepean River was one of Penrith's great assets, but it needed more businesses to take advantage of it “It's under-utilised. We need a master plan to see what is possible with that river.”

Merrylands. $400 million centre opened

Stockland has opened its $400 million extension to its Merrylands shopping centre in the largest retail redevelopment the company has ever undertaken. The centre, at 59,000 square metres is three times its original area. The extension has added 122 stores.