Hornsby

Hornsby is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Hornsby Shire.

Hornsby railway station is a junction of the Northern Line and the North Shore line of the City Rail network. There are frequent railway services to the central business district via Macquarie Park on the Northern Line or via Gordon on the North Shore Line. Hornsby is also a major transport junction of Northern Sydney with Intercity and Express trains stopping there on the way to the Central Coast, Newcastle and further north. Bus services operate from Hornsby Station Interchange. Services are operated by both Transdev and Hillsbus to local residential areas such as Hornsby, Westleigh, Normanhurst, Thornleigh, Wahroonga and Turramurra. Services also operate to Macquarie Park, Macquarie University, Castle Hill and the Metrobus M60 to Parramatta via Cherrybrook, Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills The Pacific Highway, which passes through Hornsby, was formerly the main road link between Sydney and north-eastern Australia. The completion of the Pacific Motorway (F3), which has its southern end at the neighbouring suburb of Wahroonga, means that heavy traffic now bypasses Hornsby.

Hornsby remains a busy commercial centre. The western side consists of a traditional high street shopping village along the Old Pacific Highway. A short section of the highway north of the shops still has several antique lamp posts preserved. On the eastern side of the highway from south to north is the police station, the court house and the historic Hornsby Shire Council chambers. On the western side is Hornsby Park with the new Hornsby Aquatic Centre complex currently under construction and also Hornsby TAFE. A large war memorial and the adjacent RSL Club is located at the southern end of the shops. The eastern side is dominated by Westfield Hornsby shopping centre, which features two department stores; Myer and David Jones, an Event Cinemas multiplex, 335 stores, a food court and several restaurants. The intersection of Florence Street and Hunter Street became a pedestrian mall in the early 1990s. The public library is also located in this area. The north-western side of the suburb is occupied by various industries.

Residential areas, consisting of low-to-medium density housing, are located on both sides of the railway line. Many of residential areas on the western side of the train line enjoy bushy surrounds and close proximity to regional and National Parks, as well as the beautiful Lisgar Gardens. In recent years, high-rise apartments have been constructed adjacent to the train line.

Hornsby is home to a number of schools, including primary schools Hornsby North Public School, Hornsby South Public School and Clarke Road Special School and the secondary schools Barker College and Hornsby Girls' High School, which is a selective school. There is also a TAFE College at the north-western side of Hornsby.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornsby