Chatswood West 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...

 on the lower North Shore

North Shore (Sydney)

The North Shore is an informal term used to describe the primarily residential area of northern metropolitan Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The term usually refers to the suburbs located on the north shore of Sydney Harbour between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove River, up to...

 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...

. Chatswood West is located 11 kilometres north-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 areas of the City of Willoughby

City of Willoughby

The City of Willoughby is a Local Government Area on the North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 km north of the Sydney central business district....

 and the City of Ryde

City of Ryde

The City of Ryde is a Local Government Area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the Lower North Shore and Greater Western Sydney over West Ryde and Eastwood District....

 on the western shore of the Lane Cove River

Lane Cove River

The Lane Cove River is a tributary of the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia. Its lower reaches form an arm of Sydney Harbour.-Description:...

. Chatswood

Chatswood, New South Wales

Chatswood is a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Chatswood is located 10 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Willoughby. Chatswood West is a separate suburb...

 is a separate suburb.

Chatswood West is located west of the Pacific Highway

Pacific Highway (Australia)

The Pacific Highway is a major transport route along part of the east coast of Australia and is part of Australia's national route 1.It is 960 km long and links Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, along the coast, via Gosford, Newcastle, Taree, Port...

, extending from Mowbray Road in the south to Wyvern Avenue in the north, and the Lane Cove River

Lane Cove River

The Lane Cove River is a tributary of the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia. Its lower reaches form an arm of Sydney Harbour.-Description:...

 in the west.

History

Chatswood is believed to be named after the pet name "Chat" of the second wife of Richard Harnett (a pioneer of the district) and the original "wooded" nature of the area.

Commercial area

Chatswood West is mainly residential, with some commercial and office buildings on the Pacific Highway and small commercial areas on Fullers Road and Mowbray Road. The National Acoustics Laboratories is on Greville Street.

Houses

The residential buildings are mainly single dwellings on small blocks of land, however, there has been a rise in the number of blocks of apartments and dual residencies, with an increase in demand for accommodation in this area.

Schools

Chatswood High School

Chatswood High School

Chatswood High School is a public, co-educational, semi-selective high school, located in Chatswood, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

 and Chatswood Public School

Chatswood Public School

Chatswood Public School is a primary and public school that was founded in 1883, located in the suburb of Chatswood in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 are both situated in Chatswood West, within walking distance of Chatswood Station.

Transport

There are regular buses that connect the area with the Chatswood CBD, and other suburbs such as Parramatta

Parramatta, New South Wales

Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...

. Chatswood railway station is on the North Shore Line of the CityRail

CityRail

CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...

 network.

Notable residents

• Kenneth Slessor
  Kenneth Slessor
  Kenneth Adolf Slessor OBE was an Australian poet and journalist. He was one of Australia's leading poets, notable particularly for the absorption of modernist influences into Australian poetry. The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is named after him.-Life:Slessor was born Kenneth Adolphe...
  
   - poet
• Roger Woodward
  Roger Woodward
  Roger Woodward AC OBE is an Australian classical concert pianist.-Biography:Roger Woodward was born in 1942 in Chatswood, a suburb of Sydney, the youngest of four children to Gladys and Frank Woodward...
  
   - pianist, lived at Peckham Street

Parks

There are a number of parks, walking tracks and a golf course. There are two entrances to Lane Cove National Park

Lane Cove National Park

Lane Cove National Park is a small national park located within metropolitan Sydney. The park islocated about ten kilometres north-west of the Sydney CBD...

 from Chatswood West, one on Lady Game Drive, and one on Delhi Road, next to Fullers Bridge.

Noteworthy indigenous flora includes the Blackbutt

Eucalyptus pilularis

Eucalyptus pilularis, commonly known as Blackbutt, is a common and dominant tree of the myrtaceae family native to southeastern Australia. A large tree, it is identified by the stocking of rough bark, to about half way up the trunk, above this is white smooth bark. The leaves are a uniform glossy...

, Tree Heath

Trochocarpa laurina

Trochocarpa laurina is an Australian shrub or small tree. It occurs from near Bermagui in southern coastal New South Wales to the Wet Tropics in Queensland. It grows at the summit of Mount Bellenden Ker, which has an average annual rainfall of 8312 mm. The minimum annual rainfall requirement is...

, Celery Wood, Coachwood

Coachwood

Ceratopetalum apetalum, Coachwood, also called Scented Satinwood or Tarwood, is a medium-sized hardwood tree, straight-growing with smooth, fragrant, greyish bark. It is in the family Cunoniaceae...

, Native Crabapple

Schizomeria ovata

Schizomeria ovata, a medium to large Australian rainforest tree, is widespread in warm-temperate rainforest in coastal New South Wales north from Narooma and southern Queensland south from Fraser Island...

, Hard Corkwood, Filmy Fern

Hymenophyllum cupressiforme

Hymenophyllum cupressiforme is a southern hemisphere species of filmy fern. Found in moist sheltered areas, in or near rainforests. Occasionally found in drier protected areas. Leaves one cell thick. A small epiphytic fern found on tree trunks, rocks and fallen logs.Fronds are 2 to 9 cm long, the...

 and Necklace Fern.

Fauna includes Powerful Owl

Powerful Owl

The Powerful Owl , also known as the Powerful Boobok, is a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, the largest owl on that continent...

, Barking Owl

Barking Owl

The Barking Owl , also known as the Barking Boobook or Winking Owl, is a nocturnal bird species native to mainland Australia and parts of Papua New Guinea. They are a medium-sized brown owl and have an extremely characteristic voice that can range from a barking dog noise to a shrill woman-like...

, Australian King Parrot

Australian King Parrot

The Australian King Parrot is endemic to eastern Australia. It is found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest...

, Brush Turkey, Eastern Whipbird

Eastern Whipbird

The Eastern Whipbird is an insectivorous passerine bird native to the east coast of Australia, its whip-crack call a familiar sound in forests of eastern Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Heard much more often than seen, it is a dark olive-green and black in colour with a distinctive white...

, Satin Bowerbird

Satin Bowerbird

The Satin Bowerbird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus is a bowerbird endemic to eastern Australia.A rare natural intergeneric hybrid between the Satin Bowerbird and the Regent Bowerbird is known as Rawnsley's Bowerbird.-Distribution:...

, Eastern Water Dragon, Emerald Spotted Frog

Peron's Tree Frog

Peron's Tree Frog, Emerald Spotted Tree Frog, Laughing Tree Frog or the Maniacal Cackle Frog is a common Australian tree frog of the genus Litoria.-Physical description:...

, Enamelled Spider, Red triangle slug

Red triangle slug

The red triangle slug, scientific name Triboniophorus graeffei, is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Athoracophoridae, the leaf-veined slugs....

, Blue Planarian, Long-nosed Bandicoot

Long-nosed Bandicoot

The Long-nosed Bandicoot is a species of bandicoot found in Australia. It is the largest member of its genus, which also includes the Western Barred Bandicoot, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot and the Desert Bandicoot....

 and marsupial mouse

Antechinus

Antechinus is a genus of dasyurid marsupial that is indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. The majority of Antechinus species occur in Australia and only two species have been described in New Guinea...

.