astera

Having spent a week in the Gold Coast recently I am giving more and more thought to moving there instead of Sydney/Cronulla, or at least giving it a go there first.

As such I am planning an 8-day trip there, during which I'd like to pick out 3-4 places and spend 2-3 days in each to give them a closer look from a 'future resident's' perspective.

Overall I'm looking for places:

- within walking distance of quality beaches (and within walking distance to most common things like supermarkets/pubs/restaurants/etc.). In general I prefer to walk than drive for everyday stuff.
- areas that are vibrant with lots of people out during the evenings as opposed to quiet, secluded places with a single pub
- decent primary schools and shopping options within 15-20 mins drive
- lots of things to do with kids nearby, including theme parks, sports facilities, etc.
- the job factor isn't an issue as I will be working remotely/online

Having looked at some of the threads here I have seen some positive opinions about Kirra and Redcliffe (yes, I know that's north of Brisbane but I'm willing to give it a look) - would those areas fit in with the above?

I have already been to Surfer's Paradise - recently in fact - which has left me positively surprised after some of the negative things I have read (then again I was there for the first time and have no historical baggage from previous years/visits). Any other places I should add to my shortlist?

freebo

Quality beaches are in plentiful supply, if you want vibrant take a look at Main Beach, Broadbeach and Paradise Point, Surfers is the most "vibrant" and too much for all but the most avid party animal but many people judge the whole Gold Coast by it.

Also check out Chevron Island, a bit further to the beach.

I'd recommend where I live but its maybe a bit quiet for your tastes, lots of golf courses and marinas but for a different option (10-20 mins drive to beach) you could look at Hope Island and Sanctuary Cove, nearer the theme parks but more residential, generally bigger blocks.

The Gold Coast gets a bad rep but everyone likes different things, I love the place and so do the thousands of people who visit every year.

I'm no expert on the bayside suburbs like Redcliffe but vibrant isn't usually a word associated with them, more like quiet family neighbourhoods.

moneypenny20

Broadbeach, Burleigh Heads and Coolangatta fill most of your criteria except for the theme parks but they're nowhere near the beach so if you live near them you'll have to drive 20+ minutes to get to the beach. If I had to live in one of the above, I'd pick Cooly but my preference could be very different to yours. Kirra is lovely, many people treat it as Cooly but it's got a totally different vibe imo and isn't that busy in the evening although obviously it's only about a 10 min walk to Cooly.

You can probably gather I'm a 'south end of the coast' person.

astera

Yeah, the theme parks seem to be a bit further away from the shore so will definitely need a car for those.

Any upside to choosing Broadbeach or Burleigh Heads over Surfers itself? I've been to Broadbeach by tram but only headed towards Pacific Fair from the station, so I haven't seen the other side from the station to the beach.

Also, what is that area north of Surfers/McIntosh island called, the place just south of Seaworld drive? Seems like a nice and secluded area on the map with the highway veering westwards across the river, and yet close enough to central Surfers to be close to the action.

As for Cooly I think it definitely warrants a closer look and I was thinking of doing 2 nights in Kirra to get a feel for it. Can the QLD/NSQ divide be felt at all, if not physically (different licensing laws perhaps?) then maybe socially (people split during State of Origin matches)?

moneypenny20

Personally I wouldn't live in Surfers unless I was young free and single. I don't think it's a family friendly place to live. It's a playground.

Not sure where McIntosh Island is or what you've mistaken it for but I assume the area you mean is Main Beach. It's nice but very pricey.

Most people don't take any notice of the border unless they have to cross in order to work when NSW goes on to Daylight Saving and then it's a bit of a pain but you get used to it. You get the bonus of four NYE firework displays 9pm and 12am Jack Evans Harbour NSW and 9pm and 12am in Cooly

Burleigh and Cooly are more family friendly places to live although I can only think of one primary in Cooly, I guess the kids go to Tweed or up to Currumbin/Palm Beach area.

fish.01

McIntosh Island Park at Main Beach: http://gcparks.com.au/userfiles/imag...PPROVAL-10.jpg

It's that nice park with masses of birds including a bunch of peacocks. It's just south of Tedder Avenue.

astera

The Surfers area around the "Soul" or "Hilton" buildings is a bit busy, but staying at the Q1 we seemed to be just outside the epicentre. Plus heading to the beach we almost had our private lifeguard.

I also really liked the BMD Northcliffe surf club which is a 5 minute walk in the southerly direction (once again away from the hustle and bustle) and in contrast to the NSL club in Cronulla... kids were allowed in and even had a play corner created just for them. Overall is seems like kids were welcome everywhere we went, which wasn't always the case in Sydney.

That McIntosh Island thing is what Google maps is listing it as - I guess there is another name for it but it's that palm-type thing just north of Chevron Island with all the expensive houses. If Main Beach is quite pricey I might have to give it a pass though.

Definitely checking out Cooly and Burleigh though, and maybe Redcliffe if the kids can handle the drive up there just to see the best of what Brisbane has to offer. Chances are though that we'll stick to the Gold Coast in terms of choosing a place to live as it seems perfect for our needs compared to everything else we've seen.

What are property prices like at present? Are we at historical heights comparable to the Sydney bubble or at another phase of the cycle?

fish.01

Prices have been dropping/stagnant for a few years and then have just started picking up again in the last year. Gold Coast was in the doldrums but now apartments are selling again. The new light rail system is a good boost as well. It is a lot cheaper than Sydney of course.

Redcliffe has some very affordable walk to the beach homes if the Gold Coast proves too dear to buy walking distant from the beach.

Other options are of course Bryon Bay, Kingscliffe, Mooloolaba area, Noosa etc.

moneypenny20

Ok I was trying to think of an island between Surfers and The Spit and coming up with nothing but if it's a park then there are shedloads of those I don't know the names of.

All the surf clubs are welcoming of children, so that wouldn't be a problem wherever you end up. Honestly not up on house/apartment prices as I have no intention of moving but Realestate.com.au is your friend (to a certain extent) but I have noticed places around us are moving slightly quicker than they were a year or so ago.

Not sure Kingscliff would work with your criteria, personally I'm not a fan but I know people love it but it is quite quiet in the evening and there's not much to do around there that you can't get more of elsewhere. Also the few 'connections' I've had with children down there hasn't filled me with joy and the High School isn't great or maybe I've (my daughter) been really unlucky with the people she's met from there.

Byron could work, maybe worth checking out whilst you're around here, only an hour down the road.

freebo

[QUOTE=moneypenny20;11417604
Byron could work, maybe worth checking out whilst you're around here, only an hour down the road.[/QUOTE]

Hmm maybe, but after spending a weekend there the revelers in Byron make surfers look sedate, I liked Ballina but its maybe a bit quiet for the OP.

On the GC property prices fell from 2008-2012 but are rising again now and there's a lot of development kicked off recently.

astera

Looking at options recently as I need to rent something before this month is over.

During my last trip I checked out all the main "contenders" and for some reason I still cannot get Surfers out of my head as a decent choice. Maybe it's due to one factor which is a necessity in my case: close proximity to the tram.

Plus with kids heading to school in Southport I don't want to expand my search further south towards Broadbeach. Now during my visit to Southport I was slightly unimpressed but am thinking of giving it another, fresh look. Seems like a lot is changing there, the park by the water with lots of facilities, a new Chinatown precinct. It seems that the tram line has been a breath of fresh air for Southport's development. Any opinions of Southport, good or bad?

Speaking of Main Beach, I noticed that it is regarded as one of the upscale areas, but for some reason that was the place that I liked the least. Seemed like "Deadville," even that little part with a few restaurants felt like it was waking up from hibernation. The feeling was like being far away from civilisation (regardless of a few taller buildings), lots of older people, few young people, etc. Bolted out of there veeeery quickly.

moneypenny20

Main Beach is an odd one. Not much happening other than Tedder Ave as you say. It's just a pricier version of Broadbeach. We lived there for three weeks when we first arrived simply because a friend managed an apartment block and offered us a good deal but we spent the whole time leaving to visit everywhere else. Once you've bought your annual pass to Seaworld you may as well leave Southport has never been shite, it's just been a tad shiter than most other suburbs but there's been a lot of money gone into it and it's getting better. If you were buying it's probably a good location to look at because prices will only go up as it improves. Southport High School used to have a not so great rep but that's improved a lot in the nine years I've been here and that's how I get my reading on suburbs. The Broadwater is looking great these days. Most of the 2018 Commonwealth Games will be in and around Southport/Labrador so lots more cleaning and tidying will be happening in the next three years.

astera

Glad I'm not the only one who isn't infatuated with what a great place Main Beach is and how nothing else can even compare. At first I seriously thought there was something wrong with me after hearing all these comments about Main being this marvellous paradise in terms of where to live, and then being very unimpressed with what I saw and pushing it towards the end of my list...

To make things funnier I checked out Main straight after giving Southport a thorough look, so it wasn't like a really high benchmark had just been set...

Not sure why my mind is returning to Southport though. After 6 years in Singapore I have a funny feeling that I'll feel right at home only in central Surfers. And whereas most locals would be looking for a building with mostly fellow Australians as neighbours, I would feel more comfortable (even as a Westerner) if the building had a more cosmopolitan aspect to it, with a decent percentage of Chinese, Japanese and European folk as a nice mix of fellow residents.

Bix

For a few months I lived in Redcliffe, Scarborough and Woody Point.

The council has spent a lot of money upgrading the sea front all along the Redcliffe Peninsula and have done a very good job. The beaches are pathetic compared to the GC or SC and some are artificial. If you like sewage outflows you won't be disappointed!

Cross the road from the foreshore and it's a bit like entering a time warp. Very old buildings, shops and housing stocks with rather too many dirty, grotty streets.

Plenty of bikies and hoons touring the streets and bogans screaming their drunken little heads off to make sure the neighbourhood is aware of their presence. Most people you encounter in daily life are very friendly and polite though.

There seems to be a disproportionate amount of very obese and very poor looking folk. Maybe the result of not being able to find work or not wanting to work.

It is an area that is scheduled to develop significantly in the future as housing is cheap and there will be a direct rail link to Brisbane making commuting easier.

I also looked at areas from Sandstone point around to Shorncliffe and weren't especially struck by anything. Seems to me that the whole Moreton Bay area is lacking in funds. Reckon the tax money is all being spent on Brisbane and the GC.

Judging by what you've said you like about the GC you would find Redcliffe sorely lacking.

astera

It's been a while and I've seen a lot more places than before, plus my opinions have been slowly influenced over my stay.

For starters I am no longer so negative about Main Beach, even though the good parts around Tedder are a bit away from the open beach on the East side. Overall I still much prefer the Surfers north area just bordering with Main (basically the stretch from Cypress Avenue station to Surfers Paradise North station), especially since that's where the distance between the tram and the beach seems to be the smallest - in fact there's one apartment there that has the tram on one side and the beach on the other.

Southport though generated very mixed feelings. Positive in the park by the water and the new aquatic centre, but negative overall in terms of the quality of the area. It's the only place where on a Saturday you can go into a pub right in the centre and find it... 1/3 full. Seems like Deadville...

One of the most regarded areas - albeit further out - is Burleigh Heads. Nice place to pop into, with a great bakery and some nice bars, but I cannot think of another place that is just "transit central" with so much through-traffic.

Looking in the other direction, Paradise Point was a pleasant escape compared to Burleigh. A few nice places to get some decent food and drinks, and no through traffic (unless you happen to be heading to Sovereign Islands!). Overall it seemed like a very pleasant place to live, although it was a tad too quiet that had me thinking whether I would last there in the long run. If I was after peace and quiet I would be looking at Tamborine Mountain, which is one of my favourite places for a weekend lunch escape.

But overall, so far, out of all the places I have visited, the one I liked the most is actually... Coolangatta. It seemed modern, well-developed, casual but smart, and had some beautiful views and lots of green spaces and parks. It's a great area for long walks and for relaxing outdoors, and overall the beaches are superb too, stretching from Kirra through Coolie and around the corner. I could definitely live there, especially in the higher-up (altitude-wise), north-eastern part towards the end or somewhere close to that boundary street with the great park.