Phil K

Hi All,

looking to move to either Adelaide or Sunshine Coast and would be interested in what people think of both places.

What we are looking for is a small nice community that has a good university and reasonable cost of living and rentals.

Work wise I currently work in IT support so would like a similar line of work if poss, my wife can work from home and has work administrating a large website so no problem where she is but my daughter will need to access a university for a couple of years.

We have looked as best we can online and the forum but would like to know as much as possible before committing so any experiences of both would be great.

We really like the look of the Sunshine Coast area but maybe Adelaide has better prospects for us as a family, I know its a gamble where ever you end up but just good to have inside information.

Regards
Phil

rasen78

Hi Phil

We live in Adelaide so can only comment about that.

Adelaide has a choice of universities - Flinders, UniSA, University of Adelaide covering a huge range of subjects.

Adelaide certainly has a small town feel. It is relatively quiet and even though we are in the southern foothills, we are still only 25 mins from the CBD.

I'm not sure of job prospects, I would suggest looking on Seek and other job websites. Also worth signing up to the uni websites for jobs too as they often have IT jobs coming up.

Just be aware, re working from home. Quite a few areas suffer from a poor internet service. The NBN is being rolled out slowly, but there is no rhyme or reason as to which areas they choose to do. Some suburbs close to the CBD, don't have ADSL or cable so the likelihood of them getting NBN is quite low. Our own suburb has a notoriously full exchange. We couldn't get ADSL when we moved here, so we now have a WDSL service. Our previous house had ADSL, but it was so far from the exchange we struggled to get over 1mb in speeds.

Cost of living is relative. You will find some areas relatively affordable, and some areas quite pricey. Basically, the eastern suburbs, western suburbs close to the city and North Adelaide tend to command the higher prices. Wages are generally lower here. realestate.com.au will give you an indication on renting costs and there are suburb profiles so you can find out about different areas.

Let me know if I can help any further.

Bermudashorts

I would take a punt that Adelaide is going to suit you better, based mainly on job availability. It would still be well behind Melbourne say, but I cannot imagine there would be too much demand on the Sunshine Coast at all.

I think there is where you need to focus your research though, on job availability followed by university offerings. Both places will have nice communities and I do not think there will be any marked difference in cost of living between these two locations.

old.sparkles

Availability of the NBN can be checked here - Check rollout map | nbn - Australia's new broadband network

We're north of Adelaide but can still get across the city and to Rasen's house in around 1hr15 (but this side of the city we have the NBN )

fish.01

Another option, if you want quiet but need access to uni's and and city IT jobs as a backup, you could move to quiet areas in Brisbane and still have access to the sunshine coast for the weekend.

For example you can be in a 4 bedroom home that has a back gate directly onto the bayside beach situated on the quiet Redcliffe Peninsula for $650. It has a nice community feel according to friends:

1 Osbourne Street Scarborough Qld 4020 - House for Rent #418004734 - realestate.com.au





Or alternatively for $650 you could live in a retreat style home on 2 acres in the lovely Samford Valley but still be only be a 15 minute drive from the train that gets you into the city/universities in 30 minutes during peak hour:

Draper address available on request - House for Rent #417809774 - realestate.com.au




Of course you can go cheaper than these examples as well.

Phil K

Wonderful information Rasen, Thank You and as you say Internet access speed is a big consideration where ever we are. Also thanks for the tip on uni websites.

Been looking on Seek but was told than many jobs from small businesses are not advertised and only appear through local agents / papers etc.

Had a look at Port Noarlunga area as it seems to be quit nice with all you need very near, we have 3 dogs coming over so I know we cant be to fussy and it may be difficult to get a rental even though our dogs are immaculate kept and rarely bark.

Phil K

Thank You, There are quite a few IT support jobs in Sunshine Coast & also Adelaide but started looking at the details on them and uni courses for my daughter.

I see that both Adelaide and Sunshine Coast have nice community's, I guess the other factor is the weather is very different between the two and looking on google both seem very green and nice looking.

HaHa did you meet through the forum? its really nice to have friends near like that. and many thanks for the link for New Broadband which I guess is Fibre.

Yes not looked at the other Brisbane area's like Redcliff which is a great idea and worth looking into but the prob cant afford $650 a week for a while although thank you for the lovely pics.

old.sparkles

Yes, we did meet through the forum

Our connection to the NBN is fibre - had it put in 2 weeks ago and it's about 4 times faster than our old connection (now all I need is a faster laptop )

Red_V_Roger

From the Sunshine Coast...


Don't come here unless you already have a job. 300+ people applying for many positions.


Be absolutely sure that you have good internet. Many areas have no more ADSL ports available. Our house has Telstra Velocity fiber system, but this is now terrible as there are too many new houses being installed on the same exchange.

goldchoccycoin

Also, depending on what your daughter wishes to study the Uni of Sunshine Coast is a mixed bag. The graduates from that Uni struggle and often fail in my work area (science) unlike the graduates from UQ/QUT that intern and work here. I can't comment on other disciplines. I also can't comment on Adelaide Universities.

Best of luck.

quiltman

Pardon me butting in. Have I missed something? Are you both OZ citizens? If not you'll need a visa to move and that's not the easiest thing to accomplish I gather. Feel free to tell me to b****r off if that hurdle has already been cleared. I'm known for not seeing the salient points sometimes.

Bermudashorts

I am surprised that you have found quite a few IT support jobs on the Sunshine Coast! This is a sleepy area, many jobs would be connected to tourism, not many businesses likely to base themselves there. A lot of people do pluck the Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast out as somewhere to live as they do sound nice, but they also have high unemployment.

Looking on SEEK - Australia's no. 1 jobs, employment, career and recruitment site there are only 9 jobs in IT support being advertised, versus 539 in Sydney, 260 in Melbourne, 150 in Brisbane and also only 39 in Adelaide. I really would prioritise work above all else when deciding where to settle.

bcworld

The other thing about these types of jobs in the Gold and Sunny coasts is that there is massive demand for them from residents looking to cut out that commute to Brisbane. I certainly worked with people who traveled in from the GC and waited years to find a decent IT job on the coast...and even that probably involved a lot of compromising on role and dollars.

fish.01

Plenty far cheaper than $650 btw...just no back gate onto the beach

Phil K

I take your point but I will not have any chance of getting a job until I am in Australia and can be available, I guess its down to experience, qualification & personality when it comes to who gets the work (or who you know). I have been checking the availability of broadband and can see it is limited, is there any 4G service?

Thank You, she is looking at health care as currently works part time as a care worker, what do you think the problem is with Sunshine Coast graduates? I think the Adelaide Uni's have a good standing from what I have read

Thanks' Quiltman but all sorted with PR visa's

9 jobs on seek but maybe others are available with local agents in an area, If I have to commute to Brisbane then don't mind give it a go as we could not afford Sydney or Melbourne at the min. also only 39 in Adelaide which seems much bigger (population of 1.3m) than Sunshine Coast 0.3m people so not sure how that works out.

Its the same all over I guess but you cant expect the same $ if you are working local which I think many people will not be prepared to take a drop. I would be happy with a more casual local position even if it was for less money.

Yes I don't mind the look of Redcliffe and its not far from Brisbane