geordiebloke

Hi,

I'm after some advice/thoughts on the best places in and around the Townsville area to look at houses.
Ideally the area should be fairly quiet, with decent first/middle schools within
walking distance and hopefully within a 20 min drive to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital.

Cheers

Steve

rossifumi

Private Message 'The A Team' mate, they will give you the answers.

Rich

geordiebloke

Forgive my ignorance, but who are they

cheers

Steve

northerner

A member of BE who have recently moved to Townsville

The A Team

Click to have a look at their profile - I'm sure they wouldn't mind you mailing them... Although don't tell them that I told you that

Graham

Rabc

Hi Steve,

We moved here in October 2005 and have settled in a treat. There are lots of horror stories about the blisteringly hot and unbearable weather here. Well it aint like that! We came from Kent and have adjusted easily during one of the hottest and dryest summers ans wettest winters (including Cyclone Larry!) in recent years. It really isnt that bad at all. we think is great, an envoloping warmth which is temperered by the SE trade winds that blow almost constantly off the ocean keeps things nice and comfortable.

Now onto your question, which suberb well there are good and bad in everything but it's always a matter of severity and personal needs. They are all pretty much within a 20 min drive of the Merc. First of all thre are no really bad suburbs in comparison with the UK to my knowelege. We have a good idea of what goes on as we are both Council Environmental Health Officers and get the honour of dealing with a multitude of unsavoury and interesting things . There are areas that are better than others, there are in all towns. We live in Bushland Beach which is very nice, nice houses, quite area on the northern limit of the city (so called northern beaches) and it's takes us around 20 minutes to get to work in town. So as not to offend here is my list of the main suberbs in order of preference (apologies if I missed any) with a few experiences - i would stress that we are relative new comers to Townsville and these are just our observatiosn mainly from a work and personal point of view:

Annandale – big houses, plenty of facilities, close to the city
Kirwan – close to everything modern and traditional housing getting a bit crowded and crime is on the increase.
North Ward – Close to the city, nice houses but correspondingly expensive.
West End – Nice houses, good mix and close to the city
Fairfield Waters/Riverside gardens – brand new designer suburb without a soul (yet)
Rowes Bay/Belgion Gardens – seaside on the outskirts of the city. Nice and quiet with good houses.
Thuringowa Central – Excellent schools, shopping, good mix of housing but again, the psudo city centre of Thuringowa will all that attracts
Rupertswood – on the way out of town south of Kirwan. New development
Pallarenda – Big sweeping sandy bay opposite Magnetic Island. Beach front living with great views.
Bushland Beach – mixture of old and new, the property hot spot just outside town on the beach
Hyde Park – Next area in behind West End. Lower priced housing. Close to the city
Cranbrook – suburban area with more traditional style of housing. Not as expensive as the new developments. Close to the facilities at Kirwan
Aitkenvale – Establish suburb, one of the best shopping centers in town, traditional housing.
Pimlico – getting out of the city and towards the more established and industrial areas but still a nice suberb to live with a mix of traditional housing in varying condition
Mundingburra - suburban area with more traditional style of housing. Not as expensive as the new developments. Good schools but does include less well kept areas
Rangewood – new development of medium density housing close to the Thuringowa central facilities
Ravenswood - new development of medium density housing close to the Thuringowa central facilities
Townsville City – the business and nightlife centre near to the harbour with prices and noise to match
Gulliver/Vincent – about ½ way between the 2 city centers, traditional housing in a variety of conditions
Mt Louisa – on the outskirts of town adjacent to the commercial areas. Nice traditional houses
Heatley – on the main drag out of town. Some bits better than others. Mixed residential and commercial. Lots of small car related businesses as well as big stores
Hermit Park – on the edge o the city. One of the older parts of town. A bit run down in places and adjacent to the railway sidings
Douglas – the more traditional and older brother to Annandale. Near to the barracks
Mysterton – Townsville suburbia although the schools are good and the bowls club is excellent. Good and bad areas, getting a bit tatty now. An older area
Castletown – great big shopping centre – lots of the houses have been bought up for expansion. Residential bits on the decline
Balgal Beach – another of the northern beaches, not as many new houses going in but a bit remote and full of mozzies!
Paluma – the rainforest in the clouds. World heritage rainforest area, cooler and wetter
Rollingstone – nothing there and very wet
Mount Stuart – out of town with sprawling and seemingly uncontrolled developments and “commercial enterprises” – nice view from the top of the mountain
Bohle – flood plain incorporating the main industrial/commercial areas
Garbutt – more commercial areas than residential
Railway Estate – the oldest part of town – ex army Queenslander type houses in the main
South Townsville – railway siding and the heart of the nightlife district
Kelso/ Condon/ Rasmussen - – Out of the inland edge of Thuringowa. Big blocks but not my choice of places to life – but them I am not a fan of abandoned cars. There are some nice houses but also some activities I wouldn’t want to live next to
Palm Island – God No! Look at the news

I hope this is useful for people looking at coming here, please send us a PM if we can help at all.

Good luck

Rob

geordiebloke

Thanks for the info. guys

Rob I've sent you a PM, but many thanks for the comprehensive rundown.

As strange as it might seem We're probably looking for somewhere that has a similar feel to it as where we live in England, albeit with sun
We live on a modest housing estate 20/30 minutes from Newcastle and about
a 5 minute drive from the nearest small town.
I have a 5 minute walk to my Daughter's first school and there's plenty of kids around the doors for her to play with. She's into her Brownie guides and
Tae Kwon Do, so obviously somewhere that would tick these box's would be
ideal.
Being semi rural where we are at the minute means that we have plenty of places to go walking/cycling straight out of our front door, so somewhere
offering that same thing would be what we're after.

Steve

gary stewart

Sorry to barge in,we are coming for a reccie in October and will be spending a few days in Townsville,suburb list will be helpful .Cheers

gaz

Rabc

Hi Gaz, As you have such a short time here let me know before you leave and I i'll point at the places to go.

Enjoy

Rob

Rabc

Thanks for the PM, I have sent you a link which might help. Townsville, although a fair sized city by regional Australia's standards retains it's small town workings (some for the better and some not). THe outback (proper) is less than 1hrs drive away and nthe wide open spaces on your doorstep. Allthe things on your wish list are available in town.
Rob

gary stewart

Hi Rob we fly out from Heathrow on the 4th October and arrive Townsville 6th,looking to spend 4 or 5 days looking at housing,schools,work possibilities(me storeman/forklift driver OH a hairdresser) the usual reccie stuff as well as keeping kids(10 & 7)happy-that will be the hard part.Have been told The Strand is nice.
cheers

gaz&jewls

The A Team

Annandale has cycle paths along the gorgeous Ross River and is top of Rabc's list so I would say it should be on your list of suburbs to consider.

For Taekwon-Do here's a couple of links to get you started.......

www.southpacifictkd.com.au
www.rheetaekwondo.com
www.moonlee.com.au

geordiebloke

Thanks for the info and links.
No doubt I'll be back to pick your collective brains when more questions arise.

Steve.

rob&lucy

I used to work at the mater as an icu nurse and we are in South Townsville which is great and isn't a railway siding at all and is quite quiet. I do home visiting as part of my job as a midwife so have a good idea which areas are dodgy (there are a few) as noted by people in health and the police service. Also which areas are better if you were thinking of buying. Basically to drive from south townsville to Thuringowa drive in Kirwan takes me 15min. It's nothing like the UK in terms of traffic as todays traffic jam was 6 cars deep and was actually moving when the lights changed!! Both Townsville and Thurigowa have their bonuses especially with the opening of riverway and the lagoon in Thuringowa.
Send me a PM if you want another opinion as we have been here for 2 and a half years now and have been 'naturalised'!
lucy