PeteY

Hi guys.

Just wondering if any of you peeps in brisbane have ever lived in bracken ridge or brighton?

Whats the area like? Homes seem pretty cheap compared to other areas in brisbane and i was just wondering why?

Both areas have good transport access, are pretty near the sea (brighton esp) and are bracken ridge is backing onto a reserve.

Cheers

Pete.

Ceri

Brighton will probably suit you
I live next door to Brighton, a couple of minutes drive away over the Hornibrook - same "seaside" lol (Bay)
I could give you the run down on the Brighton area - but seeing as you know Aus so well, and you are always shooting me down - you don't need me to explain about Brighton do you? You will know far more about this place than I can ever possibly do living next door to it. So I'll tell you what you want to hear. I may get good at this, twist the facts about Aus and tell people what they want to hear

Brighton, the houses have plenty of space, beautiful brick neighbourhood, you can't see a neighbour for miles, huge, huge gardens, lovely big sandy beaches you can walk for miles, sparkling deep waters to swim in, vibrant "happening place" .

I should work for an estate agents "Location, Location, Location" "You've seen the rest, now come and see the best"

Go for it - lovely seaside area it's on par with Noosa beaches (if you close both eyes)


What comes around goes around
Cheers

P.s I thought you were going to Townsville in your last post- you're a long way off it here mate

PeteY

Ceri,

I appologise if i shot you down, it was not my intention.

Firstly, we are hoping to move to townsville in a few years time....in the long run. We are moving to brisbane initially.

When i was refering to Broome and Alice, i was actually thinking more of the house earlier on in that thread which was in scotland.

The two countries are so vastly different in size it is very difficult to make a direct comparason. In terms of relative (to the countries median) house price and employment prospects i would still say that darwin is on a par with swansea. Darwin is the territory capital, Swansea is the 2nd capital of wales. Swansea is 2 hours from london (by train....) and Darwin is the closest australian city to the asian markets. Both have ports, airports etc. Darwin is more isolated I will admit, but if you live there, what need do you have to travel to another city??.....Swansea has one of the highest unemployment rates in the UK, as does darwin in oz.

Pehaps you can explain why the two are so different? (without the sarcasm).

Would you be able to give me a genuine summary of what you think of Bracken ridge, seeing as you live so close?

I have never lived there, only driven through, hence my asking about the suburb.

Thanks

Pete.

Ceri

I'm not quite sure what reserve you are referring to in the Bracken ridge area or ,specifically where you referring to in the Bracken Ridge area (Baldhills, Bridgman Downs and Carseldine are also suburbs of this area) but my impression of SOME of these areas is it's a "bit rough" - I used to fish sometimes in Tinchi Tamba reserve - that area (near deepwater bend) does seem a bit rough. The areas there, I can not give you a comprehensive run down on , I've never lived there


can I ask why are you looking at North Brisbane? Price? space? I do not know what you are looking for - country living, or bayside living, peaceful living or "night life" living? _ I can not tell you what place is right for you for numerous of reasons - You may like Redcliffe and Brighton area, plenty of people living here do - I don't. (see what I mean). My friend likes Morayfield - I don't. (actually not a lot of places I do like ) - I prefer South side to be honest with you - Thornside area I was looking to buy at a few years ago - but travelling time came into it for me. Manly is nice too - but prices have shot up there big time (unless you go into one of the housing estates way back from the front). For Northside - my personal choice would be Bribie (have you looked at houses there), I haven't bought there myself - again travelling time for me to work, but that's where I would have bought if I didn't mind the extra time on the roads in the morning.

My suggestion would be to rent first, don't buy straight away when you get here, take a 6 month lease and then go look at the areas for yourself - I do not want to advise anyone on areas as I may offend, or you may like certain places which I don't . Or if you've got your heart set on one area say Bracken Ridge or Brighton - go and rent in that area first. It's one thing to drive through a place, and another to live there A lot of places in North Brisbane are cheap compared to South, and some can be crime places - . Like I say I do not want to offend anyone who may be living in these areas.

As for Brighton - the houses are crammed in there, it's an ok area I suppose if you like that sort of thing, but you'd be lucky to find a roomy home there - they are basically piled on top of each other there - looks a bit like a shanty town in places. what has happened - prices have boomed, people who had large plots around their homes have been actually selling them off in two pieces (splitting the land) so more houses (and units) can go on one plot - we looked at a house last year which looked lovely in the advert - I couldn't believe how cheap it was as I'm sitting in Redcliffe (it's just the otherside of the bridge to Brighton a two minute drive. Brighton tends to a bit more expensive (for the same sort of house - like compared to like) because of the bridge believe it or not - the bridge into Redcliffe is a pain in the ar*e) , but when we went over to look at it - the land was actually split - big house, small plot of land - the owner was selling the spare land to developers for units. A lot of the homes around Brighton are also fibro/wood - same as woody point, clontarf and Redcliffe - it's an old area, new homes are mixed in with fibro - it's hell of a mix here. There are brand new homes in Scarbourgh (canal homes) - also in Kippa ring, and Rothwell.


Look you really need to look at the areas yourself - basically for the Redcliffe area (which you may as well include Brighton in that - although it's not in the same council district it's basically next door to me) Personally I can not wait to get out of here (.I'm just waiting for my house to be built - which should be finished end June, early July) Originally we were going to buy here in this area, put it this way I'm glad I rented first or I would have regretted buying a home here. This area is definitely not for me.
And as for Bracken Ridge -it looks as if it is a "rough area" to live in, in some parts, I could be totally, totally wrong as I've never lived there, only driven through myself, and I do not know anyone personally who lives in that area . Rent first - then decide for yourself.

Bracken Ridge description of house prices etc

http://www.reiq.com.au/buySellRent/c...p?suburb_id=35

cheers

Ceri

P.S
Sorry, one more thing - I couldn't let this one go by as you're totally wrong about Swansea (not to say there is no unemployment - of course there is but it's pretty low compared to some other places in Uk - like London) And Swansea is nothing like Darwin, Swansea is a major business, and industrial area besides being a Port.

The worst areas in Britain are in England, followed by Scotland. Swansea isn't even the worst in Wales let alone the UK - you probably find places in N.Wales are the worst, then you got P.Talbot which has had mass unemployment over the years, and then the valleys - which is worse.

Swansea has about a 3.5% unemployment rate (wales as a whole 5.4 - which is lower than a lot of places including London at 7.5)
Or how about this: Six London boroughs which have unemployment levels of more than 6%: Tower Hamlets 12.3%, Hackney 12.2%, Newham 11.7%, Southwark 10.7%, Haringey 10.4% and Lewisham 10.3%. (Swansea has only 3.5% for 2002 - can't find the figures now - it was 3.9 in 2001)





A bit of copying /pasting below: (yikes- sorry)
Source: ONS Labour Market Statistics, November 2002)

The 10 worst areas in the UK for unemployment are spread across the country, with half in London, three in the North East, one in the North West, and one in Scotland. All have unemployment rates of more than one in ten :



Hackney 16.4%

Newham 13.%

Dundee City 12.8%

Haringey 12.7%

Middlesbrough12.4%

Southwark 12.1%

South Tyneside 12.1%

Tower Hamlets 11.8%

Liverpool 11.1%

Newcastle upon Tyne 11%

(Swansea isn't even on the area list , compare those with swansea at 3.5% )



Or how about - Country/Region

London 7.5%

Scotland 6.6%

West Midlands 6.2%

North East 6.2%

North West 6.0%

Yorkshire/Humberside 5.8%

Wales 5.4%

East Midlands 4.8%

South East 4.1%

South West 4.1%

East 4.0 %


National figure for the whole of the uk - I think is 5. 2 % (2002) and Australia's national figure is 6.1 (2002) last time I looked unless they have changed.

cheers

PeteY

Excellent Ceri,

I have to admit that i had been wondering why i have been coming to this forum for the last few weeks, as there just seemed to be a lot of bickering and general whinging about certain aspects of Australia. Well, your post just let me know that some people can be extremely helpful.

Thanks for taking the time to write this.

My wife and I do intend to rent for the first 6 months to a year, both in order to sus out the areas and to give time to hopefully find some relatively secure work.

The main reason we had been looking at northern brisbane, is that my wife has family at several spots on the sunshine coast, and we thought it would be easier to be on the nothern side of the city.

Will check out bribie (i don't mind a drive).....

Once again thanks.

Pete.

footie chick

Thanks Ceri for your helpful and honest points even thought they are intented for someone else.

footie chick

Beach Bums

We live Northside, not far from Bracken Ridge (5-10 mins) and we love it! We checked out both north, south & bayside before buying & feel that we made the right choice.

In our opinion the northside housing is more affordable, more thoughfully planned and the area in general has a great feel to it. We havent experienced, seen or heard about anything likely to cause concern. We know a police officer based in Caboolture and who was glad to get away from the violent crime prevalent in some parts of the south (& Caboolture can be quite ''rough''!)

Bribie is nice & there's some new, very appealing developments , but allow 1.5 hours to drive to the CBD during rush hour.

We were not impressed with the southside of the city - its seems to be developing into one massive conurbation between the Gold Coast and Brissie. Just loads and loads of identical housing estates, poorly planned, with small plots and an expensive price tag. The south has also developed a reputation for being ''rough'', especially the Logan and Ipswich areas - a friend of mine who lives in Sydney has even heard about it!! We saw a lot of undesirables hanging round shopping centres.

As for bayside, property prices are on the increase - it seems to be full of ''retirement villages'' and ageing brits, but a pretty place to live.

As Ceri mentioned, renting is a good way to get a feel for an area, until you get a feel for the place you want to live in.