Well 2 years ago we thought we'd end up heading to either Sydney or Melbourne eventually, or we'd find ourselves heading back to the UK. But for our sins, we're still plodding along in NZ and an unexpected job offer has come along in Brisbane. Don't know much about Brisbane, as it wasn't high up the list of place to research. HELP!!

So first off, I am interested in hearing the good, bad and ugly of Brisbane. From what I can tell, it is much cheaper to rent compared to either Sydney or Melbourne.

The other issue we're finding while looking at real estate websites is knowing whether it would be better to rent somewhere close to the CBD and hence have a short hop to work, or rent in one of the family suburbs further out and have a commute.

If we rent somewhere close to the CBD it'll cost more for a smaller place. I don't think the kids would be that bothered as long as we make an effort to get out and about each weekend. Things to do close to the CBD anyone??

If we rent further out, we can get a bigger place for less money, but will then probably end up with a garden to maintain and it'll potentially be more of a trek to get anywhere. Any recommendations for nice suburbs? I've heard people talk about Redcliffs, but know very little about the place.

Where do all the Brits end up?

While I'm at it, how long does it take (really!) to get up or down the coast to Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast in weekend traffic?

Ashgrove.

Commute to beachs is about 1hr 15mins at weekend

Lots of great suburbs to live in. Personally I'd look at suburbs with good public transport links to city (rail or busway) You want to avoid driving to city if possible - commutes are tough and parking extortionate. Choose North or South if river based on where you're working - then look at if u want to be near the sea - Some good family places - e.g Manly, Cleveland in south where there are a lot of Brits. Also check out schools (assume u have kids). Many kids go private here but IMHO not necessary if you pick the right suburb

Good surburbs close to CBD with decent facilities and schools - Ashgrove, Indooroopilly, Bardon, Paddington, Newmarket, Red Hill, Kelvin Grove, Woolloowin, New Farm, South Brisbane, East Brisbane, Yeronga, Graceville, Tarragindi, Coorparoo, Greenslopes, Camp Hill, Bulimba, Hawthorne, Seven Hills, Norman Park.

Many thanks Kim67 - a really useful post.

If you want a more laid back lifestyle maybe try Bayside areas such as Wynnum, Manly, Birkdale, Wellington Point, Victoria Point.

You're welcome.

Sandgate and Shorncliffe are lovely, good primary schools and on the train line

When you say the job offer is in Brisbane do you mean that you will be working in the CBD? If so then anywhere near a railway station or a busway route would be OK, but if you are working anywhere else it depends how close your workplace is to public transport and/or whether there is free car parking at your workplace.

Brisbane has two dedicated busways into the city, one starting at Kedron in the north and the other paralleling the Pacific Motorway in from Eight Mile Plains in the south: both of these run right into the centre of the CBD and avoid the traffic jams at peak hour. Trains are also fairly reliable. Don't think of driving into the CBD unless a) you get a car parking space as part of your job package and b) you can arrange your working hours so you are not driving in peak hours (8-9am, 5-6pm). I have a 20-25 minute drive if I leave the office at 4pm which can push out to 40+ minutes an hour later!

Suburbs - I'm a Northsider so any southern suburb is out! Rent will be high in the inner suburbs like Albion, Clayfield, Woolowin, Windsor; should be more reasonable by Chermside, Virginia, Geebung, Kedron. I don't recommend the outer areas like North Lakes from a commuting point of view unless you can definitely avoid peak hour travel: once you get north of the South Pine river you are stuck with the Bruce Highway for getting into Brisbane and that is shocking traffic.

Yes, the job offer is in the CBD. The office is on the North side of the river. I hadn't really considered the difficulty of getting over the river from suburbs to the south. It isn't something one would every have to think about in the UK, and even in New Zealand, I know heaps of people who travel across the harbour bridge everyday without incident. There will also be some need to travel occasionally, so easy travel to the airport would be useful too.

So perhaps refining my question somewhat:
I would like some recommendations for nice suburbs on the North side of the river that have easy and convenient commuter options into the CBD. I'm less bothered about the actual time taken for the journey, also some estimates would be helpful. I am not interested in suburbs that are only good because they happen to have a good school. This is less of a concern for my family. A good living environment is more important. Nice surroundings, easy access to GP surgery without struggling to find one who is accepting new patients, and convenient grocery shopping. I don't want to waste time sitting in heavy traffic to get the weekly necessities done.

I'm still unsure whether it would be better to locate much closer to the CBD and pay more or live further out near a good commuter link and pay less.

Rail Stations (and hence suburbs) north of the river into the CBD (Central Station) are Bald Hills, Carseldine, Zillmere, Geebung, Sunshine (industrial), Virginia, Northgate, Nundah, Toombul, Eagle Junction, Wooloowin, Albion, Bowen Hills, Fortitude Valley (noisy nightlife, young single only!), Central. On the other line there's Shornecliffe, Sandgate, Boondall, Nudgee, Banyo, Bindha and then it joins up at Northgate. Anywhere from Northgate into the city will also be easy access to the airport (the airport train goes from Central to Eagle Junction before heading out to the airport via Clayfield).

Shornecliffe is by the bay and very nice. All these areas are close to shopping centres (2-3km).

If you are commuting to the CBD via public transport then North v South is less important - it's just the roads that can be congested. For example, I live in Sherwood (West - but South of river I suppose!) and the train is a two minute walk from my house (as is doctor, dentist, supermarket, butcher, newsagent, post office etc) and it's a 25 minute train journey to the CBD.

There are countless other suburbs like this (great local facilities) - some have been mentioned already.

Best of luck!

We've just spent a year living in Nundah, in fact within a 2min walk of Toombul train station. The train journey to central station is 14 mins and I never had to wait more than 5 – 10 mins for a train during peak times. Toombul shopping centre has a big Coles (supermarket), K-mart and Target and you can do your whole weekly shop there, plus a cinema, and nundah village has some smaller shops.

Chermside shopping centre is massive, with a bowling alley and cinema and that’s 5-10 min drive. I also like racecourse road in Ascot for cafes and bars, plus Hamilton harbour for restaurants, both around 10 mins away and on the river.

The train to the city is around $3.80 each way for an adult.

There are big parks (shaw park and kalinga park) with good play grounds nearby, a skateboard thing in Ross Park and a great time trial bike track in Albert Bishop park. Plus a tennis centre and beach sports centre in Shaw park. Nudgee beach and wetlands are 10 mins away and you can cycle there along the cycle path next to Kedron brook, no sand at Nudgee as its mostly mangroves and mud flats but a great place to take a dog or cycle to. Shorncliff has an OK beach and is about 15-20 mins drive, Redcliff a somewhat better beach and that is a 20-25 mins drive.

The Sunshine coast (Caloundra and Maroochydore) are around one hour drive and we never had issues with traffic in the weekend.

No idea about schools sorry (no kids), but we liked Nundah and while it is not the most exciting place in the evenings it was just a short train hop to the city, or a short drive/taxi to the more exciting and expensive suburbs. We felt very safe walking the streets at night and would routinely go for late night walks in the parks.

Good luck with your move

Have a look around Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills, Arana Hills, Keperra

We live in Ferny hills but its a 10 minute walk to the station at Ferny grove or 2 minute drive when being lazy. There's a huge free park and ride at the station and the train takes 25 minutes on express or 30 minutes normally to get to Central station in the CBD.

It's a very under rated area and you can get more for your money here than the inner suburbs plus its still only 12km from the cbd.

We rent currently and have a 3 bedroom house with a double garage and a big garden for $445per week.