OriginalSunshine

Hi,

please can you advise which suburbs in Brisbane fit the following:

• easy commute to CBD (i.e. short drive, or regular reliable public transport)
• state schools with good reputation at both primary & secondary level
• good after school / vacation care for primary aged kids
• decent grocery shopping (don't mind travelling at weekends for other stuff)
• nearby sports facilities (gym, 25m+ length swimming pool, kids sports)
• "safe" to walk around

Price-wise for housing we would just cut our cloth so as to speak. We'd both try and get office based jobs (we both could have got our independent PR, I was just younger, so we got it on me as I had more points!).

TIA

KJCherokee

Start off by looking at the railway network map. All the station names are suburbs, and the train system is probably the quickest and easiest way to commute to the CBD (although it gets very crowded during peak hours).

bcworld

The train misses great swathes of the south side though while the busway provides very quick journeys into the CBD from some of those suburbs. The bus ride commute from Mt Gravatt East used to be about 20mins on the express 179 or 180. As low as under 15 mins on weekends.

Grayling

The inner west suburbs have all you are looking for..Taringa, Toowong, Indooripilly and that area. Not cheap places though

coldbeer

Brisbane is a very spread out place, there are literally dozens of suburbs which have a combination of those factors, start by determining how much you're willing to spend, then look at the real estate sites (domain and realestate.com.au) to see what you can afford.

OriginalSunshine

KJ, bcworld - thanks. the problem with maps is I have no idea how the journey translates in reality at commuting hours

Grayling - thanks also - that's a great start to find out more info on.

coldbeer - I'm semi-liquid. I have a flat worth a realistic price of 300k AUS$ (the exchange rate is a bitch!!!) which I bought for about 20% higher, but them's the breaks. Shit happens. At least I have no mortgage.
I'd need to sell it first and that could take time so we'd have to rent for 6-12 months to get that flat liquid. That would mean I'd need a mortgage of around 700k AUS$ to get a property of a million or so. We would both plan on working for the next 20 yrs before retiring, so 1mln AUS$ property value is feasible.
Again, I know that can buy you a mansion in a shit area or a broom cupboard in a v expensive area.
Narrowing suburbs based on what is more important to me is the above.

bingobob777

is being able to walk to bars, cafes and restaurants important?

fish.01

Not a big fan of recommending my suburb due to bias issues but in this case I have to say where I live in Ashgrove has everything on your list I think. Maybe I had the same criteria as you

* easy commute to CBD (i.e. short drive, or regular reliable public transport)

I cycle but on the odd day my wife drops me off it seems very quick. We travel down Arthur and Latrobe Tce and often could be there in 10 mins or so. It does depend which part of Ashgrove you live in though. We are about 4.5km from the CBD on the Red Hill border.

Regular buses from our house take around 15 or 20 mins. No timetable checking needed usually.

* state schools with good reputation at both primary & secondary level

Yes, for primary: Ithaca Creek, Ashgrove, Oakley and more close by. Very good schools. For high school: Feeders for The Gap or Kelvin Grove College

* good after school / vacation care for primary aged kids

Yes, plenty.

* decent grocery shopping (don't mind travelling at weekends for other stuff)

Three large supermarkets a few minutes walk away from us. Many cafes, banks, doctors etc

* nearby sports facilities (gym, 25m+ length swimming pool, kids sports)

Pools at Newmarket and Ithaca. Sporting fields/parks abound, football/soccer clubs at Wilston, Bardon, The Gap etc, rugby clubs, cricket etc.

Numerous gyms in the area.

* "safe" to walk around

Yes, usually very safe, leafy and pleasant with lovely bike paths through the parks etc.


Will try and think of some other areas as well....

OriginalSunshine

fish - awesome, thank you!

bingo - nah, with two young kids we don't get out much anyway

fish.01

The biggest issue with our area is price being so close to the city. It is more of a 2nd/3rd home buyer area. There are many other things I like about it, old pre-war character housing, proximity to cbd, history in the built environment, walk to paddington etc that you may not prioritise. If that is the case you might be better looking at more affordable suburbs that still fulfill your list.

Guess what I'm saying is I'm not sure how close you mean when you say "short drive, or regular reliable public transport" and how good you mean when you say "good reputation"....you could go further out where the reputation might not be quite as good and the trip a little longer but it might save you $100,000 or more.

Alfresco

You should do when here.

I concur with fish. Great local knowledge!

OriginalSunshine

nah - good rep & short commute > 100k

bingobob777

If budget allows go for Paddington, New farm, Bulimba or Ashgrove

OriginalSunshine

thanks