etlniwd

OK, I know we've had threads about Brisbane suburbs before they've not been very comprehensive.

We'll be moving to Brisbane at the end of the year and would really like to know the views of people who live there or have spent a significant amount of time there. It takes a long time to get to know a city well and we are not going to have that luxury when we go for our initial six month rental. Trying to get this information from official internet sites is impossible - believe me, I've tried. So, in your opinion ....

Which are the rich suburbs ?
Which are the poor suburbs ?
Which are the family suburbs ?
Which are the yuppie, dinky suburbs ?
Which are the trendy, arty, bohemian suburbs ?
Which are the retired people's suburbs ?
Which are the overpriced, overrated suburbs ?
Which suburbs have the highest/lowest crime ?
Which suburbs have the most space and which are the most densely populated ?
Which are the suburbs you wouldn't be seen dead in ?
What are the coatal suburbs of Cleveland, Wellington Point, Manly, and Wynnum like ? Are they at all 'tacky' ?

OK, generalisations I know but how else could I put it ?

We spent just a few days in Brisbane earlier this year and were very impressed with the city (as in CBD) but only managed to have a quick look around Paddington, New Farm, Bulimba, and Hawthorn. Bulimba and Paddington were quite nice house-wise but the areas seemed a bit devoid of life. We went to Bulimba because the of the 'thriving Oxford Street cafe community'. Hmmm... if that is 'thriving' I wouldn't want to see a quiet suburb !

Anyway, we know Brisbane is going to be very sleepy compared to here (Brighton, UK) and we can accept that but any personal views on how the various suburbs/areas shape up would be much appreciated.

Dbm

Geeez Nick, How long is a piece of string & what colour does it come in??
;-)

Let's cut to chase. What are your lifestyle needs/expectations/housing
budget?

Cheers
Bill who not only lives nearish to Brighton but has even been there ;-)


"etlniwd" wrote in message
news:420526.1032519155@britishexpats-
.com...
    > OK, I know we've had threads about Brisbane suburbs before they've not
    > been very comprehensive.
    > We'll be moving to Brisbane at the end of the year and would really like
    > to know the views of people who live there or have spent a significant
    > amount of time there. It takes a long time to get to know a city well
    > and we are not going to have that luxury when we go for our initial six
    > month rental. Trying to get this information from official internet
    > sites is impossible - believe me, I've tried. So, in your opinion ....
    > Which are the rich suburbs ?
    > Which are the poor suburbs ?
    > Which are the family suburbs ?
    > Which are the yuppie, dinky suburbs ?
    > Which are the trendy, arty, bohemian suburbs ?
    > Which are the retired people's suburbs ?
    > Which are the overpriced, overrated suburbs ?
    > Which suburbs have the highest/lowest crime ?
    > Which suburbs have the most space and which are the most densely
    > populated ?
    > Which are the suburbs you wouldn't be seen dead in ?
    > What are the coatal suburbs of Cleveland, Wellington Point, Manly, and
    > Wynnum like ? Are they at all 'tacky' ?
    > OK, generalisations I know but how else could I put it ?
    > We spent just a few days in Brisbane earlier this year and were very
    > impressed with the city (as in CBD) but only managed to have a quick
    > look around Paddington, New Farm, Bulimba, and Hawthorn. Bulimba and
    > Paddington were quite nice house-wise but the areas seemed a bit devoid
    > of life. We went to Bulimba because the of the 'thriving Oxford Street
    > cafe community'. Hmmm... if that is 'thriving' I wouldn't want to see a
    > quiet suburb !
    > Anyway, we know Brisbane is going to be very sleepy compared to here
    > (Brighton, UK) and we can accept that but any personal views on how the
    > various suburbs/areas shape up would be much appreciated.
    > --
    > nick
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

pommiesheila

Can't answer your question in its entirety, but can confirm that the coastal suburbs you mention are good. We live in the suburb of Capalaba, which is about 25 minutes from the CBD, same time to Brissie Airport, 40 minutes to gold coast and just under an hour to the Sunshine coast.

We chose this suburb mainly because we wanted a bit of "acreage" close enough to the city.

If you want demographic data and crime stats etc. try domain.com.au - then enter your suburb and it should tell you most of what you want to know.

BTW, Wellington Point itself is VERY NICE - not a good swimming beach, but a great place to unwind and take the kids after school for a quick splash around.

If you want any more specific info. on the "Bayside suburbs" let me know and I'll try to help.

kaleb777

OK I'll tell yo about the south side and central since the north side seems to be an enormous homogenous suburb for me. Rich areas - Anywhere around Sunnybank, Runcorn, MacGregor, Robertson. Basically all the 4109 and 4113 postcodes. Carindale is also "rich", that's suburbs around the 4152 code. The inner west, Bulimba, East Brisbane (4171,4169) are rich and picking up fast. The inner west around Paddo (Paddington) is fairly rich, but at you go further west it gets pregressively richer through Toowong, Taringa, Indooropilly, Kenmore, Moggil, Belbowrie and Pullenvale (4066, 4068-4070). Toowong and St Lucia are tied to the University of Queensland and the rich Asian student/ wealthy professor types. Going west along the Ipswich Motorway you have the very poor suburbs of Darra and Inala which have a large drug problem (4076,4077). Not far away is the mid range, very clean and nice suburbs of Jindalee, Westlakes, Forest Lake, tehn futher south west in the new city of Spring field with Springfield Lakes close to new golf courses and a lakeside town centre. Further west again you get to Ipswich, with all of it's suburbs, which is basically a blue collar city forming the western part of metro Brisbane. The Eastern suburbs close to the bay are very nice, and are not really considered "rich" but some properties can be expensive. Logan City forms the southern part of the Brisbane metro area. Logan is basically blue collar. East of the freeway is mid rage, nice, plenty of shopping and close to freeway( Springwood, Rochedale, Loganholme, Daisy Hill, Kimberley Pk). The west side is poorer. Woodridge and Kingston have a bad name. It picks up further west around Hillcrest, Regents Park, Park Ridge, Larapinta, Forestdale, Crestmead.

Overpriced suburbs would include parts of Calamvale which are about 50K dearer than Hillcrest or Regents Park which are homes of the same quality and only about 7 minutes away. Sunnybank is the unofficial Chinatown so homes there are very expensive, and way too big for the blocks of land. Artsy places would be South Brisbane (not Southbank), and New Farm/ Fortitude Valley. New farm is also a big gay area, along with Spring Hill in the city.

The coastal areas you name aren't at all tacky since they aren't tourist places. These suburbs are all residential. People don't really swim there since there are no sandy beaches. The tacky area is the Gold Coast, which is down the freeway. It's not really tacky but it is touristy. People tend to drive there to go to the beach. People choose to live in the bayside suburbs for the boating access and the cooling sea breezes. It's kind of weird but bayside suburbs have few apartment buildings even though you'd think the sea views would attract such building.

As far as crime goes, you can't always tell by the wealth of the suburb. Some of the suburbs with the highest car thefts are "rich" suburbs. Heroin is a problem in New Farm, Inala and Darra.

etlniwd

Kaleb777 - Thanks for that info. It's a great help.

BTW. By 'tacky' I don't necessarily mean touristy. Brighton here in the UK where I live is very touristy but far from being tacky. By tacky I mean cheap and nasty, unfashionable. Like Broadmeadows in Melbourne or Cronulla in Sydney (apologies to those who live there, not my cup of tea).