Hi there
My husband and I moved to Brisbane about 4 months ago and we've been living in Redcliffe, which we love. However, I've just been offered a job in the Beenleigh area so we are going to have to move. My husband works out at the airport so I'm wondering if anyone has any advice as to suburbs which would be within reasonable commuting distance of both of our jobs - probably about 45 minutes absolute max. We would love to still be reasonably close to the coast so have been looking at anything from Wynnum down to Redland Bay, but just not sure about commuting times in peak traffic, so I'm also considering more inland areas like Carina, Murarrie, Carindale, Tingalpa etc.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated - particularly interested in traffic issues and general 'niceness' of areas!

Thanks in advance

My first thought was Carindale and I see it's on your possible list.

You've got good access there to the roads that will get you as quickly as possible to the places you and your OH need to get to.

Redland Bay to the airport would take too long in traffic!

Your journey to and from Beenleigh will be faster than your husband's journey to the airport.

I don't really like "south of the river" to be honest. But plenty of people live on that side, and many claim to actually enjoy it. If I was forced to move south of the river it would be to one of the following areas...

near the coast:
wynnum/manly
cleveland/wellington point/vic point

or near the city:
bulimba
hawthorne
west end/highgate hill

I agree with Carindale in terms of access to both work places, and it is a fairly nice area too.

Nice enough if a little bland!

As for the others the OP listed - Murrarie, no. Strange area!

Tingalpa...not a huge fan. Carina - depends on what part - some of it is a bit run down. I remember the local news trying to claim that it was an epicentre of crime but I think it was a bit of a beat up.

Getting to the motorway from Bulimba / Balmoral / Hawthrone / Morningside (bit less pricey) is straight forward and quick...but these suburbs are in another price bracket entirely so budget comes into play for sure.

I live about 1km from Carindale Westfield and it's a great location, it's a fairly new suburb 1960 or newer. Excellent access to the city by public transport and even a bus direct to the airport (DFO actually). I would say Beenleigh would be about 30 min even in rush hour depending on where in Carindale you live.

I don't rate the beaches around Brisbane (even Redland) so I drive down to the GC which is approx 50min and their you have superb beaches and beach lifestyle far better than around Brisbane.

Just my opinion but nothing at all wrong with Southside.

Anyone know what Everton park/hills is like??

Another option is the budget dependent suburb of Yeerongpilly...say somewhere around here.

Puts you near the river and city as an alternative to being in the middle of suburbia and leaves you a short walk away from the train line which allows you to get to both the airport (with a change) and direct to beenleigh on public transport. Great to have a solid public transport option. It is also next to the proposed cross river rail line which is a new train tunnel under the river direct to new underground city stops...if/when built it should lead to solid house price growth in the area long term.

Driving you would get to the airport this way through the super fast Clem7 tunnel, and beenleigh this way...a lot of both trips would be against the main flow of peak hour so your times should be achievable. It also offers a non toll road alternative to the airport via west end and the inner city bypass if your OH wanted to avoid the hefty tolls on the clem7 or gateway bridge if travelling from carindale or surrounds. Would also mean the new airport link toll tunnel opening soon would be an option for your husband if he is really running late

Thanks for all the suggestions so far - definitely gives us a few more areas to explore.

Agree with the general thrust of the above, but would expand the thought to any suburb with reasonable striking distance of the Story Bridge.

Not sure if you're renting or buying, but remember that toll avoidance is worth ~$40/wk to one of you, which sets you up for a nicer place or a nicer inner suburb.