sprug

We are hoping to arrive in Brisbane in November. We have been looking at areas to live and like the look of kenmore. Anyone live there or know any "inside info" about this area. Things we want to know are things to do with the kids (age 3 and 6), rentals, shopping, eating out. Just general stuff.
Shelley xx

demigrate

Hi Shelley,

We will be moving to the Kenmore area in November (from the other side of Brisbane) also with a 3 year old. We liked the fact that as you go out towards Kenmore Hills, Brookfield and Pullenvale it starts to become more rural but Kenmore itself is still fairly urban and has most of what you would need. It's also not far from Mount Coot-tha forest which provides a nice walk. There is a Coles, Post office, cafes, doctors, about a dozen estate agents in Kenmore village and just along Moggill road towards Chapel Hill is a Woolworths and other shops. Basically most of what you would need. The nearest cinema I would guess would be in Indooroopilly and nearest beaches are quite a distance away (approx hour and a half). The high school also has a very good repuatation. The negative to Kenmore is that access to the city is poor along Moggill road in rush hour and the public transport is restricted to buses with the nearest train station either at Indooroopilly or Darra. Can't comment on rentals as we have just bought out there although you will not find many appartments just houses in the area.

Darren

spartacus

Hi Shelley

We've live out at Bellbowrie, a little west of Kenmore, getting on for six months now.

Kenmore, Pullenvale, Chapel Hill, Brookfield, Pinjarra Hills, Bellbowrie, Moggill; all very 'respectable' suburbs. The further west you go the more rural it becomes. Brookfield / Moggill quite horsey.

Kenmore has two shopping centres: Kenmore Plaza (fairly sizeable with a Woolys, McD's etc) and Kenmore Village which is smaller but with more speciality shops / cafes, plenty of 'ladies who do lunch' and still has a Coles supermarket. Big shopping centre (mall) at Indooroopilly; Myers (oz equivalent of John Lewis), K Mart, Target, Woolys, etc with multiscreen cinema, gym, pub that shows the footy etc. There's also a big 'home centre' at Jindalee mainly selling household and garden furniture etc, and towards the end of the year there's a new DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) shopping village opening. The only other one I know of is out by the airport.

Plenty of things to do with the kids. Lots of really good park areas. That's been one of things which has impressed me most; bbq areas clean, play equipment intact, shaded from the sun with sails and kids (and parents) 'playing nice'. Totally different experience to parks in the uk. Kenmore Sports Club a very active, lots of kids participating, good facilities.

Eating out: Plenty of choice in Kenmore itself and a little further afield. If you like Indian I'd recommend the Indus, eat-in and takeaway, two eat for the price of one on a Tuesday evening, you'd need to book because it gets packed. The most 'British' Indian I've had since I got here.

Good schools for the little ones, my two go to Moggill State currently. Plenty of other's to choose from.

So all-in-all very positive. Only slight down side is the commute into Brisbane, but you can't ahve everything. The kids are on school holidays currently which cuts the journey from Bellbowrie to the CBD down to about 25 minutes. Generally about an hour when they're back. No real alternative to the bus or car along Moggill Road, although you can catch the train from Indooroopilly. They're currently dualling as much as they can of it which should improve things slightly.

Hope this helps

Andy

rabsody

I have lived in Kenmore for the past seven years. It's definitely a family area and good for the kids. The schools are all pretty good around here (my girls are 11 and 8 and go to Kenmore South State School and will be going to Kenmore High thereafter if we are still in the area). It's an older suburb so it's well established and very leafy and hilly. Lots of parks with shades and so on. You should be fine for mother and toddler groups (however I found the mums to be really mumsy, all tupperware parties and cake baking - no-one was up for a night on the town LOL!!).

Very well serviced by shops - Indooroopilly Shopping Centre is great for clothes and there are two cinemas there. Public pools, gyms, churches in abundance nearby. Eating out in the suburb is fairly dire, but you can go to Graceville, Rosalie, Auchenflower or into the city for dinner.

Downsides: definitely the traffic factor. A total nightmare if you work in the city or have to drop kids off at private schools (a lot do), which are all further in. There's Indro train station which is about 3km away but it will take you about 40 mins to drive there and find a park so it's going to take you at least an hour whichever method you use (unless you buy a scooter like my OH). This is quite shocking given we are only 10km from the city!!

Also, lots of horrid, massive four wheel drives with midget mums at the wheel clogging up the roads and it's a very conservative suburb (Liberal have held the federal seat here forever) so it's not exactly a mixed bag of residents.

All in all, great for little ones, but we hope to move further in where it's a bit more lively and diverse when they are both at high school.