TheButlers

My husband has just been offered a job in Brisbane, based in West End, we're at the stage of deciding whether to leave the Northern Beaches, Sydney and make the move up to Brissie with our 6 year old son.

Would be very grateful of any information regarding West End, commuting from the North of Brisbane and which areas would you lovely people recommend for a family, that would hopefully avoid any flooding (have taken a look at the maps on the council website). We like, quiet, green and being able to ride our bikes, close to a good school and swim school.

Neither of us have been to Brisbane, plan to go up 14th Nov to have a look around...we will check out any places that get recommended.
Many thanks,
Hayley

goldchoccycoin

Any particular reason you're looking at North Brisbane?

I live in the West and love it - some parts of some of the suburbs near me got flooded but not even close to the majority of the suburbs (Not everyone can live riverside/creek side!).

West End is very close to the CBD (across the bridge/s), so transport links are excellent and really you could almost live anywhere that has bus or train links to the city.

Best of luck!

Kim67

If you want to stay close to West End, without crossing a bridge to get to work, I'd stick to inner south side. Immediate areas around West End such as Highgate Hill, South Brisbane, Annerley, Moorooka, Yeronga, Yerongpilly, Sherwood, Woolloongabba, Tarragindi, Greenslopes are nice suburbs on the whole and are close to good schools, riverside bike tracks etc. Check the flood maps if you're going to buy, but don't panic too much, what happened this year is a very rare occurrence. Choose a school with a pool and they'll have a swim club outside of school hours usually.

TheButlers

Picked North as after our first look online at schools we found quite a nice one in Ashford but it is just a starting point really...got to pick somewhere to start .

My husbands manager has decided to go inland west to live.

Coming from the Northern Beaches and having access to a lot of different beaches...I get the impression that Brisbane is very different - which beaches are the peoples favourite?

Kim67

Over the border in NSW or the man made one out Southbank - Brisbane itself doesn't have beaches.

Edited to add. I've not heard of Ashford, where exactly is it?

spartacus

Brisbane doesn't really have beaches, more mudflats. The sand that would've ended up on Brisbane's beaches has become sand islands off the coast - Moreton, Stradbroke etc) so Brisbane bayside suburbs are more like lakeside suburbs really (if you think of the bay as a big lake - have a look at a map and you'll see what I mean). The nearest 'real' beach is at Redcliffe (north) and Wellington Point (south) I think (?).

spartacus

What about the Gold Coast?

Icecube

I would consider the school that is most suitable for your kids, then check on availability of spaces as a lot of the (better / more popular) public ones have strict zones. Next criteria would be how you want to get to work. Public transport (by train) to South Bank/Brisbane station or by car as well as how long a commute you want to endure. With these criteria you can start to draw up a search area which meets these criteria.

Kim67

It does have beaches, but I'm not a lover of the Coast, prefer to drive down to Kingscliff or somewhere over the border. It's just me, I'm a little anti-social in my old age.

Dicko

or the Sunshine Coast?

DadAgain

If you're looking at schools as a priority then you're probably looking at the inner NW.

Bardon, Ashgrove, The Gap, Indooroopilly, Kenmore - ALL have excellent schools.

As far as commuting to West End is concerned the "Go Between" bridge means getting from NOR to West End is dead easy now (for a small fee).

If I had the money and was in your position I'd be looking carefully at Ashgrove - the primary school is excellent and from there you'd be looking at a 10 minute drive to West-End - even in peak hour. If you later decide to move jobs and need access to the city - its dead easy too.

TheButlers

School is the priority, I have to say . Next priority is my husbands commute.

He works 12 hour shifts (nights and days) starting/finishing at 6.30 , which usually rules out public transport, if it only takes 10 mins from Ashgrove it may be an option.

Beaches are by no means a priority was trying to work out, if we weren't near the coast how long it would take to get to a nice one....I'm also assuming there will be more swimming pools up there than there are here as we have the beaches - it's swings and roundabouts I guess?

Kim67

A good beach is probably 40 minutes drive from Brisbane inner suburbs, this is Southbank Parklands http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/att...bank_parklands which is very close to West End. Free swimming pools, good BBQ and picnic facilities as well as restaurants, ice-cream carts etc. Ashgrove is a nice suburb but be careful of paying top dollar for someones dodgy renovation. It also has problems with flood zones near Marist Brothers College, so just check that out if you're buying. Otherwise a good suburb choice.

goldchoccycoin

6.30 start/finish won't rule out public transport by any means - have a look at translink.com.au - early services start well before 6:30am and finish later!

Icecube

Public buses will start around 5am and the evening side will be easy with plenty of choice. At those times it is indeed only a 10 minute jorney by car however at normal peak times it could be more like 30 minutes plus.