bananalana

We have been living in Sydney for almost 2 and a half years. Now we are getting ready to move to Brisbane as soon as I secure a job.

We are finding it quite hard deciding on where we would like to live in Brisbane and surrounds so any advice would be greatly appreciated (we will be renting at this stage)

We have a daughter who is in her last year of primary school so would like to be near a good state primary school, and a high school for next year.

I imagine I will be working in the CBD so will need to be close to public transport (though I could possible drive). I dont mind travelling for around an hour each way.

We have 2 dogs so a dog friendly area would be good.

We would like to live in one of the following kind of settings:

Small beachy community type area. Not too touristy or busy (i.e. Manly or Bondi in Sydney - not our cup of tea). Some of the areas we have been looking at around this include up around Redcliffe area, Wynnum, Manly, Sandgate, Brighton and from Cleveland to Victoria Point. Another area we really like the look of being that it is a small coastal'ish community is Toorbul...but this looks like it may be a 2 hour commute (though apparently only 67kms) and that would be too much.

or

We would like to live on a large rural property. Suburbs we have been looking at here include somewhere round Caboolture, Draper (though cant seem to find a school near here)

Not really sure where else to look or what these suburbs are like (suburb profile sonly tell you so much) so any advice on similar areas would be greatly appreciated.

At the end of the day, we currently live in the inner west of sydney and we dont want to move from one city to the next and be living in exactly the same set up, i that makes sense.

Thanks in advance

medwaymark

Hi,

I moved to Queensland from Sydney last year after two years in Sydney (Liverpool, then Homebush Bay). I'm now living in Ipswich. Whilst it is an hour commute to Brisbane, it doesn't have beaches, so can't help you on that score

I find Brisbane/Ipswich a lot smaller & quieter than Sydney. You will still find the commute busy if you drive, but trains are much better here.

Good luck with the move.

bananalana

Thanks, we live near Homebush...well a few burbs away in Five Dock. It's a nice area, dont get me wrong, its just a bit.....close LOL.

We did look at Ipswich and wonder if there were many large properties out there. If we dont go beachy, we want to go rural.

We have seen a few properties, a couple with a few acres each, and one with 13 hectares (about 30 acres) which we would be quite keen on. Plenty of room to walk the dogs, have fun on a motorbike or even get a pony.

medwaymark

Yeah, Ipswich covers a big area & there are certainly some rural areas around Ipswich (although within easy reach). You probably wouldn't want to look east of Ipswich, not sure there would be much acreage that way.

Certainly cheaper out that way. Climate is a bit like Penrith is to Sydney.....ie. few degrees warmer than Brisbane in the summer, few degrees cooler in winter.

If you have any specific areas in mind, let me know & I can canvas for opinions from people that have lived there years.

bananalana

That woudl be awesome, thanks.

I will come back to you!!

Rudi

Hello, we also moved from Sydney up to Brisbane a few years ago. We were in the Hills district in Sydney and now live on a small acreage property in Thornlands - which is the suburb one up from Victoria Point.

We love living up here!! I also have a child in the final year of primary school.

The Bayside area, which is what this are is known as is popular with families. There are a number of decent local primary schools and high schools and plenty of sporting activities to choose from.

Give me a shout if you need any more specific info on one of the local suburbs or schools etc.

Love

Rudi
x

bananalana

Hi Rudi

Thanks for that, I have been looking round Thornlands too.

Will def give you a shout if I need to! Thanks

chris and farideh

We moved from Qld to Sydney we lived in north of Brisbane in a very small rural town called Burpengary, my son went to the Burpengary state primary school, it was the best school he ever went to in 4 1/2 years I've been here & I moved to 3 different State. The town has it's own train station, I use to work in CBD it took between 40 to 50 mins ride depending if you were taking the fast train. It's about 35 to 40 mins drive into CBD n about 30 to 40 mins to the sunshine coast & 10 min to Redcliffe.
There is State high school in the next town where my daughter use to get the school bus. I really loved living there so much that
was so sad that I had to move to Sydney.
I think you will find a lot more choice of a nice suburbs around Brisbane that you would be spoilt for choice.

medwaymark

Agree, it is nice up that way, although I never lived there....

bananalana

What about Albany Creek area....what is that like?

It looks OK in the reviews and stuff but it's not really the same as seeing it for yourself ya know

MarkandS

Albany Creek area very nice. You could look at the Samford area for acreage. It's a short car ride to local train st at Ferny Grove. There are plenty of good primary and high schools both state and fee paying. About 30 mins to cbd on train. It's not too far to visit the beach areas from here.