Dippy Donna

Hi All,
We are in the process of applying for our visa and hoping to be over within the next 6 months but struggling to decide on which area of brisbane to live in.
My OH is a maintenance engineer/fitter and i will be hoping to open a coffee shop/smoothie bar when we are settled. We have 2 kids (3 and 7yrs old)

Our Wish list is

1/ Good catchment areas for schools
2/ Friendly community
3/ Close to industrial areas for partners work (but not too close)
4/ Local activities for the kids

asprilla

Tricky one Donna ! welcome to the site by the way.

You might not be getting many responses simply because it's a hard question to answer !

1) schools - this is a tricky one, as one person's "good school" might be another one's bad school. The best advice I can give, is to read all the threads on here that talk about Brisbane schools. Afterwards, you might have 3 or 4 to work on, and you can stick a pin in them on the map.

2) friendly community - again another hard one to measure, I reckon. I live in the city, and the people in my building are very friendly.

3) Industrial areas - I don't know too much about this I'm afraid...sorry.

4) local activities for kids - There are sporting activities practically everywhere so you'll be fine there.


Sorry, I haven't really been much help, hopefully some other folks will do better !!

Sue

Hi Donna,

Just wanted to say welcome to the site, and if you haven't done so already you could also try checking out the Brisbane page in the wiki.

Brisben

1. Manly is a good school, but need to be in the catchment area.
2. Manly or other bay suburbs are freindly, Wynnum, Lota, Manly, manly west.
3. Tough as the industrial areas are normally nowhere near items 1 and 2, however Murrarrie is within 8 k's of Manly but limited work, most industrial areas are southwest of the city, Archerfield, darra, wacol etc.
4. Bayside has it all.

Obviously Manly is a very expensive suburb, due to all of ther above being desireable.

Happy hunting.

spadgersdad

We live in Thornlands which is on the Bayside and hubby is a maintenance fitter and works at Rocklea which is South side of Brisbane takes about 35 minutes drive. There is a small industrial area in Cleveland which is close by, but most of the large industry is on the South Side of Brisbane. You also need to consider other factors ie; how close to coast, local attractions, CBD etc

Dippy Donna

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all your replys. I was thinking about manly west and wynnum west. Any positive or negative feedback for these areas would be greatfully appreciated. We dont really want to be too close to the hustle and bustle of the CBD.
My son loves his football (soccer) and we would like to settle him in to normality as soon as we get there and hopefully get him into a team. Are there many teams or opportunities in the area or brisbane on a whole.

Thanks Donna xx

spadgersdad

Hi Donna,
Has Brisben said previous Manly is an expensive area, as for reasons he quoted. Lovely place especially on Sunday when they have there markets on the esplanade over looking the waters of Moreton Bay.
Other areas that maybe of interest on the Bayside where properties are not as expensive:
Wellington Point
Ormiston
Birkdale
Cleveland
Thornlands
Victoria Point
Redland Bay
All close to waters edge of Moreton Bay, again as always, personal preference. Good luck with your search

Brisben

Some good choices there. Wynnum and Manly west are nice, Wynnum west is close to the gateway motorway so good for commuting.

In my opinion after living in Wynnum West I find it quite busy, however they have everything you need. There is a new development there opposite the shopping centre, where you can buy brand new off the plan properties for under 500k. Small blocks but new and very central.

In my opinion the follwoing apply to the above.

Wellington Point- Very nice
Ormiston - Very nice
Birkdale - very nice
Cleveland - New and very modern but more crime than others.
Thornlands - Too far from CBD and poor road access make it bad commute.
Victoria Point - Too far away again from central areas.
Redland Bay - Too far away again.

I find if you want to be central to CBD, Old Cleveland road you need to be close to it, Alexandra hills and capalaba are cheaper suburbs, however Birkdale is very quiet and property is reasonably priced considering the market, I would prefer Wellington point, birkdale over wynnum west myself.

asprilla

We were in Cleveland last week at the grandview hotel, food was good (a little pricey for a pub though) beer was good, very busy in there. They had a jazz band playing out in the garden. Went to Cleveland point and it was extremely busy...it was like a big carpark!

We had a drive around Raby Bay - I thought there were some restaurants/shops there ? but it was just big houses. Where are the restaurants in Cleveland located?

We drove back to the CBD, all the way along old cleveland road. It was sunday afternoon and took 45mins. I wasn't exactly crawling along either. So I would imagine that the peak time commute would be at least one hour by car.

ridds

Ok, time for a plug for the western suburbs such as Oxley, Sherwood, and Corinda. There are some really good schools (both state and private) and lots of local activity groups for kids (and adults ) ranging from playgroups through to sports clubs (including football). Some excellent parks, playing fields and other facilities like public swimming pools ('cause not everyone subscribes to having a pool in the backyard!) Close to light industrial areas such as Rocklea, Archerfield, Goodna and the Ipswich corridor, and easy access to other industrial areas in the southern suburbs such as Logan. All on the train line for easy CBD access as well, and good bus services. About 45 mins to the northern Gold Coast beaches and the same to bayside areas like Wynnum and Manly (although longer in rush hour).

Grayling

Also for the inner western suburbs such as Toowong, Taringa, Indooroopilly, Kenmore, St. Lucia etc.

For some reason these rarely get a mention but are all good places to live and very convenient for the city.

G

Brisben

True but also pricey. I suppose budget somewhat dictates where to live..

Grayling

Indeed.....but places like Wynnum are not exactly cheap....in fact many suburbs are getting pretty expensive

G

TrickyTree

We rented in Taringa when we first arrived and I liked the place I would also recommend anywhere on the Ipswich line between Auchenflower and Oxley. The drive in from that area of town was usually not a great experience (but then again where is) but we used the trains which were great.

Grayling

Given the amount of roadworks the traffic is a nightmare, at certain times of the day, anywhere near the city.

At least where we are we have the choice of the city cat, bus or train.

G