Toowoomba?
Apr 25th 2007, 10:18 am
#1
Cambridgeshire family
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Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 73
Toowoomba?
Anyone tell me what Toowoomba is like to live, work, social life, good areas, bad areas and a realistic drive time to Gold Coast? Hoping to do rekkie there in 2008
Apr 25th 2007, 11:15 am
#2
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Posts: 759
Re: Toowoomba?
It takes me about 15-20 mins to get home from work in the CBD - we live 7 km south of the city. Office hours are normally 8.30 to 5.00. My OH who is a tradie works 7.00 to 3.30 which is good as he can take our son to after school clubs. Wages are lower than in Brisbane but then housing is also a lot cheaper.As to living in Toowoomba, I guess that depends on what you have been used to in the UK. Toowoomba is essentially a country town, so if you have moved from a big city, you may find it quiet and slow. We moved from Hampshire, have no great love of the city type lifestyle, and have found the slower pace of Toowoomba suits us.
There are the usual pubs and clubs in the CBD that cater to live music fans and night-clubbers as well as a good assortment of restaurants and eating places. Brissie is only a 2 hour drive for concerts etc. We do have the Empire Theatre which has some surprisingly big names occasionally. There are 2 mainstream cinemas.
You will have heard about the water shortage here no doubt but that's really affecting the whole of SE Queensland now
Toowoomba itself is still surprisingly green although you can see that some of the trees are suffering. Ironically the autumn colours on the trees are beautiful at the moment because of the lack of rain.
Good areas and bad areas are very subjective of course
We wanted some space and live on 2.5 acres near Preston Peak winery
We paid $400k for our place just over a year ago. If you like, I can recommend a very good real estate agent. I emailed him before our reccie, told him what we wanted and he spent days driving us around different areas until we were quite sure what we wanted. When we arrived permanently, we were able to buy a place 2 weeks after we arrived because we had narrowed down where we wanted to be. He gave us some tips about where to avoid!!Have you got kids? The schools here have a very good reputation and there is the University of Southern Queensland here too.
As for the drive to the Gold Coast, that depends on what time of day you do the trip. Late at night it can be done in a couple of hours, going via a toll road with several toll booths, but to do it in daylight hours, it can take twice that, as once you hit the traffic on the M1 you could as well be sat on the M25!
Hope this helps.
Apr 25th 2007, 12:30 pm
#3
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Posts: 757
Re: Toowoomba?
Firstly, are you coming to Toowoomba with a job already, or are you planning to look for one when you arrive? I managed to get a job here when we came on our reccie and my OH had no problems finding one soon after we arrived. What line of work are you in? If you work in the CBD, then you can park for $2 a day; there is no "rush hour" to speak of - I get fed up now if there are more than 3 cars ahead of me at a roundabout It takes me about 15-20 mins to get home from work in the CBD - we live 7 km south of the city. Office hours are normally 8.30 to 5.00. My OH who is a tradie works 7.00 to 3.30 which is good as he can take our son to after school clubs. Wages are lower than in Brisbane but then housing is also a lot cheaper.
As to living in Toowoomba, I guess that depends on what you have been used to in the UK. Toowoomba is essentially a country town, so if you have moved from a big city, you may find it quiet and slow. We moved from Hampshire, have no great love of the city type lifestyle, and have found the slower pace of Toowoomba suits us.
There are the usual pubs and clubs in the CBD that cater to live music fans and night-clubbers as well as a good assortment of restaurants and eating places. Brissie is only a 2 hour drive for concerts etc. We do have the Empire Theatre which has some surprisingly big names occasionally. There are 2 mainstream cinemas.
You will have heard about the water shortage here no doubt but that's really affecting the whole of SE Queensland now
Toowoomba itself is still surprisingly green although you can see that some of the trees are suffering. Ironically the autumn colours on the trees are beautiful at the moment because of the lack of rain.
Good areas and bad areas are very subjective of course
We wanted some space and live on 2.5 acres near Preston Peak winery We paid $400k for our place just over a year ago. If you like, I can recommend a very good real estate agent. I emailed him before our reccie, told him what we wanted and he spent days driving us around different areas until we were quite sure what we wanted. When we arrived permanently, we were able to buy a place 2 weeks after we arrived because we had narrowed down where we wanted to be. He gave us some tips about where to avoid!!
Have you got kids? The schools here have a very good reputation and there is the University of Southern Queensland here too.
As for the drive to the Gold Coast, that depends on what time of day you do the trip. Late at night it can be done in a couple of hours, going via a toll road with several toll booths, but to do it in daylight hours, it can take twice that, as once you hit the traffic on the M1 you could as well be sat on the M25!
Hope this helps.
It takes me about 15-20 mins to get home from work in the CBD - we live 7 km south of the city. Office hours are normally 8.30 to 5.00. My OH who is a tradie works 7.00 to 3.30 which is good as he can take our son to after school clubs. Wages are lower than in Brisbane but then housing is also a lot cheaper.As to living in Toowoomba, I guess that depends on what you have been used to in the UK. Toowoomba is essentially a country town, so if you have moved from a big city, you may find it quiet and slow. We moved from Hampshire, have no great love of the city type lifestyle, and have found the slower pace of Toowoomba suits us.
There are the usual pubs and clubs in the CBD that cater to live music fans and night-clubbers as well as a good assortment of restaurants and eating places. Brissie is only a 2 hour drive for concerts etc. We do have the Empire Theatre which has some surprisingly big names occasionally. There are 2 mainstream cinemas.
You will have heard about the water shortage here no doubt but that's really affecting the whole of SE Queensland now
Toowoomba itself is still surprisingly green although you can see that some of the trees are suffering. Ironically the autumn colours on the trees are beautiful at the moment because of the lack of rain.
Good areas and bad areas are very subjective of course
We wanted some space and live on 2.5 acres near Preston Peak winery
We paid $400k for our place just over a year ago. If you like, I can recommend a very good real estate agent. I emailed him before our reccie, told him what we wanted and he spent days driving us around different areas until we were quite sure what we wanted. When we arrived permanently, we were able to buy a place 2 weeks after we arrived because we had narrowed down where we wanted to be. He gave us some tips about where to avoid!!Have you got kids? The schools here have a very good reputation and there is the University of Southern Queensland here too.
As for the drive to the Gold Coast, that depends on what time of day you do the trip. Late at night it can be done in a couple of hours, going via a toll road with several toll booths, but to do it in daylight hours, it can take twice that, as once you hit the traffic on the M1 you could as well be sat on the M25!
Hope this helps.
Apr 25th 2007, 11:22 pm
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2007
Location: Toowoomba, Queensland
Posts: 136
Re: Toowoomba?
I have no doubt that my better half Kat will be PM'ing you to ask about areas in Toowoomba as we are moving there in Nov this year!
Thanks for the informative post, from what we've read about the place, we already like it a lot. Just hope the water situation sorts itself out for the whole of Australia, as that is likely to be the biggest adjustment we'll have to make on a daily basis.
Regards
Gary
Thanks for the informative post, from what we've read about the place, we already like it a lot. Just hope the water situation sorts itself out for the whole of Australia, as that is likely to be the biggest adjustment we'll have to make on a daily basis.
Regards
Gary
Apr 25th 2007, 11:23 pm
#6
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Joined: Apr 2007
Location: Toowoomba, Queensland
Posts: 136
Re: Toowoomba?
Would you mind PM'ing us that real estate agents web address as well please?
Apr 26th 2007, 5:11 am
#7
Drunken Aussie
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Brisvegas
Posts: 1,080
Re: Toowoomba?
You don't want to hear my opinion of Toowoomba.......
Apr 26th 2007, 5:17 am
#8
(It's not my real name)
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Ilukapool. WA
Posts: 12,467
Apr 26th 2007, 5:47 am
#9
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Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Perth
Posts: 3,453
Re: Toowoomba?
Me too.
A friend of ours from Perth moved there last year and hates it with a passion.
"Backward", "small-minded" and "racist" in addition to redneck are the terms he's used. In his view it is that bad that he's jacked his job in and coming back to Perth later this year.
A friend of ours from Perth moved there last year and hates it with a passion.
"Backward", "small-minded" and "racist" in addition to redneck are the terms he's used. In his view it is that bad that he's jacked his job in and coming back to Perth later this year.
Apr 26th 2007, 5:54 am
#10
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Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Ilukapool. WA
Posts: 12,467
Re: Toowoomba?
They're still happy about using the word "nigger"
A UN committee has called for the word "nigger" to be removed from the E S "Nigger" Brown stand at Toowoomba.
In an 11-page judgment, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said the term was offensive and insulting and recommended the federal government remove the word "nigger" from the sign at the sports ground, west of Brisbane.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...777290365.html
A UN committee has called for the word "nigger" to be removed from the E S "Nigger" Brown stand at Toowoomba.
In an 11-page judgment, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said the term was offensive and insulting and recommended the federal government remove the word "nigger" from the sign at the sports ground, west of Brisbane.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...777290365.html
Apr 26th 2007, 5:58 am
#11
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Location: Perth
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Re: Toowoomba?
That friend of ours - he's South African so for him to consider Toowoomba racist....well you can make your own mind up...!
Apr 26th 2007, 6:21 am
#12
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Posts: 759
Re: Toowoomba?
I can honestly say that I have never come across any racists here. Toowoomba has a lot of Sudanese refugees and in general they have integrated very well. I think the Council in Grafton NSW refused point blank to have any Sudanese settling there
There's never been any question of that here. As for rednecks, like a lot of places, it probably depends on where you live. Where we live is very multicultural - we have Aussies, South Africans, Zimbabweans, Americans, Canadians, Poms - all in our one small street. We all get on very well, have street parties, look after each others pets and properties when people are away etc etc
It is a rural area and a lot of people out West in Woop woop have to come here for when they need legal,accounting, financial, medical facilities etc. You do get some people who are a bit "rough and ready" shall we say but they mostly have a heart of gold. An English girl I work with (married to an Aussie) lived in Brissie for a number of years and hated it - she found people very unfriendly - she is very happy here.....
People are very quick to criticise Toowoomba, having never been here and had any first hand experience of the place
Well, I have been to Perth and liked it very much but could never live there - the Legoland epithet fits very well.I would just say that I think it is a very good idea to do a reccie when considering somewhere like Toowoomba which is off the migrants normal beaten track. We love it but wouldn't life be boring if everybody did?
Apr 26th 2007, 6:36 am
#13
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Re: Toowoomba?
I can honestly say that I have never come across any racists here. Toowoomba has a lot of Sudanese refugees and in general they have integrated very well. I think the Council in Grafton NSW refused point blank to have any Sudanese settling there There's never been any question of that here.
As for rednecks, like a lot of places, it probably depends on where you live. Where we live is very multicultural - we have Aussies, South Africans, Zimbabweans, Americans, Canadians, Poms - all in our one small street. We all get on very well, have street parties, look after each others pets and properties when people are away etc etc
It is a rural area and a lot of people out West in Woop woop have to come here for when they need legal,accounting, financial, medical facilities etc. You do get some people who are a bit "rough and ready" shall we say but they mostly have a heart of gold. An English girl I work with (married to an Aussie) lived in Brissie for a number of years and hated it - she found people very unfriendly - she is very happy here.....
People are very quick to criticise Toowoomba, having never been here and had any first hand experience of the place Well, I have been to Perth and liked it very much but could never live there - the Legoland epithet fits very well.
I would just say that I think it is a very good idea to do a reccie when considering somewhere like Toowoomba which is off the migrants normal beaten track. We love it but wouldn't life be boring if everybody did?
There's never been any question of that here. As for rednecks, like a lot of places, it probably depends on where you live. Where we live is very multicultural - we have Aussies, South Africans, Zimbabweans, Americans, Canadians, Poms - all in our one small street. We all get on very well, have street parties, look after each others pets and properties when people are away etc etc
It is a rural area and a lot of people out West in Woop woop have to come here for when they need legal,accounting, financial, medical facilities etc. You do get some people who are a bit "rough and ready" shall we say but they mostly have a heart of gold. An English girl I work with (married to an Aussie) lived in Brissie for a number of years and hated it - she found people very unfriendly - she is very happy here.....
People are very quick to criticise Toowoomba, having never been here and had any first hand experience of the place
Well, I have been to Perth and liked it very much but could never live there - the Legoland epithet fits very well.I would just say that I think it is a very good idea to do a reccie when considering somewhere like Toowoomba which is off the migrants normal beaten track. We love it but wouldn't life be boring if everybody did?
Apr 26th 2007, 7:24 am
#14
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Re: Toowoomba?
we where going to live in Toowoomba but after doing a reccie there we changed our minds and went to the sunshine coast instead. Best decision we ever made. Absolutely no comparison. Take it from me dont move there.
Apr 26th 2007, 8:30 am
#15
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Joined: Apr 2007
Location: Toowoomba, Queensland
Posts: 136
Re: Toowoomba?
Anyway, we HAVE to move there as my job dictates that, so like everywhere else we have moved to and lived, we'll just get on and make the best of it.