buzz

Can anyone recommend nice areas to the west of Brisbane? Ipswich would be a good location, but I have heard very mixed things about it! I need to find somewhere within commuting distance of both Gatton and Brisbane CBD. I was hoping that the drive west to Gatton shouldn't be too bad as I would have thought I would be going against the flow of traffic, and the road is meant to be pretty good. Somewhere near a train station so my OH could get the train to the CBD would be ideal.
I'm hoping to get up to Brisbane for a weekend shortly to check out the different areas, but having some pointers would be good - any recommendations/advice/comments will be very gratefully received!

ridds

I live in Sherwood (western suburbs) but go to Ipswich and Gatton regularly for work. I think your idea of basing yourself in Ipswich is a good idea, as long as your OH is going to commute by train to the CBD - driving at rush hour can be a right pain. Ipswich has traditionally had a poor reputation due to scoio economic issues but this really is changing and there is a major revitalisation plan in place not only for the Ipswich CBD but for the larger region generally. You really shouldn't be put off by the idea of ipswich - it has a lot going for it and if I didn't do the bulk of my work in the western suburbs of Brisbane i would probably move out there myself. There are some lovely parts of Ipswich inc Raceview and aout towards Amberley (as long as you don't mind the air force regularly flying overhead!) I will also some of my colleagues who live in Ipswich to recommend some areas for you.

HTH

buzz

Thanks Ridds - it is reassuring to hear some positive things about Ipswich, and recommendations for areas there would be really helpful, as I'm going to have to make a decision pretty quickly. When I drove out to Gatton for the interview I thought that some of the places I drove through looked beautiful.

Dom the Pom

Perth

buzz

Ha! The commute might take a while!

Buzzy--Bee

I like Ipswich - I've stayed there several times with friends who live in Riverview and it has a lot of things going for it if you don't want to be too near the sea. IMO there are plenty of worse places you could live. I was very surprised and impressed by, believe it or not, the quality of restaurant food and the "worldy-wiseness" of many of the inhabitants I was introduced to by my friend who lives there. I think Ipswich would be a great place to live to experience life amongst "real" Australians too.

Buzzy

buzz

Thanks very much Buzzy. I'm just beginning to realise how much there is to sort out in a short time (I think I will need to move from Sydney to Brisbane by end of January at the latest), and have been starting to panic, so this is all good information!

ridds

Are you going to be working at UQ gatton campus by any chance?

buzz

Actually it's the DPI research station, which I think is next-door (?) - I was going to ask you a similar question, as there can't be that many big employers round there.

Pollyana

steve99

Damn you beat me to it