Or anywhere else with 'lakes' in the name (Springfield lakes etc). This is the best advice we were ever given before we made the move out here.

It seems these 'lakes' are a magnet for poms and they are turning them in to a little home from home with violence rife and gangs of teens roaming the streets after dark looking for trouble.

No offence to anyone who lives there but thank god we dont.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...71-952,00.html

These places remind me of british council estates from the seventies and IMHO they are just storing up trouble for the future.

I don't see where in the article it mentioned anything about poms.

Buzzy

But Poms do move there(!) and their popularity is well documented here.

Hmmm 2 and 2 making 5 I think.

Buzzy

North lakes has been in the same brissy paper quite a few times and often mentions the high amount of poms living there, one article in particular made a big thing of it, about pom meets etc. Probably why its being linked.

IMO its probably not any particular race just a massive housing estate on the outskirts of a city and all the same problems as you would get in that situation anywhere, be it another australian city or UK etc etc. Very little for teens to do, no transport till they can hoon in cars, same old story in many estates.

Jeez, I don't know which council estates you lived on, but they are nothing like the one I lived in during the 70's! I wish!!

What you have to remember is that a lot of people - including many posters on here - like their lives there. Fine, if that's where they want to live, let them get on with it. It's not my cup of tea, nor would it suit many people, but then everyone's different.

Thats exactly what I said to my OH.

I have been there ( to visit a pom btw) and I dont think it has much character at all, nice houses, but you could be anywhere, a large urban scrawl.

I meant to say sprawl but maybe it was a freudian slip?

I can understand the initial attraction of moving to somewhere like North Lakes, especially as a Pom imigrating from the UK. Nice new estate, good schools, decent shopping complex, vibrant expat community, good commute to Brisbane, and the opportunity to buy land and have a house built to your specification.

But you need to look deeper to understand what it might be like living there. Experience and social history has shown that very big housing estates will necessarily attract a diverse range of families and people. So that would include kids of all ages. It is obvious that there would be a significant amount of teenagers. Unless there is something for these kids to do then trouble will arise through boredom. I know. I lived on a new big housing estate in the UK. Very nice. Very middle class. Bad move - had so much trouble with teenagers that never again.

This link shows a useful insight into North Lakes: http://www.northlakes.com.au/Forums/...4/Default.aspx

We looked around North Lakes 18 months ago and realised that it would be a magnet for teenage gangs. Personally I would not touch the area with a barge poll. That's why we paid $50,000 more for a house to live in Redcliffe.

Good post Woodcutter, the area reminds me very much of Fountain Gates in Melbourne, which is portrayed in the Kath and Kim series, why anyone would move 12,000 miles to live there is beyond me.

Possibly an argument for gated communities!

As Poll said, horses for courses. If you don't have to live on these types of estates and you can afford not to then fine but there's no reason to knock those that do.

I lived in Grimsby for most of my married life, prior to coming out here. Some of the estates in and around the town populated by the rough & tumble ex deep water trawler men would have to be seen and experienced just to be believed. I moved there from a small rural village & didn't sleep a full night for about two years. Looking at the link provided there seems to have been a couple of isolated bashings over a six month period. That's paradise to what some of us have experienced.
Reading the links it appears that in both instances the "adults" attacked by the youths chose vigilante style confrontation over a 000 call to the local plod. Now maybe it's just me or my own life experiences BUT! I wouldn't dream of confronting a gang of rowdy teenagers, it would be akin to a suicide attempt where I came from.
If the gangs are just noisy I'd have no issues, if they are vandalising property it's a simple 000 call then a claim on the insurance for any loss or damage. Why would anyone want to risk a fractured skull & a dislodged eye for the sake of a bit of noise or a few kicked over mail boxes?

Exactly, those saying it I find are generally up themselves!

Exactly. We live where we can afford to live.