lyndseynpaul

Hi

Can anyone recommend the family friendly suburbs in Brisbane, me, hubby and two sons age 3 and 9 are hoping to settle in brisbane in 2010.

many thanks

Lyndsey

ABCDiamond

Bayside is Nice

Do you have any idea yet of where you may be working, or will that hinge on where you choose to live ?

lyndseynpaul

I hope to work in Brisbane city itself, I am a nurse.

Many thanks for your reply, I will research Bayside, thanks again

Lyndsey

ABCDiamond

As an example of Bayside travel to City travel times, my wife travels to Stones Corner every day, about 5 minutes this side of the PA Hospital, and it takes her about 45 minutes, by car. She normally starts at about 7:45 - 8am.

If she took the train, it would be 10-15 minutes by car to the station at Cleveland then about 1 hour to the City centre, but no station near her, so, a difficult trip.

A work-mate of hers, who lives in Redland Bay, just 5-10 minutes past us, was doing the trip by bus, and allowed 2 hours each way !!!

Being in Victoria Point, we are 'almost' the furthest point out from the City, going East.

One of my reasons for liking the area is the weather: it is cooler here in Summer, and normally warmer here in Winter, when compared to other parts of inland Brisbane.

I also feel that it is nice and safe for younger children here, we have a 13 year old daughter, and have lived here since she was 6.

comet555

We're in Capalaba (west side of Bayside) and it takes my husband 35 minutes by bus to get to the city. That's leaving at about 6:30am.

From here it's only 15 minutes east to Cleveland or to Victoria Point.

DadAgain

Nothing in particular wrong with bayside - but for a family you might also want to consider the west.

Many of the better public schools in Brisbane are in the hills to the west:

Indooroopilly,
Kenmore,
The Gap
Ferny Grove

All have excellent public high schools and are good areas.
Indooroopilly is a bit more expensive than the others mentioned, but has a train line with very good access to CBD and all the facilities of the major shipping mall (cinemas, restaurants etc etc).

Kenmore and The Gap are both good community areas nestled in amongst the trees -Bus to the city from The Gap is 25-30 minutes Kenmore bus ride to the city would be longer. Ferny Grove is on a train line, but being a little further out it does take a while - 40mins (too many stops on that line!).

We love being on the doorstep of the Brisbane Forest Park and knowing that we're just 2 minutes away from untouched wilderness. Its also comforting to know that there wont be any development further west than us as the land is protected - so congestion wont be getting any worse for us (not that congestion is an issue for nursing anyway since you dont generally travel in peak traffic).

ABCDiamond

I wonder why there are always East v West battles, I blame the Russians

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of any development further 'East' of us
Looking at the map, that would be about Chile, I think

Both West and East have good points. Sometimes I do wish that we could get all the benefits of both in one place. But then, everyone would live there and it would be too crowded !

This is a local view towards Brisbane, from Mt Cotton .... (Beginning of winter, last week)

Brisben

too cold and too hot in the west and not near the sea...I believe East is better for those reasons.

DadAgain

Climate variance between bayside and suburbs mentioned would be negligable. This is 'inner west' and not Ipswich (where I agree the extremes of hot and cold are frightening).

And to many of us bayside is SOOO far away from the city its not considered a viable commute

(and its too flat! - give me a tree-lined hillside any day of the week!)

MarkMC

I stayed in a beach front hotel while working in Bahrain, when I arrived there was 500m of building going up on some "reclaimed" land. It seemed more like just claimed to me, Also look at Dubai, they are the ones for building on the sea. Give it 10 years, they will fill in the gap to Straddy Island.

lyndseynpaul

thanks for this information you have been really helpful

lyndseynpaul

thank you for your reply, very helpful.

Brisben

Yes I agree with you, I understand from the other side of the fence.. Wynnum is only 15k from the city .

I appreciate your comments though.

suzyambrose

I'm interested in this too, we are doing our reccie to Melbourne and Brisbane in October and unfortunately can only spend 4 days in Brissie so need to see as many family friendly areas as possible. I've had a look on City Hobo who've now added Brisbane on but to be honest I've never heard of any of the areas on there! Not sure where the hubby would be working but I would like to live within 20mins of the beach if affordable our children will be 6 and two when we move so areas suitable for younger children please, any ideas would be great cos I've only got Redcliffe so far!

Grayling

Beaches in Redcliffe aren't really up to much. Decent beaches are around an hour away from Brisbane on the Gold coast or Bribie Island.

TBH you may be better off living near Brisbane and travelling to the beaches when you want rather than having to commute into Brisbane.

The traffic can be horrendous at certain times of the day.

G