dejags

Hi,

We have been fairly regular lurkers on the Immigration Forum but as my signature shows, our application has now progressed (after nearly 2 loooong years) to the point where I feel ok to join this forum.

We are a family of five (me = Mum, Dad, two boys 6 & 3 and a newborn daughter). We are hoping to move to Brisbane in Dec this year.

I am desparately seeking some advice (my husband did start a thread about six months ago, but I cannot find it).

We don't know where to live in Brisbane
We don't know where to send our eldest to school
We don't know where to send our middle child to nursery school (or equivalent)

Actually, come to think of it we don't seem to know much eh?

So, if you were us (a family of five, one professional earner, schoolgoing kids, like a modern home and area) where would you live within commutable distance to Brisbane CBD?

We have heard Indooroopilly may suit us - anybody got good info on this area?

Sorry for the war and peace 1st(ish) post.

TIA
Stella

asher

try the search button and put in what you are looking for there is loads to read on there

the search button is at the top of the page

I am not going to Brisbane so cant help much more than that

but welcome to the forum

dejags

Cheers. The search isn't coming up with much.

My requirements are pretty vague though. We visited Brisbane last year, but for some reason, just didn't get to grips with it.

Ho hum...

dejags

ok, so if we get back to basics.

Where is the greenest area near Brisbane?

asher

try looking at this then

http://www.ourbrisbane.com/living/suburbs/

Davies Family

Stella

You may find that the location you live in will be governed by budget / availability. For ideas on price / availability visit either www.realestate.com.au or www.domain.com.au

I currently work in the CBD so we chose to live Northside to avoid commuting in over the river but public transport is very good and so this may not be an issue. We also wanted to be close to the CBD thinking that this would be an advantage for nights out etc but this is also not a real problem and when we look to hopefully buy a place next year we'll be happy to look further out where the property is more affordable.

For schools if you look on the our brisbane web site you'll find links to school web sites and from there be able to download end of year reports on exam pass marks against ave. Our eldest (5 1/2) has just started prep at Wooloowin state school and we find it very good although the Oz education system starts one year later than the UK so Sam had to take a step back.

Kindy places are hard to come by and you need to put your childs name on a waiting list. In the meantime there are some good child care centres that are very similar to kindy. Our middle son goes to the Wagner Road day centre which is very good.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Jon

Stitch

Here's a link to the Queensland Government Website for Education....

http://www.qld.gov.au/services_for_q..._and_learning/


Cheers

Ginny

smiths

Hi,

Our thought process was as follows:
1. Most best paid jobs are in CBD, so on the probability that you may be working there, need to consider commuting.
2. Tried bus and train, prefer train but bus is OK once on Busway - so needed to be fairly close to train line.
3. Wasn't too bothered about length of commute but wanted to be fairly close to water.
4. Consider affordability of housing in that area - this is a big one because having kids, you don't want to get them settled in schools and then uproot them unnecessarily.

Cleveland area ticked all our boxes and we rented in Ormiston for 6 months. However, when we came to buy we found better value for money in Vicky Point (10 minute drive to Cleveland where the train line ends). Kids still go school in Cleveland though.

There are many nice suburbs in the Brisbane area. You have to firm up on your criteria and try to narrow areas to look at when you get here.
Helpful sites for transport and houses are:
http://www.translink.com.au/
http://www.realestate.com.au/

Hope this helps

jon and alex

Your question is pretty vague so its quite hard for anyone to really answer with any useful suggestions as to areas. Do you want easy access to cafes, restaurants etc.? Or are the open spaces more important to you? Do you want a new build or a more traditional Qld'er type house? Would you prefer to be in a new build area or a more established suburb?
For Alex and I the cafes etc. are important as well as ease of access to the train line so Toowong, Bardon and Auchenflower appeal, as well as Red Hill and Paddington. Indooroopilly is in the same area (slightly to the west).
All of these are in the immediate surrounds of the city centre so are very pricey but then Alex will have more access to work and the public transport saves money so its a balance.

dejags

Thanks all. Ok, so on the face of it these are are most important requirements:

1) Reasonable proximity to Brisbane CBD (no more than 1 hour each way)
2) We like newer houses
3) We like green gardens (really important)
4) Must be in proximity to good schools
5) We like shopping and eating - must be near to good shops and restaurants

ridds

Hmm.... given the current water restrictions, this criteria may be hard to satisfy. Do keep this in mind when you're looking around for homes - nothing is at its best at the moment and it will be quite some time (and a lot of rainfall) before Brisbane gardens are looking lush again.

We chose Sherwood (just over the river from Indooroopilly) as it has good bus and train services to the city and is also commutable by car (barring any accidents along the way, then you're stuffed). Good schools and some nice little local restaurants. Being on the train line, you can easily access the city from various stations which makes going out on the town much more fun if you're into your vino :-) Some bits of Sherwood are cheaper than Indooroopillly, others more expensive. As one of the earlier posters suggested, start looking on realesate.com and domain.com. Sherwood has some "leafier" pockets and good parks scattered throughout.

If you do loook in the Chelmer / Graceville / Sherwood / Corinda area you may see references to "high side", "corridor" and "low side". To put this into context, the westerly parts of these suburbs (between the river and the train line) are "high side" and command higher prices. Laurel Ave, which is regularly referred to as Brisbane's best street address, is in this precinct. "Corridor" homes are between the train line and Oxley Road. Anything east of Oxley road is considered "low side". Not much price difference between corridor and low side properties.

HTH

RachelH

ARe you Mumsnet dejags of round the world fame?