Thoughts on Toowoomba?

[rjsmummy]

Hi, I'm just after a little feedback (the good and the bad please!) on living in Toowoomba.

I am considering a move out west so that I can have the support of my best friend (as I have no family in QLD). I haven't driven out there to visit yet but was keen to get others opinions in the first instance.

In particular, I'm looking at: good and bad areas to live (or not!) in, the weather, daycare, schools, shopping centres, things to do etc etc.

TIA!! ;)

[faery]

we are 90% sure we are moving to toowoomba next year, so I want the same info!:yes:

We've been out to visit a few times and like it enough. the views of the range are gorgeous and the bush around is beautiful. We've also narrowed down our suburbs to Newtown, east or north toowoomba, rangeville or right in town. They are lovely areas full of old qld houses and gardens. If we didn't need to be close to the hospital, I'd move out to acerage.

[Seekrit]

I lived in toowoomba for 6 months about 8 years ago.
I loved it, but it was boring.. :p

Because it's higher, it is colder (much colder) in winter, and I remember it raining a lot and with little warning.

So yeah, a dull little town, but a lovely one. :)

[Sarahmum24]

I live in Toowoomba, have done for 24years, it's getting bigger every year, more shops, parks and restaurants. People are friendly here, waiting lists on Daycares is little, heaps of good schools to choose from, our public hospital is great, esp maternity, loads of bulk billing docs, heaps of jobs!

The weather, well it never rains here, we are on level 5 soon to be level 6 water restrictions, it is cold in winter, and hot in summer. We are close to Brisbane, sunny coast and gold coast.

I love it here, it's not that crowded and it has everything you need.

Hope that helped, anything else you want to know just ask.

[subaruforestermum]

I live 40 minutes from Toowoomba, but when I drove in there, I couldnt find anything...lol.... I guess when you live there you learn where everything is.

It now has a HUGE MASSIVE Bunnings store....

Seek is right, it gets cold out here, colder than Brissy, and hotter too....

That's about all I know about it..lol...but its something...

[onemummmy]

yeah its boring. Almost nothing to do. Sarahmum24 it does rain lol:p I have to disagree with the hospital being great and the bulk billing doctors tho, I only know of 3 bulk billing doctors for adults and they are all ummm weird lol. Alot more docs bulk bill for kids under 16. And the hospital, well, its pretty cr@p IMO and there are only 4 birth suites.

[Miss_Vicki]

i been here most of my life , Make sure you have a good look around , Most places are pretty nice

Has a Heap of daycares an lots of parks , the weather is very weird , We have high water restrictions 5 or 6 ?

even thou spring has started will be cold off an on for a lil while yet hopefully some rain to :D

heaps of shops here few biggish centres an a few lil places to , pretty much all the things u need an more

I personally don't like much of newtown to live , there is a few nice spots but i totaly Dont like the school there , Harlaxton (there school is one of the worst imo )is ok but another there is better places , rockvile is pretty roughf .Rangeville is pretty nice

Depending on the budget is where you can get a nice place , I like centenray heights an some of darling heights just not to close to the uni cause to many partying students ;)

the further west side of wilsiton heights is nice , middle to west side of glenvale is pretty nice to

In tmba its self there is 5 woolies , 2 aldi 2 coles , a lil north of toowoomba is highfields its very lovely imo one of the favs but a little costly , they have a woolies coles an atm building a mackers , they have 2 day cares out there to
Ah there is also a few IGA's around too

there is a nice st with a heap of restrantes dubed "eat street" (margaret st)

there is a very very nice park at the top of toowoomba call picnic point , had a look out or 2 , walking tracks along the range an 2 big parks

The prolly worse thing there is only One play center in tmba , the hospital is very over run (but all public ones are in qld atm) um one pool center ,an its PACKED in summer most ppl will drive to oakey or highfields an go out to there

if i can think of anything else ill let u know :)

[Miss_Vicki]

our public hospital is great, esp maternity, loads of bulk billing docs, heaps of jobs!



I would have to disagree with the hospital here , have had nuffin but bad experiences my self , was sent to bed with contractions less then 5 mins apart with dd2 as there was no room to birth, The poor buggers are very understaffed an under beds over there , Tmba has one of the highest rates of births (we also do surounding out west south an north thou to )

Jobs are about the same or less else where , the pay here isnt as nice as bris :(
the 2 private hospital here are really great thou :D ive used their emergencey deps before an thou cost a arm an leg was worth it :)

[missyjayne]

What can I say about Toowoomba (Woombie Town or T'bar), nothing but praise and anything but boring.

I grew up on the darling downs and went to school in Toowoomba, I would move back to the area in a split second if only I could convince my darling partner to give up on needing constant access to the water for fishing ( not that he goes fishing very often at all, too busy - I think he would get more fishing done if we lived inland).

Like any town/city there are good and bad areas, people etc but all things considered Toowoomba has the best of all worlds.

Good Points; very family orientated, people are very friendly, affordable!, plenty of SPACE and fresh air!, lots of parks, sporting clubs, education facilities from childcare to uni (i.m. me for particulars), community activities, great balance of rural and town lifestyle, convenient to brisbane (1.5hrs), both the sunshine and gold coasts (2hrs) and surrounding rural towns, shopping facilities both large and small.

Bad points; some would consider the weather to be a bad point being that at times it can feel as though you go through 4 seasons in one week and yes it is colder in winter than other parts of south east qld but it's really not that bad and it provides a good opportunity to get out the jumpers and enjoy a decent winter without being as cold as the southern states. Summer is no hotter than anywhere else, I think if anything it is just a dryer heat.

Water retrictions is a downer but also a necessity, and not that much of a burnden once your used to them. I think even the areas which still have a decent water supply could be conserving water on a similar level and potentially sharing the run over with dryer areas of the state ie: the rural areas.

Employment, slightly more difficult to find than in other larger centres though the opportunities are out there.

Healthcare, personally regarding hospitals I have private health cover but this isn't just a Tmba thing I think all of the states public hospitals are over run and understaffed and private cover just adds an extra element of peace of mind.
Unlike experiences in other areas I've never had an issue getting a doctors appointment for child or adult and with the same doctor/dentist each time regardless of urgency.

Areas to live in I would consider, Rangeville, Middle Ridge, Centenary Heights, Kearneys Spring, East Toowoomba, Hodgson Vale, Mount Rascal etc.

www.educatedguess.com.au is a great rescourse for choosing an education facility though only relatively new so not all schools are on it as yet.

Any other questions or particulars required feel free to ask.

MJ

[andie_pandie]

All I can think of is make sure you have your woolies for the winter. I used to go up there 4 times a year in the winter and always froze. (lol) thats coming from a Kiwi.

Apart from that, very friendly community, lovely scenery, a fabulous restaurant (can't remember name), beautiful flowers.

Property prices are quite expensive up there which I really can't understand why, not sure on the rentals.

[onemummmy]

rentals are getting more and more expensive :(

[Sarahmum24]

Well it sucks that you've had a bad experience with the hospital, I haven't so it was just my opinion and experiences, and I don't call a few MM rain. And there is a medical center on west street that Bulk Bills every1, and it's faster then the hospital.

As for rentals, i've noticed that too but I guess compared to Brisbane it's still pretty cheap.

And yes Harlaxton isn't the best area or Rockville, I live on the upper side of glenvale it's great! As for newtown I don't know, I was raised in Newtown and I thought it was pretty good, my son also goes to Newtown school.

And yes we too go to Highfields to swim, wouldn't catch me dead at milne bay.

[faery]

thats great info! thanks everyone.

as for the rents, bloody cheap compared to what we would get and what we are paying here!

what about daycare specifics? I've already got ds on waiting lists for pre-school (as we thought the move wouldn't be until the 2010) but now i need to sort out daycare for 2009. Realistically, are there places or is it as bad as brisbane? and are there any really good daycares? toowoomba is pretty small so i'll drive anywhere!

[rjsmummy]

Wow, thanks everyone for so much information! I'm originally from Melbourne so I'm quite used to the cold weather (although funnily enough, this is what keeps me from returning there :confused:), but have been living away from there for 4 years now so I'm probably a bit soft to it now :D

I would be looking at buying a house there - the prices are extremely cheap compared to anywhere in Brissie! South Toowoomba seems relatively cheap compared to say East Toowoomba - is there something there that keeps the prices down??! :rolleyes:

MissJayne - I too will miss the water if we move out there :( I've lived by the water for the last 4 years and I love it. To be honest it will be the only thing that really keeps us from moving!! Thanks for all your information! I will be looking at sending my DS to a private school - I haven't done much research yet but Prep School and TGS are up there at the moment until I can get down there and investigate further. I am hoping to pay our first visit there this weekend.

I too am interested in the waitlist for daycare centres, although it's not a deal breaker as I have my DS home here with me whilst I work. I know he would love to spend a day or 2 with other kids (and I'd love the break too :laughing:) so it's just a thought at this stage...

Keep the comments coming - it's great to hear everyone's different perspectives!!!

[BJsMummy]

We own a house in Smithfield area and the street that we live in has no rentals so thats good.

DS goes to the Olive Tree day care one day a week and I think its great, its a small centre and family owned.

The Dr we have just moved put to Highfields so we drive out there to go to the Dr and he bulk bills us and he's very good and nice.

There are lots of parks to go to and fun free activities for the kids, the first 2 wednesdays of the month they have Little Cobbers at the Cobb and Co muesem and they read a book and do activites - its free for people who have a library card and that itself is free to get.

Rent is cheaper in Harlaxton, Wilsonton and Rockville but you get what you pay for. Oh yeah in South Toowoomba near the hospital is the yeast factory and some days when the wind is blowing the smell is horrible if you live near there so I'd stay away.

Thats all at the moment.

[onemummmy]

yeast smell is better than the foundry smell :barf:

[rjsmummy]

Where is the foundry located?

[onemummmy]

its on Ruthven st

http://www.tmettec.com.au/location.htm

Its fairly close into town, but the smell travels quite far..

[caelansmummy]

Hi,
I am now living in Brisbane and have done so for a year, but plan to return to Twmba. We lived there for over 10 years and I was looking forward to leaving but now I just want to get back.

I had my son at the public hospital and the service was great, private hospital is also good.

My son went to the Olive Tree Child Care and I recommend them and also Kath ****son Family Daycare. Compared to Brissy the waitlists are alot shorter and you can easily get into the bigger daycare centres. Shorter being less than 12 months. It also depends on how many days you require, as if you only want a couple of days you may have some more success with placements.

The reason I want to return is the for the family lifestyle, great for little kids. The schools, parks, open space fresh air and the parent support groups (eg: CPEA). The price of living is much cheaper than Brissy esp the schools/daycare and the housing.

In relation to areas, I really like highfields area which is 15 min out of Toowoomba.

Toowoomba has terrible public transport, so maybe this may impact on where you want to live. Im not a fan of Drayton/Harlaxton/Rockville etc....Toowoomba City or East side is nice eg: Rangeville. Maybe try renting on a 6 mth lease and see what you think.

[Miss_Vicki]

far south toowoomba is ok thou , say Drayton :D is nice an don't smell the yeast factory :)

i would suggest maybe renting for a lil while till you get to know the place better before buying :D

from what i have experienced there is a few daycares with No waits :)

[leeniebum]

I have lived in Toowoomba for my whole life. I have 2 kids and both were born at Toowoomba Base.

In my opinion I think Toowoomba is a boring place to live. The place keeps growing.

The places to avoid are harlaxton, north Toowoomba. I'm not sure of any other places, but some places that are near town arent good either. So do not live in those places. Also parts of harristown are bad as well.

There is not much to do in Toowoomba, especially for teenagers. Only things to do are go to Mylne Bay Pool and in my experience the pool is dirty. thats about all you can, unless you like going clubing and the clubs are pretty ****.

there are plenty of doctors in toowoomba that bulk bill..... the hospital is pretty hopeless, i had my kids there, but i didnt like the service so i plan on going private next time as i know it will be a better experience.

not sure what else i can help you with. if you like a quiet place then toowoomba is the place for you.

[saremc]

HI i can agree with most of that athough i live in rockville its a really nice area but you do have to keep you eye out and pick a good area within it, both of the private hospitals are great and im from an even smaller town so i find its nice plus i hate brissie with a passion so got figure. The weather is unpredictable being spring its so nice just like anywhere have a good look around and make a educated decision.

[mcl]

Hi all,

We will be moving to toowoomba in the next month and I was wondering if anyone can give me some fairly recent info on daycares?