is mackay good for young family

[ludka]

hi,
my husband got an offer to work in hospitality in mackay. we would have to move from sydney. just wondering how good is to live in mackay? is it good for families, is it safe, what about public schools? what areas are good to live in. first we would like to rent. later to buy. is it expensive to buy a four bedroom house in a good suburb? i had a look at domain and the rent is very expensive. not too much difference to sydney!!!!is it difficult to find a renting property? what about basic supermarkets and shops? are they available at reasonable distance in the suburbs?
please, would love any info!

[chza89]

Just about to go to bed, but will pm you tomoz :)

[ludka]

Just about to go to bed, but will pm you tomoz :)


looking forward to your message. it is a big move so we want to make sure it is the right one.:fingerscrossed:

thanks

[ludka]

hi,
my husband got an offer to work in hospitality in mackay. we would have to move from sydney. just wondering how good is to live in mackay? is it good for families, is it safe, what about public schools? what areas are good to live in. first we would like to rent. later to buy. is it expensive to buy a four bedroom house in a good suburb? i had a look at domain and the rent is very expensive. not too much difference to sydney!!!!is it difficult to find a renting property? what about basic supermarkets and shops? are they available at reasonable distance in the suburbs?
please, would love any info!

how much is enough to live happily in mackay. at the moment we are on one income 60,000 and it is tight for us but managable. if we move to mackay his salary would be 75-80 thousand. a bit worried about property prices and rents too. it looks like you can get anything under 400,000 and that is only an old house. please,help:freakingout:
is it a good move or not?:(

[HarvestMoon]

how much is enough to live happily in mackay. at the moment we are on one income 60,000 and it is tight for us but managable. if we move to mackay his salary would be 75-80 thousand. a bit worried about property prices and rents too. it looks like you can get anything under 400,000 and that is only an old house. please,help:freakingout:
is it a good move or not?:(

Being a mining town you would probably find everything is a hell of a lot more expensive.
I don't think it would be a good move unless your income was going to be higher.

[mrsboyts]

Rent is very expensive. We have been looking at moving up there and rent is between $400-$600 per week!

[NancyBlackett]

Mackay is probably one of the more expensive regional towns in NQ or CQ. It's because it's the town base for a lot of the mines and miners tend to FIFO from there.

It also has the sugar cane industry which is where the 'old' money came from.

It is a nice place and certainly has a lot of facilities, but it's not cheap by any means.

It's also a lot smaller than Sydney which may be a good thing as far as you're concerned, but you do need to take it into consideration if you think you might miss 'city' life and amenities.

[TerrorJay]

Mackay is a nice and quieter to the city life that you experience in Sydney, I moved up here from just outside of Sydney a few years ago now, and yes while it can be expensive to live, I also enjoy being able to go to a beach or the park and still having some personal space.

Depending on what you are looking for in where to live are lots of different options, it has taken my DF and I way too many weeks to decide on where we would like to move next.

Rentals can be expensive, and often can be hard to find, we found it easier to get the local trading books and get a rental through the owner than going through a real estate agent.

If you do want to buy there are lots of options and once again depending on what you are looking for can be reasonably priced, wither second hand or home and land packages, as there are constantly new estates going up everywhere and can start around $390k.

The best suggestion I can make is come for a long weekend up to visit Mackay and have a look around, even being expensive it can be achievable to live here on one wage, and from what you were indicating it can be done, I was one half of the when I moved up and only I was working, my partner at the time was unemployed. We have also done it recently while I was on maternity leave, and although some weeks were a struggle (we have a higher than we probably should rental), we survived and now looking at buying our own home.

Good luck with the decision it is not an easy one!

[MuminMind]

Hi there ludka!

My DP, DD, DS and I moved from Sydney to Mackay, and we have now lived here for over a year. In this time I have come to realise what I appreciate about Sydney and Mackay, and what I do not appreciate so much.

First off, I suppose a comparison of Sydney and mackay depends on where in Sydney you live. Mackay is considered a working class town, (but quite wealthy due to the mining boom) predominately "anglo-Australian", but with a relatively large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. We lived in Inner West (Glebe/Newtown/Marrickville) and loved the diversity and buzz of this area. (large gay population and cultural diversity, etc ) Now we live in Blacks Beach, which is a part of the Northern Beaches, 30 minutes drive from Mackay town centre. It is considered a nice, family friendly suburb, and you have a shopping centre ten minutes drive away. If you lived in some of the suburbs outside the Sydney CBD, I suppose Mackay would provide a similar experience in some ways. I have heard Mackay people compare Mackay to places like Penrith. Where do you live at the moment?

Here are my positives and negatives about Mackay: (Again, bear in mind that we love the Inner West "lifestyle")

POSITIVES: IMO Mackay is really child friendly; there are a lot of families here and lots of services and facilities. I don't know much about the schools here, as my children are under two years old. I would also say that I find people really friendly, and a lot more patient than in Sydney.

NEGATIVES: If your family is not living off a mining wage, cost of living is certainly challenging. My DP earns about 55,000 and we are struggling. Real estate is somewhat cheaper than in Inner West, but probably more expensive than some of the Western Sydney suburbs. Because of the competetive market of Sydney, you can get cheap restaurant meals, whereas food here is a lot more expensive, and you do not have many options. Public transport is a joke, so you have to drive everywhere.

For us, the place is too small and quiet, but that is due to us being used to have everything at our doorstep, so to speak. You might find that it works out perfectly for your family.

I wish you best of luck! Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions!

[ludka]

Hi there ludka!

My DP, DD, DS and I moved from Sydney to Mackay, and we have now lived here for over a year. In this time I have come to realise what I appreciate about Sydney and Mackay, and what I do not appreciate so much.

First off, I suppose a comparison of Sydney and mackay depends on where in Sydney you live. Mackay is considered a working class town, (but quite wealthy due to the mining boom) predominately "anglo-Australian", but with a relatively large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. We lived in Inner West (Glebe/Newtown/Marrickville) and loved the diversity and buzz of this area. (large gay population and cultural diversity, etc ) Now we live in Blacks Beach, which is a part of the Northern Beaches, 30 minutes drive from Mackay town centre. It is considered a nice, family friendly suburb, and you have a shopping centre ten minutes drive away. If you lived in some of the suburbs outside the Sydney CBD, I suppose Mackay would provide a similar experience in some ways. I have heard Mackay people compare Mackay to places like Penrith. Where do you live at the moment?

Here are my positives and negatives about Mackay: (Again, bear in mind that we love the Inner West "lifestyle")

POSITIVES: IMO Mackay is really child friendly; there are a lot of families here and lots of services and facilities. I don't know much about the schools here, as my children are under two years old. I would also say that I find people really friendly, and a lot more patient than in Sydney.

NEGATIVES: If your family is not living off a mining wage, cost of living is certainly challenging. My DP earns about 55,000 and we are struggling. Real estate is somewhat cheaper than in Inner West, but probably more expensive than some of the Western Sydney suburbs. Because of the competetive market of Sydney, you can get cheap restaurant meals, whereas food here is a lot more expensive, and you do not have many options. Public transport is a joke, so you have to drive everywhere.

For us, the place is too small and quiet, but that is due to us being used to have everything at our doorstep, so to speak. You might find that it works out perfectly for your family.

I wish you best of luck! Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions!

thank you so much for all your info. currently we live in quakers hill, nortwest of sydney,next to parklea. our concern is the renting market. how realistic it is to get a renting property/3or4 bedroom/for under 500 dollars?i have heard of small towns around like Sarina or Mirani. is it managable to live in one of them and work in mackay? husband and i are thinking of asking employer for at least 90,000 as anything less would probably not work us. /the hassle of moving with 2 small kids its just too much/.you mentioned the food prices ? is it really more expensive than sydney?:(
again, thank you for all your info.:wave: