moving to nthside B'bane ?? about areas

[Clarebear]

Hi girls, In the past 48 hours I have read through every post in this thread about ppl moving to brisbane, my eyes are hurting, but I need more help please.

I have searched through ourbrisbane.com.au and realestate.com.au but very much would rather opinions and thoughts of people who live there.

DH will be working around brisbane to several hospitals, so he doesn't mind were we are living. he has put in a preference for the northside as we have been told by friends it is very similar to where we are now in Melbourne.

The areas we like so far are around Everton, Keperra, Arana Hills, Michelton, Chermside, Kedron and Stafford.

I'd love to know as much about them as possible pleae regards to primary schools, parks, child and family friendliness and atmosphere basically. Our kids love getting out and about riding their bikes and for walks.

DH and I would both have cars so whether there is a train or transport doesn't really matter.

Whatever you can tell me would be wonderful, as we have no friends or family in or around brisbane to let us in on the truth, IFYKWIM.
Our Brisbane has been very helpful but is also bias, saying only good things about every suburb. So tell me it all, the good the bad and the ugly, lol.

Thank-you so much if you made it this far too :)

Cheers, Clare

[Ffrenchknickers]

HI

We live at Ferny Hills which is just near Everton and Keppera. I think its a bit nicer than Keperra as in its got lots of trees and maybe a bit more family friendly - heaps of parks and 4 schools. The Gap is probably one of the best fmily suburbs on the northside - it is great. They are both close to Samford which is a lovely place to visit and they are at the foot of Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious which make for a nice weekend drive:)

Mitchellton is OK but generally has pretty small blocks - its close to the city so the prices are going up up up. You ge a little bit more for your money if you go one suburb further out - I think Everton Hills is still pretty reasonable.

So my picks would be Ferny Hills, Evertone Hills and The Gap.

(Oh, I know of a couple of great playgroups at The Gap too:))

[Laura&Emilys'Mum]

Hi Clare
I live in Albany Creek. I guess it depends what you are looking for in a suburb. I just love Albany Creek. I have lived in a few other suburbs and find everything at your fingertips here. There are lots of daycare centres, schools and shops in the area. There are alot of bike tracks and parks also. Public transport is good too. You can get a bus into the city or one to Strathpine where our nearest station is. We are approx 20 minutes from the city. We have a mums group that get together every Wednesday.

[xkwzit]

Hi Clare
I have heard that a lot of ppl who work at the hospitals in Bris-vegas prefer the north side because of the easier access to many hospitals - so you are on the right track.

Real estate here you will find to be relatively much cheaper than Melbourne, so you may find close to the city affordable for you.

I don't think this is going to help you much but each of the 'burbs you mention have lovely little areas in them and some not so desirable bits I guess! It depends what is important for you and your family.

We live in Clayfield, which is pretty much north of the city (as opp to northwest where you are looking). The blocks are small, but there is a lovely neighbourhood-iness about it, where ppl smile and say hello when you meet them on the street. There are also several lovely parks for kids so there's places for them to run riot. There are also several great schools in the area (both public and private). If you'd like to have a big garden though, you'd be better off further out (The Gap, Keperra etc).

Best of luck

[Clarebear]

Thank-you all so much for your replies, it is helping a lot.
As I said I want to hear it all, lol, so the good and bad is very welcome :)

xkwzit ~ If you don't mind could you elaborate a bit more about some of the 'undesirable' bits of the suburbs I mentioned. I understand that even little suburbs can have good and bad areas. You can PM if you like, it may help you loet me know all of it :)

Funny you mention The Gap and Keperra, these are the two that DH mentioned he liked the look of, lol

Goodness, I'm getting nervous and excited. All the replies are great, I know we will have to wait and see what we think, but it's a good starting point to ask ppl who live there.

Thanks again, I'd love more replies and opinions. If you want to PM please feel free :)

Thanks, Clare

[jonesso]

Heya

We just "crossed the river" and moved from the southside to the northside, OMG :eek: our friends died of shock... I have lived for 6 years on the southside and after 3 weeks on the north I LOVE IT! So good decision - you have done your research well! We actually live in Kedron, but right on the Gordon Park/Stafford borders. It is 5 mins drive to almost anywhere - it's great. Lots of parks around, Kedron Brook is a huge reserve area and has really lovely parklands. The Gap, as one of the others mentioned, is beautiful too but I felt it was a little bit too "out of the way" if you are after somewhere more central so DH has easy access to all parts of Brisbane. The block sizes are bigger in Kedron/Stafford than Clayfield - 600-800m2 is the norm from what we found.

Closest Child Health Clinics are in Alderley (also a nice suburb but smaller blocks once again) and Nundah.

Hope this helps and good luck! We look forward to having you in Brisvegas!

[JenNT]

I have lived on both sides and i found the Northside the best. We have a home in The Grange right near Kedron Brook as mentioned above. Is close to everything, 5 mins from the city/hospital etc. A huge shopping centre at Chermside ( 5 mins) pool, library, kids playpark. Nice coffee precinct at Wilston and local schools. Airport is 15 mins.

Trying to think of bad points and to be honest i can't think of any.

Jen

[TLCC]

Hi Clare,

We live in Carseldine on the northside which is a bit further along than Chermside. Its about 15kms from the city and is a nice area. There are plenty of parks but admit we do go to Chermide for the best park for play equipment. Shops are close and plentiful in Brisbane especially on the northside. There are the homemaker centres at Aspley and Carseldine so that helps when setting up a new home.

Bad Points: i'm from Sydney and after 3 years in Brissy I'm still finding new things. It can get pretty hot so try to pick a suburb that isn't too low lying so you can get some breezes - I guess that will be different for each property. Its a lot quieter than Melb and Sydney so if your after restaurants, cafe's etc do your homework on areas. We found at Carseldine there isn't a lot of good takeaway foods that are close by, but there is a good fish and chip shop at Aspley (next suburb)and Chinese there aswell.

Good Points: I like Carseldine because the streets are a bit quieter than the suburbs closer to the city, which is good for kids. Carseldine is closest to the roads leading to the Sunshine coast which is great for weekend trips to Caloundra, Bribie Island where the kids can swim and ride bikes. Block size is good and houses well established. The traffic isn't too bad until you hit Chermside and Kedron, but you have the option of avoiding town altogether with some ring roads so it helps to be a bit further out in that respect.



If you want to build yourselves there are not that many land pockets available now but they are releasing some at Carseldine.

Hope that helps you some.

[Maghan]

Hi there

We live in Ferny Hills, but are selling up and moving to Dayboro (1/2 an hour away and a bit more room for the kids to run).

Ferny Hills/Albany Creek is cheaper to buy in than Ferny Grove.

The Ferny Grove State School is fab, they have been so good to us and they have an excellent Learning Support Unit. It's a really nice school community.

Kallangur/Petrie/Bray Park are cheap suburbs to buy in too, my pick would be Petrie, then Bray Park and Kallangur only if there was nothing else around.

Like Jonesso I used to be a southside dweller during my childhood and early adult life, but have also jumped the river to the northside.

It's a real buyer's market now, so you're coming at the right time.

[tickle]

Carseldine and also Aspley are great. I grew up in Aspley. I think it depends on where you need go but I really like the Gateway Motorway, especially if you need to go further South than the city. You don't need to contend with all that Gympie Rd traffic, you can just fly straight down the motorway. It also takes you to the Sunshine Coast. We used to live in Northwind Estate at Bald Hills which was a really nice, family friendly estate. And really close to the motorway (3min), Aspley is also not too far (maybe 10min)
We now live between Brisbane and the Gold Coast due to DH work. I wish I could move back to the north side though, all my family is there.

[xkwzit]

Hi Clare
I just meant that (and it prob applies to every 'burb) that some parts will be lovely and green with great houses and other parts are a bit less cared for or daggy. Nothin serious (and buying the worst house in a good street is a great strategy if you like doing them up).

I think my issues are just personal taste - I have a personal problem with brick houses (thats JMO, I know that other ppl LOVE it - so don't jump on me!). In some parts of the 'burbs you mention (thinking of major roads thorugh Everton Hills esp), there are boxy 70's brick houses one after the other with few roadside trees. That's all I meant...I'm not meaning to sledge the whole suburb for the sake of an ugly string of houses.

Cheers

[Shelly68]

Hi, I live Northside of Brisbane in Kallangur (I notice somebody said don't buy here unless it was your last option), but I find that statement a bit offensive when they don't follow up with why.

I used to live in Melbourne for 33 years so tell me where you are coming from and I'll let you know what areas are similar if you like.

I've lived in Kallangur for 4 years and love it, I actually think real estate at the moment is only slightly cheaper than Melbourne (if you are looking at the outskirts of CBD in both cases).

[Maghan]

Shelly68

Don't be offended, it wasn't a personal attack. Comparing Kallangur to Petrie and Bray Park, it has a higher crime rate. Yes there are pockets of Bray Park and Petrie and even Mango Hill which also have crime, but unfortunately Kallangur is that much higher for break and enters, wilful damage etc. Albeit in 5-10 years time it will probably be much better.

Please don't ask for facts and figures, call it expert working knowledge from a job I perform in that area.

[alicesmum]

hi clare
of the suburbs you mentioned in your first post, i personally would go for Michelton, Chermside, Kedron or Stafford. I think there is something to be said for buying closer to town than further away (in terms of capital gain).

However, the blocks in these suburbs may be a little smaller than those further out.

We live in Nundah which is surrounded by suburbs such as Clayfield, Kedron, Northgate, Virginia, Wavell Heights and Nudgee. They are all lovely, with plenty of parks and schools!!! I would recommend any of those just listed. (Clayfield is pretty pricy though as it's closest to town).

I too grew up on the southside and LOVE the northside for the variety of old suburbs and plenty of places to eat out and shop. Also, being so close to the airport and gateway motorway is fantastic.

good luck !!! :p

[tickle]

If you prefer a little more space, there are some great bigger blocks in Stafford. My cousin used to live there and they had a huge backyard, with big trees, really great for kids!
There are so many great places on the Northside, I would have trouble picking if I had to move back!! ;)

[Clarebear]

Thank-you all so much for your replies, it is such a huge help.

xkwzit ~ Thank-you for telling me more about the suburbs, the more I know the better :) It is great to hear all the things about areas along with all the wonderful.

We have narrowed our search down even further, which is great as DH doesn't like to drive around looking at houses too much. Hopefully we can find a place quickly if this all goes ahead. We find out for sure next week! I'm getting even more nervous and excited, lol

The shortlist for the north is currently Ferny Hills, Ferny grove, Arana Hills, upper Kedrom and McDowall/Bridgeman Downs. Now all I have to do is workout how we can go up for a weekend to check Brisbane out. After hearing so many great things I am very excited to see for myself!!

Thank-you all again for your replies, we appreciate them all, it has been a huge help :)

Cheers, Clare

[Maghan]

Hey Clarebear, don't forget to use realestate.com.au. It's a really good resource for finding out prices and sometimes even finding the right house. We found our new house via there, sometimes real estate agents will take you to everything you don't want first!

[Ffrenchknickers]

Ferny Hills, Ferny grove, Arana Hills, upper Kedrom and McDowall/Bridgeman Downs

Yay! We'll be neighbours:D

[xkwzit]

Hi Clare
Wow, it sounds like you've done a lot of work so far. Just a few extra things I thought of re your choices:

Ferny Hills has a train line (its the last station on most city trains on that line I think). The other burbs are not as convenient for trains (but I'm sure there's reasonable bus service)

McDowall is the most suburban of the suburbs on your list, I still think of all the others that you mentioned as large blocks in a bushland setting (but I guess everywhere's getting more urban.

Best of luck and enjoy your lovely land :)

Cheers

[Ffrenchknickers]

Hey:)

The train station is at Ferny Grove:) I wish it was Ferny Hills lol...would be very handy and yep it is the last stop.
Parts of Arana Hills are pretty close to Grovely and Keppera stations (depending on which part - if your looking at the newer parts "Arlington" etc. its a bit further. I know abbsolutely nothing about buses except that there are some!lol

I was just a t Upper Kedron on Monday at a great new park they have there and can remember thinking how nice the suburb is:)

[Shelly68]

That's funny xkwzit, I just pm/d Clarebair with the same thing, re train lines

Oh, and I didn't take offence about Kallangur Maghan, not at all.

I just love my suburb, lol. And we've had no trouble at all since moving here 4 years ago, so the crime must all be at the other end of the suburb (which is a good thing and it can stay there as far as I'm concerned).

No matter where Clare moves to it doesn't matter, we'll all eventually meet up one day and become great friends (hopefully).

It's very hard to make friends when you move from interstate, you seem to get shunned, the first comment is 'oh another southerner' or 'oh, another mexican'.

Well, if you're state wasn't so bloody wonderful we wouldn't be moving here in our droves.

[xkwzit]

Hey:)

The train station is at Ferny Grove:) I wish it was Ferny Hills lol...would be very handy and yep it is the last stop.
Parts of Arana Hills are pretty close to Grovely and Keppera stations (depending on which part - if your looking at the newer parts "Arlington" etc. its a bit further. I know abbsolutely nothing about buses except that there are some!lol

I was just a t Upper Kedron on Monday at a great new park they have there and can remember thinking how nice the suburb is:)

Sorry I guess I don't know as much about trains as I thought I did - sorry and Katie thanks for correcting it. I'd hate to think that I'd lead someone astray while buying a HOUSE (its a bit more serious than a new outfit :D )

Thanks again

[Clarebear]

You girls are great!! I am getting quite excited now.
Maghan, realestate.com was my first stop, followed quickly by ourbrisbane.com.au, lol.
Both great sites. I have also found a better interactive map of queensland, I can zoom into regions, suburbs and addresses, it is great. It also has a measure tool so I can check out distances.

A bit of a bummer, rent up there is a lot more than down here at the moment, so we may have to go out a teeny bit further than we first thought. We just had a visit from the real estate near us and they estimated 20 dollars less a week than we would have liked to rent our place out for. It's still a good price but we want to rent up there cheaper than what we will get for our place down here, IYKWIM?

Looking a bit further doesn't bother us at all, travelling is a big part of our lives here. DH travels an hour and a half to work, and has done so for 5 years, so he couldn't care less, which kind of makes it harder, lol. We are about 35kms from Melbourne as it is, we are north.

So, can you tell me about the suburbs/areas that are on or two further out than the ones I mentioned on my shortlist??

I have noticed Bracken Ridge and Fitzgibbon are not too bad in pricing for rent. They seem to have the same types of houses I looked at in Bridgman Downs but for at least 30 dollars less. Is because Bridgeman Downs is more lucritave? I've looked up quite a few places in both of these and there are some nice houses available. I'd like to know about rent at Samford but it isn't listed. Eatons Hill seems reasonable too. Not sure about Draper, I can't find anything on it.

Lay it on me, the good, the bad and the ugly.

I hope you don't mind me asking about a whole new area, we just didn't know that rent prices here were not as good as up there.

Thank-you aagin so very, very much, I have loved reading all the posts and appreciate the honesty so much.
Goodness knows where I would have picked if I didn't have all your input :D

Cheers,
Clare

[Ffrenchknickers]

For cheaper rent but still nice family areas I would reccommend Ferny Hills (again lol! Im biased) we dont rent but know plenty of people who do, also Arana Hills. Parts of Stafford might be still reasonable but probably not the prettier parts. Ferny Grove is not bad but just a little morethan Ferny Hills. Samford prices are through the roof - its getting very busy out that way (its only 6 minues from here but the difference is amazing!)

Upper Kedron/Brigeman Downs/Mcdowall are a little more than here as well as they are newer suburbs (lots more new housing estates etc.) There are quite alot of townhouses fairly reasonable in McDowall though if you would go for a townhouse?

Eatons Hill is lovely but much further out and probably would compare in price to the Hills district.

[Ffrenchknickers]

hehe I know you asked for further out suburbs but further out from here (Samford etc. is actually more expensive probably becasue it is quite a lucrative area and there is alot of acreage etc.)

Kallangur/Petrie/Strathpine would probably be just a little cheaper than the Hills district.

HOpe this has helped lol :confused:

[Ffrenchknickers]

Can you tell I like Ferny Hills? lol :D

[ruthwin]

Hi CLare
Are you the Clare who moved from the uk to brissie recently and used to post on the feb 03 board of babycentre?
Only asking cos i remember a clare who was moving and i was/am a regular posting on the board and have actually just moved back to BRISSIE too from scotland.
If it is you, i didn't respond to your advice post, because i didn't have regular access to net, as we had sold our house. If its not you forget i mentioned it !! haha
Anyway, welcome to brissie, i am living on the northside, shorncliffe way, and although i have old school friends am keen to get to know some new ppl now we are back. A s most of my friends here don't have kids the same age.
Ruthxx

[Clarebear]

Hi Ruth, sorry I'm not the same Clare. I am a Melbourne girl, born and bred, lol

We haven't moved up yet, DH has an interview on Monday for a job that is in Brisbane. Very exciting! If he does get it we will have 6 weeks to get out of this place and find one up there :D

Congrats on your move back to Brissie :)

[ruthwin]

i just re read some of the posts and realised you weren't the clare i knew.....good luck with your move. you should try the sandgate area, its great, a nice little village atmoshphere. Rent seems reasonable.
Ruthxx

[Maghan]

Yet again my picks are Bray Park, Petrie. Bald Hills is nice and cheap rent wise too. You can get a nice 3 bedder on a decent block in Petrie for around the $220 mark. Bray park and Bald Hills I'm a bit rusty on.

Samford's lovely, but it's hard to find a rental there. Draper is about 5 minutes from Ferny Hills, near Bunya, it is also nice. You could also consider Samsonvale, Highvale and Camp Mountain (they are not far from Samford at all).

What suburb does your hubby need to drive to (forgive me if you've already told us this, I'm just slack).