Bracken Ridge

Demographics

 

 

Bracken Ridge (4017) is a suburb of Brisbane, In the 2011 census the population was 16,799 and is comprised of approximately 51.2% females and 48.8% males.

The median/average age of the people in Bracken Ridge is 35 years of age.

74.6% of people living in the suburb of Bracken Ridge were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were 4.7% New Zealand, 3.8% England, 2.2% Philippines, 1.3% India, 0.8% Fiji, 0.8% South Africa, 0.6% Scotland, 0.4% Papua New Guinea, 0.3% Germany, 0.3% China , 0.3% Netherlands, 0.3% Samoa, 0.2% Ireland, 0.2% Sri Lanka.

62.5% of the people living in Bracken Ridge over the age of 15 and who identify as being in the labour force are employed full time, 27.4% are working on a part time basis. Bracken Ridge has an unemployment rate of 4.8%.

The main occupations of people living in Bracken Ridge are 19.0% Clerical & administrative workers, 16.5% Professionals, 14.6% Technicians & trades workers, 11.1% Sales workers, 10.5% Community & personal service workers, 9.9% Managers, 9.8% Labourers, 6.9% Machinery operators & drivers, 1.7% Occupation inadequately described/ Not stated.

The main industries people from Bracken Ridge work in are 13.5% Health care and social assistance, 11.6% Retail trade, 9.9% Manufacturing, 8.5% Public administration and safety, 7.7% Transport, postal and warehousing, 7.7% Construction, 7.0% Education and training, 5.5% Accommodation and food services, 5.4% Professional, scientific and technical services.

30.2% of homes are fully owned, and 41.8% are in the process of being purchased by home loan mortgage. 25.7% of homes are rented.

The median individual income is $658 per week and the median household income is $1511 per week.

The median rent in Bracken Ridge is $355 per week and the median mortgage repayment is $1950 per month.

 

 

Reviews from others

 

 

I’ve omitted the odd few negative reviews due to the fact that they were based on experiences in the local pub area (The rum jungle). Avoid that area, and all should be fine.

 

I bought in Bracken Ridge 2 and a half years ago and am very happy living here. House prices are affordable with good facilities in the area and only 5 minutes to the bay, 10 minutes to Redcliffe, 15-20 minutes to the airport. The express bus service to Chermside and the city is excellent. My neighbours are very friendly and, being a quiet street, we often have children playing in the street in the afternoon. I do not live near the pub so cannot comment on what that is like at night. My part of the suburb is very quiet and peaceful.

 

Over the last many years it has become one of the best places to live. It is 5 min to the gateway which gives you a quick 15 to the airport, and is adjacent to the north motor way or to the city It has many very good private and state schools in the area or close by, shopping centre, medical centres, small parks. The blocks are very large and the streets are fantastically wide so you do not have neighbours almost on your door step, or cars passing close to your front door.

One of the best thing about Bracken Ridge is that there is a huge area on a hill, with fantastic sea breezes and incredible views, now where else can you still get such beauty this cheap and this close to the city, airport, beaches etc and once people wake up to this area, the prices are going to sky rocket.. I just wish we had found it 5 years ago when it was cheaper, but unfortunately I also thought Bracken Ridge was a crummy place, with a housing commission area making it undesirable. But no more, I had not realises that there was also such a lovely big area with so many lovely houses there and where we live on the hill it is fantastic with great neighbours who are actually friendly and even make you welcome, now where else do you get that??.

 

I bought in Bracken Ridge 10 years ago and the suburb has changed so much. Shops have been renovated and many people moving into the suburb from professional backgrounds. The hill around the catholic school and the new estates are lovely. I have never had trouble with noise or troubled people. The suburb has evolved a lot and the new council has really advocated improving the services and parklands in the area. The new roads will improve the traffic into the area and Brisbane city council has announced that the suburb will get a new pool complex. Many of the commission houses have been sold and this is isolated to a small part of the suburb

We bought in Bracken Ridge 2 months ago & love the value and lifestyle the suburb offers. 4bdm, 2 bath, Rumpus, pool & 3 alfresco areas on a 700sqm block for under $420k? Try and find that kind of value in other Nth Brisbane suburbs!

 

Easy access to the motorway, fantastic bus timetable (city in 25mins) and the train station is close by too. St Josephs primary is rated one of Brisbane’s best schools...lovely community spirit and excellent teachers.

 

I have lived within Bracken Ridge for 30 years now in a number of different areas. I am now looking to move on from my large family home and move to a smaller house, but still within Bracken Ridge. A leafy, tidy and family friendly suburb. Great community, the Library and community house have some excellent programs for young and old. Different shopping centre, I mostly use the woolies which also has a chemist and paper shop. I walk my two dogs often in the local parks and streets. Bracken Ridge is a middle-income suburb, friendly and professional. I see a lot of younger families moving into the suburb, which is great to see.

We have lived in Bracken Ridge since 2006. We moved to a leafy street on the east side of the hill and have lovely views over the bay from our front verandah. We have found the neighbourhood to be friendly and quiet. An easy stroll to a great Catholic primary school has been one of the biggest positives for us. Easy access to 2 supermarkets is also a big plus. Local sporting facilities, close proximity to the Sandgate waterfront, the local library and a quick drive down the motorway to the airport have all made living in Bracken Ridge very convenient for our growing family.

I'm glad that we researched our neighbourhood and decided to only purchase on the south side of Barrett Street (that encompasses the Bracken Ridge Hill and down towards Enbrook Estate).

 

My review

 

 

I have lived here for 20yrs since first emigrating and moved 3 times, always within Bracken Ridge, which must illustrate my satisfaction with the place. The schools are good, the community friendly and generally quiet, and other than to shop for clothing, you could quite easily survive without ever leaving the suburb as all amenities are close by, shops, medical centre, opticians, dentists etc. Buses run every 15 minutes, even on Sundays, and trains run every 30 minutes. Bus stops are never more than 2 minutes walk away and most main streets have them more or less on the doorstep. The train station has ample parking and bicycle lockers and is within a couple of minutes drive from the furthest part of the suburb

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Roughly bordering Phillips street, Norris Road, Denham St & Telegraph Road is generally newish housing, not that leafy - say last 15years.

 

 

Roughly bordering Philips Street, Denham St, Barrett St, Bracken St, Gawain Road & Norris Road is generally leafy housing between 15 and 40 years old. Quite a few houses on higher elevations

 

 

Roughly bordering on Barrett St, Playford St, Bracken Ridge Road & Norris Rod ex housing commission (council) houses.......least desirable area

 

 

Roughly bordering Norris Rd, Bracken Ridge Rd, Hoyland St & Greenore St is generally leafy housing between 15 and 40 years old Quite a few houses on higher elevations

 

Roughly bordering Greenore St, Norris Rd, Telegraph Road, Hoyland St and Gympie Arterial Rd is generally newish housing, not that leafy - say last 15 years

 

 

Between the Barbour Rd/Norris Rd roundabout an Telegraph Road is a lot of units and apartments built in the last few years (compared to the rest of B.R. which is virtually all houses

 

 

Bordering Barret St, Playford St and Gateway Motorway is is generally newish housing, not that leafy - say last 10 years

 

 

Bordering Denham St, Barrett St, Telegraph Rd/Depot Rd and Gateway Motorway is quite a few older big blocks (acreage) mixed in with newer standard blocks and units/apartments

 

 

South of Telegraph road and North of Roghan Road (Fitzgibbon) is currenlty being developed for high density housing

Woolies (Barrett St) and Coles (Norris Rd/Telegraph Rd) have small shopping precincts which are handy with a small business shopping precinct in Gawain Road.

Quite a few parks, Northpoint TAFE, schools, pre-schools/Kinders/ day care as well. Library on Bracken Street.

I think of Bracken Ridge as the centre of a wheel with spokes running outwards towards many attractions having an easy, couple of minute access to the highways north and south.

 

 

5 minutes drive to waterfront (Brighton, Sandgate, Shorncliffe) and 15 minutes over the lovely Ted Smout Bridge to Redcliffe, with its nice pier and lagoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has often been stated that you have to drive to the Gold or Sunshine Coast for a nice beach but that is not really true...........surf beach yes, but anywhere from Margate to Redcliffe has nice clean sandy beach which is ideal for kids as there are no rips or surf with nice calm water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even Sandgate has a small safe beach with a kid’s adventure playground and barbecue points but get there early if you’re planning a Sunday breakfast. The new pier there is near completion completely modelled on the old one seen in my pics

 

 

 

 

 

2 minutes onto Gateway Motorway to easily go north (Sunshine Coast) or south (Gold Coast), Just over an hours drive either way

 

 

35 minutes to Mt Coot-tha botanical gardens or look out

 

 

 

 

 

45mins to Mt Mee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

40 minutes to Mt Glorious and rainforest walks

 

 

 

 

45 mins to Glasshouse Mountains

 

 

 

 

1hr to lovely townships of Maleny or Montville and Baroon Pocket Dam with the views of the Glasshouse Mountains from Mary Cairncross park

 

 

 

 

 

Just over an hour to lake Wivenhoe with it’s many lookouts, dam, and bbq areas

 

 

wivenhoe by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

15minutes to Lake Samsonvale with its huge park/barbecue points at Bullocky Rest, Dam and kids play area at McGavins View, and lookout and lake Kurwongbah nearby

 

 

 

 

1hr to Lake Somerset with similar facilities as Wivenhoe

 

 

 

 

1hr 25mins to Noosa

 

 

 

 

 

 

40mins to Australia Zoo

 

 

 

 

 

35 mins to South Bank

 

 

 

 

 

 

1hr 10mins to Bribie Island

 

 

 

 

 

25minutes to scenic Samford Valley

 

 

 

 

15mins to Chermside huge shopping mall

 

 

15mins to North Lakes Shopping mall

 

 

15mins to Strahtpine Shopping mall

 

 

5 minutes to Bunnings (for the gardeners and DIYers) and Aldi, less for the local shops (Coles and Woolies)

 

 

Edited March 6, 2016 by Johndoe
broken link

Thank you for that Kev it looks stunning

It does look lovely.

It does look lovely.

 

Excellent write up JD. Almost makes me want to move there :cute:

Thanks, a very well informed review there!

 

Sounds lovely. I was eyeing that area up already! What are your opinions on Bald Hills, Deagon & Fitzgibbon? Are they equally as nice, or not so good?

 

Many thanks....Adele x

Thanks, a very well informed review there!

 

Sounds lovely. I was eyeing that area up already! What are your opinions on Bald Hills, Deagon & Fitzgibbon? Are they equally as nice, or not so good?

 

Many thanks....Adele x

 

Bald Hills and Deagon are older suburbs and look it in places although deagon has some big quality houses on large plots. Fitzgibbon used to be similar with lots of undeveloped land up until a few yrs ago. This has all been developed now with quite a few relatively new estates with smallish houses and plots but the developments adjoining bracken ridge are quality which is reflected in the prices. A new road was punched through to fitzgibbon from bracken ridge last year, which sort of blurs the boundaries so to speak and the area is still under development. It would be my choice over the other two

Thank you Kevin,

 

your photos are truly stunning!

 

I have read and re-read your post (I think I am just thick) Are you saying that Fitzgibbon would be your choice over the others?

 

We are coming over in August and we will be having a good look around this area, one thing I am having trouble with us deciphering which are social housing. Over here in the UK you can tell quite easily with the style, but I saw a house that looked really nice, but it was within the border you mentioned to avoid (I would have never guessed it was social housing)

 

Thanks again

Social housing is harder to spot visually. However, if you go on a site like onthehouse.com.au and it has no sale/rental history it is a bit of a giveaway. Good way of sussing the not so good streets out in an area.

Thank you Kevin,

 

your photos are truly stunning!

 

I have read and re-read your post (I think I am just thick) Are you saying that Fitzgibbon would be your choice over the others?

 

We are coming over in August and we will be having a good look around this area, one thing I am having trouble with us deciphering which are social housing. Over here in the UK you can tell quite easily with the style, but I saw a house that looked really nice, but it was within the border you mentioned to avoid (I would have never guessed it was social housing)

 

Thanks again

 

 

Fitzgibbon would be my choice over bald hills and deagon but not over bracken ridge.

 

In my experience, social housing tenants have never been a problem in these areas. Not to generalise but there may be a problem with some private properties rented out, not that I have experienced any problems that impacted my daily life. The impact is generally by way of the impression that you get of a street that has rental properties that house rather "lax" tenants. If an area is of good appearance, then the odds are that there will be no problems.

 

Signs to look out for that indicate lax tenants are bins still outside when other residents have moved theirs in after garbage collection, lots of cars outside indicate that the tenants are likely sub-letting/sharing and that a family may actually live in the garage, Fliers and free newspapers littered around driveways/lawns, unkempt gardens, "project" vehicles in various stages of repair/disrepair, outside lights left on during daytime (just as they are too lazy to pick up a newspaper which they step on when alighting from their vehicles, so too are they too lazy to flick a switch when they step outdoors), Kids toys/bicycles left in driveway/garden overnight.

 

Do a drive by in the areas that you are considering and if you get a feeling of unease, then give it a miss. Problems are generally fairly obvious, but all the indicators above, do not necessarily mean that there is a noise or behaviour problem, but simply indicate that it is more likely than in a well manicured area.

Thanks for that lastonealuve and Johndoe yes it makes sense looking out for those signs.

 

x X

Bracken Ridge now has it's own very nice public pool and skate park

Sandgate/ Shorncliffe new pier is now open and has been for a while. I forgot to update

 

Some more pics

 

South Bank Brisbane (4) by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

Bee Gees Way, Redcliffe, Australia (2) by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

Brisbane River by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

New Shorncliffe pier by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

Edited July 28, 2016 by Johndoe

Hi we've been offered a house in Aldea circuit Bracken Ridge. My husband is currently a paratrooper & after 23yrs service was offered a job in the ADF. We move in October & would like some info about the area. As we don't know the Suburbs we only visited CBT
Your help would be appreciated
Sara


Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Pictures are just amazing !

Wow a lot of effort went into your post. Just want to point out that all of the pictures are of places to travel to from Bracken Ridge though? 

Do you have pictures of Bracken Ridge itself?