Leaving Sydney for Brisbane but Bayside or Northern Suburbs?

Hi everyone,

After living and working for 18 months in Sydney, my partner and I have decided to move to Brisbane. I will start my new job at UQ and my partner will be working in the CBD. We have a little one who will be attending his kindergarten from next month. Reasons to leave Sydney are that it is too expensive for us and we could not afford to buy our home. Our income in Brisbane would be similar with what we earn now here in Sydney.

The biggest matter for both my partner and I at the moment is to choose where we will be staying. We really like bayside suburbs including Thorneside, Birkdale, Wellington Points and Ormiston because it is near the water and probably housing prices are more affordable.

Northern suburbs are great too but they are also more expensive.

We would like to hear from anyone who knows or has experiences living in Bayside suburbs. Are they good to raise a family? Are schools good? And how about commuting to/from UQ/CBD?

We will start our new jobs in March so we have to decide a place to settle as soon as possible.

Thank you very much and look forward for comments/suggestions/or experience in advanced.

Well you'll be giving yourself a serious commute either way! I presume you'll be working at the St. Lucia campus? Bayside will have access to the water but no waves or Aussie-style beaches. Having said that I know a UQ researcher commuting from Bribie Island! I don't really know anything about the bayside suburbs so I can't help, sorry. What Northern suburbs are you thinking?

Hi everyone,

After living and working for 18 months in Sydney, my partner and I have decided to move to Brisbane. I will start my new job at UQ and my partner will be working in the CBD. We have a little one who will be attending his kindergarten from next month. Reasons to leave Sydney are that it is too expensive for us and we could not afford to buy our home. Our income in Brisbane would be similar with what we earn now here in Sydney.

The biggest matter for both my partner and I at the moment is to choose where we will be staying. We really like bayside suburbs including Thorneside, Birkdale, Wellington Points and Ormiston because it is near the water and probably housing prices are more affordable.

Northern suburbs are great too but they are also more expensive.

We would like to hear from anyone who knows or has experiences living in Bayside suburbs. Are they good to raise a family? Are schools good? And how about commuting to/from UQ/CBD?

We will start our new jobs in March so we have to decide a place to settle as soon as possible.

Thank you very much and look forward for comments/suggestions/or experience in advanced.

For commute to CBD I would not go out that far. Lovely as Thornside => Wellington Point are we've gone for Wynnum - a doable commute into the city. We have settled very quickly and really enjoying it.

Northern Suburbs are good too, but for us we got more bang for our buck by the bay. My brother lives North of the river at the moment and they are looking to move bayside when they get the chance.

Goof luck!

I live up in Mango hill in Moreton bay and love it.

10 minute drive to Redcliffe beach 5 minute drive to Westfield that has everything.

And a 40 train ride to CBD.

Why not southern suburbs? E.g Holland park West busway to UQ trip around 10 minutes, similar journey time to city. I wouldn't give yourself a hard time commuting if you don't have to. Traffic in Brisbane may be better than Sydney but still horrendous - look at places near the train or busway

I turned down a job at UQ as I lived in Wellington Point and although the commute to the CBD is ok every day, the commute to UQ was just too much (I wasn't offered parking there). If you will be driving in outside of peak hours (which is about from about 630am) it would be ok. After then, you are asking for so much more traffic. If using public transport it is a train into town and then a separate bus/train journey onto UQ.

On the plus I love living on the Bayside. It is a beautiful place to live, well placed for the Gold and Sunny Coasts. I wouldn't consider anywhere else to live now. It's a wonderful place to raise a family with some great schools and clubs. The train and car journey to the CBD are fine in the morning (again, I leave mega-early to avoid traffic). You need to just weigh up whether you can do the commute each day.

Prices in Brisbane are very dependant on commute times and connections. Do not forget bus routes, Brisbane is built around bus lanes etc so can get you into the city fairly quickly. Personally we found a house that suited us but as close to the city as we could. We have not regretted our move.

Well you'll be giving yourself a serious commute either way! I presume you'll be working at the St. Lucia campus? Bayside will have access to the water but no waves or Aussie-style beaches. Having said that I know a UQ researcher commuting from Bribie Island! I don't really know anything about the bayside suburbs so I can't help, sorry. What Northern suburbs are you thinking?

Thanks a lot for your input. I know it would be a long commute each day. We are trying to find a better solution

We also like North Lakes and Mango Hill in the North but I believe the commute would be very similar and housing prices are more expensive.

For commute to CBD I would not go out that far. Lovely as Thornside => Wellington Point are we've gone for Wynnum - a doable commute into the city. We have settled very quickly and really enjoying it.

 

Northern Suburbs are good too, but for us we got more bang for our buck by the bay. My brother lives North of the river at the moment and they are looking to move bayside when they get the chance.

 

Goof luck!

Thanks for your post. Wynnum is great and we like it but unfortunately we can not afford to buy a house there.

I live up in Mango hill in Moreton bay and love it.

10 minute drive to Redcliffe beach 5 minute drive to Westfield that has everything.

And a 40 train ride to CBD.

Thanks. We love Mango Hill too. We may think about this suburb as well

Why not southern suburbs? E.g Holland park West busway to UQ trip around 10 minutes, similar journey time to city. I wouldn't give yourself a hard time commuting if you don't have to. Traffic in Brisbane may be better than Sydney but still horrendous - look at places near the train or busway

Thanks for your advices. I do not know if schools are great in the southern suburbs. Could you please give us some ideas?

I turned down a job at UQ as I lived in Wellington Point and although the commute to the CBD is ok every day, the commute to UQ was just too much (I wasn't offered parking there). If you will be driving in outside of peak hours (which is about from about 630am) it would be ok. After then, you are asking for so much more traffic. If using public transport it is a train into town and then a separate bus/train journey onto UQ.

On the plus I love living on the Bayside. It is a beautiful place to live, well placed for the Gold and Sunny Coasts. I wouldn't consider anywhere else to live now. It's a wonderful place to raise a family with some great schools and clubs. The train and car journey to the CBD are fine in the morning (again, I leave mega-early to avoid traffic). You need to just weigh up whether you can do the commute each day.

You were so brave to turn it down I feel so lucky that I can leave Sydney for the good hopefully. We will be commuting to/from work using trains/buses.

Prices in Brisbane are very dependant on commute times and connections. Do not forget bus routes, Brisbane is built around bus lanes etc so can get you into the city fairly quickly. Personally we found a house that suited us but as close to the city as we could. We have not regretted our move.

Thank you. I really hope buses/trains in Brisbane are much more reliable than in Sydney

Thanks for your post. Wynnum is great and we like it but unfortunately we can not afford to buy a house there.

An alternative might be Lota, more affordable than Wynnum & Manly, but it does get the express train through Manly that doesn't stop at Wynnum, so makes up time.

The more time we spend here the smaller it becomes, especially walks to the station, etc.

Best of luck

Hi everyone,

Just an update for anyone who had read my thread that my partner and I just bought our dream home in Cleveland. We inspected many houses in Birkdale, Wellington Point and Cleveland for the last 4 weeks. We failed two offers in Wellington Points because the vendors were asking for too much. The one we bought in Cleveland is quite new and it is very close to the train station so that we can go to work by trains. The express trains take 43 mins to get to Park Road station but I think it is good enough if compared to my commute here in Sydney.

Thanks a lot everyone who bothered to read my posts and gave me lots of tips and comments.

Thank you for the update McJim. I too am looking to move to Brissie in the future, so it's nice to see your outcome.

Lets us know how you do in a few months time.

Take care...BEGal

Good Luck, and let us know here how you guys settle. Find the commute, community living etc.