Toowong, Brisbane

Toowong

Toowong is a suburb located 5km away from the CBD located in the inner city of Brisbane.

At the centre of the suburb is a shopping centre called Toowong village, it is home to roughly 85 shops and is the meeting place for the locals.

Some of these include; Coles, Kmart, barbers, cafés and more.

The suburb has a very laid back feeling, there is a great community and there is heaps of public transport.

It is a great suburb for families as it is close to schools and there are also other nice families to meet and interact with.

Education

There are 4 schools in the suburb and roughly 2 more in the surrounding area.

The 4 schools in the suburb include; BBC (Brisbane boys college), Toowong state school, St Ignatius and QASMT (Queensland academy of science, mathematics and technology).

BBC is an independent private all boys school, roughly 1600 students attend the school and it starts from prep to year 12. They offer boarding and are well known in the GPS schooling system. It is however an expensive school costing roughly $23000 a year.

The two primary public schools in the suburb are Toowong state school and St Ignatius.

Toowong state school is a half deaf half hearing school meaning that half the kids in attendance are deaf. It is a relatively small school with only roughly 350-400 students in attendance. It is a nice school but might not suit all kids, it is important to be informed before making a decision to send your children there.

St Ignatius is located closer to Toowong village, it is a very small school only having roughly 200 students. Majority of the students leave at the end of year 4 to go and attend private schools. It is a nice friendly place and is a tight community within the school.

The last school is QASMT. This is a specialist school starting in year 10 and going to year 12. It is a public school but in order to be eligible to attend you must pass multiple exams.

The other 2 surrounding schools are Indooroopilly state school and Stuartholme. If you intend to apply for Indooroopilly state school Toowong is out of the catchment so you will have to be on a waiting list.

Stuartholme is located on Mount Cootha and is a catholic day and boarding school for girls. It has a good reputation and has roughly 850 students in attendance.

Transport

There are many options for public transport in the area.

There is the Toowong train station located in Toowong village which runs to Ipswich/Springfield and then the other way to the city.

There is also a local 470 bus route which goes from Toowong village to Teneriffe going through the city. However, the bus only runs on particular times and can be tedious to catch.

There is also bikeways, which will take you straight into the city, it is a popular spots for joggers and cyclists.

If you decide to live in Toowong you can live without a car but be prepared to walk or ride to public transport.

Real Estate

So you might be asking where to live in Toowong? Well, everywhere in Toowong is close to schools, public transport and shops so the real question is where not to live.

I would suggest staying away from Broseley road as it begins to become tucked away and more difficult to access transport.

Some great streets to live on include; Elizabeth St, Ascog terrace and Maryvale street.

Deciding on where to live also depends on whether you are buying or renting.

The average house price is $850,000 and is rising quickly, this means that it is unaffordable for a lot of people.

Renting prices start at $300 a week and go up to $1200 a week.

So in reality it is about what you can afford, if you can afford to purchase a house then do so as prices have been increasing and are set to soar but if you can’t afford to purchase a house then there are lots of renting options.

The 2011 census said that the average renting price per week was $380 and the median mortgage repayment was $2167 per week.

Demographics

Toowong in 2011 according to the census had a population of 11,255 people, in which 50.2% of the population was female and 49.8% were male.

The average age of the people living in Toowong was 28 years old.

72.7% of the population only spoke English and 61.1% of the population is Australian.

31.5% of the population were married and 58.3% of the population had never been married.

Shopping

Toowong village is the hub of the suburb and brings everyone together.

It has recently been refurbished and is very modern and sleek.

There is however only one supermarket in the centre which is Coles.

Coles has a great layout but is struggling with the amount of customers at the time being due to Woolworths being shut down. This means that lines go back for as long as the eye can see and customers are becoming disgruntled and unhappy.

Locals are beginning to purchase their groceries online and pick them up from the Indooroopilly store instead.

There are many nice cafes in the centre which are a great meeting place such as gerbino’s bakery, zarraffas, stellarossa, Merlo coffee and more.

Parking at the centre can also be an issue, there are automatic boom gates which read your number plate and then open letting you enter.

If you are at the centre for under 4 hours it is free parking but after that it begins to charge you, so if you are going into the city and want to park there and then catch a train you should go and look for street parking around the centre.

In conclusion, Toowong is a great place to live as it provides easy access to transport, shops and schools.

It suits both families and couples and is great for children as there are parks and activities for kids near by.