Brisbane suburbs - Paddington, Bardon...?

[SerenaJ]

Hi, We're planning a move to Brisbane at the end of the summer and, although we did a recce 2 years ago, we were only in the city a few days and didn't see every suburb. We're keen to find a suburb with a bit of a community feel, very leafy, lots of trees around, prefer to live in a character home / Queenslander, walking distance to some cafes / restaurants. Also, near good schools (not private) as our son is 7. We won't have jobs initially, so we're having to do things in this order: suburb / school then job... rather than pick a suburb based on where we work. We're used to commuting, but would prefer not to have to travel more than half an hour to the CBD if possible. I've been looking at Bardon and Paddington. Does anyone live in either of these areas and can they give any insights? Also are there any other areas that match the above criteria? Thanks in advance.

[Peachy]

Hi, We're planning a move to Brisbane at the end of the summer and, although we did a recce 2 years ago, we were only in the city a few days and didn't see every suburb. We're keen to find a suburb with a bit of a community feel, very leafy, lots of trees around, prefer to live in a character home / Queenslander, walking distance to some cafes / restaurants. Also, near good schools (not private) as our son is 7. We won't have jobs initially, so we're having to do things in this order: suburb / school then job... rather than pick a suburb based on where we work. We're used to commuting, but would prefer not to have to travel more than half an hour to the CBD if possible. I've been looking at Bardon and Paddington. Does anyone live in either of these areas and can they give any insights? Also are there any other areas that match the above criteria? Thanks in advance.

 

 

Paddington is lovely and highly sought after. I don't live there but have friends that do and wouldn't move anywhere else. Make sure that you check out realestate for both rental and purchase - you may be able to afford to rent, but buying may be more difficult unless you have a big budget.

Also check out the school situation. I note that your son is 7, but you will still need to think about high school - I don't think that Paddington is very well served with high schools and you may need to think about private. Have a look at this website re schools:

 

https://schoolsdirectory.eq.edu.au/

[Guest]

Well it depends on your budget. Those would be 2 of Brisbane's better suburbs and come with a decent pricetag.

 

My area would tick your boxes too (wooloowin, clayfield, hendra and ascot)

 

Basically you can draw a circle around inner brisbane to about 7 k's out and they would all tick it.

[Peachy]

ps. just noticed that you said 'not private' for schooling. Why is that? If it is budget, then Paddington likely to be out of the question; if it is ethics/ principle then suggest that you have a rethink - a huge number of kids are educated in the private/ religious sector here. I would have never contemplated it in the UK but do so here.

[Guest]

ps. just noticed that you said 'not private' for schooling. Why is that? If it is budget, then Paddington likely to be out of the question; if it is ethics/ principle then suggest that you have a rethink - a huge number of kids are educated in the private/ religious sector here. I would have never contemplated it in the UK but do so here.

 

Also if you choose to live in an area like Paddington, as pointed out your son's friends are likely to be going to private schools (probably expensive ones) after.

[Roberta2]

A "character home" in those suburbs will cost at least a million. A Queenslander closer to two million. (You need to budget for maintenance for those. Painting one costs at least $20,000.) In fact, any character home within about 5 ks of the CBD will cost at least a million. See real estate websites. The quality (or perceived quality) of the schools tracks closely with median house prices. But you need to live in the catchment to be sure of a place.(See Dept of Education maps.) If I were moving to Brisbane, I would be looking carefully at public transport. Paddington and Bardon have no railway or dedicated busways. They are also very hilly with narrow roads. (Originally bullock tracks on the ridges on the foothills of Mt Cootha) Traffic congestion is a big problem now. So is parking outside schools. Wilston would be a good bet - close to the train. Cafes etc but also a short bus ride to the city. There is also the ferry/City Cat network on the river. Anyway, why not rent for a while first? You can take out a six month lease. It might be better to start with jobs first anyway.

[robfromdublin]

Ashgrove would tick your boxes for public schools. They have some very good ones. Also, I just came across this website which is very useful for comparing suburbs and they even have metrics for 'family' suburbs and so on

https://www.microburbs.com.au/

 

From their blog, Bardon is Queensland's top 'family' suburb

[h=2]Brisbane[/h]Brisbane lags the other state capitals somewhat in the family score stakes. There are 40 suburbs in Brisbane with a family score of 10, which is plenty to choose from, but nowhere near Melbourne’s 94 or Sydney’s 200. Brisbane’s average family score, at 7.8, also lags behind the other big cities. Still, the differences are slight, and Brisbane is still a great city for families with lots of exceptional family suburbs.

[TABLE=width: 433]

[TR]

[TH]Rank[/TH]

[TH]Suburb[/TH]

[TH]Family Score[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Bardon[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2[/TD]

[TD]Fig Tree Pocket[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]3[/TD]

[TD]Chelmer[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]4[/TD]

[TD]Graceville[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]5[/TD]

[TD]Ashgrove[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]6[/TD]

[TD]Chapel Hill[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]7[/TD]

[TD]Seven Hills[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]8[/TD]

[TD]Pinjarra Hills[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]9[/TD]

[TD]Pullenvale[/TD]

[TD]10[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]10[/TD]

[TD]Upper Brookfield[/TD]

[TD]10

 

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Roberta2]

If you can afford to live in a "good suburb", you don't need private schooling. I have had experience of both. My son went to an "elite" school as a boarder because we had no choice. You might think about Indooropilly. On the train. The state high school is the only public school in the state offering the IB. There are also now the three public Queensland Academies for the two final years of high school. IB there is compulsory. Entrance only by exam - no catchment. Brisbane State High School also has selective entry, but also has a catchment area (West End and South Brisbane.) The two state schools in the catchment area of State High are straining at the seams. That's all inner city though - only small parts of the State High catchment could be described as "leafy". A Queenslander there would cost probably 3 or 4 million. Depends on your budget. You need to look at all kinds of things. Flood maps. Zoning - lots of people have found themselves besieged by developers and surrounded by high rise when planning laws have changed.

[Roberta2]

Some of those suburbs are quite far out, and have poor public transport. Some - e.g. Chelmer- flooded in 2011. "Leafy" is not the only criterion. Especially if both parents expect to work in the city, quality of family life must also include not being stuck in traffic.

[robfromdublin]

I'm sure there are many ways to disagree with their metric, which after all is not published. You make a good point on flooding though. It would appear that is not included and it would be important for lots of suburbs. I guess flood maps that are Australia-wide are difficult to obtain

[Roberta2]

The Brisbane City Council has a good website for floods. And overland flow. Some suburbs such as Brookfield were isolated for a long time after the 2011 floods. The Brisbane river is a big river. The Bremer flows into it, carrying huge amounts of water that pour down those escarpments on the Great Dividing Range. Large parts of the CBD were also flooded in 2011. People have short memories! All of Brisbane is on a floodplain for the Brisbane river and its tributaries. The only exception is Mt Cootha and its foothills. People are still doing very stupid things. e.g. In a downpour recently, after weeks of no rain (so ground not saturated), classrooms under Milton State School (where I went) were flooded. Again! Duh! As in new classrooms. The school is adjacent to what used to be called Red Jacket Swamp. It used to be on West River - a river that was almost completely built over. The school, built in the 1880s, was built so there would be no permanent fixtures underneath except toilets etc. Maybe you should find contour or 3D maps. People will tell you drainage systems have been improved since the last floods. Mostly bunkum. You also need to consider major traffic bottlenecks. e.g. the Walter Taylor bridge connecting Indooropilly with Chelmer. Still two lanes!!! Yes, there is a train, but .....The busways also have their limitation, sometimes. e.g. the real estate agents will tell you Chermside is 10 mins from the city by bus. So it is, at around 10 pm. A large part of the busway is NOT a dedicated busway at all. At 8 a.m. Chermside is 40 mins from the CBD.

[Roberta2]

What do you understand about your job prospects here, if you don't have jobs lined up?

[Nemesis]

I'm sure there are many ways to disagree with their metric, which after all is not published. You make a good point on flooding though. It would appear that is not included and it would be important for lots of suburbs. I guess flood maps that are Australia-wide are difficult to obtain

Brisbane City Council have some excellent flood maps on their website, which were updated after the floods of 2011

[SerenaJ]

Paddington is lovely and highly sought after. I don't live there but have friends that do and wouldn't move anywhere else. Make sure that you check out realestate for both rental and purchase - you may be able to afford to rent, but buying may be more difficult unless you have a big budget.

Also check out the school situation. I note that your son is 7, but you will still need to think about high school - I don't think that Paddington is very well served with high schools and you may need to think about private. Have a look at this website re schools:

 

https://schoolsdirectory.eq.edu.au/

 

Thank you for the information. Yes, we would be looking to rent at first although we would like to buy after a while. We don't have a huge budget, but we would have a reasonable deposit from the sale of our home. It's just hard to know exactly how much mortgage we could afford to take on until we are both in work, but we can take our time with purchasing. Thank you for the tip re high schools. Again, I think we've ruled out private due to the extra expense, but it's possible we may be able to afford it when the time comes. Do fees for private schools vary from school to school?

[SerenaJ]

Well it depends on your budget. Those would be 2 of Brisbane's better suburbs and come with a decent pricetag.

 

My area would tick your boxes too (wooloowin, clayfield, hendra and ascot)

 

Basically you can draw a circle around inner brisbane to about 7 k's out and they would all tick it.

Thanks for the info. We visited Ascot/Hamilton on our recce. Seemed like a lovely area, tree lined streets etc. I'm not familiar with the other places you mention though - are they very similar? Do they also have a similar strip of cafes and restaurants (like Racecourse Road)? Houses in Wooloowin look a little more affordable, but not sure if it has the same kind of 'hub' area within it or not?

[SerenaJ]

ps. just noticed that you said 'not private' for schooling. Why is that? If it is budget, then Paddington likely to be out of the question; if it is ethics/ principle then suggest that you have a rethink - a huge number of kids are educated in the private/ religious sector here. I would have never contemplated it in the UK but do so here.

 

It's more to do with the fact that we're estimating our budget, so can't assume we'll be able to afford private until we're settled and see what disposable income we have. We wouldn't rule out private completely. Would prefer to avoid religious though, as neither of us are religious in any way. Your original post seemed to suggest public school is OK at primary level, but then private schools become more sought after for high school. Have I understood correctly?

[SerenaJ]

A "character home" in those suburbs will cost at least a million. A Queenslander closer to two million. (You need to budget for maintenance for those. Painting one costs at least $20,000.) In fact, any character home within about 5 ks of the CBD will cost at least a million. See real estate websites. The quality (or perceived quality) of the schools tracks closely with median house prices. But you need to live in the catchment to be sure of a place.(See Dept of Education maps.) If I were moving to Brisbane, I would be looking carefully at public transport. Paddington and Bardon have no railway or dedicated busways. They are also very hilly with narrow roads. (Originally bullock tracks on the ridges on the foothills of Mt Cootha) Traffic congestion is a big problem now. So is parking outside schools. Wilston would be a good bet - close to the train. Cafes etc but also a short bus ride to the city. There is also the ferry/City Cat network on the river. Anyway, why not rent for a while first? You can take out a six month lease. It might be better to start with jobs first anyway.

 

Yes, we've been researching and following prices in these and various other suburbs on realestate. We would be more in the one million as opposed to two million price-range ;-). I'll track down the Dept of Education maps and refer to this when we're considering viewing properties, thanks. One of the attractions of Paddington / Bardon was the proximity to the CBD. I would happily walk or cycle if this is an option (I cycle to work in the UK). I'm not familiar with Wilston so will look into that area a little more. Reviews of Wilston seem to suggest that although there are restaurants etc they tend not to attract many people and the atmosphere is a bit flat. Is that just one person's negative view I wonder (it was from a couple of year ago so things may well have changed).

[SerenaJ]

The Brisbane City Council has a good website for floods. And overland flow. Some suburbs such as Brookfield were isolated for a long time after the 2011 floods. The Brisbane river is a big river. The Bremer flows into it, carrying huge amounts of water that pour down those escarpments on the Great Dividing Range. Large parts of the CBD were also flooded in 2011. People have short memories! All of Brisbane is on a floodplain for the Brisbane river and its tributaries. The only exception is Mt Cootha and its foothills. People are still doing very stupid things. e.g. In a downpour recently, after weeks of no rain (so ground not saturated), classrooms under Milton State School (where I went) were flooded. Again! Duh! As in new classrooms. The school is adjacent to what used to be called Red Jacket Swamp. It used to be on West River - a river that was almost completely built over. The school, built in the 1880s, was built so there would be no permanent fixtures underneath except toilets etc. Maybe you should find contour or 3D maps. People will tell you drainage systems have been improved since the last floods. Mostly bunkum. You also need to consider major traffic bottlenecks. e.g. the Walter Taylor bridge connecting Indooropilly with Chelmer. Still two lanes!!! Yes, there is a train, but .....The busways also have their limitation, sometimes. e.g. the real estate agents will tell you Chermside is 10 mins from the city by bus. So it is, at around 10 pm. A large part of the busway is NOT a dedicated busway at all. At 8 a.m. Chermside is 40 mins from the CBD.

Yes, I can see it's important to research the flood areas as well as traffic bottlenecks, thanks.

[SerenaJ]

What do you understand about your job prospects here, if you don't have jobs lined up?

One of the downsides of being granted a permanent visa and not being sponsored by an employer - we have to take the plunge first and sort out jobs second! We've done a lot of research, of course there are no guarantees, but we're open minded about the fact that we'll probably have to be flexible and do whatever work we can get to begin with; casual etc, and that it will take time to find the ideal role for us both. Thankfully we will be bringing a cushion of cash with us, so we could coast for a little while whilst we look for work.

[Peachy]

In relation to schooling, Paddington just doesn't have a public secondary close by (at least that is my understanding). There are some good state public schools and some not so good. The Gap, Albany Creek, Eaton's Hill High Schools are all fine. I don't know much about the others. Private school fees are considerably less here which is why families with even an average income send their kids to private high school. Religious schools make up a large proportion of the education sector and you should not be put off if you are not religious. They are partially government funded and then the top up is paid by parents. The cost of a religious high school is in the region of $6,000 a year. Full private fees are more expensive but not outrageous (unless you opt for one of the top schools in Brisbane).

 

Have a look on google street view at the suburb 'hubs' - you should get a bit of a feel of the centres of the suburbs. A lot of suburbs have malls/ shopping centres rather than a street cafe culture. Paddington does have the little shops and would be a good fit for you by the sound of it, if you can resolve the issue with schooling. Travelling to the CBD is okay by bus but you will get stuck in traffic.

 

South of the river, West End is very popular and also has the small shops and cafes, but I don't know about the school situation. It isn't as smart as Paddington but is regarded as a hip area.

 

Just my personal opinion taking into account your comments, but in close proximity to Paddington I would avoid Toowong, Herston, Bowen Hills, Fortitude Valley.

[Roberta2]

Then check out the bike paths. They should be on the Council websites. Really don't recommend bike riding on the roads here. Especially on narrow hilly roads that used to be bullock tracks!!! Kamikaze stuff. Cyclists' lobby getting more powerful though. Comment about Wilston probably true - was there last week. Probably about six coffee shops. On the plus side - relatively flat, has train, good school, good bus. Private school - the established private schools are all religious schools as far as I know. All very expensive. There are newer schools established when John Howard was PM. They are much cheaper, but tend to be run by happy clappers of various kinds. Many Protestants or secularists try to get their kids into the Catholic schools - relatively cheap, good discipline. The curriculum is the same as the state schools. But of course Catholics get priority. (I live around the corner from a huge Catholic complex. The real estate agents love it.) As for public v private high schools, you have plenty of time to wait and see. Any high school within 7 ks of the city is likely to be OK. You can easily check annual performance now anyway. If you want the IB, consider Indooropilly. There are only two selective six year high schools in the state - Brisbane State High (partially selective; has catchment) and Brisbane Boys' Grammar. I think that is only partially selective - not sure. Most of the private schools now have weekly boarding options, which appeal to a lot of busy parents. Or various combinations - e.g. picking up kids after their homework has been supervised at school. Not sure 100% of this info is kosher - I was away from Brisbane for a long time....But high school doesn't need to worry you yet.

[SerenaJ]

In relation to schooling, Paddington just doesn't have a public secondary close by (at least that is my understanding). There are some good state public schools and some not so good. The Gap, Albany Creek, Eaton's Hill High Schools are all fine. I don't know much about the others. Private school fees are considerably less here which is why families with even an average income send their kids to private high school. Religious schools make up a large proportion of the education sector and you should not be put off if you are not religious. They are partially government funded and then the top up is paid by parents. The cost of a religious high school is in the region of $6,000 a year. Full private fees are more expensive but not outrageous (unless you opt for one of the top schools in Brisbane).

 

Have a look on google street view at the suburb 'hubs' - you should get a bit of a feel of the centres of the suburbs. A lot of suburbs have malls/ shopping centres rather than a street cafe culture. Paddington does have the little shops and would be a good fit for you by the sound of it, if you can resolve the issue with schooling. Travelling to the CBD is okay by bus but you will get stuck in traffic.

 

South of the river, West End is very popular and also has the small shops and cafes, but I don't know about the school situation. It isn't as smart as Paddington but is regarded as a hip area.

 

Just my personal opinion taking into account your comments, but in close proximity to Paddington I would avoid Toowong, Herston, Bowen Hills, Fortitude Valley.

 

Thanks, I may keep more of an open mind to the private schools then... we'll see. We actually stayed in West End for a few days when we were there... it seemed Ok but I didn't get the feel that it was somewhere I wanted to live. Felt a little more 'alternative' and quite studenty, although I could be wrong.

 

Thank you for giving me places to avoid. That's just as useful as places to consider :-).

[SerenaJ]

Then check out the bike paths. They should be on the Council websites. Really don't recommend bike riding on the roads here. Especially on narrow hilly roads that used to be bullock tracks!!! Kamikaze stuff. Cyclists' lobby getting more powerful though. Comment about Wilston probably true - was there last week. Probably about six coffee shops. On the plus side - relatively flat, has train, good school, good bus. Private school - the established private schools are all religious schools as far as I know. All very expensive. There are newer schools established when John Howard was PM. They are much cheaper, but tend to be run by happy clappers of various kinds. Many Protestants or secularists try to get their kids into the Catholic schools - relatively cheap, good discipline. The curriculum is the same as the state schools. But of course Catholics get priority. (I live around the corner from a huge Catholic complex. The real estate agents love it.) As for public v private high schools, you have plenty of time to wait and see. Any high school within 7 ks of the city is likely to be OK. You can easily check annual performance now anyway. If you want the IB, consider Indooropilly. There are only two selective six year high schools in the state - Brisbane State High (partially selective; has catchment) and Brisbane Boys' Grammar. I think that is only partially selective - not sure. Most of the private schools now have weekly boarding options, which appeal to a lot of busy parents. Or various combinations - e.g. picking up kids after their homework has been supervised at school. Not sure 100% of this info is kosher - I was away from Brisbane for a long time....But high school doesn't need to worry you yet.

Thanks. I'll check out the bike paths too then - sounds worth looking into. Do the catholic schools not care if the children are not catholic then? Like they do here? I think I'd just feel a bit weird about my child being taught to take part in a religion that didn't match our beliefs as parents. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about 'selective' or 'partially selective'. Is this to do with catchment? Or taking exams? Sorry... we've not looked as deeply into the education side of things yet as we have employment opportunities. Also, regarding catchment, how does it work if you start off in the catchment of a school and then move? Does the child get to stay in the original school, or do they have to move? I'm just thinking if we rented near a school we wanted him to go to and then ended up buying elsewhere, so we were in the catchment of a high school we ultimately wanted (but whilst he was still in primary).

[Roberta2]

West End is changing very rapidly. A large number of apartments are being built - a consequence of low interest rates. Most of the new inhabitants are young professionals working in the CBD. So the students in share houses are being turfed out as the developers move in. One of them, who paid for his law degree by busking, was recently elected as the first Greens Councillor in the country. About one third of the kids in West End State school live in apartments, according to a recent survey. The State government has not planned for this, since it has been conventional wisdom that Australians won't live in apartments when they have kids. A lot of people like West End and Highgate Hill because it does have a whiff of Soho. There is a bridge (cyclists and buses only) to the University of Queensland, on the opposite bank of the river. The Boundary Street markets and the Davis Park markets are very popular on weekends. A new park in the middle of WE will appear soon. It won't be long before all those old factories on the river will have gone. But prices for houses with a decent backyard are very high. (I have a rental apartment there, so am there quite often for body corporate meetings etc.)

[Roberta2]

Catholic schools will give priority to practising Catholics, of course. A lot of non Catholic parents want to get into those schools, but have to go to the back of the queue. If you want to get into one, then of course you have to accept that the school teaches Catholic values. Whether you think Paris is worth a Mass, so to speak.....(I might add that we are not nearly as sectarian as we used to be. The PM is a former Anglican turned Catholic, the Leader of the Opposition is a former Jesuit-educated Catholic turned Anglican. Most people don't care about this any more. We've had openly atheist PMs etc etc for decades now. )Catchment: all schools, both primary and secondary. have catchments. If the school is popular, it will be sticky about its catchment. Brisbane State High School for example, which now has 3,000 kids, requires proof that you are actually living in the catchment. It's a highly fraught subject!!! State High also takes in other kids by means of competitive exam. See website. The only selective six year high school. If you get into any school and then move out of the catchment, they don't kick your kid out. You also get sibling priority if you have another child.