fish.01 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) This is interesting... Do you live in Paddington yourself then? How do you rate life there? We live around 10 mins walk from Paddington so I cycle through Red Hill, Paddington & Bardon most days. I love it because it suits my interests. I really love character homes, the history everywhere, the windy hilly old streets, the little independent shops, the old trees and gardens, the great food and coffee, the accessibility to the city, the bike riding distance to town etc. So for me it is worth it as I get a kick out of it every day but it does depend on your priorities. I also love that traffic has almost disappeared from my life. When we lived further away commute traffic was a big part of everyday life. Barely think about it anymore as easy to cycle or get a bus so it has almost disappeared from my life. Bliss. As I mentioned if you do have to use your car you can just take the empty back roads few use until you get right near town. People say that because outer suburbs have less traffic they are better for avoiding traffic stress but having lived in both I have found it the exact opposite...it is the daily grind of commute traffic that gets to you in the further out suburbs. We have also found the kindergartens to be just lovely (Rosalie Creche & Kindergarten and Red Hill C&K) and our children love their school. My wife is English and has made some great friends from Australia and all over the world that she sees all the time. Many lovely families that meet up at the local park for birthday parties, coffee mornings etc. I have always been able to cycle the kids to or from kindergarten/school and then go to work and my wife does it via bus at the other end. Has meant I have been a lot more involved with my kids life (knew all the kindergarten teachers really well, children's friends etc) than I would have been in an outer suburb with long commutes. Easy to jump on my bike at work and cycle back if one of the kids is sick or something. Edited July 6, 2016 by fish.01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerenaJ Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 We live around 10 mins walk from Paddington so I cycle through Red Hill, Paddington & Bardon most days. I love it because it suits my interests. I really love character homes, the history everywhere, the windy hilly old streets, the little independent shops, the old trees and gardens, the great food and coffee, the accessibility to the city, the bike riding distance to town etc. So for me it is worth it as I get a kick out of it every day but it does depend on your priorities. I also love that traffic has almost disappeared from my life. When we lived further away commute traffic was a big part of everyday life. Barely think about it anymore as easy to cycle or get a bus so it has almost disappeared from my life. Bliss. As I mentioned if you do have to use your car you can just take the empty back roads few use until you get right near town. People say that because outer suburbs have less traffic they are better for avoiding traffic stress but having lived in both I have found it the exact opposite...it is the daily grind of commute traffic that gets to you in the further out suburbs. We have also found the kindergartens to be just lovely (Rosalie Creche & Kindergarten and Red Hill C&K) and our children love their school. My wife is English and has made some great friends from Australia and all over the world that she sees all the time. Many lovely families that meet up at the local park for birthday parties, coffee mornings etc. I have always been able to cycle the kids to or from kindergarten/school and then go to work and my wife does it via bus at the other end. Has meant I have been a lot more involved with my kids life (knew all the kindergarten teachers really well, children's friends etc) than I would have been in an outer suburb with long commutes. Easy to jump on my bike at work and cycle back if one of the kids is sick or something. Wow - it sounds like you're describing the exact priorities that we have! We have always lived in character homes in the UK, and love the sense of history that comes with them. I love the quirkiness of small towns / villages and the sense of things having grown organically, rather than an area having been mapped out on a grid system without charm - so although we are going to be living in a city, I'm trying to find the 'village within a city' feel. You say you are 10 minutes away from Paddington -do you mind me asking which area that is? Is that on the Bardon side, or the Ashgrove side? Or are you further east? It's hard to get an idea of distances on foot when looking at street maps, and I'd be happy to be 10 mins or so walk from the cafes and shops, but not too much further, otherwise we'd probably not make use of them as much as I'd like. Also, you mention you have children... are they at primary school? My son is 7 years old so we would be looking for a good primary school for him - do you have personal experience of any of them, or know of others nearby that comes recommended by friends. It's heartening to hear that your wife has built a lovely circle of friends there, and it sounds like there is a really good sense of 'family' and 'community' which, again, is what we're looking for. Your post has really lifted my spirits in so many ways as I begin to navigate the steps towards our move (we're planning on telling all our friends over the next two weeks, so it's rather an emotional time). Thanks again for taking the time to write. I really appreciate your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hoffer Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Yes we spend a morning in Bulimba and really liked it there. Why is buying proving so difficult? Is it lack of available stock? Or budget? In my case budget and expectation of what i think i should be able to get for it. If your spending under $1.4m its a tough place to find a decent 4 bed with a pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hey, I went to Rosalie kindy. My grandmother was only 43 when I arrived. She would walk me home to her place at Manning St, just behind now-so-trendy Park Rd, and go on the night shift! Need to watch those floods though. Rosalie was flooded to about chest height at that intersection in 2011. We had to organise the so called Mud Army to help people in those places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerenaJ Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 In my case budget and expectation of what i think i should be able to get for it. If your spending under $1.4m its a tough place to find a decent 4 bed with a pool. Wow - sounds like a tough market. We'd be happy with a 3 bed. Pool would be good. Certainly don't think we could stretch to £1.4m though. Best of luck with your search - hope something comes up soon for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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