Mustachian places for families in Queensland

[Freedom17]

Any suggestions on mustachian places to live in Queensland for a young family?

I lived in Brisbane 20 years ago, however having recently returned, the inner city is starting to feel like a bit of a rat race.

Any suggestions on places with good schools and a community feel would be really appreciated!

[marty998]

Our cities are not built for walking or biking are they?!

Good luck in your quest, SE Qld is gonna get a lot of money and infrastructure thrown at it with the recent olympics announcement. Hopefully it improves the place!

[Freedom17]

Yeah its really hard. I've been living in inner city Brisbane but its getting really crowded as houses are subdivided and McMansions sprout up everywhere with little room for yards or trees. Its really sad to see. I'm thinking of taking the plunge and moving to the suburbs yikes. Its more car oriented but at least (for now) there are properties with yards and trees, although I'm seeing that start to change as well.

[Murdoch]

Hi Freedom17,

What does your work demand? Do you need to be in Brisbane?
What school years are coming? Junior, middle or highschool?

I reckon most rural and remote town offer great lifestyles, cheap property options, and good junior and middle schools.
Pick one close to somewhere beautiful like a National Park, or coastal area with great beaches, and avoid the rat race entirely.
I love Brisbane, but love the lifestyle, freedom, space and lack of commute associated with remote living much more.

QLD has so much to offer and most never go North of Gympie or West or Toowoomba. A weekend in Cairns doesn't count;)

Murdoch

[Freedom17]

Thanks for the suggestion. I consult part time from home so location is flexible. Kids are in primary, starting middle soon so school is really the biggest factor.

[MrsV]

We live in Brisbane now, but when our kids were young we spent a few years living in Toowoomba. It was a great place to live and selling the little Queenslander there to buy back into Brisbane is something I question from time to time. I know prices in Toowoomba have gone up, though still much less than Brisbane, but I guess there are lots of little towns that, today, are just Toowoomba was a decade ago when we lived there. I walked everywhere with the pram! Good luck ...I can see the appeal of smaller regional towns, especially while the kids are young!

[Freedom17]

We live in Brisbane now, but when our kids were young we spent a few years living in Toowoomba. It was a great place to live and selling the little Queenslander there to buy back into Brisbane is something I question from time to time. I know prices in Toowoomba have gone up, though still much less than Brisbane, but I guess there are lots of little towns that, today, are just Toowoomba was a decade ago when we lived there. I walked everywhere with the pram! Good luck ...I can see the appeal of smaller regional towns, especially while the kids are young!

Thanks MrsJ. Any suggestion on good suburbs in Brisbane for children starting high school in the next few years?

[Lukim]

We moved from overseas to Brisbane and specifically to the suburb of East Brisbane.
We found it a very good place to raise children.  There are a lot of parks and outdoor spaces for children to play.
It is relatively quiet and peaceful, good public transport and we can even walk down to the river and across the bridge into the city.
There are numerous cafes and restaurants.

We had contemplated moving to a McMansion at Carindale before deciding on East Brisbane.  The house at East Brisbane is smaller and the land is certainly smaller but we are very glad 13 years on that we went for the inner city.

If you wanted to move somewhere cheaper, I would look at a place like Redcliffe with access to beaches etc.

There are many great places up the coast (beyond the Sunshine Coast) but I am not sure they are ideal for high school age children and particularly not for children once they finish school.

[MrsV]

We love Tarragindi and bought here when our kids were young for the parks and good state primary school, in addition to easy freeway access and a small walk to the Busway for my husband  (quicker for DH to get to the city to work than driving). There is also a bike path to the city that he uses for some parts of the year .

When our daughter was a teen and had outgrown the parks in the area, she could bus places to meet friends, so that was handy. Now the kids are older, we still love it. I love it for Toohey Forrest and my daily walks and the wildlife in the area. It is easier for my daughter to bus to University so, although she has a car, the busway is still a huge factor. Holland Park also attracts young families for similar reasons.

We largely lived overseas for 8 years with our kids (bought the house and had a few years here then were back and forth) and my 19 year old commented the other day that, Covid aside, there isn’t a city she’d rather be in at her age than Brisbane. That was nice to hear as I always worried they’d find it a bit boring compared to places they’d lived and travelled!

I agree with somebody mentioning East Brisbane. My son goes to school there and it is a gorgeous area!

[Freedom17]

Thank you Lukim and MrsJ. Your suggestions are really helpful.

If I might ask, did you go state or private for high school? Any thoughts on the pros / cons?

[MrsV]

We did state schools for primary and private for high school. I kind of question the private choice now I’m conscious about this retire early philosophy, but our son is in year 10 so it would be cruel to move him.

[Lukim]

We did state school for primary and private school for high school.
Happy with that choice.

[Murdoch]

Hi Lukim

Any reason you don't think anything North of the Sunshine Coast is ideal for high school or post school?
Some great schools in Rockhampton that rival the best in the SEQ. Mackay, Townsville and Cairns all have good options.
Post school if you aren't going to University in Brisbane I'm not sure the city offers much extra other than the social scene.

From the group I am still close with from school 2 are in professional streams and 3 are in trade streams.
All avoid prison/gangs/becoming rednecks :), and have families and homes.
If you're an entrepreneurial type, or your kids are, the opportunities in regional QLD are almost endless.

Is there anything objective to suggest that kids come off the rails more in regional towns than capital cities across QLD or Australia?

Most of my mates from university live in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Perth and all love the city life with most starting families now.
I'm admittedly an outlier but my life is much less stressed than mates in the city on a day to day basis and financially we are 15 to 20 years ahead with options available in the future we wouldn't have if we'd stayed in the city.

Murdoch

[Lukim]

Murdoch - certainly not suggesting kids in regional areas go off the rails.

Just not sure if the job / career opportunities exist in regional areas - it probably depends on what job or career people are thinking of.

I would be very happy living in a regional area now that I am semi retired but not sure how it would have worked earlier.

We are all different and different environments work for different people.