Australians - I need some help with locations around Brisbane QLD...?

Question

Hey there!
I am moving from Sydney to Brisbane in a few months and am desperately trying to find a suburb to live in! I dont know the area very well so I was wondering if you guys could help me out? Work is taking me to a place called Logan so I would like to live somewhere around there (although I heard Logan isnt the best area around) I am looking for somewhere east of Brisbane maybe near he river? I heard of a place called Norman Park so maybe around there?? If its nice? I would love to live in a "higher class" family area (i.e low crime etc). Currently I live in Vaucluse in Sydney (eastern suburbs) so I guess I am looking for the equivalent in the east in Brissy. Hope you can help!! Thanks a bunch!! Moving state is SO hard! especially when you dont know the areas!! =)

Answer 1

I live on the gold coast an logan is just up the road, I don't know where you heard the stories of logan being a not so good area.
places that may interest you ar the areas around spring field lakes and hope island, certainly a lot closer to logan than east brisbane.
logan has a lot of entertainment such as the logan hyperdome, and living in springfield lakes or hope island you are close to the water, shops, transport, schools you will live in family oriented upclass areas close to brisbane and the gold coast, it is only a short drive to the best beaches in queensland and central to all the theme parks,
housing prices in these areas are about the same if not slightly cheaper than where you currently are.
My suggestion to you is to do what most peaople from down south do, and that is to rent close to where you will be working for about 6 months while you look around and spread your wings a little.
you may find, like a lot of people do, that you may want to live here on the coast and travel the 20mins up the highway to get to logan where you work.

Answer 2

Logan is not an upmarket area. Norman Park is very nice but quite a way away from Logan. I think the nearest "classier" suburbs would be in the Tarragindi/Holland Park area. They're still a bit of a distance away, but you're going against the main traffic on the motorway so I think you'd get to and from work in a fairly short time. There's really nothing comparable to Vaucluse anywhere near, as others have pointed out.

The most prestigious suburbs in Brisbane are Ascot, Yeronga/Yeerongpilly, Chelmer/Sherwood/Corinda, St Lucia, and New Farm is becoming more gentrified every year. Auchenflower and Paddington area is also very nice, but again, nowhere near Logan.

I think that if you want to be near the "cafe culture", your best bet would be to come all the way up the freeway to just south of the city, at Woolloongabba, Highgate Hill or Stone's Corner, NEAR the freeway. Norman Park is only a suburb further east but the traffic between where you live and the freeway will be the critical issue in making your commute bearable, and the whole area to the south of the city through East Brisbane and Coorparoo doesn't have very well-designed traffic flows.

Having said that, Brisbane people just don't expect to have to wait in traffic, so by Sydney standards you probably wouldn't find any of these places bad from a commute perspective. We're out on the far west of Kenmore and have to go through reputedly one of the worst stretches of road in Brisbane to get to the city (Moggill Rd through Kenmore), and it takes 35 minutes to get to the city in peak hour; about 20 minutes at other times. I really don't think the commute will be an issue to you, wherever you choose to live.

Good luck for your move!

Answer 3

Logan is quite a way from Norman Park.

It really does depend on how far you want to travel to work. TO work in Logan, you will need to drive to get there (unfortunatley, public transport outside the main Brisbane area is pretty bad).

Logan is it's own city, and takes in Marsden, Woodridge, Crestmead, etc.

The equivalent to Vaucluse in Sydney would be Ascot, which is completely on the other side of town to Logan (about an hour drive).

Nicer suburbs around Logan are Springwood, Daisy Hill, Loganlea, Hillcrest, Waterford West, Heritage Park, Regents Park. In Loganlea you can buy nice acreage properties, some on the river. Carbrook, and Cornubia are also nice.

Check out logan.qld.gov.au for all the info on Logan City, including some maps (under the "about Logan" tab)

Answer 4

Look at places along the Centenary Motorway, which runs from Toowong to the Logan Motorway. Apart from a short gap, it is expressway all the way (and the gap is getting smaller) Although there is some traffic at peak hours it is not bad. My ex-wife lives at Jindalee, which has places near the river. Fig Tree Pocket is also on the river. Try Seventeen Mile Rocks as well - there is some new development around there. These spots do not compare to Vaucluse, but nothing I have seen in Brisbane really does.

Answer 5

It depends what part of Logan you are talking about. Logan is really big stretching up from Underwood all the way down to Beenleigh, out to Browns Plains etc and further. If you are say around Springwood or Loganholme, it might be good for you to try around Underwood and Kuraby as there are some nice estates there, shailer park is quite nice too But yeah if you look around on the logan website it might give you more information about the places around logan...

http://logan.qld.gov.au

Answer 6

i agree with everyone else about the traffic problems - the motorway can best be described as the stop/startway.
Logan is not considered an upmarket area. you could look at sections of Kuraby (to the north) daisy hill, shailer park (to the east)
crestmead (to the south)
I would look at working in a different suburb if you want to be within a 20 min. drive to work (or along the train/busways) and you want to live in an upmarket area.

Answer 7

Well every New South Welshman (myself included) is anti QLD or else State of Origin would not be the fierce rivalry it is today. Just like Queenslanders are anti-NSW. I actually don't mind the Bronco's and love watching them play because they are so exciting. But maybe some of that interstate hate from SoO transfered into the NRL, Bronco's aren't that hated i don't think, well not compared to the Storm anyway! Grand Final at Suncorp??aaawwww Hellll Nooo!! GF should remain in NSW full stop.

Answer 8

I think Logan is cool. I've once visited that place on vacation. We stayed somewhere in Springfield (hotel gloria I think). People are nice, and we didn't have problems in terms of transportation, or shopping, or whatever. I don't think it's a scary place due to crime. People were cool. :)

Answer 9

Depends how far you want to travel daily for work. You could look at Shailer Park, it always seems to be quite a nice suburb.

Answer 10

I guess the closest we come to that would be Hamilton , Ascot , Clayfield .....approx half hour drive to Logan but beautiful suburbs