What are the desirable areas to move to in Australia.?

Question

I'm sure most areas of Australia are nice but I'm am thinking about areas for myself and my school-aged children. Areas that are safe, good schools, quiet and maybe by the beach.

Answer 1

Hi I am a Mum with 3 children ( 2 in high school and 1 child in grade 1 = primary school.)

I am a 2nd generation Australian and have lived in Australia all my life and travelled around Australia.

I grew up in Sydney lived there for 20 years. But I wouldn't recommend living there anymore.

I have been living in Brisbane Qld now for 21 years. I love it. Its a terrific area to raise children. I live in between Brisbane City and the Gold Coast. It takes me only 20 minutes to go to either areas. Gold Coast has lovely beaches. We have great schools. We are close to the bay and have many schools / both private and state. Also colleges & shops. Our weather can get quite warm in Summer but the other seasons are just beautiful. The only down fall at the moment in South East Qld is that we are experiencing a bad drought at the moment, and we are on very strict water restrictions until the drought breaks. Brisbane is flourishing at the moment and we have lots of employment opportunites. All in All. I wouldnt live any where else. Its Great.

Answer 2

G'day,

I am an immigrant who have been living in Melbourne for over 16 years, so you are going to get a biased info from me :)

Most Melbournians are looking around the East, South and Southeast side, so the price of the properties on those sides are pretty expensive.

The inner suburbs are old houses, pretty dense and small, with expensive prices due to their closeness to the CBD.

I used to live in Collingwood and Clifton Hill (the inner suburbs) with my parents. When I got married in 2000 and looking for our own place. The obvious path will be to look around the area that I have been lived in. However after searching for awhile we realised that with our budget of about $300K, we could only find a run-down house that we need to renovate extensively. We were looking further and further towards East and South East area, until we reach Rowville and felt that it becomes ridiculously too far, not to mention the peak-hour traffic report that you usually hear from the radio on the M1.

We finally settle in Point Cook, west of Melbourne. It is about 20min from the city via Westgate Freeway with plenty of new estates being opened, affordable price, close to the sea and infrastructure that aimed for young families such as plenty of public/Catholic/private schools, shopping centres and supermarkets all around within 5min driving. Just try and have a look yourself if you are interested to find out. It is also well served by public transport (train and bus).

I am enclosing 2 websites that lists available property around Melbourne. The 3rd website is one of the main real estate in Point Cook area, if you are interested to see around the area. The last link is the article from The Age, one of the main newspaper in Melbourne in regards to criminal rate around Melbourne suburbs.

In regards to schools there are 3 choices: Public/Government, Christian/Catholic and Private. Public schools have pretty much the same standard wherever you go and they are the cheapest alternative. You usually just enrolled to the one closer to where you live. Private are the most expensive, since on top of the tuition fee, you will still have to buy books, uniform,laptops etc. The list for non-government schools are here: http://www.isd.com.au/.

I am also enclosing some job websites as well if you need it. They are as follows:

www.seek.com.au

www.mycareer.com.au

www.careerone.com.au

There is a hospital nearby my area named Werribee Mercy Hospital.

Good luck and welcome to Melbourne.