QLD Brisbane's inner north - 2021

I'd like to get your opinions on the following suburbs in terms of their reputation and livability

North West:
A) Herston
B) Windsor
C) Wilston
D) Newmarket
E) Alderley
F) Grange

North:
G) Albion
H) Wooloowin
I) Lutwyche
J) Gordon Park
K) Clayfield

If you had to live somewhere, pick one suburb from the North-west category and one from the North category. Go!

 

Right now, I'm deciding between Wooloowin and Wilston

 

It's so weird, I lived half my life in Brisbane yet only a few of those names are even vaguely familiar to me.

I bet the south is the same for people who spent the whole lives in the north.

It's so funny how they're almost like two separate worlds.

 

The river is an unusual divide indeed.
What are your preferred areas in the south?

 

Hum...if I were to pick I'd probably go with Macgregor or Upper Mount Gravatt just to be in close walking distance to Garden City and the big bus depot there.

I also expect Sunnybank will get a huge boost when borders reopen.

 

Probably depends on lifestyle wanted. Albion may be top of my list if I was wanted cafes, pub etc and live in unit. Otherwise you may want sleepy Gordon Park.

Personally I'd pick Wilston - good village, nice , good transport, schools, ticks every box for North West.

Clayfield or Wooloowin for the North for similar reasons. However if you had listed Kalinga (used to be these two suburbs) would have picked that.

 

Same for Wooloowin or Clayfield.
It’s on the train line - bonus to city.
Wooloowin gets to the city faster by car or bus.
If you rank them in price for expensive to least expensive. It would be Clayfield, then Wooloowin.
Both area have cafe and bike trail.
Flood free generally speaking.

Get yourself over and drive around a few streets you like in each suburb if you can.
Google 3D map is a great start.

 

If money is no object, out of that list I’d pick Clayfield/Kalinga. They have some of the nicest streets in Brisbane.. very wide, tree lined, very quiet with beautifully renovated qlders. Zoned lmr so people aren’t building townhouses in their backyards like Camp Hill for example.

If looking for value, I’d pick Lutwyche.. generally the suburb is very ordinary, but there are a few select streets bordering Grange, which are as nice as Grange.

 

I’d say those two are very comparable regarding price point, property type and amenities/transport. I’d favour Wilston as I believe Wilston State School is pretty good.. our eldest is in prep and we’ve been pretty impressed.

 

Some of Wooloowin would be in Eagle Junction School which would be on par with Wilston. Both great for transport (maybe just give Wooloowin the nod). Wilston for its village vibe would just edge it overall for me, although I think Wilston is more expensive in general now that Kalinga has taken the most expensive part of wooloowin.

 

It's because there's so much traffic (and traffic lights!?) on the northside it would take years to travel through and familiarize yourself. The southside is much better Every now and then someone talks to me about some sort of Suburb between the Northside and Sunny Coast and I have to quietly google....!

 

ha

I had a friend that lived in the north side and one thing I noticed was we really missed the big boxed stores. Every time we wanted to visit an Amart or something along those lines we had to go driving forever.

My theory from years ago for why there's such a divide is because big business hasn't really established itself in Brisbane, or maybe not during the time I was there (10+ years ago). So many jobs were in the suburbs and less in the CBD, creating less of a need to go towards the centre, much less the other side. A lot of people used to be very self sufficient in their little neighbourhoods for work, food, friends etc.

I have no idea if there's any merit to my theory though!

 

I’d go clayfield for the north and probably Wilston.

Although Albion has some really nice homes as well and a cool feel.

 

Your theory, @jaybean, makes perfect sense to me. I regularly comment here on PC that there are hundreds of thousands of residents who do not work in the CBD and so closeness to CBD is not an issue for them. Us peasants prefer the wide open spaces, the country life in Samford and Dayboro, or beaches at Bribie and Redcliffe.

For liveability, what is the point of a huge restored Queenslander in all its gloss white glory, complete with Jacarandas and Moreton Bay figs uprooting your driveway and staining your Porsche, when it costs a fortune to keep all that turned timber clean and maintained. Polished concrete minimalism has its advantages.

Then you have the neighbourly pretentiousness factor....

 

Yeah when I lived there I knew very few people that had to go into town. Most people only went there to shop or for fancy restaurants / night clubs / special events.

 

Hope Queen’s Wharf will liven it up a lot.

 

As others have said, Clayfield is a winner. Close to the airport, and the public transport.

 

We lived in Lutwyche for 7 years. It’s surrounded by ritzy suburbs like Windsor, Wilston and Grange but it still has the stigma of being a bit “on the nose” by locals. As a result, you get a discounted price for properties 5km from the city. Cafes keep popping up and the Kedron Brook is nearby with its dog parks and running/bike paths.

Traffic is not an issue for driving to work from Lutwyche. If you work near Chermside, you travel against the peak hour traffic. If you work at the airport or South of the river, you live very close to entry to tunnels which bypass congested traffic. If you work in the city you are near a bus station that provides a 15 min commute to the cbd.

So my pick is Lutwyche because it is still an affordable suburb with benefits of cafe culture and easy commuting. Windsor School catchment is an added benefit.

 

For example. Sold 4th March 2021 for $725k.

12 Swinburne Street, Lutwyche, Qld 4030
https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-qld-lutwyche-135457122

 

I agree Lutwyche can come at a nice discount, but you need to be very selective of the street.. that house linked above is opposite a development site.. some beautiful old qlder’s about to be removed. The east side of lutwyche rd is a lot worse..
https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-qld-lutwyche-134577722
A real shame these beauties are being removed.

I think you need to pick a street within a block or two of grange. I was shocked this house sold for only $1.1m at auction recently..
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-lutwyche-135586682
Nice street, nice house (the granny flat out the back won architectural awards).. if it were in grange, that would be 1.3m minimum, possibly 1.4?