Raising children in Brisbane

[NeilEb]

So, if I move over to Brisbane, what can my 4 (in December) year old son expect?

Is it a good place to raise kids? If so, what makes it so good? He loves playing soccer and cricket if that helps at all?

[cal]

My kids were 3 and 8 when we moved here and 5 years on they are doing great. My eldest went into school so he was occupied from day dot,lol, with my younger one i used to visit the playgroups in the park organised by the council (free with fruit salad etc provided), i also took her swimming alot at our local pool as to me is was important she leanrt to swim asap with the amount of water and great weather over here,lol. I also put her in private daycare 2 or 3 days a week after a while so i could job hunt, Centrelink helped with the cost and i ended up paying around $50 for a couple of days so not bad at all really.
There are lots of great parks dotted around so you shouldnt get stuck for things to do

Cal x

[fish.01]

Here are some child friendly ideas that I posted on another forum that may give you some idea of what it is like:



Brisbane is surrounded by nice green countryside, mountains, islands and beach resorts so always plenty of day trip options.


We have have a 6yo (and a newborn) and if staying in or around Brisbane we might:


- go for a bike ride along the river (he gets towed behind me)
river bikeways


- go to southbank for a swim
southbank


- have breakfast at one of our favourite cafe's or try out a new one - most of them are pretty child friendly.
cafe
breathing space - indooroopilly


- go to the park - there are lots of great parks
New Farm Park playground in the trees
Kids Water park
Redcliffe Lagoon


- visit GOMA, qld museum, southbank etc (they have child activities)
goma and kids activities
qld museum


- grab an icecream - we do lots of that :)
cold rock


- Grab breakfast and people watch or shop at the markets
west end markets
northey street markets


ride the citycats - he likes that
Citycat (public transport)


visit mt cootha 8 km west of the city
mt cootha lookout
mt cootha lookout
mt cootha botanical gardens and planetarium


escape to the mountains behind Brisbane, Gold and sunshine Coasts:
oreillys


As locals we get cheap entry into theme parks (at the moment it is $110 for entry to 3 theme parks for a whole year)
seaworld
wiggles at dreamworld
kids stuff at movie world
wet and wild


Brisbane's large islands:
Moreton Island
North Stradbroke Island (Straddie)
South Stradbroke Island
Bribie Island


With the daytime weather average 20c+ all year round you can use all these outdoor things right through winter as well. The only bad season is summer when it can get too hot and sweaty so you need to do things in the morning or late afternoon. Still plenty of ok days in summer as well though.

My Brisbane is a beautiful, safe place full of lovely trees and parks that we can enjoy with the kids in sunshine all the way through winter. Lovely.

[nickandvicky]

that is the most fantastic post! x

[bcfrug]

What a fab post. An amazing place for kids. Cant wait to get there now :-)

[Mickeymolly]

I have 4 kids, ranging from 3-17. youngest was 10 mths when we arrived. there is so much to do here, its very family orientated and most of its free :)

Great post fish01

[toptowa]

Just read this post and it's put a huge smile on my face. I can't wait to get over there and get out and about with my kids :D

[rain n neil]

I have 4 kids, ranging from 3-17. youngest was 10 mths when we arrived. there is so much to do here, its very family orientated and most of its free :)

Great post fish01

We have 5 kids ranging from 2 to 20!! What do ur older ones do to amuse themselves??? Our older ones are 17,19 and 20. Also where would be a good spot to live that isnt too far from places to go out for an evening; restaurants, bars/taverns yet not too far for work if working in IT/admin etc, in your opinion??

Thanku :-)

[fish.01]

We have 5 kids ranging from 2 to 20!! What do ur older ones do to amuse themselves??? Our older ones are 17,19 and 20. Also where would be a good spot to live that isnt too far from places to go out for an evening; restaurants, bars/taverns yet not too far for work if working in IT/admin etc, in your opinion??

Thanku :-)

My kids are young but I can take a stab at it. I think it depends how far away from the inner city you live. Older children out in the suburbs would tend to go to the large shopping malls, play sport, friends over to the house, camping/apartment holidays, drive to the Sunshine Coast/Gold Coast beaches, theme parks etc with a Fri/Sat night out in the city and then a long cab ride home or crash on friends floors closer to the city. Living away from the city can be very quiet and they have to make their own fun.

Inner city older children probably have more access to city facilities so while they would do a lot of the above I would imagine they also go to the inner city markets, inner city cafe districts, cultural districts etc more often than the suburban kids. I have noticed my nieces/nephews that live in the suburbs know surprisingly little about the inner city districts of Brisbane. Probably because it is such a PITA to travel all the way home to the suburbs only to turn around and attend something on a Wed night in the inner city. Having lived it I know how this can feel.

Choosing good active suburbs to live in is very budget dependent. The best of them can be very expensive so hard to narrow down for you without knowing more. Would you just like to know what I consider the best ones regardless of cost or do a budget specific search?

[rain n neil]

My kids are young but I can take a stab at it. I think it depends how far away from the inner city you live. Older children out in the suburbs would tend to go to the large shopping malls, play sport, friends over to the house, camping/apartment holidays, drive to the Sunshine Coast/Gold Coast beaches, theme parks etc with a Fri/Sat night out in the city and then a long cab ride home or crash on friends floors closer to the city. Living away from the city can be very quiet and they have to make their own fun.Inner city older children probably have more access to city facilities so while they would do a lot of the above I would imagine they also go to the inner city markets, inner city cafe districts, cultural districts etc more often than the suburban kids. I have noticed my nieces/nephews that live in the suburbs know surprisingly little about the inner city districts of Brisbane. Probably because it is such a PITA to travel all the way home to the suburbs only to turn around and attend something on a Wed night in the inner city. Having lived it I know how this can feel.Choosing good active suburbs to live in is very budget dependent. The best of them can be very expensive so hard to narrow down for you without knowing more. Would you just like to know what I consider the best ones regardless of cost or do a budget specific search?

Hi Fish and thanku for that great reply. Yes please tell me which suburbs you think are the best.....we are also looking at the Gold Coast, particularly Robina, We do need a very active suburb, would you say that the older ones would be ok living on the gold coast, enough for them to do?? Out partying, socialising etc or do you think its best to be nearer to Brissy??