Juggling work, commuting, school, childcare drop offs/pick ups can be a challenge. We live it as well. I think a short commute is often key as it opens up options that you do not have as your day and the commute gets longer.
One suggestion would be the Holland Park West/Mt Gravatt (West)/Tarragindi area. If you look at this
map link you will see a big forest at the bottom of the map named Toohey Forest. In the middle of the map you can see the south east freeway (M3) dissect the forest running south/north into the CBD. Tarragindi is on the left of the freeway above the forest and Holland Park West (and Mt Gravatt) is to the right of the freeway. Note the section of Toohey Forest to the right of the freeway contains a griffith university campus and mt gravatt mountain and lookout. Notice that Greenslopes is a neighbouring suburb just near the top of the map.
I like both these areas as they are old established suburbs with some pockets being very green with lovely trees, specially the streets closer to Toohey Forest. Tarragindi in particular.
They have been traditional good Brisbane family suburbs for many decades. The bonus is that they are very close to Greenslopes, have good access to local state and private schools plus the top private schools in inner Brisbane if required.
They are only around 7km from the CBD so quite easy to access all the sporting/cultural/event activities of inner Brisbane.
Holland Park State High claims the following on their website so may be an option:
"Our Year 12 results were significantly better than all other state and non state schools in the area, and were the best in the whole of the Metropolitan Region of Greater Brisbane state schools.In fact, we are among the top 20 mainstream public and private schools in the state!"
(
http://www.hollparkshs.eq.edu.au/schoolreports/Annual.pdf)
There are numerous other high school options in the area for example Clairvaux MacKillop, St Laurences, Villanova etc.
For childcare I would start with a C&K centre as they are usually the best. Only some do long day care (the others are only part time) - the one at Mt Gravatt West does do long day care. I would consider putting your child's name down now for next year if you work out where you are going to live.
http://mtgravattwest.candk.asn.au/Home.aspx
A busway runs down the side of the south east freeway which has its own separate road with a stop at Greenslopes. Buses from Tarragindi/Holland Park West/Mt Gravatt go onto this busway and past Greenslopes and would only take 10 minutes or less. It is a 10 minute walk from the busway stop to greenslopes private hospital (with is the major employer in the suburb) and I believe there is also a free shuttle bus from the hospital to the busway every 15 minutes (needs confirmation). The other good thing about the buses is that they feel a lot safer for late night trips than the trains do. The busway stops soon after at the Mater hospital as well for those that work there.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F0%2F0b%2FGreenslopes_busway_station.jpg%2F800px-Greenslopes_busway_station.jpg&hash=76453a87746d97ee106f2cc31d2be6d3)
(Image: Greenslopes Busway stop)
Your boys and you could use the mountain biking, walking and picnic facilities of nearby Toohey forest and then use the busway for a quick painless trip into beach at Southbank on the weekend. As your boys get older they will have easy access to Brisbane to keep them engaged and happy. You also have great access to the motorway to travel south to the beaches of the Gold Coast as you are right next to the M3 which joins the M1 heading south.
Toohey Forest Track Map
One downside of this area for some it is in a zone where the houses are often neither the beautiful queenslanders of inner Brisbane or modern brick and tile but rather post war weatherboard and tile. Many of these homes have been renovated nicely to modernise them and they also don't attract quite the premium price some others do so you can often find more affordable homes in a close to the city location for those that put location above house size/type.
This of course is only one suggestion and you have many other options depending on your preferences.
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