I used to. Happy to answer any q's.

express-ish train 35m to central. every 15 mins I think during peak hr.
Upside - always get seat in morn, as end of line (shorncliffe)

Very quiet - can hear train some nights from near bridge @ brighton.

Safe - generally very nice area although some bits of deagon & brighton are bit rougher.
There are a few old man boarding houses for the old alky TAB brigade but that's about the worst of it.
we rarely locked doors though.
Always could tell as soon as you got "over the bridge" a lot of clontarf/woody pt/margate/kippa ring quite rough in comparison.

After living there for a while could never go back to bris suburb - felt hemmed in without the bay there and you're straight into 2 & 3 lanes of traffic to get anywhere. Feels good to get round bayside with minimal lights/traffic on weekends.

You probly know it's a great spot for kiting - I got pretty picky / antisocial at the end, I'd just go rig straight out from my street, on the last islands on the rising tide, self launch and ride the sweet sweet super flat shallows at full tilt.

What Dave said. Great place though a little geriatric, young families are moving in. It's not the kind of beach you'd go swimming in, as it's not appealing given the silt / mud flats but good for fishing, kiting and sailing etc.

I bought a house there 5 years ago and it has barely moved in value though maybe finally turned a corner and on the rise. Rent is pretty cheap. Schools are supposed to be good and St Patricks is pretty well regarded for boys (there was a freak stabbing there 3-4 years ago).

I'd do it, the Sunshine coast is 45mins away!

Thanks Gents, really appreciate the responses.

Might have to give the unit in Kangaroo point the flick!

good winds!

Hardcarve1 said..
Lived in the area for 23 years and if you like the water its a great place to live. It does not have mud you need to go to the southern bay for that and I swim in the water when the wind is calm.
I work at Bown Hills and ride my electric bike to work or catch the train but driving the car is OK with a 20 -30 minute commute. House prices are reasonable and not inflated compared to some suburbs. I own two houses in the area with one having massive returns and the other is nothing great but that's more to do with when I purchased them.
I found the area when it was nice and sleepy and its starting to get a bit busy now with more families moving in. Unfortunately the kite numbers are now a bit over the top and you need to move to a quiet area alone the foreshore to get away from the crowds but their is plenty of space for a few more years.

Yep it's silty brown sand which gets all over you and your gear, but there's no mud at least.

Houses - all to do with timing, my first did great but 2nd not so much. All to do with timing I think.

One hazard - as you say lots of oldies. They are mostly great, the ones around us were generally very cool & kept an eye on our house if not there, but they do like mowing the lawns. A lot. Like every time they grow 1cm. And it's mow -> whipper -> hedge trimmer -> blower every single time - that did get a bit annoying.

Yep it's a great place to learn self launch/land and thankfully no one goes in the middle... yet. Always surprised me with a pack of 30 kiters 1km in each direction and me, all by myself having a great time not looking over my shoulder.

One more piece of advice, try to be near the water, if you're too far away you might as well live somewhere else.

Loftywinds said..

kiteboy dave said..
I used to. Happy to answer any q's.

express-ish train 35m to central. every 15 mins I think during peak hr.
Upside - always get seat in morn, as end of line (shorncliffe)

Very quiet - can hear train some nights from near bridge @ brighton.

Safe - generally very nice area although some bits of deagon & brighton are bit rougher.
There are a few old man boarding houses for the old alky TAB brigade but that's about the worst of it.
we rarely locked doors though.
Always could tell as soon as you got "over the bridge" a lot of clontarf/woody pt/margate/kippa ring quite rough in comparison.

After living there for a while could never go back to bris suburb - felt hemmed in without the bay there and you're straight into 2 & 3 lanes of traffic to get anywhere. Feels good to get round bayside with minimal lights/traffic on weekends.

You probly know it's a great spot for kiting - I got pretty picky / antisocial at the end, I'd just go rig straight out from my street, on the last islands on the rising tide, self launch and ride the sweet sweet super flat shallows at full tilt.

Translation for us more "refined" members of society ...

"express-ish" - Express train service
"as end of line (shorncliffe)" - ??? I think it means Redcliffe?
"old alky TAB brigade" - pensioners
"a lot of clontarf/woody pt/margate/kippa ring" - poor people, on welfare? Not sure here
"felt hemmed" - felt claustrophobic
"I got pretty picky / antisocial at the end, I'd just go rig straight out from my street, on the last islands on the rising tide, self launch and ride the sweet sweet super flat shallows at full tilt." - AHHH.... something about being fully lit!!?

OK I'm going to take that as attempted humour rather than being a pr!ck for no particular reason. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt & holding my tongue.

For those struggling to follow:

Express-ish = it skips 4 stations, then another 2. or something like that - I didn't commute every day my wife did. So it barely rates being called "express", but it's marginally better than stopping at every single station.

The end of the Shorncliffe line is Shorncliffe station at Shorncliffe. If you get on the Shorncliffe line train at Shorncliffe station in the suburb of Shorncliffe you'll get a seat because that's where the Shornecliffe train terminates.

"Old alky TAB brigade" = those sad old pensioners who fill their days hanging outside the TAB smoking 1mm diameter rollies and making a pot of beer last an hour.

clontarf/woody pt/margate/kippa ring are none too salubrious suburbs.

"hemmed in" it's a fairly standard phrase if you made it through school.

and thanks again for everyone's input.

Great to get no bias feedback as i don't know anyone living in the area.

cheers

harlie said..

kiteboy dave said..
....
One more piece of advice, try to be near the water, if you're too far away you might as well live somewhere else.

Agree - I live at Manly - IMO, if you can't walk to the water in 3 minutes you might as well be in near the city to cut the commute.

Agree, I rig up in my front yard and have all the nice things like garden hose, electric pump and kite bitch to launch and land, last Saturday I went up to the pool for the first time in years and suffered not only driving to the spot but having no hose to wash down. If your not in the avenues you need to be on Flinders or its a hassle. I sound like a kite snob.
But honestly I could never live away from the water now and how people can live in the city is beyond me having grown up in the busses and concrete but each to their own.

harlie said..

kiteboy dave said..
....
One more piece of advice, try to be near the water, if you're too far away you might as well live somewhere else.

Agree - I live at Manly - IMO, if you can't walk to the water in 3 minutes you might as well be in near the city to cut the commute.

You guys didn't say if you're buying or renting - but based on experience try for the green bit, else the orange bit is still <3 mins walk, if can't find anything in that zone then as close to orange bit as possible.

Sandgate end is too busy - avoid 2nd to 6th ave altho 1st is a quiet pocket.

kiteboy dave said..

Loftywinds said..

kiteboy dave said..
I used to. Happy to answer any q's.

express-ish train 35m to central. every 15 mins I think during peak hr.
Upside - always get seat in morn, as end of line (shorncliffe)

Very quiet - can hear train some nights from near bridge @ brighton.

Safe - generally very nice area although some bits of deagon & brighton are bit rougher.
There are a few old man boarding houses for the old alky TAB brigade but that's about the worst of it.
we rarely locked doors though.
Always could tell as soon as you got "over the bridge" a lot of clontarf/woody pt/margate/kippa ring quite rough in comparison.

After living there for a while could never go back to bris suburb - felt hemmed in without the bay there and you're straight into 2 & 3 lanes of traffic to get anywhere. Feels good to get round bayside with minimal lights/traffic on weekends.

You probly know it's a great spot for kiting - I got pretty picky / antisocial at the end, I'd just go rig straight out from my street, on the last islands on the rising tide, self launch and ride the sweet sweet super flat shallows at full tilt.

Translation for us more "refined" members of society ...

"express-ish" - Express train service
"as end of line (shorncliffe)" - ??? I think it means Redcliffe?
"old alky TAB brigade" - pensioners
"a lot of clontarf/woody pt/margate/kippa ring" - poor people, on welfare? Not sure here
"felt hemmed" - felt claustrophobic
"I got pretty picky / antisocial at the end, I'd just go rig straight out from my street, on the last islands on the rising tide, self launch and ride the sweet sweet super flat shallows at full tilt." - AHHH.... something about being fully lit!!?

OK I'm going to take that as attempted humour rather than being a pr!ck for no particular reason. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt & holding my tongue.

For those struggling to follow:

Express-ish = it skips 4 stations, then another 2. or something like that - I didn't commute every day my wife did. So it barely rates being called "express", but it's marginally better than stopping at every single station.

The end of the Shorncliffe line is Shorncliffe station at Shorncliffe. If you get on the Shorncliffe line train at Shorncliffe station in the suburb of Shorncliffe you'll get a seat because that's where the Shornecliffe train terminates.

"Old alky TAB brigade" = those sad old pensioners who fill their days hanging outside the TAB smoking 1mm diameter rollies and making a pot of beer last an hour.

clontarf/woody pt/margate/kippa ring are none too salubrious suburbs.

"hemmed in" it's a fairly standard phrase if you made it through school.

LOL.. great come back. Yeah I was just teasing ya. ;)

hi Odkite, thinking of doing the same thing.

Looking at an old house on a double black to knock down and build 2 houses.

Think we might rent first too sus the area tho.

cheers

On the plus side H.C you can build up block to get house higher, better view/breezes.

East of beaconsfield is gold but you pay.

North road is busy &up a hill, you'll end up driving to water.

We first rented in Griffith . Awesome pocket around Clayton st , Perkins etc. Walk to restaurants, walk to pool to Kite.