Nudgee, QLD 4014

Cool little suburb, fast becoming known with the circa developments. I am in new Circa house, decent value for money around mid $500k. Quiet and out of the way, a bit of traffic during rush hour around gateway on ramps and St Vincents road (this will reduce when government fixes the Gateway motorway northbound bottlenecks), but not too bad and certainly no where near as bad as some other northern suburbs like Stafford. Pretty good location, I've worked all over Brisbane northside and its max 40 minutes to anywhere, and ive had as little as 15 minute commutes to Fortitude Valley, even at rush hour. I am a kiteboarder, so with Nudgee beach close its awesome for that, 10 minutes to sandgate, but if you hate traffic at night, go to Nudge for a sneaky session under the moon during Spring (DONT KITE IN THE RIVER MOUTH). Sure, the beach isnt a true beach, but its the best you'll get in Brisbane (Wynnum bayside is awful boggy gunk, at least sandgate/nudgee have soft black sand, and a million less people). Mosquitoes can be pretty bad here, you need to gear up for it (mossie screens, spray etc.), but thats only in the summer months really. Its close to some good shopping at DFO, and fantastic when your brother (or other family member) arrives at the airport at midnight (10 minutes to domestic drop off). There is definately no night life, but the train is close by (2 minute drive or 10-15 minute walk) and its 25 mins to the city. Banyo town is a bit dinky, but OK for milk/bread or beers, and Nundah/Toombul are 10 minutes drive away, with shopping centres and supermarkets. Avoid Childs road, its getting busier. St Vincents road eastern end is busy right now with construction traffic, but that will settle down once Circa is built (I would estimate end of 2013).

Haved lived here for 3 years in one of the new Circa Estates. Quite, friendly, close to trains, buses and Gtaeway Bridge. Nice parks and newer homes built built as we speak. I can only see Nudgee on the up as a great little place to bring up kids. Low crime rate, close to schools and public transport. 5 mins from the Beautiful Nudgee beach, who can boast having a beach on thier doorstep!!! The sea breezes in the afternoon are to die for. Great medical centre down the road at Bnayo open 7 days a week, dentist, coffee shops and at the back on Queens rd have horse stables..the kids will love it!!!!

If you can buy here, do it!!!

We've lived at Nudgee for over 26 years and wouldn't want to live anywhere else! At Nudgee you settle in and never want to leave.

Nudgee is one of those little secrets that is rapidly becoming not so secret anymore.
Close to the arterial, you are just under an hours drive to the Sunshine Coast and an hour to the Gold Coast. With the arterial you are only 10 -15 mins from Morningside, and the other South East Suburbs. Close to Nudgee and Virginia golf courses, 3 shopping centres, airport DFO, the bayside suburbs of Sandgate and Shorncliffe are 10 minutes drive and Redcliffe and Scarborough 20 mins.
Catholic University is in Nudgee and you also have state primary and secondary schools as well as private primary school.
For the walkers and bike riders there is the bike track to Nudgee Beach and to Kedron Park. the train line is excellent with only a 20 min trip to the CBD and the Shorncliffe line also has destinations to Southbank and Milton for those looking for entertainment and the footy.

Nudgee has lots for everyone and its still got that little bit of rural feel to it.

When I moved home from a decade living in the US and Europe I wanted access to the same facilities and quality of life that I had in the US, but for no money (yeah OK, I'm a public practice tax and SMSF accountant).

My wife wouldn't let us continue renting until the Australian residential real estate bubble burst, so with my had forced I looked for whatever value and downside protection I could find in Brisbane. There isn't much to be had but Banyo / Nudgee ticked the boxes, to the extent that's still possible.

Things I like about Banyo/Nudgee:

- Cheaper on a relative basis: Spending a pile of money on your non-deductible personal residence is financially brain-dead for most people.

- Zoning/town plan: Take a look at the zoning for Banyo/Nudgee on BCC's website. Apartment complexes are not allowed here outside of the Banyo town centre. Minimum lot size allowed is 405m2. I won't wake up tomorrow and find some developer erecting a three story multi-pack on my fenceline.

- Large lots: The old-school lots range from 607m2 to approx 1,500m2. So, if you're willing to write a cheque for $100-200k for a soup-to-nuts raise and refurb of the house then you'll end up with an as-new all singing-dancing 5BR, 3BA house on a large lot for approx $550-600k in a quiet and safe neighbourhood with access to facilities and close to the city. For a growing young family that's pretty attractive.

- Close to the bay: When I get off the train from the city the first thing I notice is the sea breeze, the drop in temperature, and the slight smell of sea air. Love it.

- Trains: I live approx 200m from the Nudgee train stop. It amazes me that I can buy a decent detached single family home on a larger lot that is 3mins walk from a train stop that is 25 mins from the city for less than $400k. In many other places in the world that would be unlikely. I think Brisbane-ites will slowly wake up to the value of good land with access to train lines over the next 10 years as the traffic gets worse. Don't worry about the house - you can write a cheque to a builder to make that whatever you want it to be. It's the land, location, and facilities that matter.

- Neighbourhood quality: It's a quite place. It's safe. It has plenty of parks and kiddie play facilities scattered through-out.

- The neighbourhood is changing: The town plan calls for most of the old peripheral industrial areas to be converted to new estates. I assume that means lumps of land such as the old QR maintenance yard. Take a walk around the neighbourhood and see all of the homes that are being raised and reno'd by new families as the original 1950's/60's owners turn up their toes.

- Access to other facilities:
- Golf courses: Almost walking distance to two golf courses: Virginia Golf Course and Nudgee Golf Course.
- Brisbane airport: Approx 10 mins from my driveway to the drop-off zone at the airport.
- Boat launch: A couple of miles down the road is the Kedron Brook boat launch. Straight out into the bay and access to Morten and Stradbroke islands.
- Nudgee beach: A couple of mins to Nudgee beach.
- Gateway motorway: A couple of mins to the Nudgee on/off ramps for the GW motorway - 25 mins to the Southside, about the same to Redcliffe.
- Bikepaths: miles and miles of bike paths - Boondall wetlands East-bound and Chermide etc West-bound.
- Catholic University is located here in Nudgee and St Joseph’s Nudgee College (private boys) is located just around the corner on Sandgate Rd. St Rita’s College (private girls) is a few mins in the other direction down Sandgate Rd heading toward the city.

Things that irritate me about Banyo/Nudgee:

- That Golden Circle cannery. You won't encounter the odour unless you live on top of the cannery - ie. in the SW corner of Banyo. The thing has apparently long been financially unstable - it's an obvious candidate to be converted to a new residential estate with the production moved to a facility elsewhere.

- No ADSL2 ! The local Nudgee Telstra exchange doesn't have an ASDL2 DSLAM. I'm stuck paying ADSL2 prices for 1.5Mbps ADSL1. Grrrr.

- Blue collar: No escaping it. Cheap means blue collar / immigrant. If it would bother you that your neighbour puts on a fluoro vest or Sari each morning and goes to work as a mechanic or helping BCC dig some more tunnels, then Banyo/Nudgee isn't for you.