item number 3454 writes...

Whats Brisbane like to raise a family ? I'm thinking of moving to Brisbane as I hear amazing things about it for young families..

Same as everywhere else. A family home in the burbs is still pretty affordable for a two income family. The problem may be the income or the total amount of it.

Brisbane isn't a big corporate job area. There are corporate jobs but they pay lower than the other cities and the career prospects are limited as there are not that many companies with head offices here. Competition for those jobs is also pretty high.

There is the local Qld culture to deal with, just as there is the local culture in NSW, VIC and everywhere else. Nepotism here is pretty high when it comes to hiring. If you are used to the Syd or Mel job market where you simply swim upstream faster than the next guy to land a role, you might find BNE a bit disappointing in that respect.

Brisbane also has a higher than average number of self-employed types here too. Probably because the job market is a little limiting people just have to get on and make their own work. So yes lots of trades but also ancilliary services like gardening, deliveries and collections etc. If you are self-employed already then moving to Brisbane will probably be a cake walk for you.

My experience is that although this is one of the big three it is very unlike the other two major cities. There isn't the same market for office work here, it's more of a DIY/Self starter town. The good news is that if you are a bit creative then there are plenty of niches for starting up something new here. If you move here be sure to be cashed up and can whether a long period of unemployment, it may or may not be necessary but don't expect the job market to be similar to Syd or Mel.

On the positive side, it's easy to get in and out of fairly quickly so going somewhere on weekend to get away from the city is easy and there are plenty of great places to visit within a 2hr drive of Brisbane. The housing stock here is pretty nice, lots of character homes still standing in big patches. Plenty of very pretty suburbs. It's leafy and green for a city of this size and well if you like it warm all year round this is the place to be. Heaps of parks, very outdoor active community, not too difficult to make friends here as most people are quite open.