Surburbia politica: Livin’ on the southside.

By Darragh|Blog|4 Comments

Since 2009, I’ve lived in the inner southern suburbs of Brisbane, transitioning between Dutton Park, Woolloongabba, and now Annerley. Before that I grew up and spent most of my life living in the inner north/inner western suburbs, in places such as Bardon, Ashgrove, Indooroopilly, Auchenflower and a few years out at Brookfield. Given that my father dabbled in property development, moving around a lot pretty much defined much of my life. Our family staying in one place for more than a few years was rare.

It did always seem strange that my parents never ventured outside of a western suburbs of Brisbane. Living south of the river just never seemed an option for our family. My father explained it to me once.

Me: “Dad, why don’t you ever think about living on the south side?”

Dad: “That’s where the bridge people live.”

Me: “The bridge people?”

Dad: “The people from the other side of the bridge.”

Some people might call it snobbish, and I had assumed that they thought living south of the river indicated some kind of different socio-economic status. I don’t thik I believe that anymore. I think it’s an Irish trait, and being drawn to the familiar.

However, I broke the pattern in 2009, moving in with my friend Andrew Weber and a few other exceptionally cool cats to a great little share house in Dutton Park. Since the construction of the green bridge a few years earlier, getting to the university was much easier. And since I pretty much lived at university back then, being as close as possible was extremely convenient.

Since then, I’ve never looked back. It soon became clear to me that the inner south is the best place to live in Brisbane. Why? Well there are a few reasons.

Firstly, the transport is miles ahead of the north and the west. When I lived at Woolloongabba, close to Park Road Station, gave me access to two train lines (Beenleigh and Cleveland) plus the busway. I could traverse to UQ as easily as getting to the city. I lived in close proximity to the main bike way that is nestled beside to the South East Freeway, and if I wanted to go north or south, I could easily get to the M3 or Clem Jones Tunnel. Compare that to a commute into the city from the western side of the city, which is the equivalent of being slowly lowered onto a wooden spike.

Secondly, retail infrastructure and access to this infrastructure is much better. There are a huge amount of options here. Garden City and Carindale if you want the large shopping experience, plus numerous smaller retail hubs. Fairfield Gardens, Cooparoo and Buranda are all five minutes drive away.

Thirdly, resturants and bars are much much better here. Getting a beer in Kenmore on a weekday night is a task, being limited to pretty much the Kenmore Tavern or drinking cask wine on the side of the street. Good value restaurants are everywhere as well, having the choice of West End or the Gabba or South Bank close to hand. You have also got Bulimba close to hand. North of the river, at least outside the CBD and Fortitude Valley and perhaps New Farm, I don’t think you can do better.

You know I always have a sinking feeling that posts like the one I’ve just written will annoy people. Trust me, it’s not my intention. So before you think ‘man, this is total bull’, I’d realise that other people have different priorities to me, and not so obsessed with catching public transport, going to shopping centres and getting drunk.

But I would be interested in hearing other people’s stories about why their particular pocket of Brisbane is good or bad. I haven’t ever lived in the east, nor really the north (apart froma stint in Burpengary when I was about two). I can think of one downside to my area – the perception that it is a wretched hive of villany worse than Mos Eisly spaceport. As someone who has recently had their house looted, I can only feel that there may be some truth that the perception.