Hi, we're new! Looking to narrow down a location :-)

Hi all, I'm a PIA virgin, and this is my first post!- So please be kind :-)

We are a young-ish family consisting of Mum, Dad and two amazing/active school aged boys.

We are looking to make the leap to to Oz in the next 12-18 months. We have booked flights to Adelaide for March for 3 weeks in a hope we can narrow down where is the best place to live.

We're looking for tips and recommendations on where we should stay on our pre-visit and what areas we should visit/investigate whilst we are there (?).

Just to give you a bit of background, I'm a children's nursery manager and hubby works in IT/Telecoms. We do not want to be in the city, but good commuting distance is a must. We need good school links both Primary and High school.

We currently live in the midlands in the UK (its a 2 hours drive to the sea) I have this dream of living by the sea.

Hit me with your recommendations peeps!

Thank you

Welcome to the forum Lydia. If you haven't already booked somewhere to stay next March you might want to get on with it as that is one of the busy times in Adelaide as there is lots going on in March. As for places to stay somewhere in or around the edge of the city would be good as it's central for getting out and exploring and you would be walking distance to a lot of the things going off then. Alternatively anywhere near the beach from Semaphore right down to Port Noarlunga, or even Aldinga, would be fine. The only thing about staying further south is it would be more difficult to explore the North Eastern areas, which are well worth a look.

As far as looking at potential areas to live I would have a good look round everywhere rather than restricting yourself to any particular area. What works for one person doesn't always work for another. Pretty much everywhere here is closer to the beach than where you are now so a lot will depend on whether you want to be right by a beach or if you prefer somewhere a bit more leafy or hilly. Budget will also play a factor. I would start by considering budget and looking at property on realestate.com.au and rule out anywhere too expensive (look at property to buy as well as rent). No point in falling in love with an area that you can't afford to live in. Then keep an open mind and go exploring.

Hello :-) thanks for this, Its certainly got me thinking that we need to get our skates on with booking accommodation!

I've just had a look on the real estate (whilst waiting for my post to go on), and I think you are right about working on property/area prices as this is likely to be a starting point for us, along with employment & schools. (still got our hearts set on beach locations but and for the right home we could be a short drive away). Wish we could fast forward to March and get over there and see things first hand... but for now I need to get searching for some where to stay for our pre-visit....decisions decisions.... :-)

Most of the IT jobs are close to the CBD so if you want to be near the seaside I'd consider Semaphore down to Brighton for more expensive city beach suburbs. Further down, Hallett Cove is a good choice for being near the sea with good commuter links to the city (train) and is a bit cheaper. Seaford and Moana also benefit from the sea and still being close to the train links or the Southern Expressway if you drive though the commute does start to get quite long then. We live in McLaren Vale which is semi rural, 5 mins drive to the beach and and it takes me around 45 minutes to drive to work just outside of the CBD. NicF is right in that if you live down south, you do miss out on what the north has to offer but if you want beach, the reality is, the south is the way to go.

I'd still consider Aldinga a bit too far out if you want to commute into the CBD every day but I know some people at work who come from even further again.

Hello :-) thanks for this, Its certainly got me thinking that we need to get our skates on with booking accommodation!

 

I've just had a look on the real estate (whilst waiting for my post to go on), and I think you are right about working on property/area prices as this is likely to be a starting point for us, along with employment & schools. (still got our hearts set on beach locations but and for the right home we could be a short drive away). Wish we could fast forward to March and get over there and see things first hand... but for now I need to get searching for some where to stay for our pre-visit....decisions decisions.... :-)

Just something to take into account when looking on realestate.com.au, you will have to pay stamp duty on top of the sale price...have a look at this website for more information....

https://www.reisa.com.au/publicinfo/stamp-duty

Thanks for this Zebedee- really helpful :-))

Oh yes- thanks Jessica! hadnt even thought about stamp duty! booo! abit more out the pot! lol

I'd look for a holiday rental in or around the city so you can have ease of access to all that will be going on then plus able to head out further when you want. Or stay further out in a beach suburb and travel in for the festival stuff and CBD things. I personally loved staying in the CBD for a few weeks and travelling elsewhere when we wanted. Also don't need a car for things in the CBD area as buses, trams and so on are great for getting around and can walk lots of places with ease too.

As for where to settle in the long term when you do make the move, much will depend on budget and commute. That will probably narrow down your options to give you a range of options from beach suburbs to more inland. One thing to keep in mind is what a 'short drive' to the beach is for you. Even if you live in a beach suburb you probably won't be living beachfront or within a few streets walking distance and so it could be a 5-10 minute drive to the beach from your house by the time you've loaded kids into the car, waited at lights or something and parked up and all that. There are plenty of suburbs that are not actual beach ones with the same sort of drive time plus a few minutes. Personally we were not fussed about living in a beach suburb, we went more inland and are still only 10-15 minutes drive to beaches from out house. As Zebedee said, you can be somewhere that is not a beach suburb but have a short drive to one, depending on the area. McLaren Vale is a lovely town and I always enjoy visiting there. We did consider buying there but ruled it out due to certain aspects of our life that we felt needed to see us base ourselves closer to Adelaide. But we gave it serious thought and did look at houses down there.

Places like Henley Beach, Brighton and Glenelg have state schools at both primary and high school level that are well spoken about and in demand but those areas also have a higher price tag and so while a rental may be affordable, to buy there may not be. Beach wise you also have Semaphore and a few other places further west and north a bit from Henley and Glenelg etc.

Thanks Snifter- Im happy with a short drive to the beach :-) I guess as we live in the midlands here (so over a two hour drive to the beach), a 10 minute drive would be lovely. Im guessing as hubby works in IT he will end up working in the CBD, so the daily commute needs to be a major factor.... Ive taken the advise of others and had a look on the real estate sites for ideas on property prices- with the maps... As for staying in the CBD- maybe you have a point with a good base for travelling about. Thanks :-)

There are some great beach suburbs down south. The ones mentioned...Aldinga, Moana and Seaford plus Hallett Cove on the other side.

The ones in the middle are Port Noarlunga and Christies and the link to the southern expressway means that the travel time to the CBD is just a few minutes more than Hallett Cove.

Hallett Cove is a very popular suburb for new migrants. The only downside to Hallett Cove is the walkability and the pebble beach but the conservation area is a wonderful part of the coastline.

Port Noarlunga has a protected beach...a natural reef, the jetty, surfing and marine conservation area (scuba)....a small village with a pub, fish and chips, restaurants, a post office etc. I live here...I am of course biased!

I lived in Old Reynella for 6 months...about 15 to 20 minutes from my local dog beach and local swimming beach. The number of times that we went to the beach during those months was minimal...although 15 minutes away it just made the trip offputting...a time obstacle. We did compensate by exploring the local area and walking part of the coast and vines track though so it wasn't like we did nothing!

Wherever you decide book somewhere early enough as the time of year that you arrive is called "Mad March

Have a look on google maps and type in your proposed location and your destination as being the Adelaide CBD. It's quite a surprise that many suburbs like Semaphore and Brighton still have a commute time well above 20 minutes. There's a circle of traffic that surrounds the city so that people like me get to within 8km of the city quite quickly and then spend the rest of the commute in this time consuming traffic.

Here are some examples from Google maps:

Semaphore: 2 routes

Brighton: 2 routes

A few minutes extra commute for me but only 2 minutes from Port Noarlunga and Christies Beach. It's all about balance.