Brisbane’s inner-western suburbs have so much to offer. It’s a vibrant area with trendy suburbs, inner-city convenience and beautiful parklands which we all love. It’s not surprising then, that many of these suburbs are growing at a rapid pace as more and more people want to call our wonderful area, home.
In the last few years, we have seen substantial development throughout Toowong, primarily around the Toowong Village area. The recently completed apartments at ‘38 High Street’ and ‘Alto Apartments’ have added 290 units to the area and work will soon be underway to redevelop the Stockland site. The approved plans will deliver a further three 25-storey towers directly across the road and will include a new dining and retail precinct.
Artist impression Stockland Toowong. Image credit: Stockland.com.au
Whilst the growth of Toowong will bring new business and opportunities, there are concerns over the traffic volume it may add to an already congested Coronation Drive and Milton Road.
The culture of St Lucia, Taringa and Toowong are also enhanced by the large young and professional demographic who are drawn to the third best university in Australia, The University of Queensland. Student accommodation can be challenging but the Brisbane City Council is determined to make Brisbane an international student education hub and with plans for ‘Scape’ the latest student accommodation facility at 611 Coronation Drive, Toowong.
The Brisbane City Council estimates that by 2041, Brisbane will need to cater for an additional 386,000 residents, which is more than 1300 people moving to our city each month. We know that our inner-western suburbs are increasingly sought-after, so how do we manage this growth effectively whilst preserving the lifestyle of Toowong, Taringa, Indooroopilly and St Lucia that we adore?
At the moment, the Brisbane City Council is encouraging all of us to have our say in shaping the future of our inner-western suburbs. In St Lucia on Monday the 19th March, they will be hosting an event at UQ where you can participate in the discussion of some important choices the city will need to make. The Brisbane City Council has posed the following considerations for locals, which provokes a necessary discussion about trade-offs and priorities:
Affordability. How can we make sure housing is affordable for everyone when demand is high and space is limited?
Lifestyle. As our city grows, how do we keep it liveable and friendly, while creating new lifestyle and leisure opportunities?
Transport. How do we make getting around Brisbane easier, not harder, as more people choose to live here?
Greenspace. How can we create greenspace and leisure areas to cater for more people with limited land?
There are so many reasons we all love inner-western Brisbane and it’s for those reasons why we originally moved here. As others do the same, we want to make sure the growth of our community is well managed for future generations to enjoy as much as we do today.
Image credit: Brisbane City Council
Population source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015
Median house price source: Corelogic, Nov 2017