4350

On the surface it seems to be a lovely, peaceful, quiet and clean little country town. And it is that. It has a lot of street appeal if you're looking for the country lifestyle.

There are very few public facilities and there is not a lot to do unless you're the horsey type. The PCYC is not open on weekends, there is a cinema but new releases are a few weeks behind the bigger towns, public transport is non-existent (although you can just walk most places), the town pool is not open to the general public during school hours.

Housing prices are overpriced given the lack of facilities (no universities, shopping centres, major healthcare facilities. The roads leading in and out are in a terrible state of repair. Rental properties are almost non-existent.

The hospital is sadly lacking although there are great doctors at the local medical centre. The hospital itself seems to get mainly the just graduated doctors on their rural placements sparingly supervised by the local senior doctors. It would be nice to say that they do the best with what they've got but sadly some of the nursing staff let them down there too.

It is billed as the friendliest town in Queensland but thats only if you've been born & bred here for 10 generations. People can be friendly on the surface but thats as far as it goes. It would probably be a nice place to raise a regular 2.5 children picket fence type family as there are numerous parks and sporting clubs. Cultural activities are pretty thin on the ground although they do attempt it from time to time.

Crime is on the increase with vehicle theft and home break & enter seeming to be the typical crime of choice.

If you're not too fussy, want a nice slow quiet pace of life and dont have high expectations then Goondiwindi would probably be a nice place to live. Just dont expect too much.

Toowoomba is a beautiful, clean and green place to live and looks great on the surface.

I lived in the area 20 years ago and have recently returned and not much has changed, except for the friendliness, helpfulness and general warm country, neighbourly spirit. Toowoomba is very 'cliquey' and incredibly hard to make headway into. Unless you already have family or friends here I would suggest trying somewhere just that little bit smaller. Toowoomba has grown a lot over the years and in its effort to compete with the bigger cities it has lost its charm.

Great hospital and education facilities in Toowoomba. Shopping is not great but a day trip to Brisbane is easy and only about an hour & a half away. In terms of modern shops or staying up with the 'fashions' (if thats your thing) you wont find it in Toowoomba. They have only just started Sunday trading here and apparently its not going too well so according to local shop owners it may not be a long term prospect. There are a number of house & gardening furnishing retail outlets with a slightly smaller range than those in the major cities but I'm sure you could have it ordered in. Delivery fees are quite expensive considering the short distances they have to travel.

Toowoomba is trying hard to be more cosmopolitan and there are plenty of cafes and pubs and a few select nice restaurants. If you are a casual 'steak & beer' type person there are plenty of options. Not too many options if you like something a bit more ethnic such as authentic thai, korean, japanese, turkish or greek. A few standard Aussie-fied chinese type places. Oh yes, and its hard to get a good coffee in Toowoomba. There is a few lovely cafes but you have to kiss a lot of toads before you find your prince (figuratively speaking).

Public transport is absolutely appalling in Toowoomba. Buses run once an hour and the last service as just before 6pm so bad luck if you're working overtime. There is also a limited Saturday service and nothing at all on Sunday. Parking isnt too bad because sometimes driving is the only option.

The most well known thing about Toowoomba is, for Queensland, it's really really really cold. Did I say really?? I meant REALLY. Summer is much nicer but anything after about May is not pleasant at all. If you can fly north for June and July and some of August, do it.

I would say the worst thing, for my family at least, is the people. Really unfriendly which was quite unexpected. You would be hard pressed to raise a smile from most people on the street. Of course there is always exceptions to the rule but I find this the most disappointing aspect of Toowoomba life. It almost goes back to the old days of having to be born & bred in the area (which is strange cos I'm not that far removed from that. My grandfather was a shearer & stock agent in this general region most of his life).