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Deciding · 24 December 2025 · 5 min read

Why people move to Brisbane — and the honest downsides

Weather, space, jobs, the 2032 Games, and the things locals will tell you over a beer.

The case for

Space, warmth, and a genuinely shorter commute than the southern capitals. A family home with a yard and a pool is still achievable within ten kilometres of the CBD in a way it simply is not in Sydney. Add a strong health and education sector, a decade of infrastructure spending ahead of the 2032 Games, and a river city that has finally started acting like one.

The honest downsides

Summer humidity is harder than visitors expect. Public transport is thinner than Melbourne's, so most households need two cars. Flood and storm risk is real and must be researched street by street. And Brisbane is no longer cheap — the price growth of the past five years has removed the easy bargain.

Narrow it down to a handful of suburbs