What is Rockhampton like to live in?

[terravista]

I have a daughter (single) who may be heading that way to teach High School, and she will be looking for a rental until she settles, then probably buy a house on a few acres so the horses can roam with the buffaloes, or crocodiles or something.
Does anyone have an idea of any parts of town that should be avoided due to Boganism or the like?
She has had a friend that said she should live outside town, and by outside she said about 300km outside. Others have said it's fine pretty much anywhere. Like most places it probably has a good and bad side. Just as Australia has a good side, and Victoria.
It is often a good guide to look at high levels of graffiti, an abundance of security screens, old broken down Commodores collecting grime in the driveways but that is far from perfect.
She is flying up for a look around the place for a weekend, but it would be easier to find out before she gets there what areas to avoid to save time.
Cheers
Ian

[poidda]

What part of Rocky will she be working?  ie, What school?  I grew up there.  And where is she moving from?  ie, will a 30 minute commute to work be annoying, because if not, head to the coast.

[Reddirtroaming]

We are locals.

Great place to live. It has everything you need but Brisbane & Townsville are only an hour flight away to get out of town. Yeppoon & Emu Park are only a half an hour drive to the beaches.

Avoid Depot Hill & most of the south side except the Range. North side is mostly okay but you be picky around Park Avenue & Lakes Creek. Parkhurst is nice & quiet.

Traffic is good. Gets busy around peak hour, but nothing compared to city's. Gracemere is about 10-15 mins from town & has plenty of rural blocks. New shopping centre out there to.

Really depends on how far she wants to drive each day. Lots of rural blocks between Rocky & Yeppoon as well.

[terravista]

What part of Rocky will she be working?  ie, What school?  I grew up there.  And where is she moving from?  ie, will a 30 minute commute to work be annoying, because if not, head to the coast.

Thanks.
I don't know the name of the establishment but it is a Private non religious based place, and apparently there is a Private Girl School across the road, but that may not help.
She has been commuting a half hour country drive for the last couple of years and doesn't mind going longer as long as it isn't in heavy traffic.
Cheers

[krisandkev]

I worked there for several years and then our son went to uni there and he then worked until 2 years ago there.  He meet his wife there and she was a school teacher at North Rocky.  She has some interesting stories, but I think they may be similar stories to other schools.  But she did seem to have some interesting and challenging times. 
Rocky can get hot in summer and it does have its fair share of crime issues, but it is a city.   When I lived there I loved it. Lived at Gracemere for a while and that is not a bad place to live, or just north of Rocky you will find some very nice estates.   Kevin

[tracker]

I have a daughter (single) who may be heading that way to teach High School, and she will be looking for a rental until she settles, then probably buy a house on a few acres so the horses can roam with the buffaloes, or crocodiles or something.
Does anyone have an idea of any parts of town that should be avoided due to Boganism or the like?
She has had a friend that said she should live outside town, and by outside she said about 300km outside. Others have said it's fine pretty much anywhere. Like most places it probably has a good and bad side. Just as Australia has a good side, and Victoria.
It is often a good guide to look at high levels of graffiti, an abundance of security screens, old broken down Commodores collecting grime in the driveways but that is far from perfect.
She is flying up for a look around the place for a weekend, but it would be easier to find out before she gets there what areas to avoid to save time.
Cheers
Ian

           I have a brother that lives there and we visit from time to time and we find theres not much to do in the way of outings ect. It's a inland city where cows get on fine....I'll ask him where he thinks is the better places to settle in Rocky.     
                                   Cheers Tracker.

[Reddirtroaming]

Thanks.
I don't know the name of the establishment but it is a Private non religious based place, and apparently there is a Private Girl School across the road, but that may not help.
She has been commuting a half hour country drive for the last couple of years and doesn't mind going longer as long as it isn't in heavy traffic.
Cheers

Sounds like a Rocky Grammar School where both Mat & I went to boarding school. Great school. It's on the south side on the Range. Lots of flash houses nearby.

Sometimes it does seem like there is not much to do around town but it is a great base to explore the area on weekends. Heaps of beaches, chalets up at Byfield, heaps of markets etc. All the major big pubs & nightclubs are on the south side so those areas are worse for crime & noise.

[terravista]

Thanks for the help so far guys.
She is more into archery than partying, so avoiding the typical noisy pubs and clubs won't be a problem, and the temperature shouldn't cause hassels as she was out west Qld for the first 3 years of teaching.
Although it is probably more humid near the coast.
Cheers

[brickiematt]

Like most places it probably has a good and bad side. Just as Australia has a good side, and Victoria.

Oi! Them there are fightin' words........

[terravista]

Oi! Them there are fightin' words........

Now you are showing some paranoid tendencies. Are you assuming I meant Victoria was not as good as the rest of Oz???

[MattNQ]

North Rocky side is better - Frenchville &  Norman Gardens have some nice areas, also some new estates on the eastern side of the Uni .

Yeppoon beats them all of course, but I am slightly biased having grown up there. 

[Elky]

Yea I went to uni there in the early 90's, I lived at ramblers caravan park (long gone) on the north side across the road from the shopping centre, I spent quite a bit of time riding my mountain bike around the district, not a bad place but I felt isolated there, first time away from home didn't help either. I seem to remember there were some parts on the south side that were a bit run down, most of the northside was nice,  I liked the properties that bordered the range, spent quite a bit of time sitting on the watertank overlooking the town at night in that area.

Would I live there again? Prolly not but if I was offered good enough pay maybe!

Cheers

[Symon]

I did university in Rockhampton, so was there for four years.  I hated it - you literally bake in summer, there is no wind, just hot stinking air and an unrelenting sun.  Yeppoon is nice but overpriced for what it is, Gracemere is probably where I would look to live if I *had* to live up there again.

As far as crime goes it's the worst in the old areas on the southside, however some of the places around Glenmore and Kawana used to get pretty bad as well.

[Spada]

I did a 2 year stint there for a work posting a tickle over 10 years ago. The first 12 months of that we lived in Yeppoon and commuted to Rocky each day for work. I really enjoyed Yeppoon as it was on the water, and close to some great weekend escapes (Byfield, Keppel, fishing, beach, resorts etc). I found the climate to be a bit more comfortable in Yeppoon than Rocky. The daily commute to Rocky was about 40km ant took about half an hour.

The second 12 months we lived in Parkhurst on the North side of Rocky. It is a suburb of mostly 1 acre blocks and was a pleasant place to live. I found it hotter in summer, and colder in winter (compared to Yeppoon), and the commute from there to town was about 15 to 20 minutes. I've lived in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Rockhampton & Mackay for mostly 2 year stints while in my old job, and In my opinion Rocky was no worse of a place to live than any where else from a crime point of view, just do your research and chose the right area to live. From a lifestyle point of view, I found Rocky to be a bit isolated. Sure, there is some good stuff around the area, but not as much as other bigger places.

Just my 2c. I didn't mind it as a place to live and enjoyed my time there, but it's been 0ver 10 years since we left, so probably cant offer good advice about what it's like now.

Try some of the real estate websites and look at the house / rental market. That should give an indication of the type of homes in different suburbs, and the prices should indicate the type of demographic (dearer prices suggest more affluent area, cheaper prices suggest the area my be a little rougher).

[RWW]

Hot!

I grew up there until the age of 16, had to join the Army to get out of there 

It's a nice city, but can't really comment as I haven't lived there for over 35 years.

[Ynot]

I like Rocky, we moved down from Blackwater (just out of Rocky) about 5 years ago but we only just sold our house on The Range last year. We overlooked the Cathedral College and close to the Grammer Schools.

I would look to The Range and parts of Wondal then Frenchville. We had a house at one point in Norman Gardens but I didn't like that suburb too much.

Gracemere probably isn't too bad either.


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[rockygu4.8]

We live in Parkhurst and love it here very quiet never had any problems. We feel very safe here. Rocky is a big country town it's got everything we need beats the big smoke.

[Garfish]

I did university in Rockhampton, so was there for four years.  I hated it - you literally bake in summer, there is no wind, just hot stinking air and an unrelenting sun.  Yeppoon is nice but overpriced for what it is, Gracemere is probably where I would look to live if I *had* to live up there again.

X2.

But being inland I found it more of a dry heat.   

Again like Symon, if I had to live there again ( salary would need to be double current to think about it).  Would look to live out of town.
Also found theft was bad around the bulls balls....

[UIZ733]

Lived there for nearly six years and it was an excellent place to live. Can be a bit hot, however the 'Winter' is beautiful. Lots to do. People are very nice. Education facilities/schools are excellent. I disagree with some opinions about living on the South-side. There are some areas on the South-side that have problems, however no more than any other in my opinion? We lived on the South-side and loved it.
When we told people we were thinking of going to Rocky, we got a lot of negative vibes..........FROM QUEENSLANDERS. Most of the negativity came from  people who had never lived there. I am very pleased to say they were ALL WRONG.
She will enjoy her time there.

[neilsk]

Hey

I currently live in Gracemere about a 10 km highway trip into gracemere and about 10 minutes from the grammar schools.

Ive been in Rocky for over 10 years now. Nice places are Gracemere(biased), Wandal\Range (southside), top end of Norman gardens, Glenlee and a couple of the estates.

In saying that ive been all over rocky and had no problems anywhere. Glenmore, Berseker,Wandal, gracemere etc

[duggie]

I lived and worked in and around Rocky for a while, I did not mind the town it is like been in a big country town .

Depot Hill is Bogan central, Glenmore has shopping center and is close to the uni and schools , Frenchville is a bit of a Yuppy area, Allenstown is not a bad area also has a nice shopping center.

Parkhurst and on the northern approach is fairly new, nice area.  Gracemere  on the southern side of town is also a nice area.

But like all big towns in Australia, there are parts of town that have drug issues, a bit of crime, and racial issues.

[Crimso]

I've driven through a couple of times. Instead of statues of kings on horses or soldiers etc., they have statues of cows!

[terravista]

Thanks for all the responses.
She is heading up a weekend soon and at least she has some indication of where to look around.
The temperature range is relatively high and for a long season but she has lived at Roma for 3 years and that ain't no fridge in the summer. Hopefully a few weeks acclimatising will be of some help, but I spent 6 months in the New Guinea highlands many years ago, and you just can't get used to that type of heat and humidity.

As far as having statues of cows, at least the bronze bovines have a higher IQ than football and cricket players idolised by many in OZ.
Cheers
Ian

[tanz]

Yeppoon is the place to be, have lived here for 29 years. I worked in Rocky for 8 years, before starting my own business down (geographically N.E.) here. Have great fun teasing the guys in Rocky each summer about our sea breeze and the 4 degree temperature difference!

[Elky]

I've driven through a couple of times. Instead of statues of kings on horses or soldiers etc., they have statues of cows!

when i was there they had problems with pranksters knocking off the bulls testicles, quite amusing really, seem to recall something in the local rag about it