Kelso, QLD 4815

With River drive very close it makes the best suburb of Townsville with more parks and a great investment opportunity of entire Queensland.

Haven't had any. But Tara says its great!

I think a lot of the reviews on here about Kelso are incredibly misleading. I lived in Kelso for 2.5 years and have just moved because I couldn't take it! Riverway Drive is an incredibly dangerous road with lunatic drivers who have 'I have to be in front of you' syndrome. The blocks in the new housing estates are tiny. There is no privacy. Our neighbours were incredibly rude and inconsiderate. All had dogs who barked non stop all day. Our complaints went unheard and when we invested a couple of hundred dollars in an anti-barking device. One of our neighbours stole the device and then moved. These are all neighbours who are older then my husband and I. We are in our twenties, our neighbours were 30 and up. You would think being older they would know how to live respectfully with your neighbours in a suburban area. I have lived in Sydney and Canberra and have never had such bad experiences with neighbours. Crime was also bad. I had several visits from Police to my front door to alert me to 'goings on' in the neighbourhood the previous night. For example, break and enters, home invasions, car stolen and pet theft. I myself also had several experiences with vicious unrestrained dogs. So much so that we stopped working our dog in Kelso and we joined a gym to get exercise because we did not feel safe. Thankfully we have a wolfhound, who doesn't mind not getting walked everyday. I also find the description of 15 mins from the CBD a complete lie. Peak hour traffic took me 25 - 30 mins to get to work and I am still 15 mins out of the CBD.

Kelso is a great suburb to live in - peaceful and quiet. Just far enough out of town, but not too far to travel. Lots of acreage lifestyle living - great spaces for kids to grow and just be kids! Room to kick the footy or climb the trees, play cricket in the street! Has a stigma for being a 'bad' suburb, but there are more thefts, break & enters and violence in Kirwan, Willows, Pimlico, Annandale and West End... just read the paper! Yeah sure, there are some housing commission homes, but they are in every suburb in Townsville, mostly worse than in Kelso. Great parks for the kids to play in - Charles Moroney Park is great! Complete with soccer fields, footy fields, outdoor gym, flying fox and playground. Plus the new Apex Park on the Ross River is fabulous! Well done Townsville Council on a great facility! There is the pony club and horse riding school, the dam walk and lookouts. A few shops are close by in Rasmussen, so everything is pretty handy. The wildlife in the area is fantastic - cockatoos, galahs, possums, frilly lizards, lorikeets, kangaroos and wallabys are great educational examples to the kids. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else!

Kelso abounds with untapped potential. On paper, it has it all: the river, the dam where rock wallabies come to play at sunset, civilised (and modern) suburbia, acreage and bushland. A drive down Riverway Drive (formerly Upper Ross River Road) towards the dam is a pleasant journey down tree-lined streets. It's a long way out from the city, but not far at all from the hub of Thuringowa Central. One day, Kelso will be a great place to live.
At present, though, it's a mixed bag. Flashy new houses rub shoulders with ... well ... hovels. Nice new cars in one driveway, old wrecks up on blocks just a street away. The key, if you want to live in Kelso, is to pick wisely. Look at the neighbours, and look at the surrounding streets. Look at the accessways (there are plenty of 'walk-throughs') to other neighbourhoods. If it's your cup of tea, the acreage out the back (Shetland Place, Hammond Way, Connemara Course, etc. as well as the Kelso Country Estate) is wonderful, and possibly the most accessible acreage in Townsville. If you're after something smaller, there's always the new part of the Rosewood Estate and River Parks. Otherwise, there's the old divide between the river side of Kelso and the inland side. There's plenty of good stuff to be had on the inland side, but the river side has the benefit of being one main road away from all the less desirables.

I bought my very first investment property in Kelso back in October 2003 for $129,000. Bank valuation last week was $340,000.

I have never had the house vacant over the last 7 yrs. As soon as tennant leaves, there is a new tennant ready to move straight in.

Im sure this property/suburb will perform over the next 20 yrs and make me a lot of money. Its nice and peaceful, close to the "ring road" which is convienent for those who work at the hospital, go to Uni and the Army barracks.

Thankyou and take care.

Kelso may be on the edge of suburbia, but the only way you'd know is the silence. I love it here. You still have a night sky, friendly neighbours and only 7 minutes to Willows for the retail therapy.
My kids are all at the local schools and want for nothing, but you still feel like you are in the country right down to the kids playing cricket in my street.

One of the more dangerous suburbs of Townsville to be wandering around at night alone.

Love it. Quietest place we've lived. Lovely neighbours. Everyone looks out for each other. The gardens and park look better every week, as they become more established. Can't wait for the shops to open. We really enjoy our lifestyle here. Great for young active people.

The Riverparks Estate is one of the newest estates being built by Devine Limited, the concept of the estate is marvelous with a future shopping area planned for the near future so all residents have easy access to it is gold. The parkland is all around the estate with walking tracks. The Ross River dam is a stones throw, so if you are into skiing or general boating this is the place to be. The Dam is well stocked with some great fish. A large new shopping centre is being built at the exisiting site of the Upper Ross Shops. The Upper Ross Hotel's Louisiana Chicken is 'DEVINE', so call in have a beer and a great meal.