Windsor, QLD 4030
Ranked 151st best suburb by locals in Brisbane Region, QLD
Great for
- Internet access
- Public transport
- Schools
- Parks and recreation
- Resale or rental value
Not great for
- Nightlife
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Families With Kids
- Singles
- Retirees
- Fashion Conscious
Reviews of Windsor, QLD
"City Living but quiet green streets"
Great area especially the places up towards Eildon Hill. Close to everything with the Valley being 2kms away, the city centre approx. 5kms, train stations galore, bus routes go straight through it, multiple shopping \ cafe areas, heaps of parks, walking distance to many things, great schools etc.
Only issues are the low lying places near the creeks are at risk of flooding but if you lift the place you will be fine.
Hidden gem thats starting to feel alot like Paddington or Bardon but still significantly cheaper.
Nice and quiet, green tree lined streets and heaps of history.
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Families with kids
"Cozy Spot amongst the Hustle and bustle."
Love living in Winsdor and have been here for nearly a year and have lived in surrounding Suburbs for nearly a decade. Such a nice quite community that is close enough to the city/fortitude valley but far enough where you dont feel like you are in the busy area.
Plenty of amazing food /coffee spots for people who love to get out an about. Close to many different grocery stores and complexes that house a variety of shops for people to indulge in.
Will be looking to keep staying here for many more years!
Who lives here?
- Families with kids
"Perfectly located to cbd and airport another hilly character suburb."
Having lived here for a decade Windsor has all the pros and cons of a small country town in the city.
It is pretty the character homes are lovely, cafes are great it is really close to all that is great about Brisbane. 8 minutes by train from the city. Mostly good schools. close to the airport easy commuting north or south.
Locals are friendly but staid and this is where you get to the " just like a country town bit" there is a tendency for gossip, complaints over other peoples renos , low level interference. In some ways this is a good thing Im sure it minimizes the burglary rate. Its certainly is not a cosmopolitan hip sort of place. Pleasant would describe it.
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Families with kids
"Excellent Community Spirit"
Windsor is a fabulous suburb. I have lived here for four years now and absolutely love it. There is a real sense of community where everybody knows your name. There are so many great parks with playgrounds, sporting facilities, bike paths, walking tracks and greenery everywhere. The connections are second to none, you can head in any direction from Windsor and find a major arterial that will take you straight there to avoid the traffic. I believe its connectivity is second to none of any other Brisbane suburb. The bus services and train lines are exceptional, there are two stations, Windsor and Albion both within walking distance from almost anywhere in Windsor the schools (public and private primaries) are wonderful with top-notch teachers and a real community approach to raising children. There are also playgroups and Childcare centres which are fantastic. Nearby to Wilston and Newmarket shopping / cafe precincts and also the upcoming Albion village for night life / eating out. It is a great place to raise a family, with a wonderful community spirit.
Great for
- General Medical services
- Great for swimming and water sports.
- Short distance to pretty much most things
- Transport Options
Not great for
- Very few dining options within suburb
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Singles
- Families with kids
- Retirees
Rentals in Windsor
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"Two sides to Windsor. (Written Sep 2015)"
It is important to note that this review is from the view of someone renting in Windsor in unit type accomodation, which is located in the central part of Windsor and may not be applicable to those looking to rent/buy houses in the outer areas of Windsor.
I've been renting a unit in an older style 6-pack in Windsor for over 3 years now, having moved from The Gap (you can see my review on that suburb as well) The important thing to know is there are definitely two sides to Windsor. There is Windsor close to Lutwyche Road and Windsor Further away from Lutwyche Road. The main reason I chose to live here is it's very handy transport wise, it's close to where I work so the commute time is low and rental prices are reasonable.
Dwelling types:
Homes
Most of the houses still around tend to be on smaller blocks with some very nice restored and original workers style cottages and smaller highset style homes. There are also a few blond brick homes that kind of look like the precursor to those homes suited for narrow frontage blocks and are not without their charm. There are also a small number of very large historic homes probably built in the early 1900's.
Units (Medium Density)
While there is the odd interesting older style unit block, there are a lot of fairly faceless 6 pack and U-Style unit blocks built around the 70's. Many are in excellent repair but being mostly filled with renters which means low maintaince gardens. These however shouldn't be written off as many are much larger inside than the newer blocks going up, are bullet proof, have normal to large garages, low body corps and are very solidly built.
Units (Med-High Density)
There is current development going in at the time of writing (Sep 2015) with flashier 5-6 story unit blocks being built immediately around Lutwyche Road, the downside is some of the smaller units have no carspace at all (Let alone a garage). The advertising for some of these units with no spaces often say "Plenty of off street parking" but where? Street parking is already taken up by commuters parking for Windsor rail, buses on Lutwyche road or workers for commercial businesses. These units are very expensive, $435K up, for what they are and are get traffic noise from Lutwyche 24-7.
Flooding Issues:
When looking to buy (or rent) in Windsor do your homework and check the council flood maps. There are two areas that have a tendency to flood. The Windsor Park area in the North East of the suburb and Northey Street in the South West, most of those areas are parkland for that reason.
Ammenities:
There are the Northy Street markets on the weekend, Windsor HomeZone on Newmarket Road, Lutwyche Centro only a couple of minutes drive north, Newmarket Reading further along Newmarket road, The Furniture and home maker centre (although only a couple of shops here are worth seeing), Office works Windsor, The Good Guys Lutwyche, an overdose of gyms around Lutwyche Centro, Tom Wallace cycles in Lutwyche, Albion cafe precinct a short drive or a train ride (change at Bowen Hills), Brisbane Motorcycles, Mercedes Benz dealership, two motels and the very tired little section of shops on the corner of LeGeyt and Lutwyche. There is plenty to chose from as far as medical practioners and general diagnostics go, plus the RBWH is only a short trip away. Also there is a big sporting area known as Downey Park, with playing fields, tennis, basketball and baseball/t-ball.
There are two schools I know of in the area there maybe more. Windsor State School (behind office works) and St Mary of the Cross.
Some streets also have gas mains so gas can often be found piped to buildings, not all do however even if in the same street as other buildings that do. (With gas prices as they are however this may not be an issue)
Landmarks:
There are still some historic buildings and landmarks of interest, these include
The Windsor War memorial,
The Windsor council chambers
The Eildon Hill Resevoir
A number of grand old homes
And what I think is the old substation.
Transport: If you live closer to Lutwyche road this is where you win. You have the choice of many bus services that use Lutwyche road as their main arterial, if you work in the city it couldn't be easier. You have the Northern busway (such as it is), the big Lutwyche Bus station up the road. You have a very short trip and easy access to the Airport Link, Clem 7, Inner City Bypass, and Legacy Way. You also have easy access to anything off Lutwyche Road, Gympie road and sidestep across to Sandgate road. Also it's a quick run into city along surface roads, perhaps not in peakhour in the morning through Fortitude Valley but it's not too bad. The other plus is Windsor Rail station, it is an 8 min trip to Central (10 if you have to wait outside of Bowen Hills for a platform to be free) along the Ferny Grove line. Plus you can change at Bowen Hills, Fortitude valley and the City for other trains including the airport line. It is also, at the time of writing, a 1 zone train journey and a 2 zone bus ride (1-2).
The not so good:
Windsor like most inner city or fringe innercity suburbs is not without it's faults these can be summed up in the following and should be considered when renting or buying.
Transport noise: Good Transport has a darkside, traffic on Lutwyche Road and Newmarket Road is very busy almost all the time except very late on the weekends. There are a lot of sirens from emergency vehicles what with the RBWH only up the road. Some homes/units on Rosemount Tce very high above and at the back of the homemaker centre get kind of an amphitheatre effect so traffic noise from Lutwyche Road is much louder than you'd think as the sound just carries up over the buildings and the cliff as there are no homes on one side of Rosemount Tce at the high point due to the cliff.
The rail line is street level for the most part and trains must sound their horns when approaching a pedestrian crossing that is at rail level. (If it was an pedestrian overpass or underpass this isn't necessary) So trains sound their horns approaching or leaving Windsor Rail and at the pedestrian crossing at the split in LeGeyt street. This sound is loud and carries as there are no sound walls. On the Eastern side of Lutwyche some noise can be heard from the Bowen Hills train yards but it's not really an issue. Renters or Buyers should try to get places at least a block back from any major road.
Pollution fallout: Closer to Lutwyche road and due to being on a flight path everything outside gets a layer of fine black soot. It's not overly noticeable unless it hasn't rained for awhile, but when you wipe down outside surfaces it's definitely not dirt. I doubt this is ever going to affect people's respiration but it does mean you'll be cleaning outdoor surfaces a bit more.
General cleanliness: Windsor, like quite a few innercity fringe suburbs, has a problem with looking a bit shabby in terms of buildings, litter and council land. It's obviously worse around Lutwyche Road and Newmarket Road and not an issue away from Lutwyche road or Newmarket road but if you live near these areas you'll notice. I put this down to larger proportion of renters in some areas who aren't likely to care, some undesirables in cheap/subsidised accomodation who seem to actively cause litter and graffiti issues. An indifferent council, who always put more effort into keeping Western Surburbs clean and places like New Farm and actively plan to improve places like Albion and Clayfield. In saying that if you do report issues they seem to come around pretty fast to fix things. Windsor is not a big suburb and could stand some extra cleaning up and beautification, I try to keep my street litter free but so many don't seem to care.
General ambience: It might be to do with where I live, or just me, but I get the impression this suburb isn't really the type of suburb where you just go out for a stroll and a wander around. I wouldn't say it's unfriendly but it's not "friendly" either and not the kind of place for an evening walk. I was looking around Hawthorne to rent and on the weekend there were lots of people out and about doing whatever and there was a certain vibrance to the place. Only a few places in Windsor are like that and certainly not around the major arterials, you have to go to Newmarket, Wilston, Lutwyche, Clayfield or Albion for any kind of life around the main roads. The new developments going in aren't really helping either, there's no real symbiosis between these new buildings and the area they just look "plonked".
Overall, I don't mind renting here but I don't know that I'd buy here, maybe in certain areas of Windsor I'd consider purchasing but where I'm renting now it's just "okay". On the plus side my neighbours have all been pretty good and easy to get along with so that's a good thing in a unit block.
Great for
- Transport Options
- General Medical services
- Short distance to pretty much most things
Not great for
- General appearance and Ambience around Lutwyche Road
- Very few dining options within suburb
- Falls a bit short compared to surrounding suburbs
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Singles
Hi. I am planning to buy a unit in Windsor in Bowen street. I was wondering if you still live in Windsor and if you have additional comments on Windsor this post in 2015
As my family has lived in Windsor since 1923.WINDSOR has lost it character by loosing a majority of our larger Queenslanders to box looking unites built in the 70's,80's and now we are seeing budget accommodation units that will in due course be badly neglected by budget tenants that have no respect for property .there is also a train line that runs through the suburb in which the drivers of these trains at frequent times enjoy holding the train horn for a unnecessary lengthy times at very early morning and very late in the evenings.there is no longer a post office,banks or ATM or convenient store . Having 3 Premiers living in Windsor ,the roads ,infrastructure are appalling.The prices of housing are over priced .
I'll agree some parts of Windsor are lovely, but there's a good proportion of it that looks pretty ordinary to shabby. Anything within 4 blocks of Lutwyche road or Newmarket road aren't worth writing home about.
"Windsor has transformed over the last 10 years"
In the last 10-12 years Windsor has transformed immensely. One of the most notable changes have been the number of quality cafes that have popped up. Like Kafe Krave in the Windsor Home Zone on Newmarket Road, The Low Road Cafe on Eildon Road, Espresso House on Gilbert Road and Brother Espresso on Maygar Street
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Singles
- Families with kids
- Trendy & Stylish
"Great affordable inner city living"
I'm not sure about previous comments on traffic congestion in Windsor? It never takes us longer than 5mins to reach the city (peak hour included). Lutwyche is a bottle neck until the tunnel is completed but living in Windsor means your run into the city isn't affected by that (3 lanes rather than 2).
And the comment about 'bring your boat'...we are in a low-lying part of Windsor but only our yard had some minor flooding. It was gone the next day. I think Northey St gets a fair bit of water but most other parts are fine.
There is a great community spirit here as a lot of our neighbours have lived here for decades. The parks are fantastic, we can walk to Albion for a coffee or meal, and walking distance to 2 train lines (Albion & Windsor) is a big bonus.
In my opinion, Windsor is great inner city living with big blocks of land and lovely Queenslanders all with an affordable price tag.
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Singles
- Families with kids
I agree with traffic congestion, I used to live in the far western suburbs it's a breeze here compared to that. So many choices as far as arterials, surface streets and toll roads. The only sad part is where I live in Windsor is pretty much 80% medium density residential so it's mostly renters and there's not a lot of community spirit. It shows in how the area looks now.
"Some properties under contract but most underwater, Bring your boat."
Due to climate change floods in this area are becoming a regular occurance. Forget insurance, in fact the whole area sould be returned to its natural state with development moved onto higher ground.
Great for
- Great for swimming and water sports.
Not great for
- Bring your boat for transportation.
Who lives here?
- Beach Lovers
"Close to CBD, Fortitude Valley and New Farm without the prices"
What a great suburb. Close to CBD, Fortitude Valley and New Farm without the prices. Great restuarants, shops, and Northey st markets. Public transport is everywhere. You have the busway, 2 lines from Albion station or 1 line at Windsor station and only 1 stop to Brunswick st, 2 to the city. Parks, schools and lovely old Queenslander homes.
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Singles
- Families with kids
"Good place to call home"
I work in the city, it takes me 5 mins in peak hour to get to work. Before i was living in an outer suburb of brisbane and the journey would take me almost an hour in peak hour. I am saving over 8 hours a week in time and lots of money on fuel and car costs. Where i live in Rosemount Tce is a quiet street, 1 minute walk to the train or bus stops and coffee shop.
It is more expencive to live than say lutwych, but you pay for convienience and a better lifestyle.
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Singles
Hi ! I'm looking to buy a unit on Rosemount Terrace. What is the noise like there as I know it's close to the main road, some of the furniture stores and also the train. Thanks.
Only if you purchased in a flood zone area - like much of Brisbane, only places effected at the last flood were those down near Breakfast Creek or those that sit directly in the path of over land flow from Eildon Hill.
Pretty easy to do due diligence and check floodmaps before you purchase or rent. Something that seems beyond the ability of many people who will buy or build directly in historic floodplain and live in ignorance rather than adapting i.e. lifting their place.
Same goes for all of Brisbane I think.