Hi

Could anyone tell me a little bit about these areas.

Which one is best?

Which has better amenities for a 10 year old girl?

Which would be better for job prospects for a painter & decorator?

Which would be better to live in generally?

I don't mind peace and quiet, but I still want to be sociable.

Kind Regards

Jacqui

personally i would choose mt barker over murry bridge, for almost evey aspect of living.

'the bridge' is a little too far from adelaide for me(over a hour), and seems to have a fair few ferals.
as far as i can gather crime is much higher there too.
wages are lower than adelaide in general, (which is quite some achievment), and prices the same or higher.

but it has a very australian feel to it, which is good, you really realise your on the other side of the world there.
the parklands and the river are magnificent, and there are some fantastic 'bush' properties out there.

its better to have a look and make your own mind.
but asking this question in either of the two towns mentioned, and you will get opposing answers.

I really don't know much of Murray Bridge, but Mount Barker is growing very fast and has an ever expanding list of amenities - See Wikepedia for an excellent description of the town, including availability of schools(Murray Bridge is on there too).
With all the expansion work that's going on at Mt Barker, I'm guessing that Painting/decorating skills may well be in high demand :)
There are lots of nice villages nearby, Hahndorf being one of the larger ones, which has a German theme and is a perennial favourite of mine. Hahndorf is touristy though and house prices are high there, they may not be so expensive along the road in Mount Barker.

It's easily a 50 min. drive into Adelaide Central from Mt Barker and Bus services to and from the city will be slow - it's 1 hour via bus to Hahndorf, so I'm guessing 1hr 20mins. But Mt Barker has pretty much all you will need for everyday living, you might only need to head to Adelaide for a big shopping trip.

It's worth pointing out that Mt Barker is in the Hills and it gets cold there in the winter - Not quite as cold as UK, but cold as in 'ice on car windscreens' and Australian houses arent built to keep in the warmth. It's a nice place though.

Best of luck :sign03:

??? Takes me 50 min to wingfield at rush hour (pratically Port Adelaide)

Any hoo, Glad you posted as can't reply to the email you sent for some reason. Murray Bridge has the problem of being totally souless and surrounded by nothing, the trees end at Mount Barker.

Another Idea may be the coast between Goolwa and Victor. Lots of new posh places on hindmarsh island , must be a need for painters.

Don't live in Mt Barker but I really do like it there.

Met a Mum at playgroup last week she was from Murray Bridge and had recently moved to Flagstaff Hill. She was saying how it was a very clicky place and she was glad to escape from there.

Deb

G'day Jacqui,

Here are a couple of pages from Wikipedia regarding Murray Bridge and Mount Barker that may help with your research...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Bridge...South_Australia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Barker%2C_South_Australia

Jet :)

Think they are the same links Big D had in his thread

Lisa :D

Thanks everyone

Jacqui

What can I say, but great minds think alike :lol:

Here you go some more informative links on the areas...

http://murraybridge.net/

http://www.adhills.com.au/tourism/towns/mu...ridge/index.htm

http://www.adhills.com.au/tourism/towns/mo...arker/index.htm

http://www.dcmtbarker.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm

Oh and before I forget you should find even more information in our FAQ and Links sections.

Thanks for drawing the duplication to my attention Lisa ;)

Jet :)

We don't live in either although we did consider both and I would say they are two VERY different places

If I had to choose one or the other it would be Mount Barker - house prices in general are cheape in Murry Bridge - at least the ones we looked at were

I think there is great potential for a teenager to be EXTREEMLY bored in either place....but if I had no choice I'd choose Mount Barker. It has a good feel to it,good facilities,beautiful scenery and a rather quaint High Street.

If you've come from anything resembling suburbia in the U.K, your in for a culture shock.

P.M 'Bobandginnie' he's called Mount Barker home for a long while now.

Best Wishes, Jan

i dont think so, some teenagers have brains.
plenty of dull, bored tenagers in adelaide.

50 mins from Mt Barker to the city??? I'm in Hahndorf and it's exactly 15 mins from my front door to the bottom of the freeway. Of course the time from there to the centre of the city depends on the time of day.

Murray Bridge? No way, far too feral for me. Reckon Mt Barker's pretty good, its got a bit of everything.

Very interesting read,

We spent 3 months looking for somewhere to settle ended up in Mount Barker, for us it’s been GREAT just to confirm a few things,

• Property is better value for money in Mt barker -More for your Dollar
• From memory, this year it was voted the 7 out 10 of the best towns in Australia to live in the only one which was not by the sea and the only one in SA!
• For the kids to do – Excellent cinema, Skate Park, Footy Oval, Gyms, Wet Lands, Tennis Courts,
• Kids grow up as kids in Mt Barker – we had 32 of my sons friends from school to his 14th party boys and girls (14 to 15 year olds) and everyone of them had excellent manners and not one problem the whole evening (7pm until midnight)
• Good High School and Excellent Private schools – Very reasonable rates.
• Out door swimming pool plus new indoor swimming pool

The list goes on, I’m not saying its utopia or the best place but for us it does exceed out expiations.

I work in the City and trust me the travel is easy, I leave at 07:50 and 18 minutes late I joint the queue in Adelaide just like everyone else. It takes as long to get around the city as it dose from Mount Barker to the Toll gate. Two of the people I used to work with live North (Mawson Lakes) and South (Eden Hills) of the City and it took them longer than me to get to work!

Any way that’s my bit, hope it helps.

just a thought..a couple have mentioned things like "too many ferals in Murray Bridge"..just wonderin what this fact is based on??.............

my observation of ferals leads me to this belief.
theres a fair amount of vandalism there, and several places have had to close due to various thugs and their penchant for alcohol and violence.

according to office of crime statistics for south australia,
the crime rate for barker is 23 offences per 1000 people
where both postcodes for murray bridge enjoy a 56 and 53 offences per 1000.
state average is 37 offences.
these values only include vandalism and offences against people.
burglary seems to have been left out.
dated 2005

but people i've spoke to say that the reputation as a violent town is not deserved, and that many of the notorious trouble makers have either left or grown out of it.
however most will agree there is an issue with crime, especially break-ins, particularly from the aboriginal community.

Thanks everyone you have been brilliant.

Jacqui