# Negatives of Gold Coast??



## Nordberg (Jan 14, 2011)

Hello all

Myself and my partner (age early 30's, late 20's) are hoping to move to Australia sometime next year and are quite interested in the Gold Coast. We are both South African, living in New Zealand. 

We are mainly thinking of Gold Coast for the weather, beach lifestyle and perfect size for us (500 000 population). 

I came across a thread recently about negatives of New Zealand, and I wish I had read that before we moved here - a lot of things that you only realise after having lived here for a while. We have already moved our lives across the world, so would like to consider all options before making the next move.

I was wondering if people had any thoughts on negatives of Gold Coast for us to consider. 

Thanks!


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

From what I can gather workwise it's not that good at the moment, especially for tradies.

Dolly


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

10% unemployment and high crime.

GC is a ****hole and is frequented by bogan ******** on holiday.


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## Darla.R (Mar 27, 2011)

I've lived in NZ so I can understand why you want to know about the negatives, best to have the full story hey.

I've been here for a short time and there is a definite downturn for the tradies - not so much domestic building going on, people are saving money rather than spending on doing up houses. But there always seems to be a hospital or other large institution being built somewhere, or roadworks.

You'll definitely get the weather, beach lifestyle etc. but chose your beaches with care, some of the surf and rips can be very strong. Swim between the flags and you should be ok. Go where the locals go, ask around and you'll soon find one that suits.

Surfers can get rowdy late at night so if you like things a bit quieter look for an evening out a bit further south. Don't let it put you off New Years eve, fireworks on the beach etc. These are family events and great fun.

There always seems to be roadworks going on somewhere and these can cause tailbacks on the motorways. Soon they'll start on the light rail so stay away from that area, stay south if you can. A lot of the work goes on at night. Gold Coast uni hospital is a major construction zone, avoid during peak hours!

Much of the coast is low lying and near water, which is great if you want to moor a boat at the end of your garden but you risk getting flooded out in a major storm.

The major shopping centres can get very busy during holidays and Christmas, sales etc. go early to get a park or use park and ride, same for football matches.

Away from Surfers and the main coastal strip things quickly quieten down, by 9/10 pm most places are winding down for the evening except for pubs and social clubs. Queenslanders are early risers. That may take a bit of getting used to if you're used to 24hr buzz.


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## Gimme5 (Aug 16, 2010)

Weebie said:


> 10% unemployment and high crime.
> 
> GC is a ****hole and is frequented by bogan ******** on holiday.


Sorry to highjack but is that the same situation in Brisbane? I mean it's only 1 hr drive north.


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## Nordberg (Jan 14, 2011)

Thanks for the info Darla. That helps. I've heard a lot about the traffic and that Surfers can be a bit dodgy but the rest sounds ok.


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