Alderley residents has one more reason to be proud, as the inaugural Domain Liveable Brisbane study names their leafy suburb as the most liveable Greater Brisbane suburb.
The Domain Liveable Brisbane study findings have shown that the ten most liveable suburbs were situated in the inner north, and sitting at the top of the ranking of 260 suburbs is Alderley which scored the highest overall, 10 out of 10 in public transport and open space.
Alderley also scored well across other criteria including low crime rate and access to schools. Apart from public transport and open space, however, Alderley scored best for tree cover and topographic variation.
The top 10 Greater Brisbane suburbs for liveability are Alderley, Wilston, Ascot, Paddington, Newmarket, Red Hill, Kelvin Grove, Windsor, Albion, and Grange.
The Domain Liveable Cities study is authored by Deloitte Access Economics and Tract Consultants which, based on several indicators, measures liveability in suburbs across Melbourne, Sydney, and for the first time this year, Brisbane.
The indicators used in the study for Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane were:
- Culture – the density of cultural services such as libraries, museums, and galleries
- Retail – the density of retail offerings and the proportion of a suburb covered by retail outlets
- Cafes and restaurants – the density and proximity of cafes and restaurants in a suburb
- Employment – the proportion of a suburb’s population that can walk to work
- Train/bus/tram – measures the access to train stations and bus stops
- Ferry – the average distance from the suburb’s centre to the closest ferry wharf
- Open space – percentage of a suburb that is a public open space
- Tree cover- percentage of a suburb’s tree canopy cover
- Crime – the number of offences per 100,00 resident population
- Education – the proximity to primary and secondary schools from the centre of a suburb
- Airport noise – only for Sydney and Brisbane
- Mobile and Broadband – the quality and availability of mobile and broadband services
- Topography variation
- Walkability – measures a suburb’s walkable access to employment, shops and or transport
- Traffic congestion – measure the difference in average trip time between peak and off-peak hours
- Coast proximity – measures the average straight line from a suburb’s centre to the closest coastline or beach
- Harbour and ocean views – the proportion of the suburb that has harbour, bay, or ocean views.
Access to ferries was also used as an additional indicator in Sydney and Brisbane and access to trams was measured in Melbourne. Also, for Brisbane and Sydney, airport noise was also considered, and for Sydney alone, harbour and ocean views.
The study revealed that higher-density suburbs are more likely to be liveable, particularly because older suburbs undergoing transformation may likely experience increased traffic congestion. The findings underscored the importance of a suburb’s ability to provide amenity for its residents to make it more liveable.