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Schools chalk up one for urban renewal

Inner-city schools might finally be enjoying the flow-on benefits of the urban renewal of recent decades but it remains a very slow process, an Independent investigation suggests.

First-year and overall enrolment figures for state and private schools suggest families are now being attracted more and more to renewal hotspots such as Bowen Hills, Newstead and Teneriffe, the Valley and Spring Hill.

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Long wait for mall almost over

It wasn’t anywhere near finished the last time City Council opened the Chinatown Mall to the public in mid December, but we’ll soon all get another chance to see just how much more has been done over the past seven weeks.

The $8 million mall makeover is officially opened on Chinese New Year’s Day – Sunday February 14 and it will be a great opportunity to see just how “open” it really will be. A lot can be done in a few days, but on Monday the mall remained a virtual no-go zone.
While the cladding on the grand arch was almost finished, the modern entrance on the mall’s Ann Street side looked far from complete, as did the water feature on the mall’s northern side, and many of the other smaller features that will eventually adorn the new look mall.

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It's official - Teneriffe now a suburb!

The Brisbane neighbourhood of Teneriffe will officially be granted suburb status this month following extensive public consultation by the State Government, Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said.

Since 1975, the southern area of the suburb of Newstead has been known as Teneriffe. “Although the area has had a long and unique history since the 1820s, the neighbourhood of Teneriffe was not defined by boundaries,” Mr Robertson said.
“This has often been the cause of confusion and problems for the efficient delivery of emergency and other community services in the area.”

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Home buying couple thing: survey

A poll released this week by PRDnationwide shows buying property is a joint decision in 65 per cent of households. Nineteen per cent of respondents said it was the male who made property purchasing decisions, while women account for a close to 16 per cent.

PRDnationwide research director Aaron Maskrey (pictured) said the results were not surprising.
“Choosing what property to buy is a big life decision and it’s much less likely to be left in the hands of one person,” he said. “Therefore real estate agents spend a lot of time trying to attract both partners.

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Valley day economy makes a move

A Fortitude Valley Valley trader who recently slammed the area’s day economy as “virtually non-existent” has had a change of heart after better-than-expected January sales.

Joseph Origliasso, pictured above, who runs the budget fashion outlet, nvy, in McWhirters, said this week the end of January 2010 has seen a surge in the daytime economy in the immediate Brunswick street mall area of Fortitude Valley.
While a few large retail outlets have moved on from the Valley, Mr Origliassso said he had been receiving lots of inquiries from what he calls “Micro Merchants’ – small businesses looking to establish themselves in the vibrant hub of the Brunswick street mall of Fortitude Valley.

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Beware the million-dollar lemon

Homebuyers have been warned to be on the lookout for million dollar lemons – especially as only about one in 10 people have a pre-purchase property inspection.

Million dollar homes, which have become more common in Australia as property prices skyrocket, can have faults, Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects says. An Archicentre inspector checking the condition of the roof and guttering on a property for sale. Archicentre, the largest supplier of pre-purchase property inspections and design reports said nine out of 10 people take the lemon gamble and do not have a pre-purchase property inspection on the home they buy, which is often their largest financial commitment.

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