THE SINGLE BEST SUBURBS TO LIVE
IF you are a single Gold Coaster looking for love, demographer Bernard Salt has the secret. He has delved into the figures to find out which suburbs are most likely to attract singles.
ALL the single ladies, all the single ladies ... live in Burleigh while all of the single guys live in Ashmore.
So if you’re a single Coaster, you might want to have a think about where you live, work and socialise.
In his research for Future Gold Coast, demographer Bernard Salt found where the highest number of singles between the ages of 25 and 34 lived.
He found Burleigh was the top spot for young single women and Ashmore was the single capital for men.
“The women are often in a lifestyle location like Burleigh, which has lots of apartments and live in areas which are often near hospitals, universities and businesses,” he said.
“A single woman might live in a single apartment and work down at Varsity Lakes, Robina or Surfers Paradise.
“Large concentrations of single men are often in industrial areas where the work is predominantly male.”
Allira Youngson, 28, lives in Burleigh and has been single for about a year and a half but isn’t making any plans to settle down.
“I’m happily single,” she said.
“I don’t mind going on dates and meeting people ... but it’s the commitment. I like my own freedom.”
She said she worked in an office in Surfers Paradise but lived in the trendy, social suburb because she enjoyed the lifestyle.
“I love the beach, the lifestyle. I think there’s a different crowd of people here,” Ms Youngson said.
She added she thought young men were spoiled for choice and dating apps made it easy to “hop around” between girls.
Mr Salt said it was unlikely these areas would change anytime soon.
“Generally speaking, once an area has that characteristic as an age group, demographic or ethnicity dominates an area, it can take a generation for it to change. The city is filled with tribes,” he said.
More singles needed to jump on the Gold Coast Highway – or as he called it – “The Highway of Love”.