The suburb is roughly rectangular, bounded to the north by Bridge Street, to the east by Hume Street, to the south by James Street, and to the west by West Street.[3]
Toowoomba North Boys State School and Toowoomba North Girls and Infants State School both opened in 1869. In 1937, the two schools were combined to form Toowoomba North State School.[8]
In 1881, a Baptist Church opened in Toowoomba.[9][10]
The Holy Name Primary School was opened on 23 January 1905 by the Sisters of Mercy who were already operating the school at St Patrick's Church (the church is now St Patrick's Cathedral and the St Patrick's school is now known as St Saviours School & College). The Holy Name school was burned down on 4 August 1919, so the school operated from the Mr and Mrs Hannant on the corner of West and Norwood Streets, until the school was rebuilt. ArchbishopJames Duhig laid the foundation school for the new church and school on 23 November 1919 and officially opened it on 23 January 1921.[11]
The Toowoomba City library opened in 2016. The Toowoomba local history library opened in 1999 with a major refurbishment in 2016.[12]
Toowoomba City contains two significant shopping centres, presently under the same ownership. Grand Central Shopping Centre, with a GLA of 46,000 square metres (500,000 sq ft), contains the region's only Myer store, as well as a Coles, Target and 145 specialty stores. Garden Town Shopping Centre, across Gowrie Creek and containing a GLA of 12,434 square metres (133,840 sq ft) (2009), contains a Supa IGA supermarket, Best & Less and Lincraft along with 40 other stores. Both are currently owned by QIC, following its acquisition of Garden Town in January 2009 from Aspen Group, they are now being redeveloped to join together via a two level galleria to form one shopping centre.[47]
Two smaller centres, the Hooper Centre and a homeware centre, and street shopping along Ruthven Street round out the city centre's retail offerings.
There is also a small shopping area on the corner of Ramsay and South streets called Southtown. It contains several eating places, supermarket, newsagent and Post Office.
Toowoomba City is situated at the intersection of the New England Highway and Warrego Highway, and contains Toowoomba railway station (the terminus of the Westlander service) and the city's bus interchange on Neil Street, from which various buses depart for the suburbs. Toowoomba also has a taxi facility available.[48]
Toowoomba North State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls on the south-west corner of Mort and Taylor Streets (27°33′23″S151°56′55″E / 27.5565°S 151.9487°E / -27.5565; 151.9487 (Toowoomba North State School)).[49][50] It includes a special education program. In 2015, the school had an enrolment of 157 students with 12 teachers (11 full-time equivalent).[51] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 142 students with 11 teachers (10 full-time equivalent) and 15 non-teaching staff (9 full-time equivalent).[52]
Holy Name Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 188 Bridge Street (27°33′02″S151°56′48″E / 27.5506°S 151.9467°E / -27.5506; 151.9467 (Holy Name Primary School)).[49][53] It is a Mercy tradition school. In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 154 students with 12 teachers (10.3 full-time equivalent) and 8 non-teaching staff (5 full-time equivalent).[54] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 140 students with 11 teachers (10 full-time equivalent) and 9 non-teaching staff (5 full-time equivalent).[52]
There are no secondary schools in Toowoomba City. The nearest government secondary schools are:[3]
The Tooowoomba City library is located at 155 Herries Street. The library is open seven days a week.[55]
The local history library is located at 155 Herries Street.[56] The local history library has a comprehensive archival collection that is of local, state and national significance, including the Robinson Collection named after Toowoomba's first female mayor Nellie E. Robinson.[57] This comprehensive collection contains records from local personalities, businesses and community organizations.
The Toowoomba branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at 263 Margaret Street and the Toowoomba City Business Women’s branch meets at 161 Margaret Street.[58]