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Post by Bannox on Jul 16, 2012 13:15:24 GMT 10
So... Boom and I were talking about the pros and cons of living in Australia (lack of 'fiendly' sheep in Oz v being shunned for having all your teeth etc...) and I was hoping to get some feedback from the Ozzies in the guild.
I've been looking at the idea (and just an idea at this stage) for a year or two now and I was wondering if anyone had suggesitons on a city that would provide the following
Things I'm looking for: Resonable pay for work Housing relatively good price Kid friendly Good Schools Decent space for land Low crime rates
Things I couldn't give a rats about: Eating out costs Nightlife beyond the odd pub trip Major events
I've spent a bit of time online (hours and hours actually) but what I'm really looking for is frist hand experience of places since generic averages seldom tell the tale. I'm aware individual experiences with things like profession, family, age, experience, and finances will effect peoples experiences.
Realistic options are: Brisbane Perth Adelaide Melbourne Canberra
Of course if anyone has a suggesiton outside of these please let me know
- Bannox
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Post by voodoo on Jul 16, 2012 17:47:28 GMT 10
I can't help with all your list as I have no children so have never looked into schools, also I'm not a qualified professional (ie. Lawer, Accountant, Manager etc) so can't help you with the reasonable pay. We're located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Ringwood East to be exact, I grew up in Mitcham where my parents still live. We're 30km out from Melbourne, CBD. Housing here in these suburbs I rate as quiet expensive as when I've looked into housing prices for a family sized house that wasn't 100 years old and falling to bits were starting at 500,000-600,000, I didn't look much beyond this range. I think the public transport, as in the lines that connect you to the city are great, I only have to catch one train that would take me into the CBD, the punctuality of public transport was less desirable. The only comparison I have is to Sydney's train system, which confused the hell out of me and the map looked like a plate of spaghetti while Melbourne train map looks more like a web, the CBD is central so all lines head to the middle. In these suburbs there's still plenty of 1-2 story houses, with a lot of the properties having large backyards mixed with rental properties, where there's for example 5 single story units all on the same property. A lot of residential build up has occurred in the last few years in these suburbs though. Mitcham has had the odd multi-complex units starting to emerge and a lot more of the older properties that have a house and a back yard are being more and more updated/renovated to be 2 houses on the one block. I enjoy living in these suburbs as there's plenty of community, ie local strips of shops just about everywhere, community groups/events. There's a few parks and lakes from Mitcham to Ringwood. The roads are pretty easy to navigate, even into the city from here. There's plenty of shopping centres (when I mean shopping centres I mean the big multi-level, packs quiet a few major chains and usually has cinema's to boot) to pick from, our closes one being Eastland which is a 10min drive, we can then go to further out shopping centers like Box Hill, Forest Hill, Knox Shopping Centre which are roughly 20mins out. I don't consider these travel times far for us. The dense build up of housing hasn't yet kicked in, in these suburbs, more multiplex units may come in the future but at the moment as mentioned before it's more 1-2 story housing which makes it feel quieter to me compared to when I lived in Sydney, Hurstville for a while and all that was there was packs and packs of 5-20 story level units with some actual housing off down the back streets. Hope something in all of that has helped
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Post by treeline on Jul 16, 2012 18:16:32 GMT 10
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Post by eiellith on Jul 16, 2012 19:21:48 GMT 10
One of the other key things you don't mention is weather. Canberra can be frosty from late April to about September. A lot of people come here because they have to (for work, etc) and hate the place due to the cold. Conversely during summer it can be up in the mid to high 30s (or in the 40s) during the day (again with people bitching). One thing you don't have to worry about though is humidity due to being inland. This also means refridgerated air-conditioning is more available than you would find on the coast which helps deal with the heat. This is pretty much what I grew up in and it doesn't bother me at all. Also Canberra is fairly small (350,000+ people) which could be good or bad depending your preferences. If this scares you off that's fine, if you want more info about your other points let me know Eie
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Post by Bannox on Jul 17, 2012 10:17:59 GMT 10
Thanks everyone, yeah I had Canberra on my list because I haven't heard any bad things about it. Having said that it's probably one of the least talked about places for people immigrating to from NZ (at least from what I hear). I'd love to get some more information about it. Can you recommend a good website with realistic views? I find a lot either contain Trolls or are largely dominated by toursim adversting. Oh and Tree... I'd love to work in the mining industry. If not for all the rocks and stuff. I'm actually register to work in a mine, just not BMP as they have their own courses apparently. I've even got a little ID card with my reg number on it
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Post by Nearra on Jul 17, 2012 10:43:01 GMT 10
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Post by Bannox on Jul 17, 2012 10:50:54 GMT 10
Thanks Tina
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Post by treeline on Jul 17, 2012 14:49:33 GMT 10
PERTH first...
Things I'm looking for: Resonable pay for work = Best in the world, no it is good Housing relatively good price = maybe the most expansive, but massive houses and you are paid well. I think a four bed house is around 500k to 600k in choice locations. Kid friendly = Its really a place to bring up kids, dont come to party. Good Schools = Yep the land of stepford kids Decent space for land = Too much space, they dont use correctly Low crime rates = hmm i think its for pussy's, but i am from Manchester. Others think its quite bad, which is bollox.
Things I couldn't give a rats about: Eating out costs = Good its bloody expensive Nightlife beyond the odd pub trip = Pubs expensive but good, cos of the weather, bloody hot in summer, but nice in boozers at night. Doesn't get very cold either, major event if it reaches Zero. Major events = Perth, what major events.
I personnally though love Melbourne, got a bit of everything.
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Post by tull on Jul 17, 2012 22:40:52 GMT 10
I was going to bite my tongue in case I offend Jay and Tina... but ...
... anywhere but Canberra. It's cold and full of politicians!!! Even move to Queanbeyan if you must!!!
I'm kidding. Canberra is a lovely town <.<
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Post by eiellith on Jul 18, 2012 8:39:37 GMT 10
No offence taken Tull. We were in Syndey prior to moving here for work and liking living there. It's funny going back to Sydney now and thinking about how crowded and dirty it's feeling. We don't mind the smaller population. Canberra is a great in between of where we came from (Wagga 70,000 people) and Sydney. It's large enough for choice of schools (most good), good shopping, etc. For the money we had saved (and were getting close to being able to buy) a 2 bedroom apartment in Sydney we instead got to buy our 4 bedroom house in Canberra. www.allhomes.com.au is the "go-to" website for housing prices in and around Canberra. They have gone up a bit since we bought ours 9 years ago though. Canberra is really well planned as a city. You can ride pretty much anywhere with bike tracks linking most suburbs. There are parks available all over the place too. Some of the newer suburbs are starting to pack houses in close together which is disappointing but most of the older suburbs are fairly well placed for space. Like any city you have your "bad" suburbs or areas where crime is a little more prevalent but I don't think it's over the top and these are the exception. I must admit I don't really get into the job market here (I came here for a 2 week contract 10 years ago). There is definitley a public service focus (not sure now a NZ citizen would go) but there are other opportunities as well I think. Pay may be lower than other cities but so is the housing cost, I guess it depends on your skills. As for the politicians I can't say I've ever seen one and like snakes if they don't bother me then I won't bother them. Eie
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Post by tull on Jul 18, 2012 11:54:39 GMT 10
It's definitely an interesting experience going back to visit Sydney. The place has moved on without us and like you say, we notice things that we were probably just used to when we were there before.
Anyway, here's the deal with Sydney. The western suburbs is the place to be for space, affordability and kid-friendliness. For the most part, the west is pleasant and occupied by families, especially first home owners, although it does have a few well-known trouble suburbs (Mount Druitt). The north-west is really booming.
Older blocks are much larger and reflect the old idea that the west was virtually the countryside. To give an extreme example, Leppington is mostly made up of 5 acre blocks where people move to build themselves a mansion and a hobby farm! A few years ago, realising that the west's expansion would soon be blocked by the Blue Mountains, the state government took on an urban consolidation policy. As a result, newer housing developments tend have small blocks.
The better end of the job market used to be focused in the city, but the city has decentralised somewhat, with a number of outer suburb commercial centres and one-off businesses opting to have offices elsewhere (notably Microsoft in Epping and Woolworths in Bella Vista).
Sydney has a decent rail system radiating from the centre, spanning most of the metro area and providing city services every 10 mins during peak from most locations.
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Post by choco on Aug 19, 2012 19:59:45 GMT 10
I'm a bit late, but here's my story. I have lived everywhere around the world. Not just for a few days, or weeks, at a time, but actually lived, as a single man and with my family. I was in the Navy for 20 years, so I moved around a bit. I grew up in Adelaide, and have been grateful for the Navy for taking me away from there at the age of 15. I have lived in Freemantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin, Cairns, and the longest I ever stayed in one place during my Naval career was Seattle, Washington State in the USA. But every time I was between sea and shore postings, I lived in Canberra. It became the closest thing to "home" that I had. My then GF that I had been with since I was 15 tore herself away from Adelaide and came to live with me in Canberra bewteen sea postings. That was in 1977. Like I said, we lived all around Australia and the world, and always came back to Canberra. My daughter says she hates the place, but at 34 years of age, she moved back in with us. She has lived in Sydney for years, for her career and for the lifestyle, but, in the end, she just couldn't afford it as a single woman. There's a lot of nice places that I have lived, and some not-so-nice. I hated living in West Sunshine (near Melbourne) and I hated Sydney, for the traffic, the commute and the cost of housing. My favourite city in Australia is Darwin, but that's not for everyone. I love the place, but the Mrs hates it. We wouldn't move anyway, as our Granddaughter is here and we'd be devastated without her. In the end, my opinion means squat, because "Home is Where the Heart Is." But this is home to us, and we think it's great.
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Post by treeline on Aug 20, 2012 13:59:11 GMT 10
Never been to Canberra, and heard a lot of boring stories about how boring it is, but the one big downside for me is that i believe it doesnt have a coastline and i cant for the life of me imagine living away from the coast.
I love being able to to look at the sea, does it have a river?
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Post by tull on Aug 20, 2012 19:57:35 GMT 10
It has a famous lake.
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Post by robdamage on Aug 21, 2012 12:48:34 GMT 10
it is indeed a burly lake
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Post by tull on Aug 21, 2012 15:02:25 GMT 10
... where griffins stop to drink
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Post by choco on Sept 1, 2012 14:15:38 GMT 10
Never been to Canberra, and heard a lot of boring stories about how boring it is, but the one big downside for me is that i believe it doesnt have a coastline and i cant for the life of me imagine living away from the coast. I love being able to to look at the sea, does it have a river? Like I said, I was in the Navy for 20 years. When I got out, I wanted to be as far from the sea as possible.
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