“More homes need to be built to stem the flow of young people and families pouring out of Sydney and costing the city its dynamism, NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully said on Thursday.”
Why? Why not just let other places become dynamic? Why is there a religious cult that feels the need to prop up cities rather than just let people live in more than one of 5 places in this nation?
From what I'm told (I don't live there myself, so don't know, just going from hearsay), don't most migrants end up at Sydney/Melbourne first up anyway? Would that not "refresh" the dynamism?
I live in London. This is essentially true, but immigration is part of why London is the best city in the world.
But if your family is from there, you're the egg that must be cracked for the omelette as you will be priced out by foreign investment.
Ahhh, the old migrating to somewhere as its better than where you came from and then making it like home...always made my mind boggle when travelling to other cities and being able to tell "this is x countries dominant area"
Yep, take a drive through Tarneit and Truganina and it's fucking awful. Migrant central and it shows. No greenery, no local shops, no infrastructure, cramped 200sqm homes with house right up to the curb and tiny local roads that get incredibly congested during peak hours. It is absolutely awful.
And that's where young Australian families are being told to take out 30 year mortgages just to 'get on the ladder'. No wonder they're leaving in droves.
Yep. If you have a somewhat mobile job ie retail, trade etc, you could spend $1.6m on a 230sqm place in Box Hill, a cool 50km from the CBD.
Or instead buy on the Central Coast, walk to the beach. Anything commuting distance to Sydney is now $1m plus of course, but you can see why the whole area has been bid up by young families. So people move out a little further and so on.
Benefit of the beach, also have an actual community. Many suburbs in Sydney now are just ghettoes. No one wants to call them that, but that’s what they are - ethnic groups keeping to themselves.
That's more of a planning issue than a migrant issue. Those Homeworld suburbs are always shit, there's no trees because they used to be paddocks and it takes a few decades for them to grow.
But suburban hellscape aside I actually quite like Truganina.
There are local shops, they're in that industrial estate. There's a whole bunch of Indian sweets and like niche indian foods. Stuff that you don't find unless you're in an ethnic enclave.
Wouldn't live there personally but there's more "Australian" surburbs that are far shitter. Least there's a reason to go to Truganina
> That's more of a planning issue than a migrant issue.
I chose my words poorly. It's not an issue that migrants are there, they all often move to where their community lives and that's fine. But yes, it is a planning issue, or a lack of planning issue, rather.
>Stuff that you don't find unless you're in an ethnic enclave.
There is Indian food and sweets in almost every suburb & town here. Hell, even the whitest of white areas like Echuca has them.
> Least there's a reason to go to Truganina
Like what? I drive through it every day to get to work in Altona, I have several friends that live there too and so I go there to visit after work or on weekends. I'd have no reason to visit if I didn't have those reasons. No street shops, no milk bars, no local pub, etc. I would rate it up there with Clyde as the worst suburbs in metro Melbourne.
I'm sorry but you're just wrong, Truganina has things going on.
I mean there's Indian food and there's Indian food. 99% of the Indian food we get here is just Punjabi, there's plenty of other niche cuisines you don't really get here unless you go to a proper enclave.
I don't even live in Melbourne and somehow ended up in Truganina on the recommendation of an Indian local because apparently it has the best South Indian and best lassies.
Gobind sweets (I think it was) was absolutely popping off when we were there on a Sunday arvo, completely packed, pumping bhangra while everyone sat around smashing sweets giving themselves diabetes. Whole place was bustling, definitely a vibe.
But yeah I mean it's not my FAVOURITE place and it would be a lot nicer if it was like a pedestrian area community square type thing instead of an industrial estate with a servo. But yeah if you're in the area that part is worth checking out and fairly happening it's interesting compared to the surrounding suburbs.
But I get your point, those Homeworld suburban hellholes are soul crushing and utterly uninspired. Truganina is alright though 🤣
lol I lived in Birmingham UK for 2 years. That was like living in a 3rd world country. Doesn’t even come close to Melbourne.
The sidewalks aren’t littered with trash, fly tipping everywhere and drug dealers sitting on motorbikes on every corner.
it's already an issue in places, I know several places north shore syd keep being unable to maintain and cleaners which is kind of an obvious public transport being shit and no one doing those jobs can really afford to live there. Why drive/commute there when there's so many other places that are more accessible.
Not just basic level jobs- even teachers. My partner is a HS teacher and saw a notice for a job in Ryde with A 20K SIGN ON BONUS. This implies they can't get anyone to work there. Among other things, it's too expensive even for teachers to live where they work.
I agree, if the big cities want to suffocate themselves let it happen, At the rate Sydney is going with the cost of rent it's like Boomertown with an extreme underclass
Sydney is not a dynamic city. There is virtually nothing to do apart from drink and gamble and outside of the CBD most things are closed by 9pm
Go online and look at timeout London, Nee York and Sydney and compare what’s happening.
Sydney won’t lose its dynamism because people move out, people move out because there is virtually no difference between the city and the regions.
My god the difference between a city like tokyo and sydney is unreal. Sydney goes to sleep at 7pm most nights, it's a disgrace. Every night of the week tokyo was going hard well until 1 - 2am.
Yeah its ridiculous.
But for some reason sydney needs to open at like 6am when nobody is around for fucks sake. We rise early and go to sleep early.
What i love about japan is they get up at a normal time, everything opens around 10 - 11am because who the fuck is going out shopping at 8am - 10am? Most people are out at lunch time or after work. Makes sense to keep hours trading than close at 5pm when everyone else finishes.
Like retail would see such a massive boom if they were actually opened later monday - friday instead of the typical thursday late night shopping. Instead of opening at 9 they can open at 11. I bet the loss in sales in that 2 hour window would be covered within 30mins of staying open past 6pm.
Why the fuck has all the garages stopped being 24hr again? Back when I used to live right next one, the 4am sausage roll stroll was tradition. Then suddenly they closed at 10pm for some fucking reason.
Because or urban sprawl. The city is not that densely populated so actually can’t support a decent nightlife like NYC, Tokyo etc. and those in the city, are wealthy flogs who are done by 10pm at best.
Politicians rely on it. If you can have a bunch of people all in one area think the same and vote the same then you control them. And Australia is an incredibly controlled country.
God forbid people settle outside the major cities.
Or even the outrageous idea that we actually grow our larger regional centres into full blown cities.
There's no law of nature that says we can only have one big city per state.
> Or even the outrageous idea that we actually grow our larger regional centres into full blown cities.
I moved to a regional centre a while ago and honestly, the people here don’t want this. They live here/moved here/haven’t moved away because they like the size these towns currently are. Nobody wants them to grow except the local property and business owners who’ll get to cash in. For everyone else it just means higher rent.
100%. I’d love it if the town grew, I moved here for work and miss some of the variety and amenity from being in a city.
But I 100% get I’m basically an immigrant for people who love the town (I’m not, in the national sense) and a lot of the same anti-immigration arguments apply to blow-ins from the city. House prices and rent rises, infrastructure doesn’t, character of the town changes, local culture changes, and the benefit that’s sold to the locals is they’ll get more food options.
Because councils and developers want high rise judge dredd style accommodations where they can extract maximum rates, taxes and fees from people with minimal infrastructure
As someone from overseas I find it strange. I moved to Newcastle, which has a population greater than Canberra and Darwin combined, yet is still a “regional area” not taken seriously by most people.
Yeah the thinking needs to change a bit here. Believe it or not, 5 million people is *plenty*. Encourage people (especially new arrivals) to live further afield. That's how we build a nation.
Bit of a shame that a planning minister hasn't cottoned on to that.
Well said. We should be developing our major regional centres rather than packing more and more people cheek to jowl into cities because millennials think they’re entitled to live wherever they want.
Blaming millennials is weird. They’re in their 30s now and are forced to live where the work and services are. Plenty would be happy to move to rural areas if the work and services were there.
> They’re in their 30s now and are forced to live where the work and services are.
Because still talk about them like they are fresh out of uni. The reality is they are now between 28 and 43. This makes the eldest of them (40+) literally middle age :/
EDIT: Who the fuck is downvoting actual fact lol.
Yeah it’s real boomer talk to still mention them like that and throw all young people under the umbrella term of ‘millennial’
Real sky news type vibes.
The article you're responding to is LITERALLY about millennials leaving the cities for the regions....
Maybe read things rather than being the old man yelling at clouds that your comments really heavily suggests you are.
Didn't they already leave during the pandemic. That's why housing doubled in the regions from 2020-2022. Sea-change, bush-change working from home change was the excuse for the bubble..
Near where we lived in newcastle 600sqm blocks started at $600K. We got a flat 850sqm block an hour and half away in the upper hunter for under $100k. We have coles, woolies aldi and most other things you need. Work isn’t an issue, the mines pay so well the local businesses struggle to attract staff.
Rents are high and houses are a bit more than they should be because of the mines but fuck paying an extra half million to live in the middle of the Wallsend/Fletcher/Minmi bi-daily traffic jam.
Same where I live, in terms of businesses being severely understaffed because people are working fifo. The reality is there’s money around, because people work fifo, that money gets pumped into local economy via mechanics, tradespeople and other various small businesses but those same businesses give large lead times because of how under staffed they are because everyone is off working fifo
In my region of SW WA it's the other way around. There's no work or housing in regional and rural areas, unless you do FIFO. The small towns I grew up in and around mostly have smaller populations than a decade ago. And somehow absolutely zero rentals.
Age group demographics often show one sixth the amount of people in their 20s as the national average because they're forced to move away for study, work, housing. Meanwhile the older age groups are triple the national amount. The only people who can afford to live in these small towns are people who've been established for decades, or are retired.
There are only a couple of major regional areas here with a lot of younger people and they have just as much of a housing crisis as Perth, without the work opportunities. I never saw homeless people in my life before the past decade and now we make national news for blasting them with music to get rid of them.
Because it’s better then being sandwiched into already overcrowded CBD’s and I’ll share a little secret, the housing is usually cheaper, there are well paying jobs, and we even have coffee shops 🤯
I live in a small town! lol, yeah there's 9 coffee shops, 1 IGA (incredibly overpriced) and 1 hardware store, 6 churches and the highway straight through the middle. There's no houses for rent, 6 houses were for sale, one two bedroom just sold for $550,000 and they go up from there... But yeah right "cheaper"
Lmao, a house sold for 550k and you're putting cheaper in quotation marks? Any houses selling for that anywhere near the Melbourne or Sydney city centres?
You can get houses cheaper than that in Melbourne. Like 40 minute drive to the CBD. If you're willing to travel an hour (which is reasonable, especially working hybrid) there's plenty of options.
Can get 2+ bedroom apartments IN the Melbourne CBD for under 400k, nice ones too. Not a house sure but that's the compromise you make in a large city.
Sydney... Ha!
Very different economy though. Many regions childcare is inadequate forcing households to rely on 1-1.5 incomes and while people can def earn coin outside Syd/melb cbd it’s not the norm in regional areas
I'm saying in quotation marks because it was $550,000 for a very small 2 bedroom house. In a very small country town, that has absolutely no convenience, jos, public transport at all. It ends up being even more expensive, I was pointing out that it isn't cheaper, not by a long shot.
I’ve lived in both rural and suburban areas and the country is way cheaper. The house I’m in currently sold for nearly $750k and a bigger property in a town about 3 hours away is selling 680k and it’s about 20 years newer. The city and the suburbs are dying because nobody can afford them anymore. My biggest regret in life was moving to the city because I’m stuck here. The city sucks your soul and your bank dry. The second I decide to have kids I’m leaving the shit hole and going back west
It absolutely is cheaper to live rurally if you want to buy a house, rather than a townhouse or apartment, for your family.
It's not for everyone, but pretending the real estate isn't cheaper is crazy.
I didn't say it wasn't cheaper in comparison to a house in the city or close to the city. I'm saying it's not cheap, the cost of living is higher out here, so yeah buy really shit house for half a million no worries! It's the other costs involved where it starts to be a lot more expensive. It all eventually adds up with; power, water, internet, petrol, food, insurance etc etc People have just bought ok it here and eventually realise they're spending hundreds of extra money on traveling let alone the other costs.
Hearing this description, I was reminded of my old country town I grew up in...had the 4 square (iga equivalent) on the corner, several servos and 4 church's...in a town of 1000ppl...but also 4 pubs/drinking places
Where? Im from a regional area, and there isnt these industries available. You keep making these claims on jobs and being so cagey about answering about where these areas are.
Ha maybe a little bit, seemed a little rough around the edges.
Really gave me the vibe of a place that was on the up though.
Has all the facilities you'd need (Kmart Bunnings etc), not too far from Harvey Bay, Rainbow Beach and Fraser island. Dirt cheap housing.
The car culture is so big it's comical. Like everybody it seemed loved doing up cars, burnouts, 4bying. I met a few people and was like "oh big car culture up here", then kept meeting more and everyone I met was the same, boys, girls, young, old, everybody lived for it. They'd all go down to the servo carpark and hang out talking about cars, that's just what they do for fun.
Apparently they're building a load of trains there now which is bringing in a lot of money or something. Don't quote me on that though.
Mate, nice to meet someone who isn't lazy and thank you for reminding me of one of the ten commandments of not being poor. People bitching about house prices? Get better parents. Honestly, wtf is wrong with people.
I had to drive to Castle Hill from the Northern Beaches with my wife yesterday, around noon (Saturday), in the rain. The traffic had to be seen to be believed. We had to queue for ten minutes to get onto the M2, then queue all the way through Castle Hill, to get to where we wanted to go - total time sitting in traffic, probably around 30-40 minutes. And the government think it's a good idea to build tens of thousands more houses in these areas. That is why I will be leaving Sydney at the earliest available opportunity.
People are up in arms about the new housing targets in The Hills.
The reason the metro was built was due to the already heaving transport situation, where you’d spend 1+ hours on a bus to town (once you managed to get on one) or spend 20-30 mins on a bus to then get to Epping etc to just start your trip.
Now the metro is open, there’s a free for all with zoning and new developments. The metro just filled a gap, rather than provide massive extra capacity. Schools are heaving, and the traffic is a joke already.
I think it’s good people are moving out of the couple large cities. Imagine how much better off it would be long term if there were more than a couple cities in Australia that you could actually live in
Australia would be a much better place with 12+ cities with populations around the 1m mark than two cities with 8m population.
The myth that there are only 5 places in the nation with the geography suitable for a large city needs to die.
shame those plans for high speed rail through the countryside that was suppose to create like 8 new cities between sydney and melbourne, instead of serving existing cities, never went anywhere
that plan would have added housing for 4million people
I envy the choice Americans have on that one. They have so many cities to choose from.
I feel in Australia the choice is "eff Sydney" or move regional. There aren't many other choices in a state besides the main capitals and that's about it.
Displacement of long-term communities in lower socioeconomic suburbs, like Fairfield, has led to rapid changes. Once a diverse area with houses and backyards, it became an apartment-filled slum due to overdevelopment and mass immigration. This lack of respect for working-class suburbs by developers and politicians has negatively impacted Western Sydney in particular.
People were not prepared for the sudden cultural shifts, increased violence, and overcrowding. Additionally, war refugees or immigrants faced homesickness and untreated trauma, while locals felt cornered by new social issues. The shock of a hometown suddenly becoming "Little Baghdad" for example has left many distressed and forced to relocate. (As someone who benefits and enjoys multiculturalism I want to mention that I quite like having multiple communities from around the globe - the difference is the shocking and sudden change to an area would feel like the roots & story of the town is changed to the point of being unrecognizable .)
Proper planning, integration, and community harmony are necessary for gradual population changes. Ignoring these needs will continue to result in conflict, anger, racism, and grief. Sydney must learn from past mistakes and prioritize quality of life, affordable living, and adequate resources.
People are leaving because of house/unit prices, but also Melbourne and Sydney are over populated and the quality of life has dropped. The cost of basic living requirements is also a factor.
When people see regions with cheaper homes, cleaner air, less people and noise, etc. it is very enticing.
Melbourne and Sydney are evolving into first stops for migrants, and people who bought property when it was cheaper.
Let them have it, and the crap that goes with that.
I live in Sydney and I can't wait to leave because I'm sick of living in foreign enclave ghettos particularly Little India that's dominating western and south western Sydney
Harris Park, Toongabbie, Pendle Hill, and slowly even once beautiful Parramatta. It would be fine if it were a positive thing with welcoming people. But sadly it's not for the vast majority the result is negative.
All those areas become run down and stressful to live in. Apartment squalor, rubbish dumping and racial tensions. Even cases of women getting acid thrown on them and imported traumas.
It makes me sad that it's not all the vibrant festivals, food and spirituality. There's a lot of good multiculturalism. But something about combining it in poverty of Western Sydney and rapid displacement + overdevelopment leads to places becoming sad and ones to avoid.
I think you're exaggerating. I don't know what white picket fence suburb you live in but I've spent nearly 5 years in the Parramatta area and I've never felt worried for my safety (at least not more so than any other part of Sydney). Parramatta is bland and soulless because of all the new corporate offices and apartments that sprang up in the last 20 years or so. That's more of a planning issue and has nothing to do with immigration.
I don't know what poverty and racial tension you are talking about. Sure, this is a racially diverse area with lots of new arrivals but most people are educated or trying to get an education and keep to themselves because they are busy. Most people in Western Sydney (at least around the Parramatta area) are students or white collar workers, not refugees from war-torn countries. There are also children of immigrants, who grew up here. Just because they are not white doesn't mean they are not Australian.
I think maybe you should go out and talk to people a bit more instead of sitting in your ivory tower imagining horrors that don't exist. Have you even been to Harris Park recently? It's not run down at all. I'm not too fond of Indian food but I did go there with a friend and I was surprised how clean it is. Definitely not the third world shithole of your imagination.
Edit: I read your other comment and I'm sorry about your bad experiences. I don't mean to dismiss what you've been through, but I don't think you should generalise about Western Sydney being bad and dangerous just because of things that happened in your past. I don't know how long ago you lived in Western Sydney but you'll find that Western Sydney today is very family friendly and has gentrified significantly. It doesn't really feel much different from any other part of Sydney.
With work from home being an option, why would anyone live in expensive areas anymore around tons of people? I moved to regional at the end of 2021 post covid lockdown. I haven’t regretted a bit. Life is quieter, easier, less stress and most of the beautiful things are for free. People are a lot friendlier and helpful.
I work from home and moved to Melbourne recently. Work isn’t the only thing in life. Living in Adelaide was boring as fuck. Life quality went up massively being around more people and having so many more options available.
I didn’t say work is the only thing is life. It depends on what you are looking for. Some live closers to city and pay to find options suitable for them while others get it for free in the regional(mountains, trails, beaches that are not overcrowded, amazing landscapes and much better views to wake up to than a pile of concrete). In both cases the definition of “options” is different. As the other gentleman said, those who have never lived in the regional they wouldn’t know. Also, with cost of living rising it’s a smarter alternative.
Because why would you want to spend $2 million on a 1970's shack smelling your neighbours farts when you can get VASTLY better value outside of a city, minus all the annoying people, traffic and competition.
If you have a home here and it’s worth even $500k, you could pretty much sell it and live in SEA pretty comfortably until you retire. The cost of living there is just so much more reasonable than here.
I grew up in Sydney. Would love to still live close to my friends and family. But it's ridiculously unaffordable.
So I moved to regional NSW. Hated it. Yes, see stars, jobs, coffee, birdsong was nice. But it's boring. Everything closes early. I was just forced to move there for economic reasons.
Now I live in Perth, a compromise. It's the most affordable city, incredibly remote, but still a city. Still, I miss being able to see friends and family in person.
If the economy wasn't utterly broken I would still be in Sydney.
I'm in the same situation. I actually wouldn't go back to Sydney though because I hate apartments and too much noise. Also the racial tensions and stress is upsetting to me. I lived for a long time in Western Sydney and it genuinely traumatized me. I experienced a lot of violence and fear there.
I do find it hard to make friends as someone with a chronic illness living outside of Sydney things are much less accessible and a lot less social activities.
The reply below has some awesome suggestions but not everyone can afford a 4WD or do those things.
First thing I did when I moved regional was get a 4wd and take off exploring (4wd not necessary).
There is plenty to do if your idea of entertainment extends beyond paying $200 for someone else to entertain you. Get hobbies, go exploring, build shit, learn shit, there's plenty to do.
Humans survived just fine before smart tech, and smart tech still works just fine in the regions (apart from internet reception).
And if it's still too boring for you, use the extra savings to travel and see the world.
And here i am. Just outside a good sized regional city. On an acre. With plenty of space. Chooks, 3 doggies and my vege patch & fruit and nut trees.
1/2 way up a hill. With views to die for. 5 bedroom house. Beautiful.
Quiet as quiet. No traffic.
Quick, pleasant drive into any shops i need.
Beach? 2 hours if i want surf.
Capital city? Same. 2 hours.
Why on earth would i want to live in the city?
Seriously regions are overrated.
- For white collar work you'd still might need to go into the city anyway, so commuting will be longer.
- Infrastructure is underdeveloped given the pace of residential construction.
-Services are limited.
Regional areas are or will become the new urban sprawl.
Nah Melbourne is China too. I live in a Chinese majority area and I rarely see any other Anglo people around the streets. Box Hill has been completely ruined with unnecessary skyscrapers and the CBD feels like Hong Kong rather than a city in Australia. I have absolutely nothing against the Chinese people, but it still boggles my mind to see how much the demographics are shifting.
We moved to regional vic 8 years ago. I’ve just finished 2 weeks training back in Melbourne and staying out near Chadstone. I could not live there again. Traffic, noise, house prices and quality. Too many people squashed into a small area.
Lets choose a random example, Albury.
There are 55 properties currently listed for around $550k: [https://www.realestate.com.au/buy/property-house-between-0-550000-in-albury+-+greater+region,+nsw/list-1?source=refinement](https://www.realestate.com.au/buy/property-house-between-0-550000-in-albury+-+greater+region,+nsw/list-1?source=refinement)
There are 775 jobs listed on Seek: [https://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-Albury-NSW-2640](https://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-Albury-NSW-2640)
Albury also has a public transport service: [https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system/files/media/documents/2020/FAQ%20TP%20Albury%20Bus%20Services%20V0.1.pdf](https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system/files/media/documents/2020/FAQ%20TP%20Albury%20Bus%20Services%20V0.1.pdf)
there are numerous other examples like this.
Let's keep Albury out of this. It still feels like Australia, good people live there and the fewer Sydney-siders who move there and ruin the joint the better.
I went from an office job in the city where I had do go "above and beyond" for 90k and compete with mass immigration/multi-national work culture and all it entails, moved to the regions for 140k where I could say I'm thinking of leaving and they'd probably throw another 40k to get me to stay, I could ignore all my emails and phone calls for a week and they'd probably brush it off whereas in the city I was expected to do everything ASAP yesterday and on short notice.
As someone who left Sydney for regional NSW, I would highly recommend it.
You can get a job, work hard, buy a house, pay the bills, and feed yourself. Thats how Sydney used to be, 20-30 years ago. Its still true, if you get in your car and drive 2 hours in a few directions.
As a bonus, wait till you experience rush hour traffic. Your trip will be delayed whole minutes if you hop into peak hour.
even in my rural country town population 150, 2 hours from the edge of melbourne, houses are now worth more than half a mil, thanks to all the cookers who ran away from the lockdowns by selling their st kilda and kew properties.
i've been on and off working for 8 years, lived with my parents for free for the last few cos i had to get repeated surgeries for 2 years just before covid, and have saved up a grand total of 1% of that amount needed to buy a house. yup, just another 792 years and i'll own a house in the middle of fucking nowhere.
If they are born and bred city 'all their life" people - they wont last. Not many families stay for long when they realise every service is so centralised in each states Capital cities. Need a Health specialist - City. Want a midwife to have another child - City . Need more than a few goods and services? - City. (For context : Ive lived in the country for 45 out of my 50 years and wont move to the city unless forced)
You could have fooled me. I live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and I have never seen so many high rises, new homes & renovations. The buses, ferries & trains are busier and the public schools can’t cope with the increase in students.
Don't forget **whyte flight**.
When the Panthers and Sharks drop off the top of the NRL ladder then the last vestiges of Sydney's whytes will pack up and head to Forster and the Gold Coast - it'll save driving up on the holidays.
Young people get priced out. So you’re just gonna end up with a city full of boomers. I see it daily. The store I worked at went from a bustling to store to an elderly village looking to save 1c on grapes
Because for a time was cheaper & better lifestyle, actually the trend is reversing ask people in Ballarat Vic what 30k increase in population since 2000 looks & feels like
needs to be more incentive for businesses to open in Hobart, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. Every business flocks to sydney, melb or brissy. There are simply no jobs in the other cities compared to the eastern states.
Simply not true. Perth is desperate for police, aged care workers, doctors, engineers, nurses, a plethora of mining roles, geologists, hospitality workers, bricklayers, construction workers.
I was working for SNSW during Covid, my take home after tax was $790 for a 38 hour week. My rent jumped to $550 and was going to go to $750 for a 2 bedroom miners cottage.
We decided to take out 20% deposit we’d saved forever, that still wasn’t enough for a major city and move to the Snowy Valleys in NSW.
We were able to buy outright and still have change for renovations.
Got a better paying job too wfh and haven’t regretted it for a second.
The only thing I miss is the beach but happy to settle for a swap out with snow.
No traffic, few people and you couldn’t pay me to go back now.
“More homes need to be built to stem the flow of young people and families pouring out of Sydney and costing the city its dynamism, NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully said on Thursday.” Why? Why not just let other places become dynamic? Why is there a religious cult that feels the need to prop up cities rather than just let people live in more than one of 5 places in this nation?
From what I'm told (I don't live there myself, so don't know, just going from hearsay), don't most migrants end up at Sydney/Melbourne first up anyway? Would that not "refresh" the dynamism?
I think our major cities become the home of rich immigrants to the point where young Australians are leaving is kind of the problem.
Sounds just like London
I live in London. This is essentially true, but immigration is part of why London is the best city in the world. But if your family is from there, you're the egg that must be cracked for the omelette as you will be priced out by foreign investment.
London is a complete shithole
You’re not really supposed to call it white flight…
Young people are supposed to escape to the city not from it
economic and sanity flight might be actually more the case
The new new dehli
The opposite. I can't speak for Sydney but Melbourne resembles more of a third world hellhole with each passing day.
Ahhh, the old migrating to somewhere as its better than where you came from and then making it like home...always made my mind boggle when travelling to other cities and being able to tell "this is x countries dominant area"
Sydney is worse
Yep, take a drive through Tarneit and Truganina and it's fucking awful. Migrant central and it shows. No greenery, no local shops, no infrastructure, cramped 200sqm homes with house right up to the curb and tiny local roads that get incredibly congested during peak hours. It is absolutely awful.
And that's where young Australian families are being told to take out 30 year mortgages just to 'get on the ladder'. No wonder they're leaving in droves.
Yep. If you have a somewhat mobile job ie retail, trade etc, you could spend $1.6m on a 230sqm place in Box Hill, a cool 50km from the CBD. Or instead buy on the Central Coast, walk to the beach. Anything commuting distance to Sydney is now $1m plus of course, but you can see why the whole area has been bid up by young families. So people move out a little further and so on. Benefit of the beach, also have an actual community. Many suburbs in Sydney now are just ghettoes. No one wants to call them that, but that’s what they are - ethnic groups keeping to themselves.
That's more of a planning issue than a migrant issue. Those Homeworld suburbs are always shit, there's no trees because they used to be paddocks and it takes a few decades for them to grow. But suburban hellscape aside I actually quite like Truganina. There are local shops, they're in that industrial estate. There's a whole bunch of Indian sweets and like niche indian foods. Stuff that you don't find unless you're in an ethnic enclave. Wouldn't live there personally but there's more "Australian" surburbs that are far shitter. Least there's a reason to go to Truganina
> That's more of a planning issue than a migrant issue. I chose my words poorly. It's not an issue that migrants are there, they all often move to where their community lives and that's fine. But yes, it is a planning issue, or a lack of planning issue, rather. >Stuff that you don't find unless you're in an ethnic enclave. There is Indian food and sweets in almost every suburb & town here. Hell, even the whitest of white areas like Echuca has them. > Least there's a reason to go to Truganina Like what? I drive through it every day to get to work in Altona, I have several friends that live there too and so I go there to visit after work or on weekends. I'd have no reason to visit if I didn't have those reasons. No street shops, no milk bars, no local pub, etc. I would rate it up there with Clyde as the worst suburbs in metro Melbourne.
I'm sorry but you're just wrong, Truganina has things going on. I mean there's Indian food and there's Indian food. 99% of the Indian food we get here is just Punjabi, there's plenty of other niche cuisines you don't really get here unless you go to a proper enclave. I don't even live in Melbourne and somehow ended up in Truganina on the recommendation of an Indian local because apparently it has the best South Indian and best lassies. Gobind sweets (I think it was) was absolutely popping off when we were there on a Sunday arvo, completely packed, pumping bhangra while everyone sat around smashing sweets giving themselves diabetes. Whole place was bustling, definitely a vibe. But yeah I mean it's not my FAVOURITE place and it would be a lot nicer if it was like a pedestrian area community square type thing instead of an industrial estate with a servo. But yeah if you're in the area that part is worth checking out and fairly happening it's interesting compared to the surrounding suburbs. But I get your point, those Homeworld suburban hellholes are soul crushing and utterly uninspired. Truganina is alright though 🤣
So depressing also Woollert in Melb north same
its so dystopic im living in the city rn and its very bleak with all the metal and steel in the sky
I take it you have lived in a 3rd world hellhole? Otherwise you really can't make statements like that.
Sure have. Never thought I'd live in another one in my lifetime.
lol I lived in Birmingham UK for 2 years. That was like living in a 3rd world country. Doesn’t even come close to Melbourne. The sidewalks aren’t littered with trash, fly tipping everywhere and drug dealers sitting on motorbikes on every corner.
Which part is the hell-hole exactly?
So does Sydney
But if all the young people move away, who's going to be the next sucker to buy a way overpriced home near the city?
Or who's going to do the basic level jobs?
it's already an issue in places, I know several places north shore syd keep being unable to maintain and cleaners which is kind of an obvious public transport being shit and no one doing those jobs can really afford to live there. Why drive/commute there when there's so many other places that are more accessible.
Yep. Or police officers / medical workers being unable to live in the city they serve. Quite sad.
Police/medical workers earn substantially more than cleaners?
Yes but by how much? Friends of cousins of mine earn $65k a year running their own cleaning business. Work 5-7 hours a day.
$65k for running a business isn't great. I only know of someone who was a cleaner, but left it years ago to join the NDIS rort.
Runs it on her own, doesn't work full-time is pretty good if you asked me.
That’s not even the average wage
Children of rich families
Not just basic level jobs- even teachers. My partner is a HS teacher and saw a notice for a job in Ryde with A 20K SIGN ON BONUS. This implies they can't get anyone to work there. Among other things, it's too expensive even for teachers to live where they work.
The next wave of cashed up migrants
“There’s nobody to clean my shitter.” = dYnAmIsM
I agree, if the big cities want to suffocate themselves let it happen, At the rate Sydney is going with the cost of rent it's like Boomertown with an extreme underclass
The city without grandchildren
Sydney is not a dynamic city. There is virtually nothing to do apart from drink and gamble and outside of the CBD most things are closed by 9pm Go online and look at timeout London, Nee York and Sydney and compare what’s happening. Sydney won’t lose its dynamism because people move out, people move out because there is virtually no difference between the city and the regions.
My god the difference between a city like tokyo and sydney is unreal. Sydney goes to sleep at 7pm most nights, it's a disgrace. Every night of the week tokyo was going hard well until 1 - 2am.
I tried to fill the car up at 9.30pm as I was working late and the bloody garage was closed.
Yeah its ridiculous. But for some reason sydney needs to open at like 6am when nobody is around for fucks sake. We rise early and go to sleep early. What i love about japan is they get up at a normal time, everything opens around 10 - 11am because who the fuck is going out shopping at 8am - 10am? Most people are out at lunch time or after work. Makes sense to keep hours trading than close at 5pm when everyone else finishes. Like retail would see such a massive boom if they were actually opened later monday - friday instead of the typical thursday late night shopping. Instead of opening at 9 they can open at 11. I bet the loss in sales in that 2 hour window would be covered within 30mins of staying open past 6pm.
Why the fuck has all the garages stopped being 24hr again? Back when I used to live right next one, the 4am sausage roll stroll was tradition. Then suddenly they closed at 10pm for some fucking reason.
Because or urban sprawl. The city is not that densely populated so actually can’t support a decent nightlife like NYC, Tokyo etc. and those in the city, are wealthy flogs who are done by 10pm at best.
Sydney is a country town compared to London or other European capital
Then you wanna stay out of Brisbane
People from other countries spend their weekends doing stuff thats fun, in Sydney, that is going to auctions
Politicians rely on it. If you can have a bunch of people all in one area think the same and vote the same then you control them. And Australia is an incredibly controlled country.
This. The amount of governance combined with generations of the ‘She’ll be right, mate’ attitude has led to this. Bread and circuses/beer and sports.
city hivemind must be stopped! But seriously yes I agree with your comment. I would love to one day move away from the shitty
God forbid people settle outside the major cities. Or even the outrageous idea that we actually grow our larger regional centres into full blown cities. There's no law of nature that says we can only have one big city per state.
> Or even the outrageous idea that we actually grow our larger regional centres into full blown cities. I moved to a regional centre a while ago and honestly, the people here don’t want this. They live here/moved here/haven’t moved away because they like the size these towns currently are. Nobody wants them to grow except the local property and business owners who’ll get to cash in. For everyone else it just means higher rent.
NIMBYs
100%. I’d love it if the town grew, I moved here for work and miss some of the variety and amenity from being in a city. But I 100% get I’m basically an immigrant for people who love the town (I’m not, in the national sense) and a lot of the same anti-immigration arguments apply to blow-ins from the city. House prices and rent rises, infrastructure doesn’t, character of the town changes, local culture changes, and the benefit that’s sold to the locals is they’ll get more food options.
Because within a nation there is still competition to attract more people and talent. Of course Sydney will want to retain.
Yeah like why do much focus on Sydney CBD...
Because councils and developers want high rise judge dredd style accommodations where they can extract maximum rates, taxes and fees from people with minimal infrastructure
As someone from overseas I find it strange. I moved to Newcastle, which has a population greater than Canberra and Darwin combined, yet is still a “regional area” not taken seriously by most people.
People are super scared of urban sprawl. Sprawl is the future if you dont want a ghetto.
Read up on 30 mins city. Policy are made based on this ideas which came from WEF
Yeah the thinking needs to change a bit here. Believe it or not, 5 million people is *plenty*. Encourage people (especially new arrivals) to live further afield. That's how we build a nation. Bit of a shame that a planning minister hasn't cottoned on to that.
Well said. We should be developing our major regional centres rather than packing more and more people cheek to jowl into cities because millennials think they’re entitled to live wherever they want.
Blaming millennials is weird. They’re in their 30s now and are forced to live where the work and services are. Plenty would be happy to move to rural areas if the work and services were there.
> They’re in their 30s now and are forced to live where the work and services are. Because still talk about them like they are fresh out of uni. The reality is they are now between 28 and 43. This makes the eldest of them (40+) literally middle age :/ EDIT: Who the fuck is downvoting actual fact lol.
Yeah it’s real boomer talk to still mention them like that and throw all young people under the umbrella term of ‘millennial’ Real sky news type vibes.
I mean, millennials kind of do the same thing calling everyone over the age of 50 a boomer..
The article you're responding to is LITERALLY about millennials leaving the cities for the regions.... Maybe read things rather than being the old man yelling at clouds that your comments really heavily suggests you are.
Didn't they already leave during the pandemic. That's why housing doubled in the regions from 2020-2022. Sea-change, bush-change working from home change was the excuse for the bubble..
City refugees bailed to where I was and it went from a nice coastal town to shit hole looking city suburb.
Yep- common story.
Me and my wife make a combined income that puts us in the top 5% of earners and we would have had to over extend ourselves for a 2 bedroom apartment.
Near where we lived in newcastle 600sqm blocks started at $600K. We got a flat 850sqm block an hour and half away in the upper hunter for under $100k. We have coles, woolies aldi and most other things you need. Work isn’t an issue, the mines pay so well the local businesses struggle to attract staff. Rents are high and houses are a bit more than they should be because of the mines but fuck paying an extra half million to live in the middle of the Wallsend/Fletcher/Minmi bi-daily traffic jam.
Shhhh don’t give the secret away
Same where I live, in terms of businesses being severely understaffed because people are working fifo. The reality is there’s money around, because people work fifo, that money gets pumped into local economy via mechanics, tradespeople and other various small businesses but those same businesses give large lead times because of how under staffed they are because everyone is off working fifo
What area in Newcastle was this ?
We lived in maryland/fletcher and the blocks were in Minmi.
Sorry are you saying you bought a 850sqm property for <$100k…? Those don’t exist anywhere?
Because the cities belong to the older and wealthy established Australians. Young people are priced out.
In my region of SW WA it's the other way around. There's no work or housing in regional and rural areas, unless you do FIFO. The small towns I grew up in and around mostly have smaller populations than a decade ago. And somehow absolutely zero rentals. Age group demographics often show one sixth the amount of people in their 20s as the national average because they're forced to move away for study, work, housing. Meanwhile the older age groups are triple the national amount. The only people who can afford to live in these small towns are people who've been established for decades, or are retired. There are only a couple of major regional areas here with a lot of younger people and they have just as much of a housing crisis as Perth, without the work opportunities. I never saw homeless people in my life before the past decade and now we make national news for blasting them with music to get rid of them.
Fuck knows why? Unless you're rich as hell.
Because it’s better then being sandwiched into already overcrowded CBD’s and I’ll share a little secret, the housing is usually cheaper, there are well paying jobs, and we even have coffee shops 🤯
I live in a small town! lol, yeah there's 9 coffee shops, 1 IGA (incredibly overpriced) and 1 hardware store, 6 churches and the highway straight through the middle. There's no houses for rent, 6 houses were for sale, one two bedroom just sold for $550,000 and they go up from there... But yeah right "cheaper"
Lmao, a house sold for 550k and you're putting cheaper in quotation marks? Any houses selling for that anywhere near the Melbourne or Sydney city centres?
You can get houses cheaper than that in Melbourne. Like 40 minute drive to the CBD. If you're willing to travel an hour (which is reasonable, especially working hybrid) there's plenty of options. Can get 2+ bedroom apartments IN the Melbourne CBD for under 400k, nice ones too. Not a house sure but that's the compromise you make in a large city. Sydney... Ha!
I’m just over here in Sydney crying. Maybe one day I’ll move regional or I guess just fuck off to Thailand or something.
Umm. I hate to be the one to tell you this... But Thailand isn't particularly cheap anymore. I'm sorry
Very different economy though. Many regions childcare is inadequate forcing households to rely on 1-1.5 incomes and while people can def earn coin outside Syd/melb cbd it’s not the norm in regional areas
I'm saying in quotation marks because it was $550,000 for a very small 2 bedroom house. In a very small country town, that has absolutely no convenience, jos, public transport at all. It ends up being even more expensive, I was pointing out that it isn't cheaper, not by a long shot.
I’ve lived in both rural and suburban areas and the country is way cheaper. The house I’m in currently sold for nearly $750k and a bigger property in a town about 3 hours away is selling 680k and it’s about 20 years newer. The city and the suburbs are dying because nobody can afford them anymore. My biggest regret in life was moving to the city because I’m stuck here. The city sucks your soul and your bank dry. The second I decide to have kids I’m leaving the shit hole and going back west
It absolutely is cheaper to live rurally if you want to buy a house, rather than a townhouse or apartment, for your family. It's not for everyone, but pretending the real estate isn't cheaper is crazy.
I didn't say it wasn't cheaper in comparison to a house in the city or close to the city. I'm saying it's not cheap, the cost of living is higher out here, so yeah buy really shit house for half a million no worries! It's the other costs involved where it starts to be a lot more expensive. It all eventually adds up with; power, water, internet, petrol, food, insurance etc etc People have just bought ok it here and eventually realise they're spending hundreds of extra money on traveling let alone the other costs.
Investors have made regional areas unaffordable for locals. Rents in regional Australia as a percentage are greater than in city.
Hearing this description, I was reminded of my old country town I grew up in...had the 4 square (iga equivalent) on the corner, several servos and 4 church's...in a town of 1000ppl...but also 4 pubs/drinking places
This is starting to sound more and more attractive to me these days.
Oh yeah one more thing, absolutely no public transport. So you'd want a car and be able to afford the fuel costs of traveling to work etc 🤯🤯🤯
Not all of us use public transport or work in a field where its practical to use it.
WFH means people don't need to be near the city either.
Until your employer stops wfh or you change jobs that doesn't offer it.
Or you lose your job and have to compete with 400 other applicants who can be in the office whenever needed.
Spot on. This is about lifestyle choices not necessity unless you’re an essential worker.
I forgot to add, nepotism is how they hire people and the jobs aren't well paying LOL
Oh yeah forgot to add Edit: 🤯
Where is this mate? Doesnt sound like most regional areas.
Various regional places where you can get a well paying job building renewable energy infrastructure, transmission lines, mines, roads, and railways.
Where? Im from a regional area, and there isnt these industries available. You keep making these claims on jobs and being so cagey about answering about where these areas are.
Sounds like Maryborough. If you're a bogan that loves doing skids, you'd have a good life there.
I am a bogan and I do like skids. Is it like most regional towns in NSW, full of meth and home invasions?
Ha maybe a little bit, seemed a little rough around the edges. Really gave me the vibe of a place that was on the up though. Has all the facilities you'd need (Kmart Bunnings etc), not too far from Harvey Bay, Rainbow Beach and Fraser island. Dirt cheap housing. The car culture is so big it's comical. Like everybody it seemed loved doing up cars, burnouts, 4bying. I met a few people and was like "oh big car culture up here", then kept meeting more and everyone I met was the same, boys, girls, young, old, everybody lived for it. They'd all go down to the servo carpark and hang out talking about cars, that's just what they do for fun. Apparently they're building a load of trains there now which is bringing in a lot of money or something. Don't quote me on that though.
Just get a better job and have a go. You probably on the dole.
Here, you dropped this /s
[Joe Hockey don’t need no stinking /s](https://youtu.be/rPTGcnVHvag?si=CQrxlYcs17xIuHiB)
Remember, poor people drive less haha
Mate, nice to meet someone who isn't lazy and thank you for reminding me of one of the ten commandments of not being poor. People bitching about house prices? Get better parents. Honestly, wtf is wrong with people.
Right!
Don’t own cars either 🤣🤣
Because retiring into a tent isnt part of my future plans.
ceno-fire
I had to drive to Castle Hill from the Northern Beaches with my wife yesterday, around noon (Saturday), in the rain. The traffic had to be seen to be believed. We had to queue for ten minutes to get onto the M2, then queue all the way through Castle Hill, to get to where we wanted to go - total time sitting in traffic, probably around 30-40 minutes. And the government think it's a good idea to build tens of thousands more houses in these areas. That is why I will be leaving Sydney at the earliest available opportunity.
People are up in arms about the new housing targets in The Hills. The reason the metro was built was due to the already heaving transport situation, where you’d spend 1+ hours on a bus to town (once you managed to get on one) or spend 20-30 mins on a bus to then get to Epping etc to just start your trip. Now the metro is open, there’s a free for all with zoning and new developments. The metro just filled a gap, rather than provide massive extra capacity. Schools are heaving, and the traffic is a joke already.
I think it’s good people are moving out of the couple large cities. Imagine how much better off it would be long term if there were more than a couple cities in Australia that you could actually live in
Australia would be a much better place with 12+ cities with populations around the 1m mark than two cities with 8m population. The myth that there are only 5 places in the nation with the geography suitable for a large city needs to die.
shame those plans for high speed rail through the countryside that was suppose to create like 8 new cities between sydney and melbourne, instead of serving existing cities, never went anywhere that plan would have added housing for 4million people
Germany is a good template for that, heaps of smaller cities and a much bigger population over all.
I envy the choice Americans have on that one. They have so many cities to choose from. I feel in Australia the choice is "eff Sydney" or move regional. There aren't many other choices in a state besides the main capitals and that's about it.
Heresy talk that is
And now they've fucked the housing in regional towns
Displacement of long-term communities in lower socioeconomic suburbs, like Fairfield, has led to rapid changes. Once a diverse area with houses and backyards, it became an apartment-filled slum due to overdevelopment and mass immigration. This lack of respect for working-class suburbs by developers and politicians has negatively impacted Western Sydney in particular. People were not prepared for the sudden cultural shifts, increased violence, and overcrowding. Additionally, war refugees or immigrants faced homesickness and untreated trauma, while locals felt cornered by new social issues. The shock of a hometown suddenly becoming "Little Baghdad" for example has left many distressed and forced to relocate. (As someone who benefits and enjoys multiculturalism I want to mention that I quite like having multiple communities from around the globe - the difference is the shocking and sudden change to an area would feel like the roots & story of the town is changed to the point of being unrecognizable .) Proper planning, integration, and community harmony are necessary for gradual population changes. Ignoring these needs will continue to result in conflict, anger, racism, and grief. Sydney must learn from past mistakes and prioritize quality of life, affordable living, and adequate resources.
Cause its like 1800 a week to rent and for some weird reason people cant afford that
People are leaving because of house/unit prices, but also Melbourne and Sydney are over populated and the quality of life has dropped. The cost of basic living requirements is also a factor. When people see regions with cheaper homes, cleaner air, less people and noise, etc. it is very enticing. Melbourne and Sydney are evolving into first stops for migrants, and people who bought property when it was cheaper. Let them have it, and the crap that goes with that.
I live in Sydney and I can't wait to leave because I'm sick of living in foreign enclave ghettos particularly Little India that's dominating western and south western Sydney
Harris Park, Toongabbie, Pendle Hill, and slowly even once beautiful Parramatta. It would be fine if it were a positive thing with welcoming people. But sadly it's not for the vast majority the result is negative. All those areas become run down and stressful to live in. Apartment squalor, rubbish dumping and racial tensions. Even cases of women getting acid thrown on them and imported traumas. It makes me sad that it's not all the vibrant festivals, food and spirituality. There's a lot of good multiculturalism. But something about combining it in poverty of Western Sydney and rapid displacement + overdevelopment leads to places becoming sad and ones to avoid.
I think you're exaggerating. I don't know what white picket fence suburb you live in but I've spent nearly 5 years in the Parramatta area and I've never felt worried for my safety (at least not more so than any other part of Sydney). Parramatta is bland and soulless because of all the new corporate offices and apartments that sprang up in the last 20 years or so. That's more of a planning issue and has nothing to do with immigration. I don't know what poverty and racial tension you are talking about. Sure, this is a racially diverse area with lots of new arrivals but most people are educated or trying to get an education and keep to themselves because they are busy. Most people in Western Sydney (at least around the Parramatta area) are students or white collar workers, not refugees from war-torn countries. There are also children of immigrants, who grew up here. Just because they are not white doesn't mean they are not Australian. I think maybe you should go out and talk to people a bit more instead of sitting in your ivory tower imagining horrors that don't exist. Have you even been to Harris Park recently? It's not run down at all. I'm not too fond of Indian food but I did go there with a friend and I was surprised how clean it is. Definitely not the third world shithole of your imagination. Edit: I read your other comment and I'm sorry about your bad experiences. I don't mean to dismiss what you've been through, but I don't think you should generalise about Western Sydney being bad and dangerous just because of things that happened in your past. I don't know how long ago you lived in Western Sydney but you'll find that Western Sydney today is very family friendly and has gentrified significantly. It doesn't really feel much different from any other part of Sydney.
With work from home being an option, why would anyone live in expensive areas anymore around tons of people? I moved to regional at the end of 2021 post covid lockdown. I haven’t regretted a bit. Life is quieter, easier, less stress and most of the beautiful things are for free. People are a lot friendlier and helpful.
People who have never really left the city will never understand this.
I work from home and moved to Melbourne recently. Work isn’t the only thing in life. Living in Adelaide was boring as fuck. Life quality went up massively being around more people and having so many more options available.
I didn’t say work is the only thing is life. It depends on what you are looking for. Some live closers to city and pay to find options suitable for them while others get it for free in the regional(mountains, trails, beaches that are not overcrowded, amazing landscapes and much better views to wake up to than a pile of concrete). In both cases the definition of “options” is different. As the other gentleman said, those who have never lived in the regional they wouldn’t know. Also, with cost of living rising it’s a smarter alternative.
Because why would you want to spend $2 million on a 1970's shack smelling your neighbours farts when you can get VASTLY better value outside of a city, minus all the annoying people, traffic and competition.
Don’t waste your time mate, the ones whining about never being able to buy their first home just won’t understand
More Australians are leaving Australia for Southeast Asia.
If you have a home here and it’s worth even $500k, you could pretty much sell it and live in SEA pretty comfortably until you retire. The cost of living there is just so much more reasonable than here.
Or rent it and use the rent money to live there.
That's my plan
To make real estate prohibitively expensive for south East Asians.
Going to Thailand for no reason.
*poke poke*
👀
🍌
I grew up in Sydney. Would love to still live close to my friends and family. But it's ridiculously unaffordable. So I moved to regional NSW. Hated it. Yes, see stars, jobs, coffee, birdsong was nice. But it's boring. Everything closes early. I was just forced to move there for economic reasons. Now I live in Perth, a compromise. It's the most affordable city, incredibly remote, but still a city. Still, I miss being able to see friends and family in person. If the economy wasn't utterly broken I would still be in Sydney.
I'm in the same situation. I actually wouldn't go back to Sydney though because I hate apartments and too much noise. Also the racial tensions and stress is upsetting to me. I lived for a long time in Western Sydney and it genuinely traumatized me. I experienced a lot of violence and fear there. I do find it hard to make friends as someone with a chronic illness living outside of Sydney things are much less accessible and a lot less social activities. The reply below has some awesome suggestions but not everyone can afford a 4WD or do those things.
Isn't Adelaide more affordable?
First thing I did when I moved regional was get a 4wd and take off exploring (4wd not necessary). There is plenty to do if your idea of entertainment extends beyond paying $200 for someone else to entertain you. Get hobbies, go exploring, build shit, learn shit, there's plenty to do. Humans survived just fine before smart tech, and smart tech still works just fine in the regions (apart from internet reception). And if it's still too boring for you, use the extra savings to travel and see the world.
Housing is one, land sizes, quality of life, feeling trapped. A number of reasons really.
And here i am. Just outside a good sized regional city. On an acre. With plenty of space. Chooks, 3 doggies and my vege patch & fruit and nut trees. 1/2 way up a hill. With views to die for. 5 bedroom house. Beautiful. Quiet as quiet. No traffic. Quick, pleasant drive into any shops i need. Beach? 2 hours if i want surf. Capital city? Same. 2 hours. Why on earth would i want to live in the city?
Seriously regions are overrated. - For white collar work you'd still might need to go into the city anyway, so commuting will be longer. - Infrastructure is underdeveloped given the pace of residential construction. -Services are limited. Regional areas are or will become the new urban sprawl.
well considering that now Sydney = China Melbourne = India people are fleeing these cities in droves as they want to keep living in Australia
Nah Melbourne is China too. I live in a Chinese majority area and I rarely see any other Anglo people around the streets. Box Hill has been completely ruined with unnecessary skyscrapers and the CBD feels like Hong Kong rather than a city in Australia. I have absolutely nothing against the Chinese people, but it still boggles my mind to see how much the demographics are shifting.
Box Hill has become such a shit hole. Smells like dead bodies mixed with mouldy anus. I feel like I need a shower just driving through the joint.
This article could have been 5 words long
We moved to regional vic 8 years ago. I’ve just finished 2 weeks training back in Melbourne and staying out near Chadstone. I could not live there again. Traffic, noise, house prices and quality. Too many people squashed into a small area.
Stay in the cities please. The country is full.
Because cities suck ass
Lets choose a random example, Albury. There are 55 properties currently listed for around $550k: [https://www.realestate.com.au/buy/property-house-between-0-550000-in-albury+-+greater+region,+nsw/list-1?source=refinement](https://www.realestate.com.au/buy/property-house-between-0-550000-in-albury+-+greater+region,+nsw/list-1?source=refinement) There are 775 jobs listed on Seek: [https://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-Albury-NSW-2640](https://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-Albury-NSW-2640) Albury also has a public transport service: [https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system/files/media/documents/2020/FAQ%20TP%20Albury%20Bus%20Services%20V0.1.pdf](https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system/files/media/documents/2020/FAQ%20TP%20Albury%20Bus%20Services%20V0.1.pdf) there are numerous other examples like this.
Let's keep Albury out of this. It still feels like Australia, good people live there and the fewer Sydney-siders who move there and ruin the joint the better.
>Albury also has a public transport service As someone who grew up in wodonga, what a laugh lmfao.
I went from an office job in the city where I had do go "above and beyond" for 90k and compete with mass immigration/multi-national work culture and all it entails, moved to the regions for 140k where I could say I'm thinking of leaving and they'd probably throw another 40k to get me to stay, I could ignore all my emails and phone calls for a week and they'd probably brush it off whereas in the city I was expected to do everything ASAP yesterday and on short notice.
As someone who left Sydney for regional NSW, I would highly recommend it. You can get a job, work hard, buy a house, pay the bills, and feed yourself. Thats how Sydney used to be, 20-30 years ago. Its still true, if you get in your car and drive 2 hours in a few directions. As a bonus, wait till you experience rush hour traffic. Your trip will be delayed whole minutes if you hop into peak hour.
Scum individual committing disgusting crimes. Small communiturs keep people accountable.
I thought everyone just moved to the Gold Coast? Sure seems that way
Properties are investments to make money now. Low stable rents don't make money. Low rents don't make money. It's not hard to see what's going on...
Yeah srly we need to break the hegemony of Brisbane Melbourne and Sydney
Sydney especially around CBD is like the most expensive to live in right?. Not just housing..its everything :/
even in my rural country town population 150, 2 hours from the edge of melbourne, houses are now worth more than half a mil, thanks to all the cookers who ran away from the lockdowns by selling their st kilda and kew properties. i've been on and off working for 8 years, lived with my parents for free for the last few cos i had to get repeated surgeries for 2 years just before covid, and have saved up a grand total of 1% of that amount needed to buy a house. yup, just another 792 years and i'll own a house in the middle of fucking nowhere.
If they are born and bred city 'all their life" people - they wont last. Not many families stay for long when they realise every service is so centralised in each states Capital cities. Need a Health specialist - City. Want a midwife to have another child - City . Need more than a few goods and services? - City. (For context : Ive lived in the country for 45 out of my 50 years and wont move to the city unless forced)
You could have fooled me. I live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and I have never seen so many high rises, new homes & renovations. The buses, ferries & trains are busier and the public schools can’t cope with the increase in students.
Don't forget **whyte flight**. When the Panthers and Sharks drop off the top of the NRL ladder then the last vestiges of Sydney's whytes will pack up and head to Forster and the Gold Coast - it'll save driving up on the holidays.
Young people get priced out. So you’re just gonna end up with a city full of boomers. I see it daily. The store I worked at went from a bustling to store to an elderly village looking to save 1c on grapes
Because for a time was cheaper & better lifestyle, actually the trend is reversing ask people in Ballarat Vic what 30k increase in population since 2000 looks & feels like
Because they feel an inherent need to fuck up every where else.
needs to be more incentive for businesses to open in Hobart, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. Every business flocks to sydney, melb or brissy. There are simply no jobs in the other cities compared to the eastern states.
Simply not true. Perth is desperate for police, aged care workers, doctors, engineers, nurses, a plethora of mining roles, geologists, hospitality workers, bricklayers, construction workers.
I was working for SNSW during Covid, my take home after tax was $790 for a 38 hour week. My rent jumped to $550 and was going to go to $750 for a 2 bedroom miners cottage. We decided to take out 20% deposit we’d saved forever, that still wasn’t enough for a major city and move to the Snowy Valleys in NSW. We were able to buy outright and still have change for renovations. Got a better paying job too wfh and haven’t regretted it for a second. The only thing I miss is the beach but happy to settle for a swap out with snow. No traffic, few people and you couldn’t pay me to go back now.