Hi all on the Ozzie forum
I spend most my time on the Canadian one as I am going there but my sister has a question. She has been accepted to apply for state sponsorship and the only state she can go to is ACT. Anyone got any advice about what life is like in Canberra and would this be a good place for a single 30 something to move to. Occupation is in horticulture.
Thanks

Hi alfiee, I don't live in Canberra but have family there, and have visited many times for work as well. In my opinion, it's a beautiful, clean and well planned city/region that's easy to get around. Can't comment on clubbing etc but the pubs in the centre are fantastic. It's also only a hop, skip and jump to other great places, including the Blue Mountains and Sydney (longish hops, skips and jumps by UK standards). Others who live in the area will be able to tell you more, I wish your sister all the best.

Thankyou this is really helpful. I did stop for 24hours a few years back and remembered the pubs

If you do a search on the forums for Canberra you will find a good few threads, there are a few of us here.

I'm 28, so similar age to your sister, I've lived in many places and find Canberra has everything a big city has. There is a big night life here, for me it feels on a similar level to Sydney. I do go out drinking and to clubs, and even though Canberra is small it has an active nightlife because of the age group in Canberra. Most people here are young and the city is made up of young people because of all the Universities (ANU, UC, ACU, ADFA), all the young people who have just joined the Defence Force, and all the new young government workers who have come here for their job.

There are plenty of restaurants (apparently the most restaurants per capita than any other city in the world).

Always something going on, some concert, or event, or festivals, etc.

Safe, clean, friendly, one of the most livable cities, highest life expectancy in Australia, highest income in Australia, and most educated in Australia, so it can't be all that bad. The coast to the east of us and the snow fields to the west (aprox 1.5 - 2 hour drive), and Sydney a drive away.

There is a lot of negative comments about Canberra, but I find most of them are from people who have never lived here, and a lot from people who have never even visited!

Send your sister to this site, there is a bunch of info for her:

www.canberrayourfuture.com.au/

I agree with Canadaeh. The only thing I'd add is that Canberra is a true garden city and there are plenty of horticulture jobs around and scope to run your own gardening business. Can't think of a better place for a horticulturalist to move to.

Thanks guys for your responses. This is brilliant news for her as sounds just like what she is looking for

On a cautionary note, however, Canberra is an expensive place and, if she works for a garden supply store before she gets something better, they would pay close to the minimum wage. My son worked for Yarralumla Nursery for a few months, but he wasn't a qualified horticulturalist. Also drought and water restrictions can hit the industry quite hard - not a problem at the moment, but it was an issue a few years ago.

>>Safe, clean, friendly, one of the most livable cities, highest life expectancy in Australia, highest income in Australia, and most educated in Australia, so it can't be all that bad. The coast to the east of us and the snow fields to the west (aprox 1.5 - 2 hour drive), and Sydney a drive away.<<

All true - because Canberra is fundamentally a political city, and politicians, oddly, always seem to have the best of everything. Luxembourg and Brussels also come to mind.

If we have to get anything done health-wise, we always go to Canberra rather than Sydney for the above reasons. And the Yarralumla nursery is one of the best in the region, too.

The only con for me is the city layout: I have a very good sense of direction but it's based on knowing where North is - and the circular layout confuses the hell out of me every time I drive around Canberra!

PS Canberra has the nearest decent Mexican restaurant to us - it's only 160Km away so right on our doorstep....

Yes it can be a bit confusing. Looking at the map of Canberra on the wall behind me, the city centre, the districts surrounding Capital Hill and Kingston all have circular layouts and those are all the areas I frequently lose my bearings in.

Canberra's a nice place but I reckon it could be a bit lonely and unexciting for singles.

I love it - with my terrible sense of direction it's the only place I can drive round and round in circles and still get to where I want to be

True. And also it's so small, it never takes long to get back on track

But overall, it's one of the nicer places to end up