Vash the Stampede

Why? They're all part of the Adelaide metro area. Even Elizabeth is only ~24km from the city.

It was created as a town, not a city. Today it's a suburb within the City of Playford. It's not a city itself.

I don't see what your point is. All Adelaide suburbs belong to separate cities. Look at Mitcham, for example. It's less than 10km from Adelaide, yet it's still a city in its own right, and nobody would claim that Mitcham's suburbs don't count as Adelaide suburbs.

No, it's not. I live in South Australia, and 33km is nothing. I drive 30km to uni at least three times a week.

KJCherokee

SA population, March 2009 1,600.000
Adelaide Metro population 2007 1,290,000

So whereas you are quite right in saying that not all South Australians live in the city or suburbs, the vast majority (80%) do. After Adelaide, the next largest is Mt Barker (30,000), Mt Gambier (25,000), Whyalla (23,000) and the Ports (Augusta, Lincoln & Pirie) at around 15,000 each.

I expect your kids do the 100km a day in a school bus driving along empty roads - very different to fighting your way 33km into Adelaide at peak hour on Main North Road. How many sets of traffic lights do you go through each day?

jothefw

There are no traffic lights.

But we're getting off topic, my observation wasn't intended to become a country versus city living ... more to agree with the OP that prices have risen and it's all relative. However I believe if you're budget is smaller and you want a lot the compromise is distance, which isn't that much of a problem in my book!

Give me space any day

KJCherokee

There is a huge difference between buying cheaply in Gladstone (SA), Keith or Eudunda and buying cheaply in Elizabeth, Smithfield or Munno Para. In the first 3 you will have all the space you need and friendly neighbours but you will work in the area as the city is too far away. In the last 3 you will be able to commute to work in the city or suburbs by rail or road but your neighbours may well be people you really don't want to live next to.

My stepson used to play AFL for Smithfield, and I was appalled by the foul language that used to come from the mums on the sidelines.

So it's not just a case of compromising between cost and distance, you have to realise that the houses are cheaper because of the sort of neighbourhood they are in.

jothefw

I really tried hard not to bother replying but seriously your perspective of reality is very different to mine and as I live in said Keith perhaps I can help educate others, if not yourself.

You give the impression we all live on the set of Neighbours! Do you really consider that a population which relies on farming, shearing etc is all desireable?

The language in the meat works can make your hair curl, and it doesn't stop when not at work! Of course that translates to the footy field, or the school canteen! With a population of around 1500 - this makes it even more concentrated at times.

Also those that are perhaps higher up the employment scale would spend, on average, at least one day a week either in Adelaide or Mount Gambier or two even perhaps if a trip to Canberra is needed - not really an easy commute.

My neighbours may be far enough away that I can ignore them but again, reality is my children may have to spend 1 hr + a day on the bus with their children so for easiness sakes I have to play nice, even when the kids are little sh!tes.

So it is about compromise. I'm very lucky to live in a beautiful place and have some amazing friends with high job satisfaction, but it's not easy!

Vash the Stampede

Eh? They're less than 30km from the CBD. That's not "too far away"; it's an easy commuting distance! If you don't want to take your car, you take a semi-express train. Easy as.

That's true.

KJCherokee

If Gladstone, Keith and Eudunda are only 30km from the CBD the SA map has changed a lot since I lived there!

What I was getting at, but didn't quite manage to get across, is that SA has only one major metropolitan area unlike most other states, and the cheap housing (which is where this all started) is either in the lower socioeconomic outer suburbs of Adelaide or in the small remote country towns where the only employment option is local - which often, if not always, means farming.

Yes I know that people swear in all areas - it's just that the proportion who do it as a matter of course will be greater the further down the socioeconomic scale you go.