ex_exile

Ok, its 2 hours away from the beach but then so is Brisbane, but whats it like actually living there?

k76

Have you read Bryson?

killamarsh

You should use the search engine and type in Canberra. There are a few people on here from Canberra and a few of us who are planning to go. I will pm you otherwise this will end up being a Canberra bashing thread.

quoll

It is actually very nice! You couldnt wish for a better place to bring up kids really. It is clean, the weather is generally gorgeous and you do have distinct seasons. The traffic isnt overwhelming although you do have to know how to negotiate roundabouts and read maps in order to get from a to b. The facilities are pretty good for most things, the scenery is not half bad - we have mountains as a backdrop and even the Telstra Tower sort of blends into the background after a few years. We had one of the first Aussie pavement cafes (people dont seem to realize that!) and now there is a nicely thriving cafe culture.

Houses are going up in price quite rapidly but still nowhere near the giddy heights of suburban Sydney. The inner suburbs are gradually being medium density-ized but I live on a quarter acre block less than 3km from the city centre and we have kangaroos in the front garden most nights (they come for the water in the bird bath). The newer outer suburbs have big houses on small blocks (gross generalization!)

Canberrans are a funny lot but no funnier or more insular than Sydneysiders or Melbournians. We dont have a strong sense of community in the same way that small towns do - quite insular really. Many Canberrans are public servants or ex public servants but that doesnt make them all grey shiny bums!

The coast is not that far away and the ski fields are pretty close as well.

I think most people who bash Canberra have never been here or, like the opinionated Bryson, have probably had a couple of nights in the Rex (no self respecting Canberran would stay at the Rex these days, it has been slated for closure for the past 5 years!!!) and a well formed opinion before he got here. I have had visitors who thought they would probably just come for a day, extended their stay to a weekend then regretted not staying a week!

On the down side - it is new (nothing before 1900 really), it is in the middle of a drought (along with much of the rest of Aus), it is a long drive to anywhere else, we have a hopeless local government and we have to put up with the rest of Australia berating "Canberra" for the misdeeds of a load of bloody politicians who dont actually live here anyway!

sasbear

What she said

But the wildlife and the peace and quiet make it feel like a town and not like a city. It is just beautiful. The best kept secret.

djamesburgess

I lived in Canberra for 3 months before moving back to Melbourne. It depends what you are used to and what pace of life/variety of things to do you want for yourselves.

It does feel very isolated at times and is very much a commuter city. At the weekends there seems to be very little going on as most of the buildings on the outer ring are empty.

However, the lake is pleasant, the Old Bus Depot market is good on a Sunday but overall it's very quiet.

There are some pleasant suburbs - Kingston and Manuka to name just two - and you could get to know the place in a week.

pomref

Its great for families, lots of schools,uni's,education lots of little parks in suburbs for them. and plaently of jobs for mum and dad with good pay.

Would be the worse city for club 18 to 30 year old's its really not a lot here for them, in that age group and can easily see why Sydney and Melbourne would appeal to them.

harrip

There is a statistic somewhere along the lines of 96% of Australians live within about 10 miles from the beach. I think its the other 4% that live in Canberra.

Yes, its an interesting place to visit for a couple of days, but to live there? No, I dont think so.

sasbear

As the other poster said -each to their own - depends on what you want out of life - it suits me perfectly

moneypenny20

4% of 20+ million! Holy **** that's a lot of people in one little place that apparently people don't want to live in

ex_exile

I dont like his writing style actually

So Canberra is nice to look at but with no night life, slightly isolated but with nice suburbs. great place to bring up a family as long as you dont like beach life but with reasonable priced housing and lots of well paying jobs?

quoll

Well pretty much. I dont know about the no night life thing. Both my boys made it to manhood without too many complaints about nothing to do at night. We have lots of things to do if you look for them. There are night clubs, late night cafe venues, reasonable theatre, lots of cinemas, quite a few sociable pubs, lots of very nice restaurants that can hold their end up against the rest of the world (IMHO), good events like the Folk Festival, Summernats (well, each to his own!) etc, good gigs at places like Tilleys, good markets every weekend - farmers market, trash and treasure, craft markets etc.

There is certainly more here than if you lived in Melton or Rooty Hill!!!! Of course we cant compare with Darling Harbour or South Bank but they get a bit wearing after a while! We do have a casino if that is what takes your fancy.

We have a lake which is good water - very good rowing facilities and people do actually swim in the lake every now and again! In fact we have 3 decent size lakes! Many Canberrans actually have a second home down at the coast (we dont).

I really dont know why so many people diss Canberra! We dont have to stand and wait on icy train platforms while the wind whips up from the South Pole like they do in Melbourne, we dont have to sit and wait in traffic jams like they do in central Sydney, we dont have cyclones like they do up in Queensland. Perhaps we are just crap at PR?!

killamarsh

I wouldn't agree with reasonable housing prices. Have a look at allhomes.com and you will get an idea. You also forgot the lack of traffic and lack of pollution.

jajnlis

We are 5 months-ish in.......and absolutley loving it. The kids (10 and 7) have settled without any problems at all. We both have good jobs and move into a nice big house in a nice area next week and haven't had to mortgage ourseleves silly to get.
My feeling on the matter is - if you want to diss it then fine - diss it and stay away - leave it to those of us that appreciate the clean air, friendliness, open spaces, nice restaurants etc surrounded by people that DO like Canberra and continually walk around with a smug smile of satisfaction about living in such a great place.
Like I said - just my feeling :-)

ex_exile

Way more reasonable than any other capital city by the looks of it, thought I'd mentioned the lack of polution but guess it didnt survive the edit.

Not going to diss it, found myself there one Australia day (by accident if you can believe that) and I was surprised by how ermmm "ok" it was. A few specific questions,

Do people live there for a long time or just move in and out for public service jobs?

Is it on the gig circuit or do you have to go to Sydney to see decent bands?

Whats the coast like after you have done the 2 hour drive?

Thanks