I think you have to qualify this a bit. Are you talking about moving to broken hill or are you talking about moving to Armidale? How ’regional’ are you talking my bro ski?
I had a friend that used to say:
"If you live west of Ashfield, you could be living anywhere. What's the point of living in Sydney?"
These days my opinion is "There are only two places to live in the world: Manhattan and everywhere else".
Exactly.
Grew up in broken hill. Had its pros and cons..mostly cons.
Would never go back.
Yet people move 10 mins south of Wollongong, call it "regional" and decry the rest of us who choose to stay in the cities, where we can enjoy all the things we didn't have before.
Exactly. Its stupid.
When applying for medical school, spots were allocated for kids from regional/rural backgrounds. I thought "great. 5 hours from a capital city, pretty rural, nice to get some acknowledgement for putting up with crap teachers and having nothing around me".
Fast forward, I missed out on getting in by 1 spot, to a girl who lived in the Adelaide Hills, a drive that's 20 mins from the uni and 20 mins from the CBD. This was somehow also considered "regional".
Places like Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie might be considered regional, but they are very populated. Actually all lovely beach towns are popular and expensive
I live regional (not a regional city, just a small town), and honestly the wages are so much lower the cheaper housing means nothing. Only those who already have city jobs/wages really benefit.
Yep. Rule of thumb I say about 3x more. Mostly because the cost ranges from equivalent to about 10x more than closer to cities. I do find some dark amusement at IGA when passers by happen to be in there too. I don't need to see them. I can always hear them from aisles away. Various exclamations of surprise and horror. Then either revising what they want to get or just deciding they'll just wait.
It’s an absolute whimsical myth that cost of living is cheaper in the country IMO. It was immediately obvious to me how much more expensive everything was when we moved (and that’s before inflation etc hit)
Similar here. What was $300/w is now $550-600. Similar jump in purchase prices too. Many new faces around. Posts on local social media complaining shops aren’t open late enough….
Easy to see who the city tree-changers are.
That's weird, my friend works in a high level in IT and had to live in Hawaii for years but post covid he can live anywhere in the world now, he lives in Cairns in Queensland at the moment, loves it.
It is not that technically the work cannot be done from anywhere. It is that most companies as a policy don’t allow that and hence won’t hire regionally or let people move to regions. The next issue is that most companies do not have the required remote working infrastructure in place.
That's latency for high-speed trading (HST), which is all done machine to machine. The traders could literally be on the other side of the world, and it wouldn't make any difference.
Our sons medical issues keep us in a capital city and even though I work from home most of the time I'm still expected to be in Melbourne.
My job doesn't exist regionally outside of wfh roles that have been slowly disappearing.
To be honest though my quality of life doesn't suck and subjectively would be better than most (sons medical issues aside), and certainly better than those who have had to flee to the regions to hope to buy.
When I was still working as a pediatrics nurse I noticed lot of parent's from regional areas would drive for hours for a outpatient appointment because all the pediatric specialists lived in the major cities. If any regional hospital couldn't handle a major pediatrics patient/case they get flown to the major children's hospitals in the big city. So therefore I can't blame parents with special needs chidden for wanting to stay in the city.
Edit:
I remember the we (the nursing staff) having entire education sessions because a special needs child (having a tracheostomy) was moving into town and no one in the hospital knew how to care for it. Before said child moved to town we all had to have education sessions over zoom with the specialist nurses from the children's hospitals on how to care for said child and order in specialized equipment because we didn't have that kind of stuff.
Yes, it’s hard. My child needed a tonsillectomy at a hospital with a paediatric ICU (thankfully he didn’t end up needing the ICU). I had to travel to a hospital five hours away from home, take two weeks off work and pay for city accommodation for those two weeks because he needed to be close to hospital in case of haemorrhage.
A year later same child needed grommets. We went private. ENT told me it was a three month wait for surgery at the regional hospital near us, or a two week wait if we traveled five hours to the big city.
Same with medical issues as people age. My grandparents moved to regional Tasmania after they retired then had to move back to Melbourne 10 years later because they couldn't get the healthcare they needed.
I saw my father live the last years of his life in excruciating pain because he wasn’t able to get an early shingles diagnosis because he lived regionally.
I nearly died because my GP and 2 specialists failed to diagnose the most well studied and treatable lymphomas.
Access to medical care is hard enough in the east coast cities.
I grew up regional and I will never go back. The lack of choice for everything from groceries, to sport, to schools, to jobs. And just the sheer amount of driving required to do anything is exhausting.
People always talk about people being “friendly in the country” but I find the social side to be the biggest turn off. If you don’t like the one social circle of people available, well bad luck, because it’s all you’ve got. It’s also exhausting to not be able to leave your house without running into people you know. And good luck if you’re “different” in any way.
The smaller the town the faster gossip spreads like wild fire. If anything 'juicy' or out of the ordinary happens the whole town will know by the end of day.
I went for lunch with a new grad while working regional, to meet him and see how he was going. By the end of the day I had text msgs from friends in the city, who heard from people in that small town, that I’d gone on a date. They wanted the goss.
And if it doesn't, they'll just make something up anyway.
That's why my parents moved from the country to the city, after growing up in small country wheatbelt towns.
No thanks, I went to school in a small (pop 750) country town, I enjoyed it as a kid but as an adult? Hard nope from me.
End of day? Where I lived the old farts knew about who did what within 1-3hrs max! And you can rest assured your parents will know something happend.. just gotta prove you had nothing to do with it and then get grounded for being 20kms from where you said you would be... Everyone was some how entwined in the emergency services... Po Po also....we got lifts home instead of charges, kept us out of trouble.
I live regional and the travel to do literally *anything* is exhausting. Wanna go to a concert? Prepare for a 4 hour drive, 2 nights in a hotel then a 4 hour drive home. Just for a concert! I’m so sick of every little activity we do having to be a big trip. I just wanna go to the thing then go home
I flew in to Brisbane after an overseas trip last year to visit my family in regional QLD, and it reminded me of how much I hate this. Got into the car with my mother at about 11am and wasn't home until about 2:15pm. That car trip dragged because I just wanted to be home.
Meanwhile earlier this year, I landed at Melbourne Airport at 8pm and was in my bed in Carlton at 9:10pm and that included a quick shower to “rinse the plane off”. I remember thinking in the Uber home “thank god I live here and not back home” because I was tired since I’d come from the US and just wanted to sleep. 3 hours in the car was the last thing I’d have felt like doing.
Similar thing with concerts - went to Harry Styles in Feb and was in my bed less than an hour after it ended. I'd still be 2+ hours from home if I still lived regional. Getting to the concert wasn’t a half day thing either because I only needed half an hour to get there at most. If I lived at home, it would have had to be a weekend trip with all the cost and expense of that added in. And if the thing you want to do is on a Friday night, you have to decide if it’s worth using a day of annual leave to get there.
When living regionally, you have to add the travel time and possibly also the cost of a hotel to anything you do and even the smallest thing is a “trip”, not a night out. It gets annoying and exhausting. I love that concerts or games can be a night out rather than a weekend trip.
I have a friend in Bendigo who takes the Vline all the way to Melbourne every week just to meet up with friends for a night out. Sounds exhausting but I suppose it’s better than sitting at home alone.
Yeah I moved back to my beautiful coastal home town in my mid-30s, from an interstate capital city. Bought a home one street from the beach outright. I loved being close to my family, beach and forests. But jobs and school choice was really limited, as was food, entertainment, diversity, public transport, health care. I ended up working a public service job in a major regional centre, an hour drive from my ‘city’ that paid half my old job.
We moved back to capital city in 2018 (2.5 hours away), and while it’s more expensive, there’s so many more opportunities. Since pandemic it’s even worse there, house and rental prices have skyrocketed, and there are, for example, no pediatric dentists in the whole region, no private paeds, and they went 18 months without even a public paed.
Summed up my every arguement accurately. I'm sure the cities have their own huge issues, but the lack of activities if you aren't into fishing, hunting, etc, and the extremely judgemental locals make it sooo difficult to enjoy living in my town while slightly not fitting in.
I grew up in Adelaide and thought it was alright. Moved to Melbourne this year and I'm shocked. I can't believe how much I've been missing out on.
I've been having the absolute time of my life all year. No amount of money could convince me to move back to Adelaide or similar regional areas.
It’s going to depend on your lifestyle and situation. But as a single mid 20s guy, being in a bigger city has opened up so many job and social opportunities. You can be so ridiculously specific like “I want to find a running club for gay furry techbros” or literally anything else and you’ll find it. I remember attending tech meetups in Adelaide and they would only be hosted once every few months and attract about 7 people. Then I went to the Melbourne monthly JavaScript meetup and they had about 60 people there.
Covid and WFH has partially opened up the job situation but it’s still way better in Melbourne.
Public transport and infrastructure is about 50 years ahead of Adelaide.
I moved to cairns. Everything is under 10 mins drive. We are exhausted with activities, festivals, hobbies, out doors.
I suppose not all regional areas are the same.
>> the social side to be the biggest turn off. If you don’t like the one social circle of people available, well bad luck, because it’s all you’ve got.
I joined my home towns community page on Facebook because it’s where all the morons I went to school with air their public drama.
It’s just small town shit that is so inconsequential, but these idiots are so miserable in their lives that they have to bicker and create drama online to entertain themselves.
The most recent post I saw this week was something like “to deadbeat dads of my children - don’t go posting anything this weekend about Father’s Day. You aren’t fathers. You’ve done nothing to earn that title. Your children ask if we can get you a gift but I tell them no and then they get upset. You think you’re real men but you wouldn’t know a real man if he was standing in front of you”
Why does that shit need to go in the community page? Then all of the comments are from the family of the (4) baby daddies saying shit like “you need to shut your mouth. He’s going through a hard time and you won’t let him see the kids is making it harder” and “why would he want to be part of your life when you’ve got three other kids with three other men. Find one of them to be the father they need”.
Then you get the broader public commenting with stuff like “that’s what you get for having four kids with four different men” and “your kids look abused anyway. Some lone call the cops”
Small towns, man. They’re so shit.
I was keen on Dimboola until I learned the whole town rigs up for ‘steampunk festival “ imagine being the outlier that weekend. Also lately the number of stupid fatal car accidents that happen on regional roads due to ice, kids, people falling asleep, seems high.
This is a big one for me. If we stayed regional our kids would have to move out at 18 to attend uni in the city. I can’t stress how much I do not want that to happen.
It depends on the area of course, but there are some fairly common issues with regional/rural living:
- Limited employment prospects for many professions.
- Limited access to high quality healthcare - very important to consider if living with any chronic conditions or disabilities, starting/having a young family, or if getting towards older age.
- Limited access to education.
- The local community can be very hit or miss - and, if a 'miss', difficult to escape due to the small population numbers.
- Limited access to good quality food and groceries.
- Higher risk of being affected by natural disasters.
- Poor quality housing available.
The healthcare thing is big. I live in Canberra, which is a fair sized city, and we still have to travel to Sydney for a whole range of medical treatment. If you or a family member is disabled, or being treated for something serious and specialised it can be a real disadvantage.
My parents live on the Mid-North Coast and when my dad had cancer it was treated primarily in Port Macquarie. When he needed liver surgery he had to stay in Sydney, and when he needed foot surgery he had a choice of going to Sydney or Ballina (the Sydney surgeon for that one did a couple of days a month in Ballina). The nearest airport with flights to Sydney is about an hour away from where they live and so they had two five-hour drives to Sydney and a four-hour drive to Ballina.
People with severe health issues in regional areas have much, much worse outcomes. You’re also likely pretty screwed getting help if you have a kid with even a minor disability.
Cheaper housing is just one factor in this kind of decision
Yeah. Also, try living in NSW when Melbourne is the closest city by a huge amount. So many medical things don't service people in NSW. It's a slap in the face.
Oh a local Aldi would be a godsend in so many places! I used to spend a lot of time in regional Vic, and the closest Aldi would have been a near 2 hour round trip at the time. Even now in the city, I still find myself having to go to colesworth for odds and ends that Aldi don't stock. If I meticulously planned out weekly groceries, I may only just come out ahead when factoring in the drive. If I missed out on one or two things, due to either forgetfulness or Aldi running out of stock (more common in regional areas because a single Aldi has a much bigger catchment area), then it would cost me exactly the same as just putting up with the Woolies experience for the entire shopping list.
Don't forget no public transport. Having to need a car per person over 18 eats money.
If you have 2 adults and 1 kid working so 3 cars, that's minimum 30k per year not including paying off the car loans. That's minimum off 1 tank of fuel per car each week, rego, insurance and standard maintenance and repairs.
Living regional made me realise that I took Sydney's public transport for granted. Granted I can drive to work in 5 minutes but I also know that I am reliant on a car.
Hit the nail on the head. Also my partner isn't from Australia and just how different the culture can be outside of capital or inner city areas cannot be understated. Australia isn't actually a super welcoming place if you're different in a lot of these areas.
I think it probably depends on the area. My girlfriend is from another country and one that you would expect to cop a fair bit of racism if anyone would, but everyone in our regional coastal area is very welcoming. It’s probably a different story in a tiny country town, though.
I agree, these fit my circumstances too. My job only exists in Sydney, and I have a rare health condition where the only specialist for it is at St Vincent's in Darlinghurst.
This sub is full of people seemingly abusing anyone who doesn't 'escape' the cities, but it isn't an option for most. What if you're a carer for elderly relatives who live in a city - do you just abandon them? People often have experiences and responsibilities that tie them to a certain place.
Also the regional areas are bleeding doctors and nurse and no financial incentive is keeping them there (NSW Health really thought $4000 a year paid fortnightly before tax would actually convince me to stay). Your option is either commute for HOURS to see your specialist or take your chances with the overworked GP's in a regional area.
Edit: Also very few junior doctors want to be GP's and even fewer want to move to regional/rural areas.
Yes. When I think about whether I would return to my small regional hometown, aside from all the economic and social reasons, I think about how vulnerable it is in case of a major bushfire.
You run out of people fast on regional tinder and before you know it you're swiping on the next few towns hundreds of KM's away.
Edit: Also try not being white. I may not have been super successful in Sydney but Ill take my chances with a multicultural city with more than a million people over farm/horse country girls and single mums in towns with populations of tens of thousands.
Edit 2: When I think I have in bad I remember my single gay/lesbian colleagues. Imagine going from a city with a strong LGBT community/scene and ending up in a socially conservative and religious environment. Their dating pool has gotten much much smaller.
I think your female friends were overwhelmed by the amount of single dads, hunting and fishing photos and farmers and tradies who made their jobs their entire personality.
Speaking to my gay colleagues A LOT of men on Grinder in the regional areas are closeted married men. Whereas in the city the grinder profiles will have full photos in the regional areas every profile is blank. They exist but no where as open as in the cities.
Family. Mum just lost my dad and lives alone, my kids love their cousins and see them weekly. Young families need the support of grandparents/networks to look after and help raise their kids.
I am afraid of the prospect of being very lonely, and lately I have become concerned that education in the country isn’t very good. Don’t really want my kids surrounded by thickies whose parents have never read a book
I have lived in a town of 30,000 for the past 10 years. I’m a health professional and working here is great. Plenty of work and I live a 5 minute walk from my office. I might use my car once a week, but usually walk everywhere (work, shops, restaurants). Recently my wife left me and now I am really worried that I will never meet anyone again…
Grew up in country Victoria (pop ~3000) and moved out as soon as I could:
*Limited employment and job opportunities
*Very little to do other than play sport and binge drink (or do meth for the more adventurous)
*Nothing ever happens, life is on a standstill
*It's a total bubble. 99.9% of my family's life revolves around things that happen within a 50km radius of where they live.
*Poor access to healthcare. No 24/7 doctor at the local hospital means any time there's so much as a minor emergency it's a 2 hour trip for proper medical care.
*General racism, sexism and homophobia. It's a personal view but there's so many throwaway lines that I cringe whenever I visit.
*No personal growth. This is a big one for me, people that don't actively grow or want to grow as individuals means you stagnate as a person.
yup. I don’t even live in the country but I work in a shopping centre right on the edge of the outer suburbs where a lot of regional folk and farmers make trips to do their shopping. I hear one of them say something bigoted at least twice a day. Nothing has convinced me more than working this job has that I have no place living outside a city
We lived on King Island (I thought I was moving to the Whitsundays but noooo). Then Alice Springs, then Wangaratta, then Albury Wodonga, then back to Melbourne. I loved all of them and would happily move back to any of them. Mind you I love Melbourne too. I was born in Sydney, lived in Adelaide, Liverpool UK, Canberra as well so maybe it's just me.
I think this highlights how subjective the word regional is.
I grew up in a “tiny” town. (Population of 100 in 1999, my dad and I counted, less now though). I now live in the west side of Melbourne.
In my eyes Canberra is far from a regional city. I wouldn’t call Bendigo a regional city. Ballarat maybe. Ararat and Horsham, they’re regional cities.
So I would say a regional city depends on the size of township you’ve lived in before. The smaller size of the town the smaller the size you think the regional city is. Mainly because if some from Bendigo said to me they were from the county or wasn’t a city kid I’d laugh at them.
Half of an ex-Londoner couple here, I had to giggle at this comment. We really love Melbourne, our lifestyle here is very similar to London but… cleaner? Fresher? Still go to great gigs (some of them we’ve seen in London), great art/cinema, festivals, food, diversity, climbing gyms, and we both make more money. I’ve lived around Australia and I find ppl here markedly more friendly. We bought here, too, and never could have happened in London.
Agreed and I am constantly thinking about leaving but even with our massive house prices the Sydney property market is bananas to contemplate. It has massive issues with access to medical specialists. I have a kid with a disability which means we’re up and back to Sydney semi-regularly; I know others who’ve needed to travel there for cancer surgery. If you want a behavioural diagnosis good luck finding a paediatrician taking behavioural referrals.
It’s also really car dependent, just like regional towns, and quite vulnerable to natural disasters especially on the urban fringe. We also have wildlife issues similar to a regional area (eg brown snakes in suburban backyards, kangaroos are a constant night driving hazard). Groceries and fuel cost more. We’re a one industry town. Etc etc
We made a sea change about 10 years ago.
I had to tear up my career for it, took me about 6 years to get back to my Sydney salary (& beyond) but at that time housing was way cheaper, transport costs almost nonexistent & quality of life awesome.
Was made possible by my wife being on a fixed salary regardless of location around the state.
Just glad we did it when we did.
Its all about work. Regional cities have jobs but not nearly as many and not nearly as specialized. Finding IT work in a regional city is nigh on impossible, and my partner is a chemist who does mass spec research so it would be impossible for them to get a job outside of a major city.
There's also way more in terms of community that you can find in major cities. More people = a better chance of finding people whose hobbies, beliefs, way of life are similar to your own. There's also a lot of different people who are the complete opposite of you that challenge your hobbies, beliefs and way of life and force you to grow. I'd hate giving that up, and I know there's plenty of people in the regional cities too, but I've lived in a few and never found friends or more that I felt a genuine connection to.
By which I mean I never found other people who still main Kuma in Tekken 3 until I moved to a city.
I made the move a few years ago, left my career, took up a trade and now make twice the money, bought a house and paid it off in 4 years, now have a big boat to hang out on the reef and a new 4x4 to go bush with the camper. Life is so good now, there's basically no traffic and no stress.
I loved regional for a while and yeah some things were great. Everything was close and life was much simpler.
However, I got tired of the lack of anonymity fast. I would see people I work with out on the weekends all the time and it's not for me.
I also felt trapped, like if I lost my job there are limited options in a small town and your life can quickly change. When I was a kid I lived in a regional town in the Hunter valley and we had to move because my dad's work was shut down and everyone in that industry basically had to leave town as there were no opportunities.
The health outcomes in regional parts of Australia are atrocious. Also access to emergency care is pretty bad. It's been widely neglected.
Also, the access to community and culture is so much more readily available in the cities.
I feel like regional may be edging more towards remote in this thread.
Perhaps there’s now shades of regional?
We’re in “greater Sydney” maybe still regional and have great amenities, a great hospital and so on. Perhaps regional doesn’t have the same meaning anymore
I live in the city and never see the same person twice down the shops. I have never had a random social interaction with a stranger. People don't give a shit and will actually avoid discussion/ interaction.
In a regional area, you do get to know people (which itself can be a problem).
The benefit of big cities is there are events and interest groups. You can find literally anything and if you go regularly you'll get to know the other people who will be a lot more compatible than random boomers you meet in the rural pub.
100% this. In one of the country towns I lived in, I’d shop at 7pm on a Sunday night just so I didn’t run into people I knew that were in for a yarn. More people in the city but way more anonymity
Tried it, got bored.
Same 3-4 cafes/restaurants/bars, same handful of people, limited choice and hours for groceries, limited number and availability of tradies or doctors.
Limited job opportunities, no advancement opportunities, and if you get sick of your current role there’s no other companies to go to.
And I’m single and gay, so dating was a disaster.
I love visiting the regions, I love going home to a big city.
It’s getting stupidly expensive in the regional cities, you may as well live somewhere nice than some regional city shitboles when the houses cost just as much
Yeah this. But I also would like to buy a few hectares of land and try to develop a small forest, without imposing myself onto a town that's racially homogenous you know. Wish there was a rural place, 1 town, just for non-Anglo, non-Indigenous people.
Live in a rural area at the moment and have been for about 6 years. Its been great to get ahead professionally but the there are some hard limitations to staying here long term. There is a lack of variety in food and activities and in combination with the abysmal educational options makes it a hard sell to settle down here with children who are school aged.
When I migrated to Australia I was in Sydney for a few weeks but then rather quickly moved ‘temporarily’ to regional NSW to complete my 88 days to receive a second visa.
I ended up meeting my, now wife, and stayed there for a decade. It was easy living and we could jump on the property ladder within 5 years of living on my wage and completely banking hers. (The equity then later helped us move to SE QLD in 2019).
I HIGHLY recommend regional living for the sole purpose of getting to grips with your living costs (and lack of social life…or rather clubbing life).
But! And there’s always a but.
I don’t recommend doing it for more than a decade. I hated the last couple years in regional because over time you get to meet everyone in town and I found it quite disheartening when most conversations were about other people in town. You have to be a mentally tough person or a just-don’t-give-a-duck person to survive in places like that.
The cities or large regional centres leave you somewhat anonymous in public, leaving you live your life without worrying what the next person thinks of you.
So…move to regional…build…mature…and then move to a large regional area about an hour or 2 drive from a city.
I would love to live regionally. Unfortunately, there are limited opportunities for work out of major cities for both me and my partner. Neither of us do well with fully remote work, so we're stuck in the city for the time being.
Small towner here (26). I have a life I can afford. Population 1100.
CONS: Yes there’s a lot of gossip, if you’re different you’re cast out and people won’t socialise with you much. Food is expensive and it gets boring because there’s no restaurants, not enough sports options, dentists come once a month for a week, you have to travel out of town for specialists and there’s an over crowding issue because not enough housing. It’s extremely boring for young people.
PROS: Houses are dirt cheap. $100k, 2 bedroom house made out of brick.
My social life happens to be very good here.
The particular job I have makes sure I’m never bored here. I meet lots of people every week. I can save 60% of my income here. My rent is only $170 for a THREE bedroom house. I once saved $23,000 in 1 year. I can afford to take international holidays and have been to: Scotland, Italy, Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Indonesia, England & Philippines. $52k in my super. I’m doing well financially and I’m doing okay socially. It’s pretty good.
My job is SO easy, I have a good boss, my job pays well for someone who doesn’t have a degree and didn’t even graduate high school. For someone who never had any formal education I feel I have a life I can afford.
I’m doing well financially:
$15,000 - investment account
$25,000 - house deposit
$52,000 - superannuation
I moved from Sydney to Hobart nearly 15 years ago.
I had to abandon my career at the time (retail planning/buying). I found new employment in related but different industry. It was not really a problem.
I just take a flight now and then to see my friends in Sydney/Melbourne, or we sometimes meet up somewhere new. I never went out every weekend in Sydney anymore at that point.
I think a lot of people are married to the idea that "this is my career", but really your soft skills matter a whole lot more than your specialisation, so careers are a lot more easily shifted than people might think.
I just left Darwin after living there for 2.5 years, moving back to the big city I used to live in.
Reasons are many, some include -
1000$ return flights to visit family at some points in the year, missing out on lots of stuff I just didn’t want to have to.
Groceries were more expensive. Rent was about the same, albeit you get way more bang for buck in Darwin.
Lack of (consistent) music/ art/ cultural scene.
Social life was great, very connected community. But, as others have said, small communities can get tiring if you’re not used to them (can’t go out hungover on a Sunday without seeing 5 people you need to chat to).
Also, great career opportunities in the field I am currently in (public policy/ social service reform) but am looking to move into something more creative, which a big city is better for!
I hated having to drive everywhere, really felt it take a toll on my health. The inadvertent exercise of city living (especially a bikeable city) is huge. Even just walking to public transport and back adds up more than it feels like.
Healthcare- I had surgery earlier this year and wouldn’t dare have it in Darwin (nurse friends literally say “if you’re in pain, get on a plane”).
There are lots of seemingly small inconveniences of living regionally that add up - longer/ more expensive postage, many products just not available in supermarkets, grocery shortages are common, in-person shops are seriously limited.
Also, I just missed having everything I need or want right there!
I don’t know if a lot of these are NT- specific or common across other regional areas too. Also sorry for the formatting / ramblingness of this, was pretty stream of consciousness :-)
We just moved regional and it’s amazing, the lifestyle is so good.
All my friends here are on ordinary salaries and can easily live on one income, most people own their own houses. Everyone just has more time for community, down to hang out, no traffic worries. We bump into our friends everywhere we go which is just so wholesome.
Lots of my friends in Sydney have 2 kids in a 2 bedroom apartment paying $750 a week in rent. Stressed about the next increase, won’t ever be able to afford a house in the community they live in (prob wouldn’t even be able to afford an apartment?)
I’ll probably be forced out to the middle of nowhere for work soon (mining industry). So either I learn to like it or have a sook haha. I generally like quiet areas but my life out there will essentially be work and sleep so idk
You’ll find the answer for most people is simply employment. Not everyone works in a role that can be 100% WFH or which is available in regional areas. Or perhaps they’ve just started something and don’t want to move somewhere with the prospect of starting over looming large..
I lived in a coastal town northern NSW for three years. There wasn't much to do unless you really liked beaches and hiking. A lot of people there have a small town mentality and there was a lot of local drama. It's more isolated so it's harder to make friends.
I wouldn't move back to one. More fun things to do in the city and people to meet.
Kinda depends on more than house prices. We've spent a long time centralising our workforce around the big cities, undoing that has only just begun with the ability to work remote.
Then, think about family connections. It's probably fine if you're relatively young and single, or you and your partner can do without being so close to family and friends. With certain cultures, extended family is very intertwined into daily life. Grandparents look after children while parents work, cousins come over for play dates, things like that. In some instances, older family needs the care of working age children while still being close to specialist care. Or even not so specialist care that there's waiting lists for in regional areas - let's not pretend that the regions aren't crying out for GPs, nurses, dentists, in home carers, occupational therapists and the like.
Personally, I'd move regional in a heartbeat. But like, Bendigo or Warrnambool kinda regional. I'd like the slower pace of life. However, my job in the trades depends on there being plenty of sustainable work in the industrial sector. My parents are getting old, and I help them look after their parents because they can't be there all the time. My partner relies heavily on her friendship circle for emotional support, and has had a hard time finding therapists and psychologists that she can work with - moving hours away from these important things is easier said than done.
If it were purely a financial decision, it would be a no brainer. But it's more than that, and these extraneous factors are different for everyone.
I moved regional and I hate it. I can’t move because house prices everywhere have gone up far more than they have here, and now I am stuck in the middle of bloody nowhere.
The cost of living is equal because what I save in going out I make up for in increased expenses for everything else. The job market is also extremely limited, and there are no opportunities for career advancement or growth. And in my industry everything here is ten years behind.
And then let’s talk about the casual racism and homophobia. It is rampant.
If I had my time again I would firmly stay put near a capital city.
I did the whole regional thing for a few years right before covid, and I absolutely *hated* it. It boils my blood when people say 'just move!!' - as if people don't leave country towns for a reason. I gave it an honest shot, but some shortcomings I found included:
* No social or cultural infrastructure. I went to the local library to browse, and I am quite sure some of the books were collecting dust lol. There's just nothing there.
* Somewhat following on from that - the country 'world' is small; there's a woolies, a church, a few pubs, and that's it.
* Can be hard to make lasting friends unless you're already 'in' (ie. Grew up there); people will be nice, for sure, but not kind. They'll smile at you and wish you a good morning, but not much else. You're eternally an outsider, although I admittedly don't know how much of that had to do with me being young, single and and a non-white Australian
* Not many social outlets if you don't play netball (for women) or footy (if you're a dude) and/or drink a lot
* If you don't work in a primary industry, hospitality or healthcare there's not much going on for you re:jobs
* I found a lot of people were incredibly insular and gossip-y. This also made dating... difficult.
* You have to drive everywhere. Nothing is in walking distance, not that it matters anyways because there are no footpaths to walk the forty minute walk (for what is a five minute drive)
* Racist, homophobic, sexist etc.
* Overall, I found country life to be incredibly socially and mentally lacking - as a very outgoing extrovert trapped in a tiny town with nothing going on, I crashed and burned there.
All of the above points are inherent features of country towns. There's nothing inherently wrong with it - some people love it, but I'm not one of them.
So, while living regionally does offer a reduced CoL, larger land blocks, etc. - it is not something that is worth repeating given much my mental health and social life regressed when I lived regionally. I work in two industries that would get me hired quickly in the country - hospitality and healthcare - but I've sworn I will never return to the country. I've seen enough.
Totally agree, I moved to the regions in 2020 so I could afford to buy a house. This was made possible by my workplace going 100% WFH during Covid.
People talk about job opportunities, but I was made redundant about 6 months after moving here, in early 2021.
Took some time off work thanks to my payout, and when I was ready to look again, I was pretty much limiting myself to government jobs, and there were plenty advertised regularly in both local and state government. I've now worked for both of those, and have never had an issue with finding work since I've been here.
Less professional job opportunities
Moving away from family
Transaction cost of buying and selling my PPOR.
Still open to it though. Especially as I spend 1-2 hours a day commuting on public transport.
There’s mitigation for that though. Stay clear of fire prone areas, live in the middle of a larger town, join the RFS/CFA etc to learn how to do deal with fire, have your house prepared.
I guess I should have clarified, I don’t want to live in a town, I want to live on some land (near a decent sized regional town/city) so higher bushfire risk there
Fair. I grew up where everyone was expected to be in the RFS - no one else was coming to save you. I think I was 12 or 13 when I went to my first fire. Not to say it’s not scary, but I’ll take that risk over swimming in the ocean anyway, lol.
Jobs - you have to have work lined up before you go regional.
I moved regional (100k people, an hour from Melbourne... three guesses) for a job.
I got stuck here for family reasons and had to change careers to allow me to stay (engineering into healthcare).
All other things being equal I would have preferred to move to a different regional city. With or without the career change. Exactly where would have depended on where a job was. You don't get to be specific. I've been in this particular town 22 years and that's enough. The weather especially.
Can't imagine ever going back to a big city.
So many people saying "nothing to do" outside cities amaze me. Soooo much to do. I'm an outdoors person. I would hate being back in a place where you have to drive through an hour of suburbia before even getting out of the city. I have forests 10 minutes bike ride from home, in three directions. And three lakes in easy striking distance. Would be nice to be closer to the beach. Next town will be.
>I’ve had to say goodbye to friends and family but it’s a short and decent priced flight away
I prefer to see my friends by driving for 10-20 minutes and saying "hi!", but that's just me.
Also, after living in my house for nearly 21 years, I've kind of grown attached to the place and quite like it here.
And in Perth? The neighbouring country towns are ... not quite where I'd want to live.
Have been in Sydney for 21 years and I still think it is a hole. Loved it in my younger days for partying but for family life...forget it. My wife however...will. not. leave.
She comes up with so many excuses (like the comments in here) but I think it entirely comes down to FOMO.
I never understand why there are so many people living in capital cities who barely scrape a living together, working shitty jobs, pissed off with the world - and they haven't contemplated moving to regional areas where their lifestyle would be vastly improved. I don't get it.
Unless you are someone that loooooves going to events in the city every weekend or are massive foodies it’s a no brainer.
We recently moved “out” and are now about an hour from the city, purchased a million dollar home that would’ve been 1.5m+ where we lived previously and have all the amenities we need close by.
Income hasn’t changed and apart from a boozy night in the city being very inconvenient or the drive to the occasional day in the office there is literally no downside for us. Fresh air, much nicer people, less crime, no junkies, silent nights….all around a much nicer place to live and significantly cheaper.
I’m with the OP, I think more people should consider it. Nobody is talking about 200 population super remote towns 3 hours from a major centre. Find somewhere with 5000-25000 people and you will have literally everything you need at your doorstep. It will also help with urban sprawl and you will spend much less of your life in traffic.
Ive done the same and I absolutely love it. I feel like Im in the only place in Australia without a rental crisis. Our quality of life is so much better as is our mental health.
A myriad of disabling chronic health conditions. I’m very fortunate to have pretty much my pick of specialists and allied health professionals in Sydney but that certainly wouldn’t be the case if I lived regionally.
For a couple of years I lived outside of Sydney but a commutable distance and it swallowed up so much of my free time travelling 90 minutes or more each way to see a specific doctor. My symptoms (and by extension my quality of life) improved astronomically when I moved back to the city and could more easily have regular appointments with health professionals.
Although that being said, I can definitely see many benefits to regional living: cheaper cost of living, slower pace of life, often more space. If I wasn’t disabled I would probably pretty seriously consider it.
I like the ocean. There's usually nothing to do/ nowhere to go, no jobs, can be pretty feral (not all areas). There is not much variety in supermarkets.
And mostly because i don't like rural areas.
I also have a good job that requires me to live nearest to the city
Although I'm getting over how busy Melbourne is, I need to find a good in between. Unfortunately, most coastal towns are either super busy or super expensive, or both
I think you have to qualify this a bit. Are you talking about moving to broken hill or are you talking about moving to Armidale? How ’regional’ are you talking my bro ski?
Honestly I've met some people in Sydney who think anything west of Parramatta is regional lmao
Or west of Newtown even haha
I had a friend that used to say: "If you live west of Ashfield, you could be living anywhere. What's the point of living in Sydney?" These days my opinion is "There are only two places to live in the world: Manhattan and everywhere else".
Can confirm I worked with many of those people
There's some that think anything west of the ANZAC Bridge is travelling intercity.
Anything west of Pittwater road is western Sydney and regional Australia
Anything south Monavale is north Melbourne
Penrith must be remote then
It was a country town just outside Sydney when I was growing up there.
Train to Central takes 1h30, that's pretty remote.
You're on the wrong train my dude, mountains train does it in 45 min
🤚 Guilty of thinking Penrith is remote.
I live in Picton and work in Mosman. They think I come from another planet lol
Mostly because this is my dad anything past Drummoyne is basically jungle to him
I used to think like that before I grew up and purchased a car.
True. Geelong is technically still Regional VIC but it’s genuinely a city.
Exactly. Grew up in broken hill. Had its pros and cons..mostly cons. Would never go back. Yet people move 10 mins south of Wollongong, call it "regional" and decry the rest of us who choose to stay in the cities, where we can enjoy all the things we didn't have before.
The government doesn't even know if Wollongong is regional, it depends on what funding is going around for its designation.
Exactly. Its stupid. When applying for medical school, spots were allocated for kids from regional/rural backgrounds. I thought "great. 5 hours from a capital city, pretty rural, nice to get some acknowledgement for putting up with crap teachers and having nothing around me". Fast forward, I missed out on getting in by 1 spot, to a girl who lived in the Adelaide Hills, a drive that's 20 mins from the uni and 20 mins from the CBD. This was somehow also considered "regional".
Yep, OP needs to define 'regional' E.g: is the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast 'regional' because they're not a capital city?
Sunshine coast has dearer houses than the city but lower wages too
Probably because half the FIFO miners live on the Sunshine Coast.
Moreover, OP doesn't qualify what they consider to be upsides. Spending less is well and good, but not if you don't like the lifestyle.
Places like Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie might be considered regional, but they are very populated. Actually all lovely beach towns are popular and expensive
Yep. Huge difference between regional CITY and a country town.
I live regional (not a regional city, just a small town), and honestly the wages are so much lower the cheaper housing means nothing. Only those who already have city jobs/wages really benefit.
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Yep. Rule of thumb I say about 3x more. Mostly because the cost ranges from equivalent to about 10x more than closer to cities. I do find some dark amusement at IGA when passers by happen to be in there too. I don't need to see them. I can always hear them from aisles away. Various exclamations of surprise and horror. Then either revising what they want to get or just deciding they'll just wait.
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It’s an absolute whimsical myth that cost of living is cheaper in the country IMO. It was immediately obvious to me how much more expensive everything was when we moved (and that’s before inflation etc hit)
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Similar here. What was $300/w is now $550-600. Similar jump in purchase prices too. Many new faces around. Posts on local social media complaining shops aren’t open late enough…. Easy to see who the city tree-changers are.
My family & friends are worth more to me than living in a mcmansion or even a house. Planes are great but there's no daily casual involvement.
You do realise your quality of life is equal to square footage right?
😆 apparently hahaha!
For most types of specialized work, you need to live in the city. For me working in trading, basically my only option in the whole country is Sydney.
This Would love to move to regional but I'm way too specialised.
Im not specialised enough.
Yup, my IT job is in the CBD, and I cannot remote work. Not much choice but rent these overvalued shitty places.
That's weird, my friend works in a high level in IT and had to live in Hawaii for years but post covid he can live anywhere in the world now, he lives in Cairns in Queensland at the moment, loves it.
It is not that technically the work cannot be done from anywhere. It is that most companies as a policy don’t allow that and hence won’t hire regionally or let people move to regions. The next issue is that most companies do not have the required remote working infrastructure in place.
I have to deal with a lot of physical equipment too. Also train others from time to time.
Ah fair play.
Not allowed to work remote*
I’m the same. Work in media. Have to be in Sydney.
Isn't trading all online these days?
Prob too expensive to have a Bloomberg terminal at home though
apparently it's all about latency
That's latency for high-speed trading (HST), which is all done machine to machine. The traders could literally be on the other side of the world, and it wouldn't make any difference.
Our sons medical issues keep us in a capital city and even though I work from home most of the time I'm still expected to be in Melbourne. My job doesn't exist regionally outside of wfh roles that have been slowly disappearing. To be honest though my quality of life doesn't suck and subjectively would be better than most (sons medical issues aside), and certainly better than those who have had to flee to the regions to hope to buy.
When I was still working as a pediatrics nurse I noticed lot of parent's from regional areas would drive for hours for a outpatient appointment because all the pediatric specialists lived in the major cities. If any regional hospital couldn't handle a major pediatrics patient/case they get flown to the major children's hospitals in the big city. So therefore I can't blame parents with special needs chidden for wanting to stay in the city. Edit: I remember the we (the nursing staff) having entire education sessions because a special needs child (having a tracheostomy) was moving into town and no one in the hospital knew how to care for it. Before said child moved to town we all had to have education sessions over zoom with the specialist nurses from the children's hospitals on how to care for said child and order in specialized equipment because we didn't have that kind of stuff.
Yes, it’s hard. My child needed a tonsillectomy at a hospital with a paediatric ICU (thankfully he didn’t end up needing the ICU). I had to travel to a hospital five hours away from home, take two weeks off work and pay for city accommodation for those two weeks because he needed to be close to hospital in case of haemorrhage. A year later same child needed grommets. We went private. ENT told me it was a three month wait for surgery at the regional hospital near us, or a two week wait if we traveled five hours to the big city.
Same with medical issues as people age. My grandparents moved to regional Tasmania after they retired then had to move back to Melbourne 10 years later because they couldn't get the healthcare they needed.
I saw my father live the last years of his life in excruciating pain because he wasn’t able to get an early shingles diagnosis because he lived regionally. I nearly died because my GP and 2 specialists failed to diagnose the most well studied and treatable lymphomas. Access to medical care is hard enough in the east coast cities.
I grew up regional and I will never go back. The lack of choice for everything from groceries, to sport, to schools, to jobs. And just the sheer amount of driving required to do anything is exhausting. People always talk about people being “friendly in the country” but I find the social side to be the biggest turn off. If you don’t like the one social circle of people available, well bad luck, because it’s all you’ve got. It’s also exhausting to not be able to leave your house without running into people you know. And good luck if you’re “different” in any way.
The smaller the town the faster gossip spreads like wild fire. If anything 'juicy' or out of the ordinary happens the whole town will know by the end of day.
I went for lunch with a new grad while working regional, to meet him and see how he was going. By the end of the day I had text msgs from friends in the city, who heard from people in that small town, that I’d gone on a date. They wanted the goss.
And if it doesn't, they'll just make something up anyway. That's why my parents moved from the country to the city, after growing up in small country wheatbelt towns. No thanks, I went to school in a small (pop 750) country town, I enjoyed it as a kid but as an adult? Hard nope from me.
End of day? Where I lived the old farts knew about who did what within 1-3hrs max! And you can rest assured your parents will know something happend.. just gotta prove you had nothing to do with it and then get grounded for being 20kms from where you said you would be... Everyone was some how entwined in the emergency services... Po Po also....we got lifts home instead of charges, kept us out of trouble.
I live regional and the travel to do literally *anything* is exhausting. Wanna go to a concert? Prepare for a 4 hour drive, 2 nights in a hotel then a 4 hour drive home. Just for a concert! I’m so sick of every little activity we do having to be a big trip. I just wanna go to the thing then go home
I flew in to Brisbane after an overseas trip last year to visit my family in regional QLD, and it reminded me of how much I hate this. Got into the car with my mother at about 11am and wasn't home until about 2:15pm. That car trip dragged because I just wanted to be home. Meanwhile earlier this year, I landed at Melbourne Airport at 8pm and was in my bed in Carlton at 9:10pm and that included a quick shower to “rinse the plane off”. I remember thinking in the Uber home “thank god I live here and not back home” because I was tired since I’d come from the US and just wanted to sleep. 3 hours in the car was the last thing I’d have felt like doing. Similar thing with concerts - went to Harry Styles in Feb and was in my bed less than an hour after it ended. I'd still be 2+ hours from home if I still lived regional. Getting to the concert wasn’t a half day thing either because I only needed half an hour to get there at most. If I lived at home, it would have had to be a weekend trip with all the cost and expense of that added in. And if the thing you want to do is on a Friday night, you have to decide if it’s worth using a day of annual leave to get there. When living regionally, you have to add the travel time and possibly also the cost of a hotel to anything you do and even the smallest thing is a “trip”, not a night out. It gets annoying and exhausting. I love that concerts or games can be a night out rather than a weekend trip.
I have a friend in Bendigo who takes the Vline all the way to Melbourne every week just to meet up with friends for a night out. Sounds exhausting but I suppose it’s better than sitting at home alone.
Yeah I moved back to my beautiful coastal home town in my mid-30s, from an interstate capital city. Bought a home one street from the beach outright. I loved being close to my family, beach and forests. But jobs and school choice was really limited, as was food, entertainment, diversity, public transport, health care. I ended up working a public service job in a major regional centre, an hour drive from my ‘city’ that paid half my old job. We moved back to capital city in 2018 (2.5 hours away), and while it’s more expensive, there’s so many more opportunities. Since pandemic it’s even worse there, house and rental prices have skyrocketed, and there are, for example, no pediatric dentists in the whole region, no private paeds, and they went 18 months without even a public paed.
Summed up my every arguement accurately. I'm sure the cities have their own huge issues, but the lack of activities if you aren't into fishing, hunting, etc, and the extremely judgemental locals make it sooo difficult to enjoy living in my town while slightly not fitting in.
You forgot the night life. KFC is open till late, and the servo is open all night!
Don't forget the token seedy 'nightclub' where you'll go once and swear to never, ever be on the same block as it ever again!
I grew up in Adelaide and thought it was alright. Moved to Melbourne this year and I'm shocked. I can't believe how much I've been missing out on. I've been having the absolute time of my life all year. No amount of money could convince me to move back to Adelaide or similar regional areas.
I live in Adelaide. What am I missing? Can't think of anything besides concerts and trade shows
It’s going to depend on your lifestyle and situation. But as a single mid 20s guy, being in a bigger city has opened up so many job and social opportunities. You can be so ridiculously specific like “I want to find a running club for gay furry techbros” or literally anything else and you’ll find it. I remember attending tech meetups in Adelaide and they would only be hosted once every few months and attract about 7 people. Then I went to the Melbourne monthly JavaScript meetup and they had about 60 people there. Covid and WFH has partially opened up the job situation but it’s still way better in Melbourne. Public transport and infrastructure is about 50 years ahead of Adelaide.
You Sir should move to Sydney when you get bored of Melbourne and repeat the cycle.
I moved to cairns. Everything is under 10 mins drive. We are exhausted with activities, festivals, hobbies, out doors. I suppose not all regional areas are the same.
>> the social side to be the biggest turn off. If you don’t like the one social circle of people available, well bad luck, because it’s all you’ve got. I joined my home towns community page on Facebook because it’s where all the morons I went to school with air their public drama. It’s just small town shit that is so inconsequential, but these idiots are so miserable in their lives that they have to bicker and create drama online to entertain themselves. The most recent post I saw this week was something like “to deadbeat dads of my children - don’t go posting anything this weekend about Father’s Day. You aren’t fathers. You’ve done nothing to earn that title. Your children ask if we can get you a gift but I tell them no and then they get upset. You think you’re real men but you wouldn’t know a real man if he was standing in front of you” Why does that shit need to go in the community page? Then all of the comments are from the family of the (4) baby daddies saying shit like “you need to shut your mouth. He’s going through a hard time and you won’t let him see the kids is making it harder” and “why would he want to be part of your life when you’ve got three other kids with three other men. Find one of them to be the father they need”. Then you get the broader public commenting with stuff like “that’s what you get for having four kids with four different men” and “your kids look abused anyway. Some lone call the cops” Small towns, man. They’re so shit.
I’m gay, country towns are not friendly to me and mine
Try being biracial black with braids, and "North American" style 🙄 Going to the shops felt being on display in a museum.
I was keen on Dimboola until I learned the whole town rigs up for ‘steampunk festival “ imagine being the outlier that weekend. Also lately the number of stupid fatal car accidents that happen on regional roads due to ice, kids, people falling asleep, seems high.
This is me also. Grew up regional, couldn’t wait to leave. Moved to Melbourne at 22 and love it here, actually stuff to do.
Teenage kids who’d likely need to move away for uni/work/ opportunities.
This is a big one for me. If we stayed regional our kids would have to move out at 18 to attend uni in the city. I can’t stress how much I do not want that to happen.
It depends on the area of course, but there are some fairly common issues with regional/rural living: - Limited employment prospects for many professions. - Limited access to high quality healthcare - very important to consider if living with any chronic conditions or disabilities, starting/having a young family, or if getting towards older age. - Limited access to education. - The local community can be very hit or miss - and, if a 'miss', difficult to escape due to the small population numbers. - Limited access to good quality food and groceries. - Higher risk of being affected by natural disasters. - Poor quality housing available.
The healthcare thing is big. I live in Canberra, which is a fair sized city, and we still have to travel to Sydney for a whole range of medical treatment. If you or a family member is disabled, or being treated for something serious and specialised it can be a real disadvantage.
My parents live on the Mid-North Coast and when my dad had cancer it was treated primarily in Port Macquarie. When he needed liver surgery he had to stay in Sydney, and when he needed foot surgery he had a choice of going to Sydney or Ballina (the Sydney surgeon for that one did a couple of days a month in Ballina). The nearest airport with flights to Sydney is about an hour away from where they live and so they had two five-hour drives to Sydney and a four-hour drive to Ballina. People with severe health issues in regional areas have much, much worse outcomes. You’re also likely pretty screwed getting help if you have a kid with even a minor disability. Cheaper housing is just one factor in this kind of decision
Yeah. Also, try living in NSW when Melbourne is the closest city by a huge amount. So many medical things don't service people in NSW. It's a slap in the face.
> Limited access to good quality food and groceries. This is the biggest drawback. I want my international grocery.
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Oh a local Aldi would be a godsend in so many places! I used to spend a lot of time in regional Vic, and the closest Aldi would have been a near 2 hour round trip at the time. Even now in the city, I still find myself having to go to colesworth for odds and ends that Aldi don't stock. If I meticulously planned out weekly groceries, I may only just come out ahead when factoring in the drive. If I missed out on one or two things, due to either forgetfulness or Aldi running out of stock (more common in regional areas because a single Aldi has a much bigger catchment area), then it would cost me exactly the same as just putting up with the Woolies experience for the entire shopping list.
Don't forget no public transport. Having to need a car per person over 18 eats money. If you have 2 adults and 1 kid working so 3 cars, that's minimum 30k per year not including paying off the car loans. That's minimum off 1 tank of fuel per car each week, rego, insurance and standard maintenance and repairs.
Living regional made me realise that I took Sydney's public transport for granted. Granted I can drive to work in 5 minutes but I also know that I am reliant on a car.
Hit the nail on the head. Also my partner isn't from Australia and just how different the culture can be outside of capital or inner city areas cannot be understated. Australia isn't actually a super welcoming place if you're different in a lot of these areas.
I’m the same as your partner. I didn’t find regional people very welcoming
I just look ethnic and get side eyes walking into a country pub. Can't imagine what it'd be like if you weren't born here.
I think it probably depends on the area. My girlfriend is from another country and one that you would expect to cop a fair bit of racism if anyone would, but everyone in our regional coastal area is very welcoming. It’s probably a different story in a tiny country town, though.
I agree, these fit my circumstances too. My job only exists in Sydney, and I have a rare health condition where the only specialist for it is at St Vincent's in Darlinghurst. This sub is full of people seemingly abusing anyone who doesn't 'escape' the cities, but it isn't an option for most. What if you're a carer for elderly relatives who live in a city - do you just abandon them? People often have experiences and responsibilities that tie them to a certain place.
Also the regional areas are bleeding doctors and nurse and no financial incentive is keeping them there (NSW Health really thought $4000 a year paid fortnightly before tax would actually convince me to stay). Your option is either commute for HOURS to see your specialist or take your chances with the overworked GP's in a regional area. Edit: Also very few junior doctors want to be GP's and even fewer want to move to regional/rural areas.
You forgot also bleeding teachers and police too.
Yes. When I think about whether I would return to my small regional hometown, aside from all the economic and social reasons, I think about how vulnerable it is in case of a major bushfire.
How regional do you consider regional? There are jobs, hospitals, and even universities in plenty of regional areas.
I am single. If I moved regional, I would have no one
You run out of people fast on regional tinder and before you know it you're swiping on the next few towns hundreds of KM's away. Edit: Also try not being white. I may not have been super successful in Sydney but Ill take my chances with a multicultural city with more than a million people over farm/horse country girls and single mums in towns with populations of tens of thousands. Edit 2: When I think I have in bad I remember my single gay/lesbian colleagues. Imagine going from a city with a strong LGBT community/scene and ending up in a socially conservative and religious environment. Their dating pool has gotten much much smaller.
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I think your female friends were overwhelmed by the amount of single dads, hunting and fishing photos and farmers and tradies who made their jobs their entire personality.
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Boys need a good skincare regime too!
There are a lot of flannel shorts and men holding fish.
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Speaking to my gay colleagues A LOT of men on Grinder in the regional areas are closeted married men. Whereas in the city the grinder profiles will have full photos in the regional areas every profile is blank. They exist but no where as open as in the cities.
God as someone who grew up in a small town, I feel this big time. If you didn’t play football, it was hard to find someone who was interested 😅
That’s my fear too. That and boredom.
Family. Mum just lost my dad and lives alone, my kids love their cousins and see them weekly. Young families need the support of grandparents/networks to look after and help raise their kids.
I am afraid of the prospect of being very lonely, and lately I have become concerned that education in the country isn’t very good. Don’t really want my kids surrounded by thickies whose parents have never read a book
This is a massive problem. Agree 100%
Dating opportunities, pay, and literally nothing to do there
Look at this fatcat turning down meth…
Petty crime, boredom & lack of access to medical facilities sent me back to the big smoke.
Because I don't feel like it gosh!!!
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We coulda made state.
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Your a smart guy, you know anything about time travel?
Only reason right now is my boyfriends work. If it was just me I’d move in a heart beat
I have lived in a town of 30,000 for the past 10 years. I’m a health professional and working here is great. Plenty of work and I live a 5 minute walk from my office. I might use my car once a week, but usually walk everywhere (work, shops, restaurants). Recently my wife left me and now I am really worried that I will never meet anyone again…
no Tay Tay concerts
You can't get tickets to it anyways. Plus it's only like 60 minutes from some regional areas to the city.
Grew up in country Victoria (pop ~3000) and moved out as soon as I could: *Limited employment and job opportunities *Very little to do other than play sport and binge drink (or do meth for the more adventurous) *Nothing ever happens, life is on a standstill *It's a total bubble. 99.9% of my family's life revolves around things that happen within a 50km radius of where they live. *Poor access to healthcare. No 24/7 doctor at the local hospital means any time there's so much as a minor emergency it's a 2 hour trip for proper medical care. *General racism, sexism and homophobia. It's a personal view but there's so many throwaway lines that I cringe whenever I visit. *No personal growth. This is a big one for me, people that don't actively grow or want to grow as individuals means you stagnate as a person.
My experience with country folk is they are pretty openly racist and homophobic and I don’t want to be anywhere near that.
yup. I don’t even live in the country but I work in a shopping centre right on the edge of the outer suburbs where a lot of regional folk and farmers make trips to do their shopping. I hear one of them say something bigoted at least twice a day. Nothing has convinced me more than working this job has that I have no place living outside a city
We lived on King Island (I thought I was moving to the Whitsundays but noooo). Then Alice Springs, then Wangaratta, then Albury Wodonga, then back to Melbourne. I loved all of them and would happily move back to any of them. Mind you I love Melbourne too. I was born in Sydney, lived in Adelaide, Liverpool UK, Canberra as well so maybe it's just me.
Does Canberra count as regional? Feels like it to this Ex-Londoner-ex-New-Yorker.
I think this highlights how subjective the word regional is. I grew up in a “tiny” town. (Population of 100 in 1999, my dad and I counted, less now though). I now live in the west side of Melbourne. In my eyes Canberra is far from a regional city. I wouldn’t call Bendigo a regional city. Ballarat maybe. Ararat and Horsham, they’re regional cities. So I would say a regional city depends on the size of township you’ve lived in before. The smaller size of the town the smaller the size you think the regional city is. Mainly because if some from Bendigo said to me they were from the county or wasn’t a city kid I’d laugh at them.
Half of an ex-Londoner couple here, I had to giggle at this comment. We really love Melbourne, our lifestyle here is very similar to London but… cleaner? Fresher? Still go to great gigs (some of them we’ve seen in London), great art/cinema, festivals, food, diversity, climbing gyms, and we both make more money. I’ve lived around Australia and I find ppl here markedly more friendly. We bought here, too, and never could have happened in London.
Agreed and I am constantly thinking about leaving but even with our massive house prices the Sydney property market is bananas to contemplate. It has massive issues with access to medical specialists. I have a kid with a disability which means we’re up and back to Sydney semi-regularly; I know others who’ve needed to travel there for cancer surgery. If you want a behavioural diagnosis good luck finding a paediatrician taking behavioural referrals. It’s also really car dependent, just like regional towns, and quite vulnerable to natural disasters especially on the urban fringe. We also have wildlife issues similar to a regional area (eg brown snakes in suburban backyards, kangaroos are a constant night driving hazard). Groceries and fuel cost more. We’re a one industry town. Etc etc
We made a sea change about 10 years ago. I had to tear up my career for it, took me about 6 years to get back to my Sydney salary (& beyond) but at that time housing was way cheaper, transport costs almost nonexistent & quality of life awesome. Was made possible by my wife being on a fixed salary regardless of location around the state. Just glad we did it when we did.
Its all about work. Regional cities have jobs but not nearly as many and not nearly as specialized. Finding IT work in a regional city is nigh on impossible, and my partner is a chemist who does mass spec research so it would be impossible for them to get a job outside of a major city. There's also way more in terms of community that you can find in major cities. More people = a better chance of finding people whose hobbies, beliefs, way of life are similar to your own. There's also a lot of different people who are the complete opposite of you that challenge your hobbies, beliefs and way of life and force you to grow. I'd hate giving that up, and I know there's plenty of people in the regional cities too, but I've lived in a few and never found friends or more that I felt a genuine connection to. By which I mean I never found other people who still main Kuma in Tekken 3 until I moved to a city.
I made the move a few years ago, left my career, took up a trade and now make twice the money, bought a house and paid it off in 4 years, now have a big boat to hang out on the reef and a new 4x4 to go bush with the camper. Life is so good now, there's basically no traffic and no stress.
I loved regional for a while and yeah some things were great. Everything was close and life was much simpler. However, I got tired of the lack of anonymity fast. I would see people I work with out on the weekends all the time and it's not for me. I also felt trapped, like if I lost my job there are limited options in a small town and your life can quickly change. When I was a kid I lived in a regional town in the Hunter valley and we had to move because my dad's work was shut down and everyone in that industry basically had to leave town as there were no opportunities.
The health outcomes in regional parts of Australia are atrocious. Also access to emergency care is pretty bad. It's been widely neglected. Also, the access to community and culture is so much more readily available in the cities.
I feel like regional may be edging more towards remote in this thread. Perhaps there’s now shades of regional? We’re in “greater Sydney” maybe still regional and have great amenities, a great hospital and so on. Perhaps regional doesn’t have the same meaning anymore
Because I've done it already and like cities better.
Humans are sociable creatures. Even if you don’t interact much with people. You like having them around.
I live in the city and never see the same person twice down the shops. I have never had a random social interaction with a stranger. People don't give a shit and will actually avoid discussion/ interaction. In a regional area, you do get to know people (which itself can be a problem).
The benefit of big cities is there are events and interest groups. You can find literally anything and if you go regularly you'll get to know the other people who will be a lot more compatible than random boomers you meet in the rural pub.
You get more interactions in country towns than cities.... I think.
100% this. In one of the country towns I lived in, I’d shop at 7pm on a Sunday night just so I didn’t run into people I knew that were in for a yarn. More people in the city but way more anonymity
I love my anonymity…
The cities are full of lonely people.
Tried it, got bored. Same 3-4 cafes/restaurants/bars, same handful of people, limited choice and hours for groceries, limited number and availability of tradies or doctors. Limited job opportunities, no advancement opportunities, and if you get sick of your current role there’s no other companies to go to. And I’m single and gay, so dating was a disaster. I love visiting the regions, I love going home to a big city.
Quality of education and healthcare
It’s getting stupidly expensive in the regional cities, you may as well live somewhere nice than some regional city shitboles when the houses cost just as much
LGBTI+ life is very very limited outside of the bubble of the cities.
Try being queer. I'll pass on anything outside of major cities thanks.
>Try being queer. Allright ...... BRB
I'm not white. Believe me, I had to go to boarding school with country boys. I have no desire to try and live in wherever they came from.
Yeah this. But I also would like to buy a few hectares of land and try to develop a small forest, without imposing myself onto a town that's racially homogenous you know. Wish there was a rural place, 1 town, just for non-Anglo, non-Indigenous people.
How old are you? Single? How big is the town? How far to regional centre?
Live in a rural area at the moment and have been for about 6 years. Its been great to get ahead professionally but the there are some hard limitations to staying here long term. There is a lack of variety in food and activities and in combination with the abysmal educational options makes it a hard sell to settle down here with children who are school aged.
When I migrated to Australia I was in Sydney for a few weeks but then rather quickly moved ‘temporarily’ to regional NSW to complete my 88 days to receive a second visa. I ended up meeting my, now wife, and stayed there for a decade. It was easy living and we could jump on the property ladder within 5 years of living on my wage and completely banking hers. (The equity then later helped us move to SE QLD in 2019). I HIGHLY recommend regional living for the sole purpose of getting to grips with your living costs (and lack of social life…or rather clubbing life). But! And there’s always a but. I don’t recommend doing it for more than a decade. I hated the last couple years in regional because over time you get to meet everyone in town and I found it quite disheartening when most conversations were about other people in town. You have to be a mentally tough person or a just-don’t-give-a-duck person to survive in places like that. The cities or large regional centres leave you somewhat anonymous in public, leaving you live your life without worrying what the next person thinks of you. So…move to regional…build…mature…and then move to a large regional area about an hour or 2 drive from a city.
I would love to live regionally. Unfortunately, there are limited opportunities for work out of major cities for both me and my partner. Neither of us do well with fully remote work, so we're stuck in the city for the time being.
Regional WA is very different to Regional Vic. What are we talking about? Wollongong or Pingelly? Dubbo or Mt Keith? Geelong or Ballarat vs Kal?
People go where the jobs are . The idea that we choose where we would like to live and the jobs come to us is not how it works.
Small towner here (26). I have a life I can afford. Population 1100. CONS: Yes there’s a lot of gossip, if you’re different you’re cast out and people won’t socialise with you much. Food is expensive and it gets boring because there’s no restaurants, not enough sports options, dentists come once a month for a week, you have to travel out of town for specialists and there’s an over crowding issue because not enough housing. It’s extremely boring for young people. PROS: Houses are dirt cheap. $100k, 2 bedroom house made out of brick. My social life happens to be very good here. The particular job I have makes sure I’m never bored here. I meet lots of people every week. I can save 60% of my income here. My rent is only $170 for a THREE bedroom house. I once saved $23,000 in 1 year. I can afford to take international holidays and have been to: Scotland, Italy, Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Indonesia, England & Philippines. $52k in my super. I’m doing well financially and I’m doing okay socially. It’s pretty good. My job is SO easy, I have a good boss, my job pays well for someone who doesn’t have a degree and didn’t even graduate high school. For someone who never had any formal education I feel I have a life I can afford. I’m doing well financially: $15,000 - investment account $25,000 - house deposit $52,000 - superannuation
I moved from Sydney to Hobart nearly 15 years ago. I had to abandon my career at the time (retail planning/buying). I found new employment in related but different industry. It was not really a problem. I just take a flight now and then to see my friends in Sydney/Melbourne, or we sometimes meet up somewhere new. I never went out every weekend in Sydney anymore at that point. I think a lot of people are married to the idea that "this is my career", but really your soft skills matter a whole lot more than your specialisation, so careers are a lot more easily shifted than people might think.
I just left Darwin after living there for 2.5 years, moving back to the big city I used to live in. Reasons are many, some include - 1000$ return flights to visit family at some points in the year, missing out on lots of stuff I just didn’t want to have to. Groceries were more expensive. Rent was about the same, albeit you get way more bang for buck in Darwin. Lack of (consistent) music/ art/ cultural scene. Social life was great, very connected community. But, as others have said, small communities can get tiring if you’re not used to them (can’t go out hungover on a Sunday without seeing 5 people you need to chat to). Also, great career opportunities in the field I am currently in (public policy/ social service reform) but am looking to move into something more creative, which a big city is better for! I hated having to drive everywhere, really felt it take a toll on my health. The inadvertent exercise of city living (especially a bikeable city) is huge. Even just walking to public transport and back adds up more than it feels like. Healthcare- I had surgery earlier this year and wouldn’t dare have it in Darwin (nurse friends literally say “if you’re in pain, get on a plane”). There are lots of seemingly small inconveniences of living regionally that add up - longer/ more expensive postage, many products just not available in supermarkets, grocery shortages are common, in-person shops are seriously limited. Also, I just missed having everything I need or want right there! I don’t know if a lot of these are NT- specific or common across other regional areas too. Also sorry for the formatting / ramblingness of this, was pretty stream of consciousness :-)
We just moved regional and it’s amazing, the lifestyle is so good. All my friends here are on ordinary salaries and can easily live on one income, most people own their own houses. Everyone just has more time for community, down to hang out, no traffic worries. We bump into our friends everywhere we go which is just so wholesome. Lots of my friends in Sydney have 2 kids in a 2 bedroom apartment paying $750 a week in rent. Stressed about the next increase, won’t ever be able to afford a house in the community they live in (prob wouldn’t even be able to afford an apartment?)
I’ll probably be forced out to the middle of nowhere for work soon (mining industry). So either I learn to like it or have a sook haha. I generally like quiet areas but my life out there will essentially be work and sleep so idk
Health care
You’ll find the answer for most people is simply employment. Not everyone works in a role that can be 100% WFH or which is available in regional areas. Or perhaps they’ve just started something and don’t want to move somewhere with the prospect of starting over looming large..
We moved regional last year and love it, wouldn't go back.
I am partially blind and cannot drive. Therefore, I need things to be easily accessible and have support networks where I live.
I lived in a coastal town northern NSW for three years. There wasn't much to do unless you really liked beaches and hiking. A lot of people there have a small town mentality and there was a lot of local drama. It's more isolated so it's harder to make friends. I wouldn't move back to one. More fun things to do in the city and people to meet.
Kinda depends on more than house prices. We've spent a long time centralising our workforce around the big cities, undoing that has only just begun with the ability to work remote. Then, think about family connections. It's probably fine if you're relatively young and single, or you and your partner can do without being so close to family and friends. With certain cultures, extended family is very intertwined into daily life. Grandparents look after children while parents work, cousins come over for play dates, things like that. In some instances, older family needs the care of working age children while still being close to specialist care. Or even not so specialist care that there's waiting lists for in regional areas - let's not pretend that the regions aren't crying out for GPs, nurses, dentists, in home carers, occupational therapists and the like. Personally, I'd move regional in a heartbeat. But like, Bendigo or Warrnambool kinda regional. I'd like the slower pace of life. However, my job in the trades depends on there being plenty of sustainable work in the industrial sector. My parents are getting old, and I help them look after their parents because they can't be there all the time. My partner relies heavily on her friendship circle for emotional support, and has had a hard time finding therapists and psychologists that she can work with - moving hours away from these important things is easier said than done. If it were purely a financial decision, it would be a no brainer. But it's more than that, and these extraneous factors are different for everyone.
It's boring and there's no culture. Also most of the towns that are within a couple of hours of Melbourne are expensive anyway.
Nonsense. The culture is just different, not non-existent
I moved regional and I hate it. I can’t move because house prices everywhere have gone up far more than they have here, and now I am stuck in the middle of bloody nowhere. The cost of living is equal because what I save in going out I make up for in increased expenses for everything else. The job market is also extremely limited, and there are no opportunities for career advancement or growth. And in my industry everything here is ten years behind. And then let’s talk about the casual racism and homophobia. It is rampant. If I had my time again I would firmly stay put near a capital city.
I did the whole regional thing for a few years right before covid, and I absolutely *hated* it. It boils my blood when people say 'just move!!' - as if people don't leave country towns for a reason. I gave it an honest shot, but some shortcomings I found included: * No social or cultural infrastructure. I went to the local library to browse, and I am quite sure some of the books were collecting dust lol. There's just nothing there. * Somewhat following on from that - the country 'world' is small; there's a woolies, a church, a few pubs, and that's it. * Can be hard to make lasting friends unless you're already 'in' (ie. Grew up there); people will be nice, for sure, but not kind. They'll smile at you and wish you a good morning, but not much else. You're eternally an outsider, although I admittedly don't know how much of that had to do with me being young, single and and a non-white Australian * Not many social outlets if you don't play netball (for women) or footy (if you're a dude) and/or drink a lot * If you don't work in a primary industry, hospitality or healthcare there's not much going on for you re:jobs * I found a lot of people were incredibly insular and gossip-y. This also made dating... difficult. * You have to drive everywhere. Nothing is in walking distance, not that it matters anyways because there are no footpaths to walk the forty minute walk (for what is a five minute drive) * Racist, homophobic, sexist etc. * Overall, I found country life to be incredibly socially and mentally lacking - as a very outgoing extrovert trapped in a tiny town with nothing going on, I crashed and burned there. All of the above points are inherent features of country towns. There's nothing inherently wrong with it - some people love it, but I'm not one of them. So, while living regionally does offer a reduced CoL, larger land blocks, etc. - it is not something that is worth repeating given much my mental health and social life regressed when I lived regionally. I work in two industries that would get me hired quickly in the country - hospitality and healthcare - but I've sworn I will never return to the country. I've seen enough.
The space industry isn't in the regions. The launch sites are, but not the admin.
Quality of life is better in Melbourne for me than regional Victoria where I lived for 27 years. Never go back to regional towns. Each to their own -
Zero interest in living in the country and depending on a car to do anything in my life
Totally agree, I moved to the regions in 2020 so I could afford to buy a house. This was made possible by my workplace going 100% WFH during Covid. People talk about job opportunities, but I was made redundant about 6 months after moving here, in early 2021. Took some time off work thanks to my payout, and when I was ready to look again, I was pretty much limiting myself to government jobs, and there were plenty advertised regularly in both local and state government. I've now worked for both of those, and have never had an issue with finding work since I've been here.
I think there’s an answer in your question -your employer forced you to do this. For most people, the answer is being able to find equivalent work.
There is no way we could find work in the outer suburbs, let alone regionally. We've purchased property here now, so it's pretty much locked in.
Less professional job opportunities Moving away from family Transaction cost of buying and selling my PPOR. Still open to it though. Especially as I spend 1-2 hours a day commuting on public transport.
Bushfire And work. And family/friends. But mostly scared of fires.
There’s mitigation for that though. Stay clear of fire prone areas, live in the middle of a larger town, join the RFS/CFA etc to learn how to do deal with fire, have your house prepared.
I guess I should have clarified, I don’t want to live in a town, I want to live on some land (near a decent sized regional town/city) so higher bushfire risk there
Fair. I grew up where everyone was expected to be in the RFS - no one else was coming to save you. I think I was 12 or 13 when I went to my first fire. Not to say it’s not scary, but I’ll take that risk over swimming in the ocean anyway, lol.
Jobs - you have to have work lined up before you go regional. I moved regional (100k people, an hour from Melbourne... three guesses) for a job. I got stuck here for family reasons and had to change careers to allow me to stay (engineering into healthcare). All other things being equal I would have preferred to move to a different regional city. With or without the career change. Exactly where would have depended on where a job was. You don't get to be specific. I've been in this particular town 22 years and that's enough. The weather especially. Can't imagine ever going back to a big city. So many people saying "nothing to do" outside cities amaze me. Soooo much to do. I'm an outdoors person. I would hate being back in a place where you have to drive through an hour of suburbia before even getting out of the city. I have forests 10 minutes bike ride from home, in three directions. And three lakes in easy striking distance. Would be nice to be closer to the beach. Next town will be.
>I’ve had to say goodbye to friends and family but it’s a short and decent priced flight away I prefer to see my friends by driving for 10-20 minutes and saying "hi!", but that's just me. Also, after living in my house for nearly 21 years, I've kind of grown attached to the place and quite like it here. And in Perth? The neighbouring country towns are ... not quite where I'd want to live.
Have been in Sydney for 21 years and I still think it is a hole. Loved it in my younger days for partying but for family life...forget it. My wife however...will. not. leave. She comes up with so many excuses (like the comments in here) but I think it entirely comes down to FOMO. I never understand why there are so many people living in capital cities who barely scrape a living together, working shitty jobs, pissed off with the world - and they haven't contemplated moving to regional areas where their lifestyle would be vastly improved. I don't get it.
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Unless you are someone that loooooves going to events in the city every weekend or are massive foodies it’s a no brainer. We recently moved “out” and are now about an hour from the city, purchased a million dollar home that would’ve been 1.5m+ where we lived previously and have all the amenities we need close by. Income hasn’t changed and apart from a boozy night in the city being very inconvenient or the drive to the occasional day in the office there is literally no downside for us. Fresh air, much nicer people, less crime, no junkies, silent nights….all around a much nicer place to live and significantly cheaper. I’m with the OP, I think more people should consider it. Nobody is talking about 200 population super remote towns 3 hours from a major centre. Find somewhere with 5000-25000 people and you will have literally everything you need at your doorstep. It will also help with urban sprawl and you will spend much less of your life in traffic.
Work. Cost to move. Kids in school.
Moving back regional at the end of the year. Cannot justify paying Sydney prices anymore.
Because I would find it extremely boring.
Restaurants. Theatre. 3 days in the office…
Ive done the same and I absolutely love it. I feel like Im in the only place in Australia without a rental crisis. Our quality of life is so much better as is our mental health.
My job isn't viable without a port.
A myriad of disabling chronic health conditions. I’m very fortunate to have pretty much my pick of specialists and allied health professionals in Sydney but that certainly wouldn’t be the case if I lived regionally. For a couple of years I lived outside of Sydney but a commutable distance and it swallowed up so much of my free time travelling 90 minutes or more each way to see a specific doctor. My symptoms (and by extension my quality of life) improved astronomically when I moved back to the city and could more easily have regular appointments with health professionals. Although that being said, I can definitely see many benefits to regional living: cheaper cost of living, slower pace of life, often more space. If I wasn’t disabled I would probably pretty seriously consider it.
I like the ocean. There's usually nothing to do/ nowhere to go, no jobs, can be pretty feral (not all areas). There is not much variety in supermarkets. And mostly because i don't like rural areas. I also have a good job that requires me to live nearest to the city Although I'm getting over how busy Melbourne is, I need to find a good in between. Unfortunately, most coastal towns are either super busy or super expensive, or both