[WA] ABC: 'Govt urged to promote affordable country towns'

[Peter Parker]

'Western Australia's Nationals leader Brendon Grylls is calling on the State Government to promote country towns as affordable places to live.

The call comes after a warning from the Housing Industry Association that house and land packages in the metropolitan areas are spiralling out of control.'

more here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/wa/geraldton/200507/s1416312.htm

Note that 'not too far away' can mean 150 - 200km, as with the Southern Cross example! Also government encouragement of settlement locations tends to have a limited record of success.

Peter

 

[Aceyducey]

Are they affordable places to find jobs?

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[Peter Parker]

reading the spin

Are they affordable places to find jobs?

The opposition Liberal Party mentions some regional centres with higher than the state average unemployment:

http://www.wa.liberal.org.au/walibs/news_view.aspx?L=517

(Note that Mandurah is almost the highest of the lot, despite it also having about Australia's fastest population growth rate and Kalgoorlie is not mentioned at all)

The State Government puts a different spin on it for the consumption of overseas migrants (something it has been doing for at least 80 years):

http://www.aust-immig-book.com.au/gr_waregional.html

(Interestingly they talk up Geraldton the most, even though it's actually the Mandurah - Margaret River corridor that's growing faster)

For 'quiet change' retirement living, Toodyay, York and Beverley have possibilities, with the larger (and uglier) Northam being their main service centre. Further south, Manjimup, Bridgetown, and Pemberton.

For an affordable 'sea change', Esperance and Geraldton would be OK, with these two about the only serious propositions if serious decentralisation from the south-west was planned (water could well be the main constraint).

However, I can't see much benefit in moving to Southern Cross, as the politician quoted before suggested.

Peter

 

[Bear924]

Hi all,

I live in Biloela central Qld, population of around 5000, nearest city about 150km. Nearest capital city about 650km away.

Pros
I quite like the lifestyle, no traffic, easy walk home from any pubs, bbqs etc. Theft etc not a problem.
You can go a week and not have to open your wallet eg. pay for tolls, parking, movies (no cinema).
Quiet!

Cons
Can be very hard for both partners in a relationship to find rewarding work. Difficult to keep good friends as town turnover is reasonably large.
Housing isn't especially cheap, four bedroom brick home with ensuite will cost around $300k, cheaper houses start off around $140k however many are dumps that some people wouldn't live in.
Suspect food is slightly more expensive (fuel isn't too bad though)
Pain in the butt if you want something slightly out of the ordinary.

Distance
People tend to get familiar with driving two hours to go shopping for a day. A visit to the family involves a four hour drive for me and a seven hour drive for my partner (thankfully they are in a line). Car does low kms until a trip and then 2000ks collected over a long weekend. Makes property investing slightly more difficult.

People who move from a city to the town are often surprised at their reduced commuting times and the removal of the hussle and bussle. Agree with Acey that employment opportunities can be tricky because options are that much more limited (eg. if you are a nurse you can't specialise)