Why do you live where you live?

[Sunfish]

On ABC radio, Sun mornings, Macca reads letters from listeners: Why I live where I live. I thought I'd ask you why live where you do if you think housing is too expensive?

A neighbour's house is for sale so I looked it up, as you do, and I was surprised how cheap it is.

http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Rent/House/QLD/Wulguru/?adid=6964993

As you can see it is quite a stylish home and half the price of some hovels I see in Syd. Must be in some crappy town or suburb! Au contraire! It is a quiet, friendly neighbourhood (even got the Thommos as neighbours. ) with good access to the city, army base, hospital, university and CSIRO. It's elevated with views and breezes.

Townsville isn't for everyone but it does have a lot to offer.

 

[rugrat]

I could 'afford' a fabulous house in some other places, but my DH's place of employment is here. For him to change jobs, especially in the places we could get fabulous houses and be happy to live, he would most likely be taking a big reduction in pay and loose alot of career oppertunities (and I'm talking moving places like brisbane). The knock on effect would be that decreased pay may mean we can no longer 'afford' that fabulous house. We would also loose alot of benefits (job benefits, job security, proximity to my parents and family, etc).

 

[devo76]

I live here for a few reasons.
My job is here so having a big city job in a regional location has a favorable income to expenses ratio.

3 traffic lights and 15 minutes to work.
Currently sitting on my front verandah playing guitar looking towards the mountains about 5 klms away.
Farmland nearby good for a run.
Vineyards starting just 2 klms away.
River 4 klm away that I drag my tinny down to regularly .
So many beaches within 30 minutes it's crazy.
Trendy berry and kangaroo valley nearby.
Endless motorbike and 4wdlocations to the west.
Camping also.
2 hours to Sydney
Little over 2 hours to Canberra
Half day drive to the snow fields.
Great game fishing directly off shore from us plus some of the best land based game fishing in Australia.
Choice of inner cbd living
Coastal beach houses
Dairy style acreage
Or 100 plus acre lots 30 minutes out of town for a few hundred.
River front houses available in town .
Cbd units for around $200,00
Cbd houses for around $300,000
Plenty of choices for your average suburban house too.
Fast growing regional center with what I believe to be some good times ahead.

Life is good

 

[Sunfish]

he would most likely be taking a big reduction in pay and loose alot of career oppertunities (and I'm talking moving places like brisbane). The knock on effect would be that decreased pay may mean we can no longer 'afford' that fabulous house. We would also loose alot of benefits (job benefits, job security, proximity to my parents and family, etc).

I know what you are saying. If you were an accountant with PWC you would take a significant pay cut to move. But it is an excellent office if you want to do your PY.

Not many graduates would find their six figure salaries here either.

 

[Sunfish]

Life is good

Certainly sounds as if it is.

 

[gottabespotless]

I live in far northern NSW. The REASON we choose to live here is for lifestyle. Beaches; cafes; restaurants; great shopping; 20 mins to major airport; 1.5 hr drive to Brisbane; good choice of public/private schools, TAFES, Universities for our kids; no traffic jams (although it's certainly getting alot busier!); nice climate. We have lived and invested here for over 20 years now and have really watched the area grow!

The reason we CAN live here is due to stable, long-term Govt employment. Obviously there are not the same endless employment opportunites (or earning potential) here as in big cities but we are content to stay here as seeking promotion (ie. more $$$) would mean a move back to Sydney and combined with my husband's total lack of motivation or any sort of interest at all in his job these days, investing in property has been financially beneficial to us over the years so there is really no need to go for extra cash anyway.

No offence to those who live and enjoy the area, but after spending my younger years growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney, I don't want that life for my own kids.

ps. nice post

 

[weg]

That's the one good things about living in Adelaide - you can live in a nice house with land, very close to the CBD, without breaking the bank (although maybe not as a FHB or in the very expensive 'pockets').

Yeh, I could swap for a magnificent home with tennis court and pool on a 3000sqm block overlooking the whole of Adelaide (eg. Salisbury Heights), and would probably do it if that was where a my extended family inc. parents, work, networks and supports were.

 

[our obsession]

Actually that house for rent, in Townsville I find to be good value, it's a beautiful place, and Magnetic Island just a hop, skip and jump.

I live in woop woop for lifestyle, also the country people, family nearby, a relatively central location to much of Victoria. I can have my privacy, my space, thousands of hectares for me to entertain myself.

I've lived overseas, I've lived in Ozzy cities, regional cities, towns, this place, as rural as it is is still 'relatively closeby' whatever I could want. Mountains, ocean, beautiful deserts, you name it.

Will be shifting soon though, all good things come to an end and it will be time to move on....

....but where To Be Decided....Another Chapter.

 

[kathryn d]

At the moment we live on about 10 acres caring for 30 alpacas,30 chickens,2 dogs and a cat about an hour from Brisbane and 45 minutes from Steve Irwin Zoo.
This will be our home for a month, and then we move on.
Seems nice.
We are here because the house, all utilties and vehicle are provided free

 

[lizzie]

hubby's work. he is very specialised in an industry that tends to build it's sites in the most awful locations ... newcastle is the best of the bunch by a million miles.

my second choice would be waiuku, new zealand.

done whyalla and wild horses couldn't drag me back.

 

[BayView]

We live here for the lifestyle.

No traffic, no crowds, close to work, shopping close by in either Rosebud or Frangers if we need it, close to school for our sons, close to the beaches, lots to see and do down here, cafes, restaurants, wineries, golf and so on.

City is only an hour away if we need to go there too.

 

[bluestorm]

Lifestyle. Wake up to this view renting from some landlord who gets 3% rental yield., while making our money work harder.
15mins to work, cafes, restaurants, sail on harbour on the weekend, nice harbour walks, CBD 10mins away.

 

[BuildingBlocks]

15mins to both of our workplaces, not too far from family, in a pretty good suburb, and similar to the post above is also a rental giving our landlord maybe 3-4% yield

 

[INVSTOR]

I was living in Perth in a quite area 11k's from the city. Drive to the city was a 20-30min drive, River was a 5-10min drive, Beach was a 30min drive, swan valley wineries and breweries were a 5-15 min drive. I love wildlife so I really enjoyed the area as it had heaps of bobtail lizards, (they'd often visit your yard for a couple of weeks and move on). My suburb had a large area of virgin bushland so there's a bit of wildlife in there like bandicoots and micro-bats. You'd often see dolphins in the river (until someone chucked poison in the river and they died ) We'd often take the kids fishing at the beach and river, so it was nice to be close enough to both, and we'd spend a bit of time at the Swan Valley too. Most of my husbands work was in the city so he didn't have to travel far.

I've just moved back to Algester in Brisbane to be closer to family. It's 17k's to the city. I feel like I'm living really far from the city 'cause I'm not used to traffic congestion! I chose this area though because I wanted a community feel rather than an inner city feel. Most people around here are really friendly. There's a lot of kids in the suburb. There's heaps of frogs, butterflies, and birds in my suburb, so I'm getting my nature fix! a Group of 9 Pelicans just flew over our yard which was pretty impressive. I'm moving to a neighbouring suburb soon that has the same type of features, but newer houses.

I'm renting out my house in Perth and was really surprised how average the properties are here in Algester for the same rental amount. The public school is good so I guess that's what makes the rents so high.

 

[Dazz]

We bought in this suburb of Perth simply for the glory of telling everyone where we live. The pose factor is great and very important to our aspirations. The stable of Rollers and Maserati's needed somewhere decent to be housed, and this place accomodated those well.

The four storey mansion on an acre of manicured estate helps keep the neighbours in their correct place....down the pecking order of course....and provides an excellent vista to the lower serf's in other less prestigious suburbs.

Of course, the unwashed riff raff couldn't afford even the garden shed, so it keeps them at bay and therefore we only see the best in society. The daughter's and sons get to rub shoulders with the elite of Perth's society, which bodes well for their upcoming arranged marriages to Charles' stockbroking offspring.

Penelope and I find life very pleasant indeed. Now bugger off before I set the dogs onto you.

 

[Bayside]

We bought in this suburb of Perth simply for the glory of telling everyone where we live. The pose factor is great and very important to our aspirations. The stable of Rollers and Maserati's needed somewhere decent to be housed, and this place accomodated those well.

The four storey mansion on an acre of manicured estate helps keep the neighbours in their correct place....down the pecking order of course....and provides an excellent vista to the lower serf's in other less prestigious suburbs.

Of course, the unwashed riff raff couldn't afford even the garden shed, so it keeps them at bay and therefore we only see the best in society. The daughter's and sons get to rub shoulders with the elite of Perth's society, which bodes well for their upcoming arranged marriages to Charles' stockbroking offspring.

Penelope and I find life very pleasant indeed. Now bugger off before I set the dogs onto you.

HA! Can't wait for your kids to get cocaine addictions and sex changes.

 

[gottabespotless]

We bought in this suburb of Perth simply for the glory of telling everyone where we live. The pose factor is great and very important to our aspirations. The stable of Rollers and Maserati's needed somewhere decent to be housed, and this place accomodated those well.

The four storey mansion on an acre of manicured estate helps keep the neighbours in their correct place....down the pecking order of course....and provides an excellent vista to the lower serf's in other less prestigious suburbs.

Of course, the unwashed riff raff couldn't afford even the garden shed, so it keeps them at bay and therefore we only see the best in society. The daughter's and sons get to rub shoulders with the elite of Perth's society, which bodes well for their upcoming arranged marriages to Charles' stockbroking offspring.

Penelope and I find life very pleasant indeed. Now bugger off before I set the dogs onto you.

Ha ha ha! Love it, Dazz...or, atleast I hope you're taking the p***...I am new to these forums...

 

[skater]

I live in Western Sydney.

With all four of our family competing at a high level, the income needed to fund this was quite large, and all we could afford as a PPOR was a cheap ex-housie. We could have easily bought in a better area, but then our family could not have continued doing what we love best, skating. It was way too small for our needs, but we compromised because the place was really only a bed as the family spent a LOT of the time skating. Living relatively close to the rink was a bonus.

Since then, we have moved. We are still in Western Sydney, but a much nicer suburb. I love it! We have a much bigger home, a very quiet street with quality homes and close to the M4, so getting to places is easy.

 

[Belbo]

Jesis, Dazz, that was a hoot!

We live and own in Surry Hills, Sydney.

The wife can walk to work in the city and I can drive in the opposite direction to the daily traffic to get to and from work in 15 mins.

The best restaurant scene in Sydney is just on our doorstep (but its got nothing on the outstanding quality of Melbourne's, I admit). We are fastidious savers though, so only use eat out here when duty demands.

It's noisy and crowded and polluted and the through-traffic is unrelenting, but the atmosphere is strangely relaxed.

There's something really casual about this tiny corner of the city. It's a quirky, forever-changing, sandstone-sculpted little oasis.

We love it!

 

[porp_e]

I'm in WA, South Hedland. Moved here about 3 yrs ago 90% for work and the other 10% because I needed to get out of Sydney and thought - why not?