[Strawberry Welli...]

What was it like adjusting to life in Canberra after living in a much bigger city?

We are thinking of moving our family there as we can't afford to stay in inner Sydney if we want to buy a house. My dad lives in Canberra and raves about how wonderful it is for families, employment, etc. We have visited quite a lot and we both like it there.

Any insights into how Canberra compares to Sydney (or Melbourne)? What are the good things, what are the bad?

Such a big decision!

[jayskette]

If you are the type who craves for the nightlife and all the hustle and bustle of lots of people every night, then Canberra is not for you.

If you are a homebody/nature loving person who likes markets and great food and doesn't mind travelling to Sydney/Melbourne for big events/nightlife on the weekend then give Canberra a try.

If you have a young family and is concerned about commuting, work/life balance and security/crime from a big city, then Canberra is definitely for you.

(by the way, house prices are actually pretty comparative to Syd/Mel, but you save more by not going out/no commute)

This post has been edited by jayskette: 25/11/2012, 08:36 PM

[roses99]

I don't live in Canberra, but my brother and SIL do. They live out in Tuggeranong, so still have a decent commute to the city. Their house wasn't cheap either; housing is pretty expensive in Canberra.

And childcare is a nightmare to find. An expensive nightmare!

That said, they love living there and have a great social network and community. Plenty of parks and things to do. Just make sure it's as cheap to live there as you hope it's going to be. Compared to Sydney, it may well be. Compared to Queensland (where I live) Canberra is frightfully expensive!!

[farfaraway]

Do it. You won't regret it. We've been here just over a year after a long stint o/s. I could never go back to Sydney permanently now. Canberra is sensational for families, and when I need my Sydney fix it's less than 3 hours up the road. Wouldn't change our decision to come here for anything!

[Jenflea]

Canberra is full of awesome people like me!
There's plenty to do, (I think) pretty good restaurants in Manuka and Dickson, plenty of shops, I wouldn't live anywhere else.

[Strawberry Welli...]

haha jayskette this describes us perfectly! "If you are a homebody/nature loving person who likes markets and great food and doesn't mind travelling to Sydney/Melbourne for big events/nightlife on the weekend then give Canberra a try.

If you have a young family and is concerned about commuting, work/life balance and security/crime from a big city, then Canberra is definitely for you."

I know it is expensive considering it is a small inland city, but it is still much cheaper than where we live in Sydney.

Roses99 where in QLD are you? Maybe we should check it out lol. We are just attracted to Canberra as my dad lives there with his family (remarried with some primary school aged kids) so he has told us how great it is for raising kids. Plus its driving distance to Sydney where our families live. And apparently unemployment is very low?

[lovealpacas]

We moved here from Brisbane and love it- never moving back. Costs can be comparative, but you can get from one side of town to the other in 45 minutes. You also have the option of living rurally, like us, and still being only 25 minutes from the city. We are also close to both the beach and the snow, best of both worlds!

[Strawberry Welli...]

We moved here from Brisbane and love it- never moving back. Costs can be comparative, but you can get from one side of town to the other in 45 minutes. You also have the option of living rurally, like us, and still being only 25 minutes from the city. We are also close to both the beach and the snow, best of both worlds!

when you say rural what do you mean - on a property or in a smaller town close by?

[CallMeProtart]

I was there pre kids (from Sydney) and love it. I think it would be even better with kids. There's a better work life balance in the culture thanks to the high level of government stuff, and unless you work out at Brindabella, traffic jams are pretty non existant (some Canberrans disagree, but what they call a traffic jam is very different from what Sydney-ites call a traffic jam!).
If not for the extended family here, we'd have stayed there. But the extreme heat and cold does kind of suck.

[Jane Jetson]

If you have a young family and is concerned about commuting, work/life balance and security/crime from a big city, then Canberra is definitely for you.

This was us - it's been great from that perspective.

If you are an avid beachgoer you probably won't love Canberra, until you observe that we all leave the place like rats deserting a sinking ship every January. We're all down the South Coast then.

Housing is comparable in price to Sydney, but our crap boonie suburbs are really not that crap compared to the equivalent in Sydney or Melbourne. They're actually pretty good, in terms of culture, low crime and distance to the city.

Public transport stinks. The traffic is a dream. I am a city-dweller by nature and I simply miss the infrastructure and atmosphere of a big city - the busyness, the dirt, something as simple as the profile of the streets around me - I miss skyscrapers! But that's very much me, and there's as many people out there who would find the flatness and openness and the wide spaces of Canberra to be a breath of fresh air.

Socially, I think it's what you make it. A lot of people, especially those who do a stint in the PS, like to complain that we're insular but I think that's the case anywhere. It's more like three degrees of separation than six - everyone knows someone you know!

I'm referring to Canberrans as "we" so I must have acclimatised or something