Ballarat here we come

[broadsman]

Hi

My partner and I moved to Ballarat in March this year and we love it. It's a fine city and as others have said, it is close enough to Melbourne (and Tulllamarine Airport) to make travelling there very easy and it's also far enough away to have a distinct atmosphere of its own. All we need to make it perfect is for Lake Wendouree to be filled again.

I'm a Pom from Norfolk and my wife is an Aussie from South Australia.

Dave

[Abi&Dan]

On the talk of regional cities - really love the idea of Ballarat and Geelong - and aware they are cities - but they way some talk about Melbourne like Mecca I am unsure of how they're made up and what there really is there.

Are they comparable in size to UK 'regional' cities, like Leeds? Do they have the solid base, eg business districts, entertainment (like cinemas, shopping areas etc) that you would expect from a city?

Thing is, they seem to be discussed almost like they are suburbs of Melbourne - but I really like the idea of somewhere big and with everything going on but not Melbourne necessarily.

Thoughts welcomed x

[broadsman]

Originally Posted by Abi&Dan

On the talk of regional cities - really love the idea of Ballarat and Geelong - and aware they are cities - but they way some talk about Melbourne like Mecca I am unsure of how they're made up and what there really is there.

Are they comparable in size to UK 'regional' cities, like Leeds? Do they have the solid base, eg business districts, entertainment (like cinemas, shopping areas etc) that you would expect from a city?
Thoughts welcomed x

Ballarat is about 75k population and Geelong is 130k. Aussie regional cities are not as large as Leeds, Nottingham and the like but Geelong is roughly the size of Norwich, which was my nearest regional city in the UK.

Ballarat has a very impressive city centre with fine Victorian buildings and wide, tree-lined streets, a legacy of its wealth from gold. There is a cbd, live theatre, cinema etc and a number of shopping centres.

Dave