I may be somewhat prejudiced but I think it is one of the best places to live in Aus. It is a cross between a big country town and a big city. As the national capital it has all the national buildings which are quite impressive even if some of the more recent ones do look a bit like an architect's bad night on acid
Housing is tight - that is well acknowledged but, then, so is housing in the other big cities. We have lots of new build suburbs on the outer edges of town which can be a bit soul-less but they are nice new houses if that is what you are after. There are inner city suburbs too which are much older, smaller houses, bigger blocks and more greenery by way of mature trees. Canberra is built around 5 town centres, of which 4 are on lakes and there are a number of dynamic little suburbs all over as well.
Rain is not a problem here - well, not if you dont want it! In which case it is a real problem because we need it desperately and havent had enough in a while. We are on stage 3 water restrictions which are getting to be normal nowadays and that is having a bit of an impact on the garden city impression. We have 4 seasons which are quite distinct - it does get chilly in winter and hot in summer but spring and autumn are pretty much perfection.
Lots of activities for kids - good sporting activities, music, drama etc and the schools are OK. We are 90 minutes from the nearest beach, 2 hours from the snow fields, 3 hours from Sydney and Canberrans are a pretty mobile lot so no one would think twice about heading off to any of them for the day.
The Sydneysiders and Melbournians will tell you it's a boring place but it is getting more dynamic by the day really. Lots of alfresco dining in the suburbs, a strong music and theatre participation etc. You could do a whole lot worse!
Looking for info about life in canberra
