thechollys Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Forgot to say that we're renting in Chapman which has a fantastic primary school although the properties to buy are expensive. Personally I like the Weston Creek and Woden areas of Canberra. Tuggeranong is pretty but I don't know what the suburbs are like there. I agree with Quoll about the newer areas although they seem to be the places where a lot of Brits flock to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob1 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I see one of the negatives was listed as 'it's a University city" - I don't see why that is a negative, I'd see it as a positive. I live right next to a University and love the vibe it has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Moved to Canberra from London 2 months ago and still loving it. In Australian terms it isn't near the beach, but we were never near the beach in the UK, it is cold but nowhere near UK standards. It's great to still have the seasons but warmer ones than we're used to. If you think that at the moment we're in the equivalent to the end of November in the UK then the weather is so much better. We're eating al fresco in the middle of the day, without heaters, and the washing still dries outside. The sun shines often, although we do know that the last two summers were wet but that wasn't just in Canberra. The rain has been really good for the city as it's really green and there are stunning views with every drive we make here. It's certainly nothing like Milton Keynes. . LOL you havent been there in winter! It will get much colder - some years you can have weeks of consecutive -5C+ overnight although the days usually stagger up to 10C (this last couple of winters have been not so nice though!). The problem with the cold is really that the houses arent built for it and you either pay an arm and a leg for electric or other heating or you freeze especially if you are in a rental where the landlord couldnt give a toss about insulation! As to where to live - I do have a thing about Tuggeranong - if you have kids, all of the government schools were built during the pedagogical age of "team teaching" which never really took off but the result is that all the schools are open space arrangements. That means that you can have 4 classes going on in a "pod" at the same time and no real sound barriers between them so the ambient noise levels with even the best of teachers can be higher than optimal especially if you have kids who are prone to distraction. As the classrooms arent as big as the traditional ones were, it also means that more kids are cramped into the resultant teaching spaces and some of the older year groups can be very squashed with their bigger kids and bigger desks. I do have several friends who really rate Tuggeranong as a place to live (they live in Fadden though) but they all send their kids up the valley for school! If you can afford to go for the inner suburbs then you get the benefits of a more established area, bigger blocks, easier access to facilities, more traditional schools etc BUT you tend to get less bang for your buck in terms of the house you live in. Our place is in Ainslie and I wouldnt change that for anything (except perhaps Yarralumla with water views but we are never going to be that wealthy!) because it is within walking distance to Civic and a couple of local shopping centres, the buses are good to the inner suburbs, the environment is established, if you are working in the outer suburbs you are always going against the flow of traffic at rush hour etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slean Wolfhead Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 LOL you havent been there in winter! It will get much colder - some years you can have weeks of consecutive -5C+ overnight although the days usually stagger up to 10C (this last couple of winters have been not so nice though!). The problem with the cold is really that the houses arent built for it and you either pay an arm and a leg for electric or other heating or you freeze especially if you are in a rental where the landlord couldnt give a toss about insulation! It depends on the house...some of these older houses look terrible and they do have a lot of those in the inner North and South, but anything new is pretty energy efficient with modern heating...better than the UK even. With the rise in fuel prices and carbon tax addon's from July 1st, it's only going to force owners to move with the times and pull their fingers out with regards to insulation and upgrading. I've been pretty impressed with builders' knowledge over here....it's the owners who need education and some have a very backward attitude or just know nothing about energy efficiency, and yes....especially landlords of some tatty old properties who are making a fortune for what they're offering. We've had -5C a few nights already....maybe it's just me but it doesn't feel that cold, it's dry....and actually not unpleasant ? We were down to -17C at home last year (with a wind chill that made it feel like -20C+) and were below freezing for nearly 4 weeks including days....big big difference to what we're expecting here. Mind you...we're weren't expecting the worst rain event for 20 years back in March either.... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTTY Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I live in Nicholls (north side but slightly older suburb) and it's blooming beautiful - very leafy, most houses back onto the golf course, 15 mins to civic, 5 mins to the one and only english pub and nowhere near some of the druggy flats/houses in the inner north/south, brand new college, brand new library, leisure centre currently being built, hospital coming one day and the Treasury Dept relocating to Gungahlin so I reckon it's not a bad place to be oh and 20 mins from the airport too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I live in Nicholls (north side but slightly older suburb) and it's blooming beautiful - very leafy, most houses back onto the golf course, 15 mins to civic, 5 mins to the one and only english pub and nowhere near some of the druggy flats/houses in the inner north/south, brand new college, brand new library, leisure centre currently being built, hospital coming one day and the Treasury Dept relocating to Gungahlin so I reckon it's not a bad place to be oh and 20 mins from the airport too. You are right Nicholls is a great suburb. Its been around long enough now for the gardens to be established and the trees to have grown but it's still young enough to have nice big houses with central heating etc. It's also close enough to the Gunghalin shops for them to be convenient without being too close. And speaking of the shops - every time you turn around at the moment they have added more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 There are more positive on here than negative which is great to see. Where would fellow PIO's recommend as some if the nicest suburbs to live with a young family, good schools and a budget of about $600,000 if we were looking to buy and stay longer term? I am becoming reluctant to recommend suburbs because it is so subjective. Have you looked on http://www.allhomes.com.au ? Most Canberra properties (to buy and rent) are listed on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anotherfinemess Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 We've been here 7 months and love it. We've met some great people & have never found ourselves bored at any time. The only thing that really annoys me about Canberra is the price of flights to and from it's airport. They seem to be more expensive for some reason (prob cause it's a small country airport?) I have a sister in perth & I keep looking for flights to go visit & they are much cheaper from sydney which is frustrating. Even when I do find flights that might be ok.....they fly to sydney anyway and theres a 2 hour lay over. Thats my only complaint thought & it's not really a knock on the place itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SandP Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 What is bad about Canberra? Hmmn had to think as we have been here just over a year and love it. Yes it gets cold in the Winter but so does UK - it is a different colder though - here is drier cold if that makes sense. In January it gets a bit ghost town like as many people go away for the Summer holidays. Whe it gets hot it gets hot at around 40 apparently - we have only acheived 36 since we have been here. Like all of Oz Christmas Day is sunny and warm/hot so that takes a bit of getting used to so you could class that as a negative - see I am struggling with negatives!! Oh public transport not great and to fly international you have to go to Sydney or Melbourne first so that bumps up the price. In general the pros far out weigh the cons and if you are not sure come and see for yourselves - have a holiday or make the jumpmasthe worst that could happen is you have to move on if you don't like it but at least you will be able to say you tried. Good luck with your decisions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunniecat Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I've often thought since we arrived here in February that you have to be the 'right sort of people' at the right stage of life to live here. If you want exciting city life where you can go pubbing and clubbing, it's probably not the best place. There are some decent bars in Manuka, Kingston's all right. If you want family life, outdoor style, it's a good place to be. I really miss - sausages - English pubs (the Wig and Pen is nice, but there is a distinct lack of choice of pubs, especially round us) - central heating and double glazing (we've had to put up some makeshift draught blockers on bathroom windows!). Can't comment on the public transport, I don't use it. Loving the green-ness. Having just moved into a city office, I'm also liking the walk across the lake in the morning from where I leave the car. Hubs likes the cycle-paths, he cycles the 9 miles into the city to his job. We like the Woden Valley area where we're living now. It's not too far from Civic (15-20 mins max), and it has a nice feel. It's close to both Woden and Tuggeranong town centres, Lake Tugg and Mt Taylor, looks nice (apart from the odd block that's been recently developed with ugly new houses), and is also relatively close to Namadgi - we're hikers, though, so we really appreciate the access to good walking. And I love being a couple of hours from the Snowies. It is expensive. Australia as a country is expensive if you're working on a UK exchange rate rather than earning dollars. Canberra is particularly expensive house-price-wise and I believe petrol, but not overly so apart from that as far as I can tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n30nra1n Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 It would seem that the negatives have pretty much been written, and the fact that most agree would I guess make them true, but the fact that they are in general all pretty lame tells it's own story in that Canberra really is Australia's best kept secret, and long may it remain so I say --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?itcgvx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Been here ten years, love the place. Negatives? Rubbish night life, few bands visit. Too much bad public art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clickettuk Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 It would seem that the negatives have pretty much been written, and the fact that most agree would I guess make them true, but the fact that they are in general all pretty lame tells it's own story in that Canberra really is Australia's best kept secret, and long may it remain so I say --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?itcgvx I agree - Canberra is Australia's best kept secret - let's keep it that way - stop telling everyone how great it is!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nev_n_angie Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Winter is cold... Well below zero at night... but I am sat typing this looking into bright sunshine... it's a crisp cool winters day and probably get up to around 14... yes 14 is pretty cold for those who crave the warm sunshine... but WA is suffering it's worst storms in years at the moment and it's rained in Sydney most of the week. It really depends what you want. We have 4 seasons... I like that. It's like a big country town rather than big city. The housing is far more expensive than lots of other places... but the wages are better too so you could say it's all relative. Most people that don't like Canberra have never been (in my experience). We have been here for 5 years in September and love it. We lived in the North Side for 4 of those years and have recently moved over the Border to NSW... just because we wanted some land and a bit more space.... I still work in Canberra and have one child in School in Canberra ... the others have left and are working or studying. It's purely a matter of choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judith501 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Far colder places in Oz but not mentioned as they aren't capital cities. Actually it was colder in Qld inland last winter than the ACT but never let the facts get in the way of a good story eh? And sure ain't like Milton Keynes outside the CBD, and at 40kms from one end to the other most of it is outside the CBD. I spent 6 months living in melbourne and now 7 months in canberra. I would vote canberra everytime. in general melbourne is much wetter, dirtier, busier, hectic, poorer roads and stress. Canberra is perfect for young families and i just love all the trees and open spaces. Are you in need of short term rental for when you arrive as we have a 3 bed furnished home for use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I spent 6 months living in melbourne and now 7 months in canberra. I would vote canberra everytime. in general melbourne is much wetter, dirtier, busier, hectic, poorer roads and stress. Canberra is perfect for young families and i just love all the trees and open spaces. Are you in need of short term rental for when you arrive as we have a 3 bed furnished home for use? Been here since '76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WishIdneverleft Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I have seen lots of good comments recently about Canberra, but I'm interested to find out from recent arrivals what they don't like about Canberra and why. Also, it's still good to hear the positive bits too so this thread has an even balance to it. Looking forward to some great comments. A good sheep station ruined! Place is a dump, give it a swerve if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 A good sheep station ruined! Place is a dump, give it a swerve if you can. Care to expand on your insightful comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Care to expand on your insightful comments? A bit hard when they haven't lived here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik_kershaw Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Downside, unless you're a citizen, finding work can be hard as over half the workforce are public servants. Sent from my iPhone Living the dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I've only visited, not lived, so my opinion is not as useful as others but I'll add it anyway. Canberra struck me as a nice very large country town on its way to feeling like a city in a pleasant setting. When you enter it feels quite flat and suburban with long straight roads travelling through quite nice looking suburbs surrounded by a few hills. As you get closer to the centre you get quite a few buildings around 4-8 stories or so which seem to be a mix of offices and accommodation which again had the quiet easy feel of an accommodation peppered entrance road to a country town, but far larger. It isn't until you get right into the middle and see the lake and parliament house etc that you feel you have properly arrived. You then start looking for the town centre but as a visitor it is hard to find the definitive centre and I'm still not absolutely sure if I was in the main one or not as nothing is overly large and a few suburbs seem to have groupings of buildings with cafes, restaurants etc. I'm sure I could have just asked but it didn't really matter as there was plenty of tourist stuff to keep me busy. Has some great attractions and I would like to go back to see more. Totally different feel to the bigger Australian cities that have huge high rise city centres that are obvious focal points and it makes it feel more like a large pleasant suburban area than a city. The parks we saw were lovely and the inner city housing was great with a lot of substantial looking mostly post war architecture and pleasant gardens, though the areas I was looking at appeared to be the top end of the market. Kangaroos in the parks added a nice touch and it looked very family friendly for bike riding etc. While it may not be cold by British standards as a queenslander to me it is a cold place (from noticing the national weather forecasts since I was a child) and that should be taken into consideration though everything is of course what you are used to. So the positives for me would be: - parks - bike riding - gardens - national institutions/modern history - little traffic - skiing - pleasant - generally affluent - 4 hours from Sydney - nearer south coast NSW Some, not as good as other places, particularly from my interests "might" be: - city buzz - lack of older architecture/history due to later settlement - urban landscape/interest - large city entertainment facilities - large city private companies - large city events/festivals/sports/markets <- of course canberra would have these just not the breadth and depth. - limited international flight schedules/cruise schedules etc - while still having great stuff the close surrounding area's (< 2 hours) not as varied and interesting as some other cities (subjective of course) - very high median family wage so prices presumably would be higher to match - would need to have good dual income to be average. - an inland australia style cold winter - too cold for me - variety of flora and fauna Again, I stress, this is just my supposition from a short visit, not from living there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I've only visited, not lived, so my opinion is not as useful as others but I'll add it anyway. Canberra struck me as a nice very large country town on its way to feeling like a city in a pleasant setting. When you enter it feels quite flat and suburban with long straight roads travelling through quite nice looking suburbs surrounded by a few hills. As you get closer to the centre you get quite a few buildings around 4-8 stories or so which seem to be a mix of offices and accommodation which again had the quiet easy feel of an accommodation peppered entrance road to a country town, but far larger. It isn't until you get right into the middle and see the lake and parliament house etc that you feel you have properly arrived. You then start looking for the town centre but as a visitor it is hard to find the definitive centre and I'm still not absolutely sure if I was in the main one or not as nothing is overly large and a few suburbs seem to have groupings of buildings with cafes, restaurants etc. I'm sure I could have just asked but it didn't really matter as there was plenty of tourist stuff to keep me busy. Has some great attractions and I would like to go back to see more. Totally different feel to the bigger Australian cities that have huge high rise city centres that are obvious focal points and it makes it feel more like a large pleasant suburban area than a city. The parks we saw were lovely and the inner city housing was great with a lot of substantial looking mostly post war architecture and pleasant gardens, though the areas I was looking at appeared to be the top end of the market. Kangaroos in the parks added a nice touch and it looked very family friendly for bike riding etc. While it may not be cold by British standards as a queenslander to me it is a cold place (from noticing the national weather forecasts since I was a child) and that should be taken into consideration though everything is of course what you are used to. So the positives for me would be: - parks - bike riding - gardens - national institutions/modern history - little traffic - skiing - pleasant - generally affluent - 4 hours from Sydney - nearer south coast NSW Some, not as good as other places, particularly from my interests "might" be: - city buzz - lack of older architecture/history due to later settlement - urban landscape/interest - large city entertainment facilities - large city private companies - large city events/festivals/sports/markets <- of course canberra would have these just not the breadth and depth. - limited international flight schedules/cruise schedules etc - while still having great stuff the close surrounding area's (< 2 hours) not as varied and interesting as some other cities (subjective of course) - very high median family wage so prices presumably would be higher to match - would need to have good dual income to be average. - an inland australia style cold winter - too cold for me - variety of flora and fauna Again, I stress, this is just my supposition from a short visit, not from living there. Typical comments from a visitor who saw the CBD, which in Canberra is purely the CBD, and missed everyrhing else. It's 40k from end to end and everything is in the suburbs by design. The large city sports/festival comment is just plain weird. Ever heard of the Canberra Raiders, Brumbies, Canberra United, all which won the national comps they play in? And there are more national events than any other city. Other areas of Australia are also colder in the winter (eg inland qld), and the summers are hot (4 real seasons). Visitors to the ACT really need a guide as they just won't find their way around without one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Typical comments from a visitor who saw the CBD, which in Canberra is purely the CBD, and missed everyrhing else. It's 40k from end to end and everything is in the suburbs by design. The large city sports/festival comment is just plain weird. Ever heard of the Canberra Raiders, Brumbies, Canberra United, all which won the national comps they play in? And there are more national events than any other city. Other areas of Australia are also colder in the winter (eg inland qld), and the summers are hot (4 real seasons). Visitors to the ACT really need a guide as they just won't find their way around without one. Good to know I'm typical if a little weird :biggrin: I had my car so did actually drive around quite a few suburbs....didn't think I mentioned they were lacking anything? Yes I've heard of some of those teams and was actually thinking of some of them as I wrote that...I still feel the large cities get far more large sports events (as you would expect)...I thought my "of course canberra would have these just not the breadth and depth." covered that but maybe I didn't express it well enough. I agree other areas are colder, many inland areas are cold, but as I said everything is relative....Canberra is too cold for me but not for others as I said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Good to know I'm typical if a little weird :biggrin: I had my car so did actually drive around quite a few suburbs....didn't think I mentioned they were lacking anything? Yes I've heard of some of those teams and was actually thinking of some of them as I wrote that...I still feel the large cities get far more large sports events (as you would expect)...I thought my "of course canberra would have these just not the breadth and depth." covered that but maybe I didn't express it well enough. I agree other areas are colder, many inland areas are cold, but as I said everything is relative....Canberra is too cold for me but not for others as I said. Like heat, just want four proper seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Like heat, just want four proper seasons. Well good, you're sorted then...I like 4 proper seasons as well...I just like all of them different shades of warm :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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