Guest destinationoz Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Hi all I was just wondering if anyone can help... We have an 8 year old son who is an only child - he hates "playing" and would prefer to be out at a park with friends (preferably without Mum or Dad following him!!!!) or riding round on his bike... Here's the dilemma: I'd like to live in Inner North but from memory looking round, although leafy suburbs they weren't necessarily places kids do or could play out easily (without supervision) I'd prefer not to live out as far as Gungahlin areas as I wanted to walk to work etc but again from visiting places like Forde etc they seem to be more "estates" and more parks and more kids playing out?? Have I got it all wrong and what do people think?? Thanks lots!! Cal.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I'm not really sure that anywhere in Canberra is a "playing in the park with mates" type of area, especially not at 8. I rarely see kids playing in the street anywhere - fewer even than there were 10 years ago. You will sometimes see them playing on the school oval especially if there is an after school care program and, in year 3, you would probably find kids of that age still in afters. At the weekends a lot of kids play sport and then hang out with their families. For the first time in years we have a couple of families within a few houses of each other and they do occasionally play outside in one or other's gardens. One of the families is an alternative no telly household so that probably plays a part and the kids know each other from school. Usually though there isnt much going on. There are more kids in the new suburbs, certainly due to the lower cost of housing, but I am not sure how much spontaneous street play there is - parents seem to be quite fearful on the whole (or too busy to be monitoring where their kids are and taking the Foxtel/Wii baby sitting service as a convenient alternative) and they tend to go for care programs or structured activities. Parents also tend to be a bit hesitant with strange kids knocking on their door wanting to play - often kids that do that dont have the most savoury of reputations - and the preference is for known (ie approved) kids to be invited over when the parents have time to monitor the play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Thanks Quoll ! Must admit .... Sadly it sounds very much like the UK nowadays - noone "dare" let their kids play out and so many kids are playing computer games they don't want to play out! Not a good situation IMHO but at least I'll feel better for choosing where I want to live!! Do Canberra areas have "cul-de-sacs" ??! (these seem to be the best places for playing out safely!!) Thanks lots! Cal :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Thanks Quoll ! Must admit .... Sadly it sounds very much like the UK nowadays - noone "dare" let their kids play out and so many kids are playing computer games they don't want to play out! Not a good situation IMHO but at least I'll feel better for choosing where I want to live!! Do Canberra areas have "cul-de-sacs" ??! (these seem to be the best places for playing out safely!!) Thanks lots! Cal :-) Yup, cul-de-sacs all over the place. Watch out for battle axe blocks though, you probably want to avoid them - they tend to have the highest rates of burglaries because they are not visible from the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurls Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I'm in Giralang. One of the things I like about it is that it's laid out really well, they have "green spaces" with a network of footpaths between every street. The streets are fairly quiet except for any potential "boy racers" who may be living on your street. I'm not a fan of Gungahlin really. The new suburbs seem ugly to me, with high density housing and few trees. If you're looking at Northside maybe compromise and look at some of the Belconnen suburbs? Also depends on your transport to work and what school you're looking at sending your son to as well I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Thanks both Sorry Quoll to show my ignorance but what are "battle axe blocks" ??! Think we will look at Belconnen too - my main stipulation is a WARM house!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Thanks both Sorry Quoll to show my ignorance but what are "battle axe blocks" ??! Think we will look at Belconnen too - my main stipulation is a WARM house!! Battle axes are where the house sits behind another house on its own block and is accessed by a driveway beside the driveway of the house that fronts on to the street. Such houses often back on to parkland which is sometimes portrayed as a selling point but as a security issue it is not good. It's called a battleaxe because the driveway looks like the handle and the block itself with house looks like the axe head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Thanks for that Quoll!! I thought it had negative connotations - suppose I was thinking of the derogatory name for an old nagging woman and wondered how it related to housing!!! Funnily enough when we were in Canberra we went to an auction of a house on a battle-axe block - it backed right onto the park & swings (Fraser) and we loved it but I can see it would be a security issue so we'll think again on that one! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobandCatherine Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Hi destinationoz!! Any news of when u r coming over now? You will be pleased to hear both our boys do go out. Our 6 year old plays out in the cul de sac on his bike with the boy from next door. Our 13 year old goes out to mates and on his bike, yea sure he likes 2 go on the ps3 aswell and sometimes I have to kick him out, that's worldwide! I am a bit more of a taxi here as friends don't always live in the same suburbs, but I am just pleased they have invites!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Hi Rob and Catherine! Great to hear from you! Last time we saw you was on tele!! We are hoping to come over in August but I'm nervously waiting to hear if I can have redundancy ... should know by next weekend - the waiting game is soooooo hard! I remember your little cul de sac - it was perfect really for boys playing out! I'll never totally drag A. off his Wii or from the tele but I need to have a really good go at it and if there's nowhere to play I'll be on a loosing battle from the outset!! Thanks for the reassurance! Hope your daughter is doing well too - she seemed to settle very well Hopefully see you again in a few months! Cal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judith501 Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Hi all We are excited as our flight is booked for 21st November and we have a house in Higgins to stay at for a year.:twitcy:also a little scared too If anybody is living near Higgins or due to move to Belconnen who have kids of similar ages to ousr please drop a line as we would love to meet up and get our children settled with friends quickly (also to be perfectly honest - we would really like to meet people and start socialising)!:biggrin: Joel -5 Eve 2.5 Mia 2.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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