Thought I would try to stir things up a bit with a non-racing topic - Where is the best place to live? Looking at things like climate, work opportunities, housing, kids stuff (education, etc), travel (both within the city/location and getting to other parts of the country), fun stuff.

I will start with Canberra:

CLIMATE 5/10
Too cold in winter and quite hot in summer - would be OK if the nearest beach wasn't over 2 hours drive! But on the positive side it is a "dry" heat in summer (so 35 in Canberra only feels like 30 in Sydney) and the spring and autumn weather is beautiful - mostly sunny dry days. No pollution.

WORK - 9/10
Lowest unemployment rate in the country and highest average wage.

HOUSING - 7/10
Housing prices have gone through the roof here in last 5 years - still cheaper than Sydney/Melbourne though. Most suburbs are really nice to live in with no industrial areas close to houses, heaps of green space (well brownish-green in the drought), bike paths, etc. Majority of houses are no more than 30 years old so generally OK to live in without major renovations.

KIDS STUFF - 8/10
The public schools are without doubt the best in the country. Year 11 & 12 go to seperate "colleges" which means they can offer better courses than available in the traditional high schools in other places. Also no HSC to stress the kids out (continuous assessment over the 2 years). Things to keep kids entertained during holidays/weekends are a bit lacking though.

TRAVEL - 8/10
Best roads in the country means commuting by car is a breeze compared to other cities - I travel 25km each way to and from work in around 20 minutes at peak time. Bus service OK but much slower than car so most people use their cars. When I lived in Sydney 20km often took well over an hour. Freeway to Sydney means trip there is just over 2 hours until you hit the Sydney traffic - then it depends where you are going as to how long it takes! Since Virgin started up we now have decent air travel service at reasonable prices with direct flights to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide (also Perth but this is Qantas route only so not so cheap).

FUN STUFF - 4/10
This is what really lets Canberra down. If you like skiing it is good in Winter with the ski fields a couple of hours away. In summer closest beach is over 2 hours drive (South Coast). Most decent live shows don't make it here. No decent "fun parks", etc. Some great tourist attractions but most of them are more educational than fun (eg. War Memorial, National Gallery, etc) so not the sort of place you want to go back to every single year.

Overall about 7 out of 10. Anyone else care to comment on their city/town?


_________________
"Computers can do that????" - Homer Simpson

[ This Message was edited by: becareful on 2004-02-29 10:45 ]

Bendigo

CLIMATE 6/10

A nice flow of four different seasons but also extremes - bitterly cold winter days and stinking hot summers. Autumn is best by far. Spring is windy. Locals call it a "temperate" climate - the last decade I'd call it semi-arid. Very dry. Water restrictions.

WORK 6/10

Not bad and will improve as a fast train service makes commuting to Melbourne feasible.

HOUSING 7/10

Beautiful old homes at reasonable prices. The gold rushes made this a very prosperous city once. Big homes and lots of old bungalows with a unique American influence. Or a miners cottage. Population is expected to double in a decade though creating an urban sprawl. (Not unless it rains!)

KIDS STUFF 6/10

Some good schools, public and private. A great history of education going back to tent schools on the gold diggings, but declined in quality and funds in recent times I reckon. Disappointing. Potentially 8/10.

TRAVEL 5/10

The Calder highway to Melb. is still sub-standard. Fast train on the way. The city used to have trams all over - ripped 'em out in the fab seventies. Compact city so walking is easy and streets are safe.

FUN STUFF 4/10

Some 50 pubs for 80,000 people, a few cafes, a racetrack, theatre, very good art gallery. But the tourist stuff is no fun if you live here. Locals migrate to Melb. for any serious fun.


Total = 5.6/10

Hell, what am I living here for????

Hermes

A refreshing post Becareful, but I suppose
there cannot be a standardized 'mean' to judge a best. Individual taste would be the guide so ratings are meaningless.


Paynesville on the Vic.Gippsland lakes:

WEATHER: Cooler in summer and warmer in winter than the rest of the state. Can get a lot of wind.

PROPERTY: Prices have doubled in the last 2yrs. but were low at the time. One plus is that there is no cheap public housing here [ so no junkies etc. and practically nil unemployment because they can't afford to live here ]. Future prices will keep going up and cover any mortgage interest [you won't make a loss].

PEOPLE: Gods waiting room, full of retired and some working professionals and a weekend/holiday mob of mostly well to do's from Melb. [ and their bored kids ] who are buying houses [arty/up-market] to live in or for holiday use.
Canal living if you have the dosh, allows you an 'outside your door' parking spot for the motor cruiser or yacht for a sort of classier Sylvania waters type mob. who are lower key about their money.

WORK: Basically bring your own. IT based pro. or Builder etc. Some tourist industry jobs in the area, but mostly up at Lakes Entrance [50ks.] So those people live there.
Bainsdale has various work and all the big shops an easy 15ks. drive along the pleasant [un-damed] Mitchell river, but the winding down of the timber industry has been painful as far as jobs go. Big cattle farm service area [ Bairnsdale ] at the foot of the High country and Snowy river area. Paynesville itself is a sleepy hamlet on the lakes. Sort of an up-market suburb to Bairnsdale.

POLITICS: Here it's green Liberal, but due to being in the Bainsdale, cattle and timber electorate, it's red-neck Peter Mc.Gougan, National party turf.

KIDS: A biological con. No thank you.

FUN: If you like the outdoors, you name it and it is here. 300 sq.ks. of lakes, beaches, fishing , sailing, bush walking, and not far from the snow.

CULTURALLY: [ We are a surrounded enclave ] Never has such a cold wind blown over an area and left it so desolate.
If you hate blacks, wogs, Muslims, unions, greenies etc. [ a local bumper sticker gives readers a better understanding of the cultural flavor here: 'anything green, pi.. on it and if it moves, shoot it !!'] and basically have a natural xenophobic nature, but love country music... we'll shucks, you'll feel right at home.
Slim Dusty [ RIP ] didn't buy one of our local pubs here for nothing.

CONCLUSION: Thinking of moving up into the high county. Same narrow minded, basically good people but less of them. Delegate area sounds good. However, most people would love to live here.

Cheers.


[ This Message was edited by: crash on 2004-02-29 13:17 ]

Sunny DARWIN

CLIMATE – either wet & hot or dry & hot

WORK - lots (but gets a bit hot)

HOUSING - expensive ripoff (but that goes for everywhere, no?)

POLITICS – place is run by a bunch of cowboys (& girls)

KIDS STUFF - sorry but who cares? – a safer environment than many however

TRAVEL – sowly becoming unbearable

FUN STUFF – beer, beer & more beer, hardly any single chicks which is sad (unless you’re a chick), kakadu down the road, plenty of fish, ******** poor nightlife

CONCLUSION – not to sure, but probably best to stay well away