Melbourne Living - Anyone Else Getting Sick Of It?

[fionas]

As some of you already know, we're doing the treechange thing from Northcote (Melbourne) to Woodend.

Like most BIG decisions I've made in my life (like moving to Australia, getting married etc.), I didn't think a lot about it because it feels like the right thing to do. I reckon some days I've thought more about what to have for tea

We're moving mainly for the positive aspects (can afford a bigger house, will be mortgage free, DD will have a huge backyard (especially important to me because I've got physical problems meaning I can't walk very far) and I'll be happy to drive in a small country town whereas I'm not prepared to in Melbourne which limits me further.

But since we made the decision, I've also noticed just how crowded Melbourne is and I'm really glad to be getting out. There's too much traffic, trams are always chockers even in the middle of the day, service in cafes is mostly slack and annoying.

It just seems very different and less 'liveable' than it did when I first moved here 15 years ago.

I also read newspaper articles saying the same thing that Melbourne felt like an unusually good secret a 15 years ago with no major traffic issues, good public transport and the city was safe at night.

Since we made the decision to move, I've spoken to a few people who are also considering moving.

So d'you think an exodus is about to start prompted primarily by nuttso real estate prices but also fuelled by all the lifestyle issues mentioned above?

[Lulu]

ah, I think the exodus started awhile ago Fi!

But I'm pretty happy here, I'm not as close to the city as you atm and that's cos I wanted to avoid that crappy overcrowded feeling. I mean we still have the 1/4 acre block setup, but also nice and close to the country xoxo

[Astrid]

Well we left Melbourne just over 2 years ago. We were surviving there, not living as such. We were fortunate enough to get in before the property prices went stupid, but due to some financial decisions and unexpected income dry spots we bumped up our mortgage. We were not in a financial position to enjoy Melbourne, going out to dinner, shows, Comedy Festival etc. Also once we had our first child we had our concerns about raising a child there. After dealing with the school kids on public transport for many years, I really did not want a child of mine to be brought up in that. There were other child related issues to do with school snobbery and the expectation/actually demands that we pay for private schooling.

We had enough of it all. We were sick of neighbours, sick of noise, sick of the pollution, sick of spending ages in traffic to go any where. We were putting up with all the bad stuff of a city, but not getting any of the good stuff. Stupidly we were very close to the zoo, but do you think we went?

[Smoke Jaguar]

We'r emoving, too!! Our goal was always to get a farm/acreage, though and we didn't live in the burbs, either. However, as we are on the fringe of Melbourne, a fringe that lots of Melburnites like to visit, it feels like the city is too close!
So, I'm not escaping the metro area, but relieved to be going further out. I'm really looking forward to raising country kids I'm pretty involved in my current local community and hope to replicate that involvement in the new area - I'm gonna miss my town, still.
It's not a forced move, it's in line with our values, as yours is, and it echoes one of my favourite quotes : "Is what I'm doing now moving me towards my goal?"
I took a little trip to the city last week and knowing my time is limited for impromptu train trips into Town I actually enjoyed the bustle, the noise, the variety of people! One thing I will miss is having such great diversity on my doorstep for my children to become accustomed to...happy to be corrected if I'm wrong about Sth Gipp!
So, bottoms up to you and me - we're outta here!!

[Pandora]

Yes, and Im not as close as you.
Id love to move further out but my job doesnt lend itself well to living far from a major capital city. Work wise I think the closest I could do i=would be a major regional area - Ballarat, Bendigo etc

[Mother Goose]

YES! In the 8 years I've been here... I've noticed the same Fi... and I do not like it!!! I am also desperate to move to the country and am lucky that my career allows me to work anywhere... unfortunately, DH's work does not. It is something I WILL do eventually! And I can't wait!

[Amity]

I've done the tree-change, moved to Shepparton for work, and absolutely loved it.

Unfortunately due to XH's inability to get a job in the area, we had to come back to Melbourne. However, we would probably have had to come back at some stage for my work, too.

I would be back there in a flash, but unfortunately I have to work in Melbourne, as that's where my work is... otherwise I loved the country lifestyle, the community living, the walking 1.2 kms to work, the friends, the casual lifestyle... should I go on...

[Curly]

Well we moved up to the Sunshine Coast from Melbourne in July last year. We were there for 7 years.

As a born and bred Sydney girl I actually thought Melbourne was pretty good in terms of traffic. I was sad to leave my friends and I miss the restaurants.

But we hadn't been able to afford the restaurants since having kids and dropping back to one income. We were only surviving in Melbourne, not living and we had what DH was calling a slow leak in our finances, we were nibbling into our offset and we weren't ever going to get ahead.

And we just didn't think Melbourne was "it" for us...we met overseas (DH is a Kiwi) and we both like the outdoors and we were a bit sick of the footy and the weather - we just felt there was more to life than what Melbourne was giving us.

We moved to give our kids a sunscreen and gumtrees childhood, a slower pace of life and an easier financial ride for ourselves.

[Rouge]

Nah I LOVE melbourne I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I've lived in some of the busy areas too. I remember when we lived in Prahran it would take us 10 minutes by car to get to coles to get groceries due to traffic, which was about the same as by foot LOL! I am in the burbs though, but even when I go into the city I still love it. It's not my birthplace but it is my home and I don't think that will change anytime soon.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Yes, DO go on, Div!
Curly - you raise a point that had been bothering me...restaurants!! There's a Chinese in Korumburra...that's about as ethnic as it gets, I think! Again, correct me if I'm wrong I drove through Dandy the other day and it all came flooding back from my childhood there - the infinitely diverse cuisine in one place, and I'm sure I had eaten most of it by the time I was 18. What am I depriving my kids of?? We'll definitely have to make special trips into town for some Nepalese, Vietnamese, Afghan etc...I think visits to my inner city friends will bring us close enough to Brunswick St to satisfy the palate every couple of months.
I can't comprehend the not having enough to do in Melb, though - that one's confounding me!
I love that I was born in Carlton, spent formative years by the sea, rest of my childhood in a huge migrant population and my adulthood so far nestled in the hills. As much as I want to raise country kids, they won't know the rich beauty Melbourne has to offer quite the way I do. Ach, well, they get their very own story, I suppose. And they'll probably move right back to Melbourne, anyway, at least for a little while when they spread their wings
Oh, Fiona, you got me feeling bittersweet about this move...just when I thought I'd reconciled it all!

[fionas]

Don't get me wrong Rouge, I love where I live currently and I love the city. But I'd rather come down and visit for a weekend rather than living here all the time. Infact, DP and I have had this discussion and said that choosing where to go on his weekends off will be a no-brainer - we'll come and stay in Melbourne and probably do lots more because we'll have it all planned out rather than having it on our doorstep and taking it for granted.

Ah Mayaness, don't second guess yourself

The way I think of it is this, I'm not sure I want to choose somewhere for the next 20 years. Too much pressure. I see Woodend as a 3-5 year plan. If we decide to stay longer, great. But I can also imagine moving back to Melbourne when DD and No. 2 are a little older and when the attractions of country living have worn off for them.

Would probably be to the burbs though cos I think I'll get used to having the space of a bigger house.

So we shall see.

Lulu, do you really think there has been an exodus or d'you just think the media has coined the phrase treechange and everyone thinks there's been an exodus? I guess I see a difference in the last few months in that so many more people my age and younger seem open to the idea whereas before it used to be people who were semi-retired and who could work from home without having to be based in Melbourne. Feels different.

[phynna]

We've done it. But hubby was a country boy, down Gippy way, but worked in Frankston. I was a western suburbs girl, still proud of it, no fancy frills about me haha. But I also spent a month every year of my life till I was 15 up the shipwreck coast, and just about everyweekend was travelling around the state, either for karting, or just plain roadtrips or to visit relatives, dad is from a farming family from the western wimmera, and sth aust. Plus being from a trucking family, it's just in me to get out and be free, in the open land. So I instigated our move. I like Melb, I'm not scared of the traffic, or the crimes (there's that western suburb upbringing again) but I need big open spaces, the bigger the better. We are now on nearly 300 acres, 6km out of nearest town without even a pub or a general store, but it's only a stepping stone for me. I'm dreaming of the red centre, couple thousand acres of red dusty barren plains.....mmmmm heaven for me!

[CrazyLady]

I am glad I no longer live in Melbie. I moved to a mining town in WA and I like it. I go back to melbourne now (to visit family) and get claustrophobic. I just want to yell to people "Get out of my way". On the flipside I miss the availability and choice of shopping. I don't live in a small town really but options are still limited. Huge thanks to Internet shopping

[Astrid]

The lack of food choices is a major downside of the treechange/seachange. Just cannot get good sushi down here and oddly enough good farm produce, better off being in Melbourne for the Farmer's Markets there.

Saying that though I do not think it is that much of a downside so long as we educate our children that there is a different life outside of the country. Just as I would do the same if we were still in Melbourne, make them very aware that there is a life outside of Melbourne.

As for is there an exodus, I am not sure. In the past few years I have come across more people talking about a big move, but I think that is more the finally voicing their dreams.

[Smoke Jaguar]

I think the regional centres are becoming a much more viable option in terms of services and trade. I could live in Bairnsdale, for instance, if I only wanted a house block and not be short on shops, food variety and activities.
We nearly settled on a 115 acre lot a half hour drive from the nearest general store...I was freaking out a bit about that!

[Ginger]

i could never live any closer to the cbd than what we are now (50kms). Personally i would love to move to a country town, but dh just wouldn't be able to find the same amount of work there as he can living within an hour of the city. sometimes we talk about moving out further- somewhere between healesville and lake eildon would be awesome i reckon, but i just don't think we'd be able to bring in the same amount of money.

[Cassius2]

DH and i have constantly dreamt of a tree/sea-change. we have only lived in melb for 2 and a bit years and although we love it (love the diversity of cuisine/shops/people etc) we are finding the traffic where we live becoming insane and like Fionas mentioned, the public transport is getting beyond a joke. when we lived in brunswick i didnt notice it all so much cause we lived opp. princes park (lovely big idyllic park near the zoo) and could walk everywhere for everything. but since moving to northcote we realise that Melb is a BIG city. we have to traverse st. georges road, struggle to find pavement space on high street and the housing affordability is just beyond insanity. for example, we bought in june last year and we thought it was bad then, UNTIL we went to an auction down the road (on a busy busy road) and the house was collapsing on one side (massive underpinning work needed), wooden (with cracks so big you could see INSIDE the house from the outside!) and had neither of the two rooms were doubles and the 'laundry' was a washing machine under the kitchen sink...it sold for JUST under $700,000!!!!!!!!!!! WTF?! are people insane?

DH and I are seriously considering a sea change to wollongong in a couple of years. we almost moved there last year but a good job offer came up here so we stayed, but man oh man, we have itchy feet to get there and have the chance to have a home near the beach and space and time for all of us to enjoy...so tired of commuting 2-3 hours a day to get to work/childcare etc etc.

[Lulu]

Lulu, do you really think there has been an exodus or d'you just think the media has coined the phrase treechange and everyone thinks there's been an exodus? I guess I see a difference in the last few months in that so many more people my age and younger seem open to the idea whereas before it used to be people who were semi-retired and who could work from home without having to be based in Melbourne. Feels different.

No, I think there really has. I've been watching this for the past 10 years or so because exH and I were seriously looking back then. The ridiculous BOOM that happened in property back then helped, combined with advertising action by several region towns to attract the "tree-changers" yadda yadda.

There was even a telly show hosted by Michael Caton called The Real Sea/Tree changers (or something similar) that followed several people over about a year to see how they went. That show is a few years old now.

I read back a year or so ago that lots are heading back into to city - something about lack of decent coffee ...that would indicate to me they probably didn't move for the right reasons anyway! Property prices went up out there accordingly...but not TOO badly.

We missed the boat because we wanted it sorted before the kids got to High School, and I can't go now because I can't take Dad with me...and I love DS's school so much and I just know I won't find one with the same philosophies in the country , but I'm lucky enough that the school is a mini farm so it's a little bit of country anyway

I might have another chance before the little ones go to secondary school.