This is more aimed at people from smaller towns (ie Bathurst/Newcastle) who moved to bigger cities, I'm at a loss whether to move to Melbourne, the job opportunities are good but the commute to them everyday doesn't seem worth the hassle.

What the average commute by train/tram be, 1 hour each way?

Do you feel stressed out/anxious all day with the congestion when moving to the big smoke or did you get used to it ?

I really don't understand the motivation or fail to see the pay-off for living somewhere that eats up so much time and energy, or is this blown out of proportion ?

Live close to where you work, problem solved...I live an hours travel from work (whether catching tram/train or riding my bike, takes the same amount of time) and don't see it as a problem whatsoever.

Gotta think more about if you'll make the most of the amazing city you live in moreso than how long it takes to get to work and back.

But yeah, 45 mins - 1 hour I would say is pretty stardard for people in Melbourne.

10min train ride.

I moved from Barham to Wagga to Melbourne.

Towns are fun to visit, but cities are better to live in.

15-20 min drive to work in the morning for me, same home. Live in inner western Sydney, work in South Sydney. When I was in Melbourne I had a half hour commute against the traffic. I've been lucky in both those jobs though that I wasn;t working in the CBD or a major hub with parking issues and I could (actually had to) drive to work.

I'd personally go to a fair length to avoid having a long commute or even working in the CBD at all these days, but thats just me.

Would Sydney commute and traffic be worse than Melbourne ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurneyhalleck

Would Sydney commute and traffic be worse than Melbourne ?

Generally yes, especially if you're driving. Melbourne has a much more functional roading system. Mainly because it doesn't have al these inconvenient bits of harbour dividing parts of the city up from each other.

Live in Melbourne, 10 minute commute to work by train.

The length of the commute will largely depend on how much you're willing to fork out in rent.

Isnt this true of basically any big city in the world? The larger the metropolis, the larger the inverse relationship between proximity to CBD and rent affordability.

:words:

^

Correct, but he asked the average commute, which is pretty hard to determine without knowing where he's planning to live/how much he's willing to pay in rent.

What is the average commute anywhere? Not much if you live close, longer if you don't.

OP is too general

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoodLove

What is the average commute anywhere? Not much if you live close, longer if you don't.

OP is too general

Yeah but the likelihood of being able to live close is higher in smaller places, plus the lower congestion levels mean you can travel further in less time. In the country a half hour commute could be a 40km drive, in the city you might take that long to travel 10km or less.

*Meant capital cities. Obviously no traffic out in the sticks

I moved from the country (Cowra) to New York.
I've lived in London, New York, Manchester, Sydney.

It was a shock being surrounded by so many people and cars and noise.... but you get used to it
All are big, busy, crowded, polluted... but you get used to it.
Driving in Sydney for the first time was scary as hell... but you get used to it.
Peak hour traffic is frustrating. People cutting you off, not letting you in, train carriages stuffed full of stinky and grumpy people.... but you get used to it.

You see the theme here?

One of the things I'd suggest when you first move here is find a share place relatively close to the city. Immerse yourself in it. Get right up in the guts of the city and drink it all in. Go nuts, party hard, get it out of your system. After a few years you start to move out to the burbs and be sensible but dont start that way or you'll never move in.

^

Great post, mike nailed it.

Thanks Mike, good bit of insight there.

Cowra to New York - That's gotta be the definition of culture shock.

Yeah, nice post Mike...imo, your best bet is short term accomodation until you get a job, once you know where you're going to be working, then plan where to live permanently...check the tram and train network maps, if your work happens to be in the burds or out in one of those industrial area, think about living in a spot which is half way between the city and your work location...if your works is right in the CBD, the world is your oyster as any of the inner hub burbs will net you a 15-20mins journey to work or live in an apartment in the city and walk yo ass to work!

As mentioned, the further you go out, the less you're going to pay in rent, so you time spent is all relative to how much you want to pay in rent...which is also relative to how flash a place you want to live in and how many people you want to share it with.

As a guide, you want your own one bedroom apartment, plan for at least $350 per week, share a 2 bedroom, plan for $250 and you should be right.

Remember though that if you like to go out, the money saved on rent by living further away gets offset pretty fast by 2am taxi fares home!

And you have to work out how much it is worth to you to avoid 1 hour+ public transport time, plus cost of fares etc

Thats a legit weigh-up for me anywhere

I remember the first time saw traffic lights
I knew what to do in theory but never actually had practical due to never seeing them back home.
i was staring at them all the time to ensure i stopped when they went yellow and then went when they went green

Where did you live before, the amazon?

close




a big big hole. so god awfully boring. 2 hours inland from wagga.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzzy Rainbow

I remember the first time saw traffic lights
I knew what to do in theory but never actually had practical due to never seeing them back home.
i was staring at them all the time to ensure i stopped when they went yellow and then went when they went green

"I want tell you about the town of Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here. They got three stop signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars, being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to get in the newspaper story about it"

Don't move to the big cities specifically Melbourne and Sydney.

Why?

Traffic and public transport = terrible

People = terrible

House prices = ripoff

Rent costs = ripoff

I'm guessing you'll leave your family behind - who will be there for you then in the city? So many people have passed away and they haven't been found till the landlord busts through for rent after a couple of months or the postman smells some foul odor emanating.

Jobs - well no guarantees, remember even though there are more jobs - there is also more competition and then you factor in the living costs if you have no job and you'll be broke pretty quick, because centrelink just doesn't cut it. In the regional areas you can survive but here a lot of people scrape through off the salvation army, st vinnies and others due to this.

Pollution - no fresh air here sorry, if you are asthmatic tough luck, have lots of smog days where you won't be able to breathe, carry a puffer at all times.

Lack of community - majority of people don't even speak to their neighbors let alone anyone else. They'll stick to their strict closed off group of friends and no one else will be allowed in, unless maybe you are someone famous/mr or ms money bags.

How wonderfully depressing.

Indeed. I've locked myself inside with 47 tubs of peanut butter, the lights are off and I'll never turn them on again. Goodbye cruel world, with your cruel big cities.

I work in the Melbourne CBD and i live less than 5 minutes walk from where i work. Rent isnt THAT bad.

Edit: LOL The air quality in Melbourne is fine. I'm a chronic asthmatic and my asthma is exactly the same as it was when i was living out in the sticks.

Dude sounds like he failed at big city life, is totally butt-hurt about it and carrying a fucking huge chip on his shoulder.

Yeah, small towns is where all the fun happens, hanging out in closed supermarket carparks drinking goon sacks doing donuts unable to get a job as there isn't any jobs worth doing

I think everyone is different. There are probably heaps of people who love being in the city,

I mean you know look at what a great life you could have in the city,

-get into 6-700k debt in terms of housing
-keep breathing more of that beautiful pollution then find out you have cancer
-go to your local park with syringes, dog poop and metre high grass
-visit some overpriced restaurant with so called quality food that you picked up off a tripadvisor review, but the food is terrible
-drink yourself stupid till you pass out to forget what a hopeless life you have and wait for next weekend to pass out again
-kill your life passion
-never see your partner
-your kids don't know who you are
-your mum wonders whether you are alive
-never see daylight during the week
-sit in a train/bus with people rubbing snot and coughing on you
-realise from mx that the seat that you sat on actually had piss and shit on it hours before
-try take your car but you can't even get out of your own street
-do more in unpaid overtime than the amount of holidays you are entitled to, just to keep your job
-take 40 mins just to find a car park to do your weekly shopping
-come back and find a ticket from the local council, you parked your car rear to kerb instead of front to kerb
-pretend your city has great culture but you don't even know what real culture is
-watch some live act from a thousand metres back,you can't even see the outline on the big screen but say the $200 ticket was worth it
-get divorced because your partner got sick of never seeing you and you look at the stats and find cities have higher rates of divorce
-get sacked because you can't keep up with work and the boss has no compassion
-lose your house, actually it was never yours anyway but still owe plenty of money to the bank
-kids don't know you still but pay the child support
-declare bankruptcy
-go back to your mum and have a cry
-welcome to city life

Seriously, there are plenty of people living in the country and doing exceptionally well. Everyone is different. The city would suit some people and the country would suit others.

kyf

It's like the personification of the Wicker Man is posting in Lifestyle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChemicalJames

I work in the Melbourne CBD and i live less than 5 minutes walk from where i work. Rent isnt THAT bad.

Edit: LOL The air quality in Melbourne is fine. I'm a chronic asthmatic and my asthma is exactly the same as it was when i was living out in the sticks.

If anything the air is worse where you're from due to all the power stations.

I'm living and working in Shepparton atm. Place is a fucking ditch. Give me back city life thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derelict

I'm living and working in Shepparton atm. Place is a fucking ditch. Give me back city life thanks.

I ain't cut out to be no country ass nigga.

sheplol.

My advice would be move, then in a few years (weeks) you'll realise how completely insignificant this concern is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime2008

I think everyone is different. There are probably heaps of people who love being in the city,

I mean you know look at what a great life you could have in the city,

-get paid enough that 700k for a house is easily manageable
-keep breathing more of that beautiful pollution then find out you have cancer and have access to top notch hospitals to deal with it
-go to your local park with lots of other friendly people & a pop up cafe. Enjoy your tasty muffin. Let the dogs run around with all the others from the neighbourhood and find out about a new restaurant that just opened.
-visit said restaurant with a gastronomic chef that is creating flavours you've never even dreamed of
-drink yourself stupid on quality alcohol that they don't sell in the sticks as no one is discerning enough to ever order it
-embrace your life passion with a bunch of others who are also into it as much as you. In a city of millions there's a niche community for everyone.
-see your partner all the time. go out with them and do interesting things instead of sitting in front of foxtel every night not speaking to each other.
-kids? I'll stick to fucking my boyfriend as much as I want and never having to risk the chance of either of us getting pregnant.
-call your mum & don't be such a tightarse with your mobile. We've also got broadband and 4g so you can skype or video call.
-Spend your lunch breaks sitting by the harbour enjoying the sun, water & perving on all the hotties
-sit in a train/bus that comes at high frequency and enjoy your book and music. Nek minnit you're at your destination.
-realise that anyone that would look at a copy of mx is mentally deficient
-drive your car wherever you want
-work hard, get rewarded for it more than you would in the country and then go home
-walk to the supermarket as it's only 5 minutes away and there's one in every suburb
-you walked so there's no chance of getting a ticket
-enjoy everything your city has to offer, from indie events in the backstreets of newtown to world class performances at the opera house
-go to an intimate club and catch obscure german techno djs
-you and your partner are always out doing fun stuff together, partying and then you can come home and fuck their brains out. You're both enjoying life so maybe go for round 2, 3 or 4.
-get promoted because you're fucking awesome at your job
-sell the house as the property market is taking off and use the profit to take an overseas trip
-still don't have kids. still getting lots of sex.
-give your parents some cash for a holiday as you've got plenty spare
-they call you from overseas saying what a great time they're having
-welcome to city life

Seriously, there are plenty of people living in the city and doing exceptionally well. Everyone is different. The city would suit some people and the country would suit others.

Fyp

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverspoon

sheplol.

Getting paid mining wages to be here, so it's worth it.

I spent a weekend in sheppo once..

It's not worth it

Edit: can't really talk though, I've been living out in the outer burbs the last 17 months though and I'm about ready to top myself.

1 hour door to door
buy a tablet and a kindle, enjoy time to yourself
its fine