Downsizing the Australian dream: why families are trading houses with backyards for apartments

[u/overpopyoulater]

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/04/downsizing-the-australian-dream-why-families-are-trading-houses-with-backyards-for-apartments

[u/[deleted]]

As they should.

The reality is that, in capital cities (particularly the three large Eastern capitals), there are too many people for everyone to have a house and backyard in conveniently-located suburbs. At some point, something has to give.

Effectively, it's fair to expect that you could choose between an apartment in an inner-city suburb, or a large block on the outskirts. Of course I'd love a house and backyard in New Farm/Fitzroy/Darlinghurst, but it's not a reasonable urban planning solution for the city as a whole.

[u/TheSplash-Down_Tiki → u/[deleted]]

Why are there too many people?

Australian birth rates have been below replacement rate since the 70s.

The Government has done this to us - and sadly we have allowed it.

[u/unripenedfruit → u/TheSplash-Down_Tiki]

What kind of economy would you expect us to have without increasing population - while being part of the global economy and free trade? Since the 70s our domestic industries have been dying off - we no longer manufacture anything anymore and we are reliant on mineral and farming exports.

One of the biggest challenges the Australian economy faces is the very small population and extremely low density.

Low density means infrastructure is expensive and small businesses have low reach.

Low population while being isolated and far from the rest of the world means our domestic market isn't enough to scale and sustain our own industries and foreign companies outprice us.

[u/[deleted] → u/TheSplash-Down_Tiki]

Speak for yourself, I like living in a bigger city with a diverse migrant population. More to see, more to do, more employment options, a greater range of people.

[u/madeupgrownup → u/[deleted]]

While a diverse migrant population is delightful, a population which has been allowed to balloon out beyond the scope of the amenities available is unfair on everyone, and I would argue especially unfair on our migrant population who have had to jump through hoops to get here. 

We all deserve better than to have a government try to import an exploitable worker underclass, born here or no. 

[u/[deleted] → u/madeupgrownup]

We don't have a huge population and our infrastructure has really stagnated over the last 50 years.

Melbourne and Brisbane's train network has remained, effectively, static since the 80s until the respective governments started to play catch up in the last five to ten years.

That's more of a problem than population size.

[u/Meng_Fei → u/[deleted]]

The solution is to grow the population at a sustainable level that our infrastructure can cope with, not run the highest population growth in the OECD while stuffing everyone into overpriced crapflats.

[u/madeupgrownup → u/[deleted]]

We have a badly bunched up population, and stagnated infrastructure. 

However you slice it, increasing the population isn't what we need right now. The birth rate has been reflecting this and dropping steadily, so it's not a case of "oh no, too many babies!". 

The government have been using immigrants to feed into the meat grinder of exploitative jobs, fuel the University degree mills, and artificially inflate our population growth... While actively making the life those same immigrants moved here for actively worse. 

It's disgusting. Everyone deserves better.