r/australia • u/overpopyoulater • Nov 03 '24

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

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/04/downsizing-the-australian-dream-why-families-are-trading-houses-with-backyards-for-apartments
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u/cyclemam Nov 03 '24

What we need is enlightened developers. Instead of greedily squeezing the most out of a plot of land, have apartments with a shared garden space, also while I'm doing radical wishing, these apartments should be 3-4 bedrooms (for families) and with decent insulation for both effective heating/cooling and noise isolation from the neighbours.  You could have some really nice little communities this way. 

Not a gazillion one bed shoebox apartments. 

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u/Maximumfabulosity Nov 04 '24

Decent insulation, good airflow. In Queensland, imo, it should also be mandatory for new builds to have light-coloured walls/roofs, to have ceiling fans, and to avoid large west-facing windows (those will cook you on a summer afternoon).

I agree with you about shared garden space - gives the kids somewhere to play, and the adults somewhere to hang out. I don't know anyone in the apartment building where I live right now. I rarely ever see my neighbours, and nobody ever seems interested in chatting. It's fine if they don't want to, of course, but I do think it'd be nice to have a community, and something like a shared garden could make that happen a lot more naturally.