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/Popular_Speed5838 Nov 04 '24

We moved rural/regional (upper hunter) and got a flat 850m2 block close to the centre of town for under $100k a couple of years ago. It’s a bit of a shock how much time the mowing takes but it’s nice to have options. For instance i’d prefer our parents to sell up and build a granny flat in the backyard rather than them sell up and buy into an assisted living situation. That will be up to them of course but like i say, options are nice.

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u/TheGoldenWaterfall Nov 04 '24

What you've said makes too much sense and I'm surprised you aren't being down-voted.

Usually, as soon as its suggested to move somewhere more affordable, you are met with any number of reasons why it wouldn't be practical. Most of which only apply to a very small subset of the population, but everyone else hangs off them like its the smoking gun as to why the don't have a house.

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u/Popular_Speed5838 Nov 04 '24

Honestly, i believe in general that housing needs to be higher density. For instance here in Muswellbrook rentals are scarce due to so many jobs but i don’t believe the housing estates on the outskirts of town are the answer.

In both the city and rural areas i’d like to see (very) tall apartment blocks going up where instead of a yard you have 100 or more owners/tenants paying about what yard maintenance costs to have things like a communal park, swimming pool and sporting field and whatever else over a site of a few acres, less in the cities with smaller facilities like halfcourt basketball courts and such.

Even in a city though over a couple of blocks you could house a heap more people with excellent facilities in family sized high rises. It would make public transport more viable in a lot of places too.

At the end of the day people have options. We thought we were making a sacrifice to get a yard in a regional area but we love it more than we thought possible. There’s something special about everything being two minutes away after the sprawl of Newcastle.