Start of the young people moving to small towns/coastal areas?

Hi,

Was reading an interesting article about a 25 year old who is now in her third year of living in a small coastal area after moving from the city. Attached below is the link.

My friends thought I was crazy: I made a sea-change at 25

With the advancement of technology and some employers encouraging 'work from home' initiative, for the next 10 to 20 years, can we see this be a common theme with younger people? The biggest hindrance would be employment opportunities, infrastructure, away from family and general attitude of being away from the city life.

Personally for me, I am happy with moving to a smaller town because I am at that stage of my life where I get annoyed with being around heaps of people ie Boxing Day sales and not the type that likes to go to fancy places all the time.

 

Seems pretty normal to me.

**Note my cynicism for hipster/yuppie city life.

 

Yes and no. Not all jobs can be done remotely and not all companies are open to it even if the employee technically does not have to be on site.

I'd be happy to move to coastal area but not hours away from city. Something like 60mins drive and access to train if needed

 

At the end of the day, it's this. And there's a beautiful country out there with huge starry skies. And great friendly people. We've gone way beyond the point of 'enough' and it feels great to pare back a bit. It just feels so right.
The other thing is you need to be flexible with work. There's a lot more flexibility expected of everyone these days anyway.
Nice article. Sounds like she's on the Mornington Peninsula?

 

I think this will increase but with caveats around schooling.

My office software is cloud based. My office handsets are VOIP with a virtual PABX. Apps on our mobiles allow us to take and make calls as if we were on the office handset anyway. My senior guys don't come in to the office everyday and work where it suits (conveyancing department excepted).

One of my guys has a converted bus as a motorhome/camper. He is currently modifying it further so that the rear doors will open as a desk with an awning over.

I would love to move to my Noosa office and just come to the city 1 or 2 days a week. BUT my kids are happy in great schools and we won't move them. Only 11 years to go......

 

I find that we have lost our Australian ways in the city area and what happened to helping your mate out who is in need? I reckon if I went around my local area for some sugar, probably end up getting zip.

 

I am quite happy to come into the office one day a week or even one per month to discuss with the team on my work progress and to throw ideas around, but guess that's not going to happen. I always liked being close to the beaches and be fantastic to listen to the calm sound of the water at night to drift off to sleep. Also, be essentially taking a pay increase I guess because my PPOR mortgage will be better and smaller. I believe it's the attitude of he younger generation of being around the trendy areas and spending money on useless food and cafe concept.

 

I'm with @RPI - most of my business interactions are cloud based. I saw the office twice last year (3km from home) but I did attend countless meetings

 

I think a lot of new Australians value urban life over the town/rural life. In some countries they look down 'people from the village' - maybe it's justified, I don't know. 2nd generations have the pressure and desire to make a success of themselves so they won't leave the city. Also, when I was living in Sydney, I found it hard to realistically contemplate leaving - it was a dream rather than something I could see as a real possibility.

That sort of thing doesn't exist any more. I wonder if they still have neighbours who baby sit? Forget about 'dropping in' on your friends.

 

There is a lot more suspicion in the city.

Visited Coffs Harbour several years ago and it was weird in a way that.... people say hi to you, they smile to you and they make small talks. In the city I'd be looking at them thinking "what do you want?"

Re sugar - I live in unit, if my neighbor ask for 1 I will give it to them .... but I don't really have sugar....

 

I think I've got the equivalent of a cup in my cupboard - it's probably 5 years old. If they want it, they can have it.

 

Noosa is awesome for the local thing. The Hastings street guys are great to talk to, they appreciate being able to chat with a "local". Our office is in Noosaville in the restaurant strip. I always feel really welcome and get treated like a local even though I am only in town once a month or so. Main beach on the Gold Coast, Teddar Avenue has the same sort of thing going on. Years ago when I had an office in Burleigh, the main street there was the same. It would take forever to walk down saying high to everyone you knew.

 

Not always! There are tonnes of smaller cities around the country with all the infrastructure you could want.
North qld, Darwin, Hobart, sunny coast, the gong, Ballarat, Ipswich, South coast WA, central coast, Cairns...

All these places have hospitals, specialists, airports, shopping centres...The works.

They are not crowded and all provide fantastic lifestyles.

You can even buy smashed avo.

You just need to secure a job.

However if you do, you're far better off as a young person as the cost of living is so much lower. Well compared to Sydney at least.

 

Having lived regional and moved back - it was a lovely lifestyle for a bit.
Knowing everyone in town was a pita - couldn't do the quick duck to the shops for milk etc.
Schools (private and public) were not up to the level we can get publicly in the city
Flying in and out to go anywhere was limited and subject to lots of delay and cancellation
Infrastructure wasn't up to scratch
Food, fuel, rates, public transport, eating out etc (anything other than housing) was more expensive

It's easy to do without kids. Some places have great schools etc, train or other easy access to the city. We'll stick with the cities until at least retirement now. Most of our friends wouldn't consider it either

 

I moved to the country (Central West NSW) for my partner's work. I eventually got a part time job, but it took me two years to be appointed to a full time job in my field, and now I'm about to leave again. This is a real pain in the backside when you both have careers.

There's nothing wrong with country life, but employer flexibility is a real issue - how many employers genuinely let you work from wherever you live? NBN hasn't reached my town yet, either, but the internet isn't too terrible considering the population. I found that I had to get a job in the town I live in, even though I could have technically worked remotely at both my current and previous job. For workplace culture reasons this is not something either employer would consider.

 

Sounds more like remote as opposed to a large regional centre with population of 50-100,000+

 

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I should clarify that I live in a town with a population around 12000 -15000. I would NOT describe it as remote though.

My partner just started a job in Far North QLD in a town with a population of 200 - now that is remote!

 

I moved to Wagga for 3 years when i was 22. Was $210/wk in rent, and walking distance to everything. Everything was a hell of a lot cheaper except electricity (40% more than Sydney). Managed to save a heap before moving back to Sydney and renting for a year at $550/wk for something similar, and buying a PPOR shortly after.
Best way to do it if you're young and dont want to live with your parents.

 

Great article

I'm all for being out of the cities but like a lot of things it's not for everyone. Many people are literally trapped in cities and the mon-Fri grind knowing only coastal areas etc as the place you go for 1 week of the year and living there is only a pipe dream. It is a big decision but like anything you need to educate yourself and have a plan, plus have the guts to take that leap

I'm back in Sydney now and i love saying hi to people and seeing what reaction I'll get especially the ones i know won't say hi lol why can't people just say hi!?
Even my street is a tough audience which is sad, i know i can be an ******* but I'm friendly to it's funny because country people are hard nuts to crack, they'll say hi but getting more can be difficult but once you're in you'll have a chat every time. Cities you struggle to get the opening hi

And on the job front there are jobs everywhere but you have to be flexible when relocating. I see the enjoyment at work being mostly who you work with and not the actual work.

 

Not happening in my experience.... I live near Geelong moved here for wife's job

My CBD job turned down my request to work from home 2/3 days a week even tho we had all the tech set up to do it. They said they could trust me but if they let me do it they would have others asking, others had kids and could not be trusted. So I quit and got a job in Geelong... Love it here

BUT....

In our attempt to meet people here we made friends with three young people aged 25-30. All have since left and moved to Melbourne, a nurse and a doctor even though there is loads of medical work in Geelong region. For some reason they are just drawn to the city they love all the bars and restaurants and more matches on Tinder