19 November 2010

The expat pom's view of Canberra

| johnboy
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The Shelter Offshore website has a pretty well balanced guide to Canberra for the emigre pom who doesn’t need to settle on the beach.

It finishes with this:

If you’re a family thinking of emigrating to Australia and you’re considering Canberra, a good rule of thumb to follow is don’t send your children to a school in a suburb you wouldn’t want to live in – it will make life difficult for you in terms of transportation and even getting them in to the school of your choice potentially.

For younger people moving to Canberra make sure you live near a bus interchange or within walking distance of your college, university, place of work or favourite watering hole, otherwise you’re going to be frustrated by lack of transport options!

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Pommy bastard10:11 am 20 Nov 10

CraigT said :

OK, so you live in a dreary over-crowded island too close to the Arctic Circle.

How dare you sir!!!!

It’s not that close to the Artic circle!

I’ve seen so many poms make the mistake of moving to Queensland.
OK, so you live in a dreary over-crowded island too close to the Arctic Circle.
Moving to NSW or VIC solves the problem. Moving to Queensland is insane. Rednecks, heat and humidity – no thanks!

The advice they’ve forgotten is this: Canberra is a great place to find work, BUT, as a migrant you will initially have trouble getting security clearances, limiting your options.

Canberra is definitely the place to come to if you want to get away from the crowded row-house and give your children a place with space to grow up in, although many Canberrans with defective parenting skills have children who never seem to leave the house these days and only play indoors. They’re not allowed outside without shoes on, and they can’t go to the park and play by themselves, so if you plan to raise your children like that, you can do it in an apartment block in Brixton.

Not so sure about the better value real estate either… for the price I paid for my place here, I would be in a much better place and location in Brissie..
other than that, it’s a pretty fair assessment.

Yes it’s a good place if you want to commit a murder, chances are you will get a slap on the wrist for it, the kids get so bored that they take to drugs, which is easily accessible.

You need to know people to get most worthwhile jobs here as Canberra is incestuous.

I agree with the quoted part of his article. If you don’t have a car/motorcycle, both of those are very credible statements.

Pommy bastard9:50 am 19 Nov 10

I cannot see much to disagree with there, speaking as an ex-member of the target audience.

But Aus as a “low tax living” country???

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