Canberra.. Opinions.. Good and bad..

[ROOSTA]

Hey guys,

I have been offered a decent job in Canberra.. I have only ever been there twice and can't remember much of it..

What are your opinions good and bad of the place??? Any of you living or have lived there??

Cheers,
Nik

[Sorted]

The Good:-

Summernats
Looks like a sleepy town
Very open and lots of space (healthy living)
Not as Busy as other capital citys around Aus

[rag top]

I live in the ACT.

Summers are generally dry and hot, whilst the winters can get a little cold. Close ish to the south coast, snow and Sydney. Roads are good!

As a place to live, I like it.

What industry is the job in & what side of town??

[barthez]

rental prices are pretty high arent they??

[Pinch]

Hey

I worked there for a year on secondment in 2003/04.

Main things:

I thought accommodation (both rental and purchase) would be cheaper than Sydney - its not. Many rentals require a 12 month lease - no shorter. Some of the cheaper places like Dunlop and Tuggeranong can be real commutes and chew through the ACT's relatively expensive petrol (prob about the same as A/W though). Check out allhomes.com.au for an idea.

Non public service jobs can be hard to get, even PS jobs can be difficult to get in some vocations. One of the main reasons we left was my wife never really got any meaningful work in the year we were there. She was qualified as a teacher, legal secretary, and had worked at various levels of retail through uni. She only ever got some temp legal work and some casual shifts at a shoe store that a colleague of mines husband ran.

I was always colder in Canberra in winter than any time I visited Albury - 4 or 5 times a year. No humidity in summer though. I missed the beach and decent water skiing - there is only one spot on the Molonglo that you have to book in advance.

Driving was really good though, crap public transport the downside. Everyone else seemed to drink drive. I lived out of town and am fundamentally opposed to it though so I didn't. I didn't mind the roundabouts though.

If you have Austar you can't take it to Canberra, they have a demarc with Foxtel so you have to get a new contract and setup.

PM me about anything else.

My experience was a bit tainted, and I was from Sydney, but I know a few others that went down around the same time and have really established themselves there and are really happy.

Good luck.

[ROOSTA]

Wat about rego?? How much? Does it include CTP? Yearly RWC??

Job is still with Jaycar but they want me to go to their Belconnen store as manager..

From what i have found rentals are pretty pricey.. At this stage still considering it but they want me to start 1st week of January so need to get the ball rolling so to speak..

Cheers,
Nik

[rag top]

Originally Posted by barthez

rental prices are pretty high arent they??

Don't know, as I don't rent.

Here is a site to get an idea of rental prices:
http://allhomes.com.au/c/ah?a=rent

[rag top]

Originally Posted by ROOSTA

Wat about rego?? How much? Does it include CTP? Yearly RWC??

Job is still with Jaycar but they want me to go to their Belconnen store as manager..

From what i have found rentals are pretty pricey.. At this stage still considering it but they want me to start 1st week of January so need to get the ball rolling so to speak..

Cheers,
Nik

Rego here is based on weight of vehicle.
Includes CTP. Once the car has passed RWC, no further inspections required on renewal of rego (unless it lapses for more than 12 months).

[rag top]

Try these links:

http://www.rego.act.gov.au/licensing/licencemoveact.htm

http://www.rego.act.gov.au/registrations/regofee.htm

[plext]

I live about 80km North-East of Canberra and find myself in there most days for work purposes. If I had to use a single word to describe it, it would be "sterile", it's all a little too planned and ordered for my tastes, but let me emphasise that that is a personal thing, I'm not much of a fan of any city, hence me living outside one.

As cities go, it appears to be a reasonable one from my perspective: Big enough to be useful in the way of amenities, not too big to be obnoxious. Having spent time in cities such as London and Sydney, I can't believe somebody claimed commuting can be awkward, in relation to those places, I've never seen any real traffic at all. An exchange with a local went something like this: "Can you believe the traffic this morning?" "erm.....I was behind about 12 cars at one set of lights" "Yeah! Horrible wasn't it?" "..............."

Can't comment on the housing as I don't actually live there as such.

The cold is annoying in winter if you're not used to it but the summers are nice in compensation. Overall, I reckon it's pretty good as they go and probably worth a try, though I do doubt that it's to everybodies taste.

Good luck with it.

[ROOSTA]

Thanks heaps guys.. Always helps to have a little extra info..

Cheers,
Nik

[Scott]

Do it. Canberra is the easiest Capital City to live in bar none. Winter is miserable, summer is glorious. The only way to enjoy Canberra is to have a good network of friends otherwise it can be a boring place. Rent has been sub 1% for some time now and the weekend adds actually make up the 1% so it's pretty tough!! Expect to pay a min of $350/wk for a pretty average place but average for Canberra is better than average in most cites.

Be prepared for -9 in Winter & 49 in Summer - yes it swings that much.

Employment in Canberra is very good - due to several major projects still kicking along (like Centrelink, HQJOC, AG's, DIAC, Brindabella Park, Fairbairn etc etc), the wave has not yet peaked. After the major projects wind up there is a raft of medium projects waiting for the resources to deliver them. APS & Private are hiring well, APS has dropped off after the election but will come good soon.

Good luck!!

[Harro]

As long as you enjoy round abouts it's fine lol

[ms700]

Yeah, like someone said, you need a good network of friends or else it can get fairly boring, not a great deal to do here. Close to the south coast, close to Sydney, close to the snow.

I quite like it, as for house prices i think they are quite reasonable, a 4 bedder recently got auctioned and sold 2 streets down from me, 4 beds, rumpus, huge pool, outdoor entertaining area etc, sold for 475,000. I live in Tuggers, approx 20 mins to the CBD. Id love to know what a average 4 bedder sells for in Sydney, 20 mins from the CBD.

[XR6WGN]

I was based there from 88 - 93 (Australian Navy) and lived / worked in Tuggeranong - OK my housing was subsidised and being in the forces, I didn't really have to change my Rego to ACT. But as a place to live (we as a family) really enjoyed the 5 yrs we were there.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by ms700

Id love to know what a average 4 bedder sells for in Sydney, 20 mins from the CBD.

Not really relevant to compare to Sydney as it has about half a dozen CBD's - all bigger than Civic.

[olfella]

and Albury is only 4 hours down the road.. 2 hours to the coast... wont mention the snow.

[Rob]

I got really really really drunk last time I was in Canberra, and it was fun. I stayed at ADFA in some empty room, I dont remember much of that trip. Good times though :

Canberra is good.

[Bucknaked]

Canberra is a great city. Easy to get around, good roads, all the major shopping centres. An International airport, that doesn't go international. 2 1/2 to Sydney, 2 to the coast and 6 to Melbourne. Snow an hour so away if your into that kind thing is good. Great for turbo's in winter. If you have kids, its a good place to raise a family. No industry means no polution. Its a good city

[speed d8r]

Take the job the staff are crap we need someone that's good

[ROOSTA]

LOL.. are u a staff member or a customer??

I am still sitting on the fence about Belconnen as they have offered me a manager position at another store..

I will be up there on the weekend to have a look at the place..

Cheers,
Nik

[speed d8r]

I'm a customer, only if I don't have time to go out to Fyshwick. The Belconnen store's about 5mins from my house still go to Fyshwick if I can.