[theluckycountry]

There is a huge migration into Queensland at present, rural and coastal properties are being snapped up sight unseen by southerners desperate to get away from the lockdowns and the city in general. I myself moved rural from Brisbane a few years ago and am so glad I did, it's seems like a madhouse there now compared to my experience up here. Who else has moved, or is planning the shift? I think from a peakoil perspective it is one of common themes.

[AdamB]

There is a huge migration into Queensland at present, rural and coastal properties are being snapped up sight unseen by southerners desperate to get away from the lockdowns and the city in general. I myself moved rural from Brisbane a few years ago and am so glad I did, it's seems like a madhouse there now compared to my experience up here.

Future banana benders will hardly improve Australia as a whole will it?

I left the rural countryside after global peak oil 1979, never thought about going back.

[Newfie]

Done with it!

[Pops]

Not Australian but,
I've never been much of a city guy, I live on a big town lot in a little <5k town currently. I guess the biggest town I lived in was 150k. In the US sorting is combining with the retiring boomer bubble to fuel relocation from cities where they made a living and grew their equity, to rural areas where the'y can thumb their noses at and complain about cities. The US has sorted so efficiently that one as left-wing as me needs to be either thick skinned, oblivious, introverted or immobile to stomach rural politics. Wasn't always that way.

Back in the oughts I had hopes for a second back-to-the-land movement based on improving tele-commute-ability. It was an ideal way of life for me and I thought it would carry on. But that was a flash in the pan and I don't expect more now regardless of pandemic Zoomification—unless there is a monetary upside for the ownership. People like modern life, of course therein lies the overall problem.

Gut feeling right now, today, is there will be a larger move only if the transition fails. Otherwise kids will move to town to make a living then back to the sticks to gripe about town when they get old.

[Newfie]

Pops,

I figure there are close to 600 living on our BLOCK.

New housing is much more dense.

I had no idea you had never lived in a city.

I lived in CC Philly for 30+ years. And am back here for a few months to renovate this rental unit. I grew up in a very rural setting.

I find little difference between you he city and rural politics. Everyone wants what suits them best.

I am distressed at how partisan and bigoted my left wing friends have become. Frankly I find a lot of misbegotten hatred in the city that is missing in rural areas. Maybe it is just a density thing.

I guarantee you my Wife is left of you and everyone else politically. Yet she too is having a hard time here and has been pushing to sell. Her assessment is that the city is unstable, we need to get out. There is a difference between political ideology (Socialisim, Capitalisim) and the idiotic vitriol that surrounds us. This is pure herd mentality. Never mind it is a left leaning herd. There is no discussion of ideas, it is just affiliation identification and gossip. CNN and FOX. It has no mind, no conscious, only fear. That, to me, is very scary.

[yellowcanoe]

It was my intention to move out of the big stupid city after retiring, preferably to a home on a lake. Unfortunately I have discovered that one of the downsides of being married to an amazing loving caring woman is that she cannot imagine living anywhere other than a few minutes away from her grandchildren!
It hasn't helped that our daughter-inlaw insisted on having four children without any regard for what my step-son wanted and child 3 has ADHD and child 4 has autism so she really needs our help.

Buying a recreational property is also out of the question. The pandemic has pushed cottage prices to stratospheric levels. A basic seasonal wood frame cottage on a good lake is now listing for over $700,000 and actual selling prices are likely quite a bit higher.

[Newfie]

Sail boat?

[Newfie]

Saturday night. City Hall sits IN the intersection of Phillies two major streets, it is the center if a big round about. This escapade closed all traffic.

Give the video a look, worthwhile.

https://6abc.com/philadelphia-city-hall ... /11076583/

But also the murder “close out” rate in Philly is under 30%, apparently the same in most major cities. This is down substantially from previous years. “Close out” does not mean conviction or even arrest, just that the police think they know the culprit.

[Outcast_Searcher]

There is such a thing as compromise.

There are LOTS of small cities with good growth and new jobs, which are neither country living nor big city living.

But a nice compromise with green space, reasonable housing costs, relatively low crime and overall cost of living. But also with jobs, with conveniences like lots of services including doctors and hospitals and restaurants and convenient shopping, et al.

If my city got too big, I'd move to a nearby smaller city (say, within an hour away).

As it is, in my nice, quiet subdivision and shopping mostly via the internet, my life FEELS like living in a small city, which is just dandy by me. Oh, and no longer working, I'm not hit with things like the county employment tax, and the state exemption from income taxes on my pension is nice (though I don't understand why various states provide those to retirees).

[Kajus]

There is such a thing as compromise.

There are LOTS of small cities with good growth and new jobs, which are neither country living nor big city living.

But a nice compromise with green space, reasonable housing costs, relatively low crime and overall cost of living. But also with jobs, with conveniences like lots of services including doctors and hospitals and restaurants and convenient shopping, et al.

If my city got too big, I'd move to a nearby smaller city (say, within an hour away).
Living in town type cities in quite good nowadays.

As it is, in my nice, quiet subdivision and shopping mostly via the internet, my life FEELS like living in a small city, which is just dandy by me. Oh, and no longer working, I'm not hit with things like the county employment tax, and the state exemption from income taxes on my pension is nice (though I don't understand why various states provide those to retirees).

[Plantagenet]

I've lived in some very big cities (New York, San Francisco, Seattle) but now I live in a cabin in central Alaska.

One of the big disadvantages of living far from cities used to be the lack of cultural amenities.

But now, thanks to the internet, I can stream movies and see live plays and opera and dance performances from New York or from Stratford, Canada or from Vancouver Canada or just about anywhere.

Just yesterday I attended by ZOOM a live lecture from Gresham College in London.

Right now I can read any news paper in the world.

I'm probably seeing more great plays now then when I used to live in New York.

So I'm pretty happy right now in my Alaskan cabin. I've got lots of land, lots of wilderness and lots of culture too.



Cheers!

[theluckycountry]

Not Australian but,
I've never been much of a city guy, I live on a big town lot in a little <5k town currently. I guess the biggest town I lived in was 150k. In the US sorting is combining with the retiring boomer bubble to fuel relocation from cities where they made a living and grew their equity, to rural areas where the'y can thumb their noses at and complain about cities. The US has sorted so efficiently that one as left-wing as me needs to be either thick skinned, oblivious, introverted or immobile to stomach rural politics. Wasn't always that way.

Back in the oughts I had hopes for a second back-to-the-land movement based on improving tele-commute-ability. It was an ideal way of life for me and I thought it would carry on. But that was a flash in the pan and I don't expect more now regardless of pandemic Zoomification—unless there is a monetary upside for the ownership. People like modern life, of course therein lies the overall problem.

Gut feeling right now, today, is there will be a larger move only if the transition fails. Otherwise kids will move to town to make a living then back to the sticks to gripe about town when they get old.

Well that pretty much describes me pops, except for the politics. If there is any out here in my rural town, I don't know about it, and I don't vote either, rare for an older person in a country where voting is compulsory. The average Australian cares nothing for politics, very different to the obsession Americans have with their Left and Right.

I bought a big block 'in town' too and I sit up here and brood over the decline of the cities and all the madness coming down the pipe. New hydrogen and ammonia plants up north touted as "Green" in the news, but built right beside the largest natural gas pipeline in the nation. Sustainability revolution? Not from the corporations that's for sure. The only grass-roots one I ever heard that worked was the one in Cuba when the Soviet block collapsed, and that wasn't too good for the Cubans who were suddenly impoverished, but they didn't stave at least.

There are a lot of farms around here but every time a small one comes up for sale it's usually bought as a lifestyle property and becomes unproductive. Cashed up city folks (like me) coming out to live the dream, but they are dreamers if they think their overpowered properties will be sustainable in the decades to come. Perhaps they can revert to farming when their pension funds collapse? All we can do I think is try and make our own little places hardened against energy depletion, I see no leadership from the top and no collective push from the bottom. It's like every man and woman and non-binary (lol) for themselves now.

One disturbing trend I have noticed is that the farmers markets are getting smaller. A lot of older people run the stalls and they are basically retiring and no one is taking their place. The profit isn't in it like it is with supermarkets and the effort of growing, harvesting, driving to market, and setting up a stall for 6 hours just to have to take half of it back home is unrewarding, so they tell me. Anyway that's the world around me, I don't suffer, and I have lots of bicycles, and an electric one too, so I'm getting ready and having fun and fitness along the way.

[Newfie]

Lucky wrote…

Perhaps they can revert to farming when their pension funds collapse?

I think about that a fair bit, especially now that we are thinking of selling our city property. What happens to us when the markets crash?

But then I think “Well I am better off than 90%, how will THEY cope when the markets collapse? Wont I still be better off than 90%?”

No clear answer.

[Shaved Monkey]

There is a huge migration into Queensland at present, rural and coastal properties are being snapped up sight unseen by southerners desperate to get away from the lockdowns and the city in general. I myself moved rural from Brisbane a few years ago and am so glad I did, it's seems like a madhouse there now compared to my experience up here. Who else has moved, or is planning the shift? I think from a peakoil perspective it is one of common themes.

Problem is as someone who has moved to rural Qld nearly 20 years ago from the city is seeing the city come to town
Our small town has doubled in size because of the pandemic and WFH (work from home).
The place is full of exotic European sports cars instead of the usual beaten up 4X4s.
Great if your selling though

It has been nice to have no restrictions except for the initial lockdown and no covid though

That will change when the let all the southerners in for Xmas...atleast we will be over 80% vaxxed and they will need to be dvaxxed to enter

[Newfie]

Our house goes in the market early December. We bought a 16’ cargo trailer for the stuff we want to keep. Someday we will buy another place, maybe.

[Shaved Monkey]

There is a huge migration into Queensland at present, rural and coastal properties are being snapped up sight unseen by southerners desperate to get away from the lockdowns and the city in general. I myself moved rural from Brisbane a few years ago and am so glad I did, it's seems like a madhouse there now compared to my experience up here. Who else has moved, or is planning the shift? I think from a peakoil perspective it is one of common themes.

Our town in regional Qld has gone from 2000+ to 6000+ mainly covid refugees from down south who were willing to sell up do the 14 day quarantine to cross the border.
We have had no covid and no restrictions except for the initial few week lock down at the start,so it was tempting.

[theluckycountry]

Our town in regional Qld has gone from 2000+ to 6000+ mainly covid refugees from down south who were willing to sell up do the 14 day quarantine to cross the border.
We have had no covid and no restrictions except for the initial few week lock down at the start,so it was tempting.

I don't know what it is with my settings but I don't get notified here if someone quotes me in a post? Mods???

You must be outside the SE corner, this is typical of government, they only enforce things where they know they'll get away with it and don't even try in other areas. They can't afford to look ineffective, as they would if they'd mandated lockdowns at Hervey bay, Dalby or thargomindah.

Some of our new arrivals have a definite city mindset, wanting the "renovate" straight away, planning pools and other crap. Every new arrival goes on a two year probation ol neighbor told me this afternoon. We have a new couple in our street and I was "reporting" on my chat with them hahaha, just like some parochial old timer. But the truth is there are some real sheeple moving out into our areas and I don't want to get involved with them at any level. Country folk and I think of things like resilience, and resistance to government authority, a lot more than the average supermarket junkie. Out here you either fit in or are a leper.