Best place to live - ACT or NSW

[XJKEE]

I am moving to Canberra for work and have the option of living in the ACT or close by in NSW. What is the best option especially for car rego, modifications, prices etc etc.

[Raisins78]

not much difference between them as far as car mods, rego etc. But the only NSW area there is Queanbeyan, and its pretty scummy. I lived there for a while, then bought a house in Cooma and did the drive to Canberra every day. Was so worth it.
Rent in Canberra (and Queanbeyan) are very expensive. It was cheaper to buy in Cooma....buy almost half!
a decent house was around $500-$650/week anywhere in Canberra, Houses in Cooma are still under $200k for some....which is around $300 a week in loan repayments.

[quints]

Raisins is right, XJKEE. Queanbehole can be cheaper, but even the locals I know from there refer to it as, well, Queanbehole. It's a quaint enough place, but not quaint enough for me to live there.

I have looked at the Cooma option before and will admit it has some appeal. But, as against that, I have -- in a past life -- lived a good hour's (highway) commute from work before (which, in Canberra's case, would put Goulburn in the frame as well), and found that it wears thin after a while. While I know that there are lots of people (western Sydney?) who have longer commutes every day, I quite enjoy being able to get in the car on Friday afternoon after the drudgery of a working week and, even in 'peak hour' traffic, be home in 15 minutes.

Yes, rent in Canberra can be astronomical and I am very lucky where I am (Canberra inner north -- $400-00 a week for a 3 bedroom, circa '67 built, ex-govvie). But you can still find decent places in that bracket around the place. And, really, Canberra is a nice place to live. Is it worth the rent premium? Yeah . . . I think so (especially if you work out your fuel costs running the 220 km a day round trip between here and, say, Cooma in the XJ! . . . at least $250-00 a week).

One thing working to your advantage is your ETA here. Canberra has a large-ish 'transient' population. From about November through to February there is a lot of turnover and churn in the rental and property market. There's students leaving and starting, there's Defence Pnl finshing up rotations and others starting and lots of PS contracts finish with new ones about to start. But, in winter, there are also a lot of people -- longer term residents -- who just say, "last year was the last winter I'm prepared to endure" and, so, they go 'home' (to wherever 'home' for them is). The market slumps a little this time of year.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, mate, just PM me. Happy to give you some contact details and have a crack at answering any questions you might have. Learnt a bit from my relocation here from Brisbane 8 years ago and from having lived here that time.

[XJKEE]

I get a house through defence (still have to pay rent but easier to move). My choices are Harrison, Franklin, Casey, Amaroo and Jerrabomerra working at Fyshwick. Jerrabomerra is closest by about 5km being 13km from my work, but it is NSW, the other 4 are ACT.

[XJKEE]

Oh and talking about rents - you should see the astonomical prices in Darwin. Most other places are cheap compared.

[Suzy07]

Me and Dave live in gungahlin , and it takes Dave 20 mins to get to adfa. The houses in Franklin and Harrison are nice

[quints]

Mmm . . . Harrison, Franklin, Casey and Amaroo are all 'outer' north (and are about in that order in increasing radius I'd reckon). Jerra is south-ish. Head to Hume and turn left not far past the prison.

Jerra would probably be closer to Fishdick, but may not be quicker in terms of travel time. You'd have what is known as the 'Monaro Grand Prix' to contend with (which is the 'fun and games' of hiking down the Monaro Highway every day).

I don't know a whole lot about Jerra (other than it's in NSW), but at least in Harrison, Franklin and Casey, you're not too far from the 'town centres' of Gungahlin and Belconnen. Civic (the city) would only be 20 - 30 minutes away in off-peak times (weekends and the like). Those suburbs are among the newer ones in the ACT as well (as in only about 5 years old in the case of Harrison and only about 3 in the case of Casey. Amaroo is a bit older). Jerra's closest 'town centre' would probably be Tuggeranong (or Woden?).

I know where I'd rather be on the weekend and finding myself bored rigid at home thinking, "Pharque this . . . think I'll head out for a beer, movie, aimless meander around the shops, Brumbies / Raiders / GWS game . . ." (and it ain't Jerra).

But travel times around Canberra are quirky anyway. From my place I have the choice of about four routes to get to, say, Fishdick. All different lengths. All take about the same length of time to drive.

Proximity to 'off leash' areas for the XJ are about the same between Jerra and the outer north. Though I'd reckon you'd be in the Brindabellas quicker from Harrison than from Jerra.

And, anyway . . . it seems anyone can have yellow and black number plates on their vehicles. But, having blue and white ones, starting with a 'Y', is much rarer.

I'm well aware of Darwin rents. Stoopid money. The situation is occuring in all sorts of places. Bundaberg, Gladstone, even places like Charters Towers are ridiculous. If it's within the catchment of mining operations, it seems to be fair game.