City
The problem with studies like Social Cities from Melbourne’s Grattan Institute is that they cling to old-fashioned notions of social norms. Like the difference between suburban and city life and what it means to be part of a community.
According to their research, the fact that 25 per cent of Australian city dwellers live in single occupancy households, shows a heightened increase in the national experience of loneliness and isolation. But just because a person lives alone, does not mean that they are lonely.
Ask anyone who might be sharing with their extended family right now, or living in a share house. To people like this, the idea of living alone and having your own space is a luxury. You get to come home to a house just the way you left it, have full ownership of the contents of your fridge and never have to fight over the remote.
Welcome to this week’s “I Call Bullshit”, which has been slowly percolating inside of me for many years.
It’s about the myth that there is a deep divide in this country between people who come from the cities, and the people who come from the regions, and that the latter are somehow fundamentally different from everyone else; that they are in some way more “real” Australians than the people who live in the comfort of the suburbs.
Somehow, we have accepted this notion that once you drive out of a big city, you cross some invisible line that maps out “real” Australia. It’s one great big construct that has no basis in reality.
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Sam says:
@ mark The past is alive and well, aussies seem to want time to stop and along with that the deeply ingrained racism aswell, country folk are part of the population and are part of the population issue to, this is the point of the story, the myth of country… Read more »
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Mark says:
@ Sam. The sun never sets on the British empire. Not my beleif, crap forced on me by and you by another culture, we can use history to reduce our future mistakes or live in the grudge of the past and just let the mistakes continue to happen, I have… Read more »
Leave the city behind. Leave the traffic and the noise, and the crime and the expensive real estate, and escape to somewhere… idyllic. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Maybe a little too good to be true.
Well it is. Watch out all you tree changers and sea changers - life outside the city can be divine. But it’s not some hazy-edged utopian dream.
Apparently Australians are leaving the big smokes - especially Sydney - in droves. They’re going to the coast, or near-city centres, or not-so-near-city-centres.
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Northern Steve says:
While Noosa is not Mlebourne, it’s not exactly country either. I suggest that if your commute was 130km each day, then the problem is not the country, but the fact your chose to live too far from your work. I live country, and have a 10 minute commute, seeing as… Read more »
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Northern Steve says:
NBN? You’re kidding, right. My exchange was on the list for upgrade to ADSL. Since the NBN was mooted, upgrades to ADSL have stopped. I doubt that I will get the NBN at my place, and if I do, it’ll be at least 5 years away. eMedicine also has its… Read more »
You’d be laughed out of town if you said that you’d moved to regional Australia for the hustle and bustle, so why do people who live in big cities spend so much time complaining how noisy it is.
Message to city-dwellers: when you choose to live in a metropolis there’s a few things that you must accept.
a) It’s never going to be easy to find a parking spot. b) You’re probably going to have a frustratingly small wheelie bin that will be stolen more than a handful or times and, c) It’s never, never, ever, ever going to be quiet. Never.
Continue reading "Hey city-slickers, stop shouting about the noise" »
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Paranoia says:
I’d always thought buskers couldn’t have amplification, but it seems they do here in Brisvegas too. I actually live on the fringe of Ipswich CBD… and I don’t mind a bit of noise and people having a good time. I object to screaming out obscenities outside my door at 3am,… Read more »
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Sam says:
It is possible to have a conversation on any topic and in any language without disturbing those beyond a certain distance. It’s not public transport, it’s a zoo packed with boring animals like sheep and cattle. The worst offenders are young professional women on mobile phones. A more selfish and… Read more »
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