City or Country Living?

City?  NO!

I have lived in country areas and in the city.  Where I lived as a child in Adelaide, it was right on the edge of “civilisation”.  Across the road from our house, was a railway line.  The house is still there, and so is the railway line.  Nowadays it is not steam trains playing their way along the tracks.

On the other side of the tracks were open paddocks, a horse track and a vineyard, and the occasional house.  In the 14 years I lived there, many things changed.  Houses were built everywhere, the road in front of our house which had been a dirt track when we first moved there, became a sealed road. Traffic increased.

I used to walk to school – nearly 2 km through open bush, now it is all built on with houses and roads.

To the Country

When I was 19, I moved to Mt Gambier – was still a country town at that time.  I lived at the Nurses Home in the hospital grounds.  Within a couple of kilometres of the town centre, it was country.  Farms of all sorts, and further out acres of pine forests.

When I married I moved to Warrnambool – a bigger place, but still country living.

Back to City Living

Subsequently, I lived in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – and while sometimes we lived some distance from the city centre, it was still much busier than my preferred “country life”.

Of course, with all the developments over the years, cities and suburbs have become bustling places.  I do avoid the city – in fact, have lived in a rural beachside village for around 4 years and it is my preference to live in such a place.  However, my families live in major city spaces.  My daughter in Brisbane and my son on the Gold Coast.

I hate the traffic, I hate the multi-storied accommodation blocks.  I am dismayed that the council lets developers continue to build such monstrosities.  Parking is a massive issue around these places.  Parking in the areas around these places is difficult.  Massive shopping centres service the residents in these areas – again parking is challenging – in fact on occasions one has to pay to park a car and go shopping.

Driving in the city and close to city suburbs traffic is challenging too.  It takes ages sometimes, and the drivers clearly don’t understand or follow the road rules.

It makes me want to scream!!!!

Currently, I am house sitting – so am lucky to enjoy staying in more rural areas.  (Though you may not escape traffic issues – am at a home on the D’Aguilar Highway and the traffic is heavy and noisy!).

Where to Next?

City or Country Living? 1

Beside a Lake or River is good.

City or Country Living? 2

Near the bush with friendly neighbours

Where do I want to live – where do I want to live for the next phase of my life?  Definitely not in a busy city.  Maybe some 50 km from the centre of the city of Brisbane?  However, I am challenged by that – as I will not be close to my family members.  I want to be in a community – surrounded by friendly souls.  Somewhere where I don’t have to travel far to shop (although I know that these days I can order almost anything online. I want to be surrounded by trees and open paddocks or water.  I’m happy to be near animals e.g. goats, cattle, sheep, horses etc.

I just don’t want to have to breathe in the dust and pollution from high traffic or hear the noise of constant vehicles passing.  I want fresh air and peace.

Maybe I will not get what I want. Dream On!




 

 

 

 

Share This:

About Di Hill

My business card says "Writer, Traveller, Camera Addict, Bamboo Fan, Workshop Presenter." This website will focus on my writing - and the workshops I present. Workshops on Blogging, Marketing for Writers, and Life Story Writing.
This entry was posted in Environment and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.