Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Great Aussie Dream....or is it?

My mind often wonders off at little tangents and this morning, I contemplated home ownership, which, as most of us know, is often referred to as the "Great Aussie Dream." Home ownership is great. It's your little world, yours to mould into whatever you desire, a reflection of how you want to live and the things you like. On the other hand, I really do wonder about the modern version of what this so called "dream" really is.

While Australia has suddenly, since 2000ish, been at the receiving end of economic prosperity, a lot of people now call Australia home, but I contemplate what sort of home.

For example; a lot of people, especially new immigrants, rent. The Aussie dream is not alive for these people. Those fortunate enough to have bought and paying off a mortgage, the dream is coming to life, but what sort of dream? I mean, seriously, what is the average dream property for Australians? To me, it seems to be the 3,1,1 (3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 living area), or the 4,2,2 (4 bedroom, bath/ensuite and 2 living areas) which, on the face of it, seems great. The part I have trouble with is the size of the land. I mean seriously, does the Great Aussie Dream (GAD) involve a 600 square block of dirt, or even worse that I have seen recently, 420 or 330? What about terrace living? I mean, who really wants to live in a place where you can't go outside to have a fart or burp, without 8 of your neighbouring house dwellers hearing it? That is my definition of virtually no provacy. It's hell.

You see I have a problem with this. Australia is a vast, untapped country, with cazzillions of acres right across each State. So why do we end up in a house with a backyard where the dog has to strategically pick where it shits just so it doesn't step in it when walking around? And further, guess how much we are paying for these blocks, just for the convenience of urban living? Big money...

On the other hand, I have just completed, for fun, a little research in areas that are not in urban hell, but in a place where the GAD can become a true reality. For example, you can buy 100 acres in outback Queensland for about $150,000....with power and a bore. Why are these sitting there idle, no interest and no one buying, yet a 600 square hell block for 250K in urbania gets snapped up faster than I can say, STOP!??? I mean, I myself do the same thing, but why am I scared to buy in rural areas?

Have we became a fully urban nation? Is the convenience of having things at your fingertips that important? Obviously, or I wouldn't be having this rant. But I challenge the need for 99% of the population to live in suburbs rather than Aussies spreading their wings and looking for land. There is soooo much out there, un-used, left alone, forgotten.

The GAD, is living in hell. The GAD is dead. Long live land.

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