Sunday, August 11, 2013

Suburbia revisited

My little family has lived in suburban Toowoomba for almost two years now; in a plain, no frills, small little house, made of bricks and colorbond.

I'll be truthful, it's not where I imagined to be by 2013, but then again, I don't think I had a particular 'dream' for this phase of my life.

Suburbia, to me, is kind of a living hell. Most of the time:

1. Our windows are closed with curtains and blinds virtually permanently closed. We typically live in darkness and artificial light.
2. When we do go outside, we have 634 square metres of "land". The reality is there is a patch of about 4 by 14 metre grass to run around on, the rest is house, sheds, garden, totally useless unfenced front yard, carport and driveway, and trailer space. It's a bit like watching lions in those small cages. Space, yes, but it's really just a small holding pen.
3. There is no paths leading to the local park; we become 'road walkers', dodging cars and pushing prams up and down  the kerb between the road and the council strip.
4. The local 'park' has unsuitable play equipment for my 2 and 3 year old. Half of it disappeared one day after some teens melted some of the plastic tunnels with some sort of fire producing device.
5. At around end-of-school time, the street becomes a mini racing strip of mummy taxis.
6. Birds.


Look in all honesty it's not too bad. Of course there are heaps of awesome parts to living so close to convenience, to life, and really, we are lucky to have great neighbours (although next door just moved out, here's hoping).

At the moment, suburbia is close to work, which is good. But soon enough, work will change once again and I'll be doing my 30-35 minute "thinking time" drive all over again.

The bottom line thought I think for me has become about the actual house itself. This particular one is your typical three bedder with the original garage remodded to be a rumpus/large 4th bedroom. It's starting to grow on me in terms of practical space; recently I've added more storage and it's starting to work. It's become easier to live with.

What is most perplexing for me is how do millions upon millions choose this living option. How do they favour such an option? How do they "live with" this type of living? Is it by choice?

Suburbia....the joy of confinement.    

7 comments:

Brett said...

I guess it all comes down to each persons individual outlook. To some people your situation could be a dream come true!
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Unknown said...

Toowoomba is a very cultural place and you will find at the university that half of the diverse cultures are all there! In saying that - it was a great experience and the people you find working with and speaking to are just wonderful.You can trustfully do property investing in australia

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