Voice of Real Australia: Dreams come true for many Australians fleeing big cities | Islander

A friend sent me a photo this weekend. Sitting in her backyard in Sydney, she browsed the properties section of the weekend newspaper as her daughter built a farm with her toys.

Following the announcement that Sydney’s instant lockdown was to be extended from eastern beaches to all of Greater Sydney, and from a week to two it was the closest the family would travel to Echuca where they were supposed to be directed to a farm stay.

Yes, as I predicted last week, another school vacation, another confinement. This time it’s Sydney, not Melbourne, which is closing while the rest of the country closes borders.

Two weeks is certainly bearable, and it’s nothing compared to what Melbourne went through last year, but it is nonetheless only one of the many reasons why we have seen a huge increase in interest in regional areas on the part of the inhabitants of the big cities and this is not just fantasy.

While my friend and I may have indulged in the classic Australian pastime of talking about property by exchanging links of some of the great properties for sale across Australia, we also chatted about friends who have passed over. ‘a big city to a small one, or even gone across the country buying a farm and changing their whole way of life.

Our friends are not the only ones. There are a lot of areas where the problem isn’t the boom in house prices, it’s the complete lack of anything to sell.

It’s not just the roller coaster of emotions provoked by the lockdowns that are sparking this interest. Many people were considering relocating, and recent restrictions on travel, both overseas and interstate, have crystallized the idea of ​​what people want. And unsurprisingly, what people want are not traffic jams, blockages and

Why stay in a place where you always dream of another place when you can definitely settle in the place of your dreams.

Of course, it’s not always that simple, or so idyllic, once you’ve settled into your new home and find out you’ve swapped traffic jams for slow internet or intermittent mobile reception.

As we celebrate the benefits of increasing population in regional areas, whether it’s an increase in childcare options or schools or maybe your local soccer team or your volunteer group has seen an influx of new members, we also recognize that the increase in demand for housing has seen others shut out of the market.

So wherever you are in Australia, we hope you join the conversation as we explore the good, the bad and the unexpected impact of #RacetotheRegions