Best place to live in Aus carfree???

[pospete]

Well I live carfree in the eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. PT is great but also at the bottom of the road is the Koonung Trail, which leads on to the Yarra trail and all the way into Melbourne CBD. Numerous roads have cycle lanes too. I often take a short cut at Kew and head into the city via Richmond and Bridge street down Flinders Strret on my way to the beach. Melbourne is quite hilly tho, but I like Melbourne. It has great cosmopoliton charm, and generally the people are friendly.

[McPete]

Pardon my interjection here, but I'm going to have to flag down Wollongong.

There are excellent arterial cycleways along the coast, a number running inland, the drivers have been kind to me, the ultimate mug rider, there are no few major hills unless you go up the escarpment and only a few little ones, and the shops, schools and other useful bits and bobs are within very easy reach. Schools are easy to get to, there are no less than 6, (4 primary, 2 secondary) within easy riding distance of my home in Balgownie!

The people are very friendly in general, a lot more relaxed than Sydney but it's hardly a backwater. Within reason, if you need it, it's here. Property heavily depends on two things: a) What you can see out the window and, b) How close you are to the water. A typical 3 bedroom house with a sizeable backyard in Balgownie (reasonably upmarket) costs anywhere from $490 to $550 thousand dollars at the moment.

In support of my argument, I present the RTA cyceway maps for the area(cycleways marked with green dots):

Northern section: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/trafficinform ... w_a1_1.pdf

Southern Section: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/trafficinform ... w_a1_2.pdf

I agree, have a good look around the country and find somewhere that suits you. If you get the chance to stop by here on a weekend, I'd be more than happy to show you about the place.

Peter

[heavymetal]

Perth is a good place. You just have to get used to dragging your bicycle out of molten concrete

Oh Yeah, I burn't my hands on my bike tools the other day. A couple of years ago the thermometer on my handlebars exploded at 67 degrees celsius.

Perth's a great place to ride though especially in winter

[sogood]

A couple of years ago the thermometer on my handlebars exploded at 67 degrees celsius.

Clear contraindication for CF bling components! Go steel, stay real!

[beauyboy]

Ok as no one else has done it I will say it. Brissy is not bad.
However be aware that Brisbane is subtropical and that means hot humid Summers and warm winters. While all the fatties and unhealthy people Brisbane can get cold once you start exercising you find that it is not that cool. I easily have a sweat up riding to tafe and that is with no shirt on

A good suburb for bikes in brissy is the Sandgate area. It is flat has all the fasilities you would want and a easy train ride to the city. Beware that gettin to the city by bikefrom Sandgate is not a great option .
No i do not live there but I have.

Donald

[sogood]

Brissy is not bad... Beware that gettin to the city by bike is not a real option

How is that so? All the roads into the city are blocked for cyclists?

[beauyboy]

Ok rephrase then . Access from the Northern suburbs by bike is hard. Access to cbd from Sandgate is via a busy artirial road or a very roundabout recreational bikeway. Access from the south and west of the city is good both having there own artirial offroad bikeways.

Beauyboy

[dianebites]

Thanks for all you're help. I think I already dismissed sydney and Perth (just too hot I like the cold). I have read on other sites about canberra, being bike friendly any suggestions on suburbs here i should look at???.

[sogood]

Thanks for all you're help. I think I already dismissed sydney and Perth (just too hot I like the cold). I have read on other sites about canberra, being bike friendly any suggestions on suburbs here i should look at???.

You may have some mis-perception on the climate here. Canberra being inland is significantly hotter than Sydney during the summer months, while colder with regular frosts in the winter.

Being close to the sea, the daily temperature range in Sydney is actually a lot narrower than inland. There's even a significant difference b/n Sydney around the CBD to that of Parramatta and beyond, which is around 30km more inland.

If you like colder climate, then Hobart in Tasmania may be a consideration.

[mikesbytes]

Sydney and Perth too hot...

Perhaps you should investigate Tasmania.

Australian weather here ==> http://www.bom.gov.au/

Burn plenty of Glycogen
training log

[LuckyPierre]

... Canberra being inland is significantly hotter than Sydney during the summer months, while colder with regular frosts in the winter ...

The main reason Canberra is hotter than Sydney during summer is because our itinerant workers descend on us and fill the place with hot air. Fortunately, they all stay inside at night and the temperature cools down, whereas the overnight temperatures in Sydney stay higher after its relatively humid days.
Seriously, the daily temperature range during summer is one of Canberra's best kept secrets. We get nice dry heat, then cool nights - being inland and at altitude has its benefits.
As far as suburbs go, it's difficult to say. We all have our biases (especially on this forum), and I'm a northsider. For some reason, Canberrans tend to divide into those who live north or south of Lake Burley Griffin. So, of course, I'm more likely to say: "Live on the nothside". But, I've lived in Canberra for extended periods three times, and during the first two I was a southsider - so I'm actually going to say "Come and see for yourself!"
As you can tell, we all have our own biases and we all like where we live (except for Matagi ).
Still on the serious side, I think that the smaller, regional cities are easier to live in than our big ones. I've lived and worked in Sydney and Adelaide, and worked for reasonably extended periods in Melbourne and Brisbane. I'm lucky enough to choose where I live and work, and I've chosen to come back to Canberra. There are times when it means I have to travel (like when I have to walk on a beach), but the coast is less than two hours away, Sydney only a bit more and terrific riding is just outside my door (I can be riding without a suburb in sight in less than 10 minutes).
In general, the 'older' suburbs (after all, Canberra didn't exist until 1927, so we don't have any old ones) are more preferred - mainly because they're more central, but the 'middle-aged' ones are the best served by facilities. My personal favourite is Aranda - close to two universities (one within 10 minutes, the other 20 minutes by bike), a preschool, two primary schools and a high school within the suburb, large playing fields and the Aranda bushland and Black Mountain Nature Park as two borders, local shops a five minute ride and a suburban shopping centre less than 15 minutes ride away.
What more could you wish for?

[sogood]

Bias for our own city? Never!

Very seriously, out of all the cities around Australia and across the world I've been to, there's no city better than Sydney!

How's that!

[mikesbytes]

What about Christchurch. Flat, bike friendly and cold. Have to learn Kiwi instead of Aussie.

Burn plenty of Glycogen
training log

[sogood]

What about Christchurch. Flat, bike friendly and cold. Have to learn Kiwi instead of Aussie.

When did Christchurch become a part of Australia?

[mikesbytes]

What about Christchurch. Flat, bike friendly and cold. Have to learn Kiwi instead of Aussie.

When did Christchurch become a part of Australia?

Reverse engineered the requirement

Burn plenty of Glycogen
training log

[adelaidecyclist]

I haven't ridden anywhere else in Australia, but I'm another +1 for Adelaide.

I haven't owned a car for about 7 months now, and up until now I've had no need for one (new job will require me to drive unfortunately).

It's relatively flat if you stay around the inner suburbs, and from an "overall point of view" (dunno what I'm trying to say here?) it's small enough to be able to cater for cyclists and not have gridlocked roads, but big enough to still be able to acquire a job in most fields.

Good luck with it.. Not owning a car and having a family is hard core.

[dianebites]

always thought NZ looked a bit to hilly, only been on the North Island many years ago, but was interested in all you're comments

[mikesbytes]

Christchurch and Adelaide are similar.

Burn plenty of Glycogen
training log

[pospete]

Thanks for all you're help. I think I already dismissed sydney and Perth (just too hot I like the cold). I have read on other sites about canberra, being bike friendly any suggestions on suburbs here i should look at???.

I don't think I'dd like Canberra, I mean thats even closer to John Howard then Melbourne is!

[matagi]

Bias for our own city? Never!

Very seriously, out of all the cities around Australia and across the world I've been to, there's no city better than Sydney!

How's that!

Bias? Nah, more like living in a fantasy world.

[LuckyPierre]

I don't think I'd like Canberra, I mean that's even closer to John Howard then Melbourne is!

Don't worry, he's only here a few weeks of the year - and even then I don't think I've ever seen him.
You often see our local politicians - you even John Stanhope out doing his own shopping, whereas I don't think that little Johnny Arthur would recognise the inside of a supermarket.