Australians have followed the American dream: A 3 bedroom house, an
SUV, a big backyard and 10 paces from the house to any other property to
keep neighbours at bay. Our overgrown houses are now the largest among
the world’s detached dwellings – and we pay the price. All of
Australia’s major cities are in the top listed expensive cities of the
world to live in, with Sydney ranking 7th in the world.
The cost
of living in Sydney, however, is not limited to the price of a house.
Sydney has the highest average commute time in Australia, at 4 hours and
48 minutes. But rather than encourage greater density around employment
centres as the Metro Strategy suggests, local councils are fighting for
what they believe their residents want and therefore should continue to
have: wide, green streets with large front and back gardens and nothing
above 2-3 storeys. Australians don’t have a front garden culture –
we’re out the back with the kids or the barbecue, which means the
remaining green space is purely for visual purposes. Those with children
will be intimately aware of just how unsustainable this is, with many
more now living with parents into their late 20s. But a willingness to
change planning controls could deliver three times the housing we have
in many of Sydney’s suburbs.
Sydney’s North Shore offers fine examples of spacious, wasteful planning
controls. Frenches forest is a planned major centre in the Metro
Strategy and 12 km from the CBD.
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| Collaroy beach near Sydney. Downtown Sydney is seen in the picture, by sebr |
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| Sydney skyline, photo by Simon_sees |
more about Sydney, Australia:
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