mrsf

We moved to Armidale as a family 8 years ago. Our children spent their latter primary school and high school years here, and have each successfully obtained steady employment and trade training here with no problems. The public schools they attended left a lot to be desired (they lacked adequate communication and the staff are both incompetent and judgmental). Each of our children (now adults) has faired much better after leaving school and obtaining employment. All of them successfully found work in retail, hospitality, and trades/building industries in Armidale within a month of completing school, with one attending university. My husband and I have found steady ongoing work here in our fields (we both have a Masters level of education) and have been better off financially here than any other place in which weve lived. I would however say it is more difficult to establish yourself as a sole trader if you are new to town, but that would apply to most towns. There are a lot of churches for the religiously minded but they are more religious than useful. They tend to be cliquey and unfriendly (we have tested most of them). You wont find it easy making friends in the churches unless you live up to their lofty expectations. And if you dont go to a church, if not for the presence of religious buildings, you would never know there are even Christian people in the town. They do not seem to do any community involvement or outreach so unbelievers or people of other faiths can quite easily get along without ever knowing the Christians exist outside of their religious buildings. Crime does exist here with house break ins and it is highly recommended that you have good security around your home (though this tends to ebb and flow and seems to be due a handful of people who eventually get caught). Ive lived all over Australia though and it seems much the same as anywhere else. The bogans do let the town down (they seem to be most of the negative reviewers who have posted previously) as they expect everything to be handed to them without effort. Well it doesnt matter where you go in this world, if you are not prepared to educate yourself in a trade, industry or higher education then you have to settle for the lower rung on a capitalist ladder. Thats the nature of Western Civilisation. You have to work and make an effort to get what you want. We rented for a few years before buying. Our rent was reasonable for a nice home on a large property with very friendly landlords. We have now purchased and are very happy with our home. We are in town in a good area and can enjoy a mostly quiet home life where we can have visitors or keep to ourselves as we choose. Life is what you make it, and that applies to wherever you choose to live.

Pros: small town with most of what you need in retail, food, and health with larger regional centres within an easy few hours drive.
Good surrounds of natural beauty, national parks,
seasons,
rural,
climate,
opportunities for personal growth ,
higher education,
trade opportunities,
work is easily found for those with the skills/and or qualifications or for those with the right attitude (same as anywhere else),
our neighbours are friendly and community minded,
and we have found it better for our personal economics than any other place weve lived.

Cons: theres a handful of people who hate hard working high achievers and who think theyre entitled to either mock you or steal from you.
Public schools are low quality and private schools too expensive.
The towns roads are rough and the council does not seem interested in fixing them (many dirt roads outside town are smoother than the town roads).
Fuel prices are high but a good independent local service station offers cheaper fuel and is well known to many locals.