How did we destroy the great idea of suburbia? In the past 60 years, every critical
characteristic of suburban houses has changed by a factor of two: sometimes
doubled, sometimes halved, but the net effect has been the loss of all the good
qualities of suburbia.

Homes twice as big on blocks half the size.

This is typical of Melbourne's outer suburbs:



Many of these blocks are only 300m² with the remainder 400m² if you're
lucky.  (We live on a 1,010m² block which is just big enough as it turns out.) 

Even the roadways are narrow, at 6.5m, barely enough for two cars to pass
safely.    The street we live on is 12.2m wide as a comparison.

Nothing has failed on the scale of the vast, dark-roofed, treeless, overheated
suburbs that have recently been built at the edges of our cities. This change didn’t
take place overnight; it took 60 years to destroy the high quality of the original
suburbs.

And the culprits?  Councils greedy for rates, property developers looking
at massive profits off cheap broadacre land, town planners who sell their
plans to the highest bidder, and real estate agents' inflated commissions.

—Which was all a catalyst for us moving to the country 13 years ago.    

It's all about greed and the overpopulation from massive immigration
when we didn't have the: schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure for them.
Supply and demand.

Also - most of those suburbs are at the end of motorways that
are clogged with cars every day - for 2 hours in the morning 7 till 9am
and 2 hours at night 4 to 6pm the cars come to a complete halt for 20 minutes at a time.
People actually pay money for traffic tolls to sit in stationary traffic but
if they have one of those "houses" it's called the Australian dream -
it's more like a nightmare.

Yes, the character of the suburbs has been destroyed by greedy developers, councils and state governments all wanting maximum return for minimum outlay. I read a while ago that the NSW Fire Brigade was concerned about the streets in some of these new suburbs not being wide enough for their equipment.

This topic should be up in lights!

Note : I’ve never commented on Melbourne as I don’t know that market. I only know the Sydney market and my posts have been centred on the Sydney market for years now.

I’ve posted about this current issue of ruining suburbia many times especially in reference to the OUTER suburbs of “Sydney” where entire new suburbs are built in a few months in the middle of nowhere and cardboard houses are built on land plots less than 300m2. These homes have no front yards because the council verge doubles up as the front yard. Their backyards are essentially a narrow strip of space not much bigger than a balcony. These cheap n quick homes on the arse end of the Sydney real estate market were bought up by people who are now stuck with negative equity and are facing the prospect of mortgagee possession/sale.

Here in Sydney proper ... the subdivisions are going ballistic. Having said that only a few select areas remain unscathed. These areas are protected by local council zoning laws and well if I’m going to be honest ...these areas are protected by its residents who are particular politicians, lawyers, doctors, business people etc as it’s where THEY THEMSELVES LIVE. They’re not really suburbs ....more like select havens. THAT’S where the serious money is ie those positions of bits of dirt! And that’s where we bought up during Covid19 (when houses dropped AND interest rates dropped TOGETHER).

Ok so we’re safe. Well kinda sorta.

Land blocks can’t be sub divided ✅
Land blocks are approx 500m2 plus ✅
These suburbs are still making money despite global recession and rising interest rates etc ✅
Streets of nice homes with manicured lawns and gardens ✅

MY QUESTION: OK SO WE’VE TICKED ALL THE RIGHT BOXES. WHY WOULD YOU BUY A BEAUTIFUL WELL MAINTAINED SOLID DOUBLE BRICK HOME BUILT ON SOLID ROCK WITH PERIOD FEATURES AND EXPENSIVE FLOORS AND WINDOWS AND EXQUISITE STAIRS LEADING TO A SECOND STOREY ...TO KNOCK DOWN AND REPLACE WITH WHAT LOOKS LIKE A 3 LEVEL COMMERCIAL OFFICE BUILDING (the “design” is referred to as cubism apparently) WITH BUGGER ALL BACK YARD (and an internal lift to all levels because the stair cases look more like the fire escape stairs of office blocks)??

ALSO WHO THE FARRK IS GOING TO BE LEFT CLEANING IT??

WHAT ABOUT THE COST OF HEATING IT IN WINTER???

Well ....THAT’S what’s going on in these areas. They’re being ruined by the construction of mega structures. Who will they house?  Mum, Dad and 1 or 2 kids.

Jasin wrote on Feb 28^th, 2023 at 5:02pm:



Not only that -
in those outer suburbs of concrete jungles - and low socioeconomic demographic -
the Jigaboos are back in charge.

Jasin wrote on Feb 28^th, 2023 at 7:48pm:



Yes?

Jasin wrote on Feb 28^th, 2023 at 7:58pm:



Make the best of living in a concrete jungle with an insecure job,
rising debt over your head and the streets run by gangs
where it's too unsafe to walk around.

I hate  new estates,  where you can piss in your neighbours toilet from your bathroom.

Give me older, established houses any day.