Ballarat

[Marchpane123]

Wondering if anyone lives or has moved to Ballarat? We currently live in inner SE Melbourne but we need to financially downsize and I’m tempted by the apparently good schools and cheaper housing. Does anyone have any experiences of doing this and could recommend pros and cons? Many thanks

I have friends who did it, a couple in their late 30s. They love it & say the community there is great and there’s plenty to do. Not sure about schools etc. I couldn’t do it - way too cold

I grew up in inner SE Melb (think Surrey Hills, Box Hill, Blackburn etc) & DH's family is from Ballarat.

Would you need to do any commuting to the city? It's a good 1.5hrs on the train; but if you can work remotely most of the time that's do-able.

I used to get the train from Kyneton to Melb for work- "Cold" is Kyneton train station at 5.45am!

We went the other way and moved to South Gippsland.

If a financial downsize would work, I'd definitely consider it. It's almost a city-sized town now. Loads of resources etc.

Years ago DH and I visited Queensland and stopped in Bendigo and Ballarat. No idea what it’s like now tbh but we loved it back then, had a real small town appeal and everyone we met was lovely.

I do realise my post is completely irrelevant sorry😆

And I meant Victoria obviously 🤦‍♀️

I also have friends that got priced out of South Frankston and moved to Ballarat. They absolutely love it and are totally settled there.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond! I would only need to be in CBD once or twice a week so think this would work - only downside seems to be the cold which I think we would manage. Really appreciate it.

Moving regional is awesome. I’d encourage you to also look at Bendigo, I personally think it’s much nicer than Ballarat. Also has a rail line to Melbourne.