Smaller cities offer big opportunities

As an IT executive based in Sydney, Paul Collins was spending $200 a week on tolls to cut his daily commute from two hours to a comparatively brisk 1 hour and 15 minutes each way.

“And I was lucky because I had a company car to drive to work,” he says. “If I’d had to take public transport, it would have been an absolute nightmare.”

Weekend travel, to visit friends, take the kids to sporting events, or even just do a bit of shopping, was similarly stressful.

“Getting anywhere in Sydney [involves] lots of planning; it’s a journey in its own right,” he says.

“You’re having to think about what time you need to leave, and whether that will leave enough time for parking and, in the end, it’s just a chore.”

Fed up with these and other aspects of life in the big smoke, Collins and his wife Sue, after having tossed around the idea for some time, finally took a deep breath and moved to Albury.

“I took six months’ leave without pay, put the house up for sale and said: `It’s going to happen’,” he says.

“We’d been talking about it for a couple of years and, at some point, you really do need to put a stake in the ground and just do it.”

Within six months of arriving, they had bought a house, which is a five-minute drive from where Paul now works as an IT officer with Albury City Council.

That was more than two years ago, and they haven’t regretted it for a moment.

“We enjoy the relaxed nature of everything, the ability to walk to the Murray River from home, and to take the dogs for a walk in the bush,” he says.

He adds that the biggest challenge was coming to terms with the change in pace.

“I’d be rushing, and realising I didn’t have to rush; [I was doing] everything still at Sydney pace, and it didn’t have to be like that.”

According to Tracey Squire, director of Economic Development and Tourism with Albury City, Collins belongs to a growing breed of professionals who are discovering the attractions associated with living and working in a regional, rather than a metropolitan, city.

Admittedly, she says, a city such as Albury may not offer the same diversity and number of roles such as Sydney, and so isn’t likely to suit someone who is still engaged in a single-minded scramble up the career ladder.

However, there are sufficient career and business opportunities to go around.

“In particular, there are some very attractive positions, especially in management, education, health services and the public sector, and there are some very successful large firms working outside of Sydney,” she says.

There is also the opportunity to enjoy a greatly enhanced lifestyle.

Such benefits were behind the recent launch of the Evocities campaign (www.evocities.com.au), in which seven of NSW’s leading regional cities united to encourage people to live, work and invest outside the capitals.

“We’re not talking about a sea change, nor a tree change, but a city change,” says Squire.

The seven Evocities are Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga.

They were selected for their quality of infrastructure, positive population growth, business numbers, house prices, broadband infrastructure, education and sporting facilities and other lifestyle elements including cinemas, art galleries, restaurants and festivals.

Collins says there have been some unanticipated benefits from the move: for instance, the family has taken up skiing because it’s only an hour’s drive to the snow.

“We also do a lot of driving out to little towns like Beechworth and to wineries,” he says.

Collins says he and his family intend to stay as long as the lifestyle remains attractive and urges others considering a similar move to challenge the excuses that typically tend to rear their heads.

“Looking back, ours weren’t valid excuses and we regret not moving earlier,” he adds.

He says the move has been great for family life.

“We’re more of a unit than we’ve ever been, because I’d not see the children on a weekday; they’d be asleep by the time I got home. Now I can take them to school in the mornings.”

While Collins is not earning anywhere near what he was in Sydney, he points out he doesn’t need to. “For some people, it could be a good financial move,” he adds.

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