Where is the best place to live?

Where we live determines a lot about our life.

So today I'm going to share a resource that can help you decide where might be a good place to live.

It started with an article ranking Brisbane suburbs from 1 to 260.

That ranking was based on a set of 17 factors. Here are some of them.

But all 17 may not be relevant for you. And some might matter more than others.

So they developed a tool where you can rank the 5 factors most important to you and it will give you a personalised list of Brisbane suburbs that would be the best for you - based on those factors. There are also Sydney and Melbourne versions.

On the results page, there's also a map that colour-codes each suburb by star rating, for each factor. For instance here's the map for public transport. Five-star suburbs are in blue.

When you click on a suburb, you get the name and the star rating of that suburb - for whichever factor you select.

I find this to be so enlightening. I choose not to own a car. Some people find this shocking, tell me it's not possible, and complain that public transport is terrible. That surprises me, but when it turns out they live in a 2-star suburb (for public transport) it kind of makes sense.

So when we are choosing our next place to live, we can choose the kind of area we like. It can provide the kind of lifestyle we want - and we could save a lot of commuting time and money by selecting an area that has the things we need. You could reduce the number of cars you need to own and maintain.

PS. If walkability is something you're interested in, you may also like to check out walkscore.com - where you can get a walkability score for your suburb, street and even street number.

Comments

Don't dump on charities

Netflix causes mass dumping. Here's an alternative. January is usually a big month for physical donations to charity. In 2019 it's been over-the-top (literally) as charity donation bins have been overflowing with items. The Netflix series "Tidying Up" by famous declutterer Marie Kondo (see her book ) has inspired many to declutter their homes. But in the process they've cluttered the streets. What's so bad about donating? When the bins overflow the extra items are thrown away. Having been in the weather, the rain and on the ground, they are classified as contaminated and cannot be sold. To make it worse, much of what fills the bins is not good enough to sell, and is also dumped. Bad donations hurt charities 13 million dollars. That's how much it costs charities to deal with all the junk we dump on them - 60,000 tonnes a year. Lifeline says half its stores have stopped accepting donations. We might think we're helping, but that's a lot ...

Why millionaires don't "feel" rich

We're wealthier than ever - so why don't we feel like it? Australia has gone almost three decades without recession. The stock market recently hit a record high. Our wages are record highs. Home loan rates are at record lows. We live in one of the richest countries in the world at the richest point in history. So what's wrong? Comparison Wealth is relative. So what do we compare to? Where we expect to be? "When your wages growth is only 2 or 3 per cent, you don't feel as well-off as when it's going up 10 per cent. That's that nominal distortion that people often suffer from" , says economist Shane Oliver, and that "expectations have grown a lot faster than reality." We're earning more than last year, but we want even more. So compared to our imaginary situation, we see ourselves as worse off. What we see around us? Shane Oliver again. "If you think about it - Australians today are a lot wealthier. They're living far ric...

The Transformer Table

Our new table transforms itself, and our view of furniture Here is our new table It has 3 modes. Friends mode: Seating up to 6 for dinner or board games. Couple mode: Great for the two of us. Or for doing some writing while looking out at the view. 99% mode: Most of the time we don't need a table, so it folds away. Storage in the side drawers. Best of all it allows the space to be multipurpose. Ordinarily a traffic area (between the kitchen, other rooms and the balcony) it can also be a spacious area for the two of us, a table for 6, or an expanded lounge area if we push the lounge furniture back. How it transforms homes Traditionally each room has one purpose. TV room for TV; bedroom for bed; study for studying; the dining room for the dining table. When furniture is cleverly designed , spaces can be multifunctional and we don't need so many rooms. It's one of the key concepts behind tiny homes . One of the architects from The Tiny House Company showed...

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog