Welcome to the Melbourne Community Daily Discussion Thread.

Seems like the ’bot took the weekend off.

  • just_kitten
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    11 months ago

    I slept in much like Botbot but I don’t feel refreshed. After being in a house in the burbs for a month, being back in an apartment has not been relaxing. The minor traffic noises of cars driving past even at night have been making me feel tense, let alone the downstairs neighbour’s Sunday morning bass heavy music, the upstairs neighbour vacuuming, and random talking from the garden next door… Honestly it’s making me feel like curling up in bed all day wanting it to stop. It sounds so silly and irrational that I don’t feel safe in my own home from perfectly normal noises? I really don’t think I can live in an apartment for a while 🙁

    But I certainly can’t afford to rent a townhouse or house in most of Melbourne and moving is expensive. If I’m going to move I’m honestly leaning towards just having a new start interstate…

    I think this realisation is adding just that extra bit of fire towards making those big life decisions around work, study, family, etc… Luckily I’m cat/housesitting for a month again in a freestanding house, from the week after next. So I’ll have more time to let those decisions fall into place.

    • Bottom_racer
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      11 months ago

      I hear ye. I honestly think the soundscape of cities is bad for overall mental health.

      When I’m down the bellarine there’s a bit of road noise / more garden / powertools but come 9pm it is DEAD quiet. Can hear the individual waves crash from 2kms away. It is BLISS. Makes such a difference mentally.

      • just_kitten
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        11 months ago

        Hundred percent. Honestly I think I’ve been ready to get away from the hubbub for well over a year now. Now that I have options I think this is going to be an important factor in whatever next steps I make

    • the_procrastinata
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      11 months ago

      Maybe consider playing some white noise to help drown that out? I sometimes play rain or ocean wave noise to help me fall asleep.

      • just_kitten
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        11 months ago

        Yeah, I’ve got a good online radio station on backup for that at night. I’ll manage. But it was just a bit of a downer realising how sensitive I was to that noise and of course it didn’t help in the morning… Plus there’s just this physical feeling of being unmoored that I can’t shake off

    • bull⚡
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      11 months ago

      I live in a Docklands apartment but every so often will go and house/dog-sit for my parents when they go away out in the outer suburbs (Melton). I absolutely get it. It’s SO QUIET out there, and so dark at night compared to in here (the roll down blinds in my apartment don’t help there, they suck). If you have a car it’s so easy to live out there. I’ve been looking to get out of the city for a while now.

      I also want to be able to crank my Sunday morning music without worrying about neighbours. I have some country bangers going but I can never crank that dial.

      • just_kitten
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        11 months ago

        Same same same. I’ve accepted, if somewhat selfishly, that I’d rather have a car on hand to be able to live out somewhere quieter (and also with an actual garden), as much as it sucks for the environment. This is where I have a real conundrum with myself because I definitely support better town planning and higher density, yet at the same time I completely understand why people prefer detached dwellings.

        I grew up my entire life in a very densely populated and extremely planned out country, with amazing PT and amenities everywhere - so quite different from apartments here - and yet I craved living in a house with a garden so very much from childhood. Even though I hated the suburbs when I first moved here

    • SituationCake
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      11 months ago

      You’d be surprised on the affordability compared to the inner city. Can get something more spacious for the same price. Lots of suburbs where it’s walking distance to a train station. And even if it’s an apartment, it’s quieter at night than would be in the city, and there’s often community gardens you can join and larger parklands to enjoy. Downside is the choice of restaurants is less, and of course depends where you work for how long the commute would be.

      • just_kitten
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        11 months ago

        I dunno, I’m already just about able to afford my 435/week 2br apt, if I’m moving to the outer suburbs I’d want a townhouse with private open space at least for that amount, but it doesn’t seem like there’s many options. I don’t eat out much and can mostly wfh (site visits are all across the city, I will admit my place is very convenient for getting to most locations).

        But moving out alone will cost quite a bit just in expenses. Currently my rent is on a periodic lease and won’t go up until next April at least. Whereas if I move to a new place I’m locked in for a year. I think I’m gonna see (a) how long I’m going to stick on at this job and (b) whether I finish my studies here, because without those two, there is absolutely nothing substantial enough to keep me in Victoria any more tbh and I’m ready for a change in scenery plus I miss my family in Perth and Brisbane. And I could do my studies interstate - it’d be a research project and it doesn’t have to be in Melbourne…