If you want to live in a big, lively booming city......

[Shuz]

I think the solution is really simple - Adelaide caters reasonably well for most people. But as the statistics tell us, and the general 'consensus' around these forums tell us that a particular age demographic - those in thier twenties make up the primary numbers of those in exodus from SA. What we should be doing is adressing the concerns and needs of these people to retain them. We should be asking, what do they want? What would make them stay? Are we really capable of doing this in the long-term. It's a tricky situation, but if we ask the right questions, we will seek the right answers.

I for one, am not in my twenties yet, I see no reason to move just yet - I'm actually okay with living here, its got what I want. But I do know a substantial number of people who have left interstate. Key reason is employment oppurtunities. How can we better ourselves to commit these people here? Financial renumeration? Easier study accessibility? Service provisions? Is it quality or quantity? There are a number of areas that need to be oversought. However, I am in a limited position to provide any reliable or valid opinion on such matters.

What I will say though is, that with the success of our universities for overseas students, we should make it just as successful for ourselves. Universities should have open-entry accessibility for all courses, provided that study in relevant subjects to the course have been undertaken with meritable results, a pass (50%). The TER system inhibits and restricts student's capabilities and desires to do what they want, not being able to follow their dream or career desire. My case is one at that, my brother's too. I think SA could go a long way to restoring and revitalising the image of the Australian Dream. We should put it in a new context, not relevant to the 1/4 acre block and own house - but relevant to their career oppurtunity, job prospects, and happiness in doing what they love.

[raulduke]

Build more freeways - THAT RUN NORTH TO SOUTH - and I may be prepared to stay here and contend with the City's conservative attitude toward development.

Infact build more of everything, so I earn even more money aswell, and can drive an Audi on that freeway and I might just be happy to convert and become a South Australian !

[Will]

I think the solution is really simple - Adelaide caters reasonably well for most people. But as the statistics tell us, and the general 'consensus' around these forums tell us that a particular age demographic - those in thier twenties make up the primary numbers of those in exodus from SA. What we should be doing is adressing the concerns and needs of these people to retain them. We should be asking, what do they want? What would make them stay? Are we really capable of doing this in the long-term. It's a tricky situation, but if we ask the right questions, we will seek the right answers.

I for one, am not in my twenties yet, I see no reason to move just yet - I'm actually okay with living here, its got what I want. But I do know a substantial number of people who have left interstate. Key reason is employment oppurtunities. How can we better ourselves to commit these people here? Financial renumeration? Easier study accessibility? Service provisions? Is it quality or quantity? There are a number of areas that need to be oversought. However, I am in a limited position to provide any reliable or valid opinion on such matters.

What I will say though is, that with the success of our universities for overseas students, we should make it just as successful for ourselves. Universities should have open-entry accessibility for all courses, provided that study in relevant subjects to the course have been undertaken with meritable results, a pass (50%). The TER system inhibits and restricts student's capabilities and desires to do what they want, not being able to follow their dream or career desire. My case is one at that, my brother's too. I think SA could go a long way to restoring and revitalising the image of the Australian Dream. We should put it in a new context, not relevant to the 1/4 acre block and own house - but relevant to their career oppurtunity, job prospects, and happiness in doing what they love.

Shuz, I have to disagree with your plan to reduce the TER scores. I don't mean to be offensive but from my recollections of year 12, you just had to be present in order to get a 10 in a subject. Getting a 10 does not require much effort at all. As such letting such people study at university would be detrimental to the quality of professionals SA would get in the future, but also very unfair to the person, because university study is very different to high school study, and as such a person who could only achieve a 10 in a subject is not prepared or capable to study at university. Furthermore by dumbing down university scores I think you would find that the reputation of our universities would decline.

I think the solution to our population problems may be just to wait for the mining period of accelerated growth to kick in. I think WA has the highest population growth at the moment. I think it is easy to say that this is so because of the large salaries on offer in WA and not because Perth is an exciting place to live. However having said that, we should not stop our efforts to make Adelaide more lively.

[AtD]

I'll have to agree with Will, here. Universities should not be treated as degree factories. Enough of that occurs as it is.

[Omicron]

For every Copenhagen, Edinburgh or Bilbao that Adelaide hopes to become, there's a Rochester, Greenville, Port Elizabeth, Hartford, Ottawa, Sheffield, Raleigh......

[TooFar]

Raleigh is a boom town, home to a lot of high-tech companies, including IBM. It will be interesting to compare these two cities in another 20 years. If you are looking for a great lifestyle, Lots of great jobs, affordable housing and great weather, then Raleigh is a great destination. How do I know? I am thinking about moving there.

Hartford and Ottawa are also pretty descent places.

Bilbao was a dump when I stayed in the place back in the 90’s. The only thing it had going for it was great surfing beaches near-by. It’s local river was more of an open sewer. It is amazing how the place has turned around.

[Queen Anne]

Is it money, isolation...?

Cheers

I think the cause of Adelaide's serious loss of momentum over the past several decades does boil down to money. The isolation can't help, but like Will touched on, Perth is there to prove to us that it doesn't have to hold us back - if the money is there. So yep, I too am hopeful that when the money really starts to roll in things will get kick started.

But the thing I mentioned I struggle to put my finger on, regarding Adelaide's loss of momentum, is not so much the cause as the legacy, if that makes sense. We were the third largest city in the country, and have been responsible for a lot of innovation, so to me ours is not so much a story of failing to really get started as a fine city but a story of decline, I guess.

Imo, We have suffered a profound decline of confidence, I would say since the end of the Dunstan years. And our lack of money doesn't fully explain this scenario to me, somehow. The discussion in the last few posts about other cities got me thinking about where I am, right now, in Seattle. We have Portland, Oregon, just a few hours down the highway. It's a considerably smaller city than Seattle and has no Boeing or Microsoft, like fortunate Seattle does, but it has that certain something that makes a city value itself, it is a successful city and the people here in Seattle seem to admire it as an equal.

Why is this? Is it simply our lack of money that has made Adelaide meek and afraid to take risks, to the point where we lose so many people to more confident places? Or is there something more to it? If the people of Adelaide reacted differently to the issues the city faces, would we be in a better postion right now, and not hoping and praying for "booms" to help us? This is what eludes me. I think Shuz is onto something when he says we need to ask ourselves the right questions, and maybe not just about what we should do but about who we are and what we want. Not an easy task, and I wouldn't even know where to begin but its a dialogue we need to have, I think, because Adelaide currently seems so disjointed that it doesn't know what to do - leaving it totally to the mercy of the economic climate.
Anyway, that's my
Cheers, Caroline

[Neuropolis]

It's even simpler than all of this.
People in their 20s are in a particular self development cycle that dictates they move about and see the world. Now, some people blame this on the lack of services or 'big city' living in Adelaide. But, having travelled myself, I can tell you that those famed 'big cities' have a night life and plenty of places to go..but realistically, they are often not great places to live. They are usually expensive, polluted, crowded and are not good places to raise a family.
One of the original posters argued that Adelaide is a good place to return to after travel to raise a family. Well, then that's great ! We should be justly proud of that !
I'm not interested in seeing Adelaide become one of those big cities. Where will we raise our families?
If you go to London in your 20s and return to Adelaide in your 30s to raise a family, is it really that bad?
Adelaide has a distinct character, not like other cities. If we continue to bulldoze heritage buildings and pine for tall towers, well, I fear that it will lose this character and become like other cities. Boring.
So, if you are really bored here, just go. Get out and find a place you are happy with.
People in Adelaide have always felt inferior to places like Melbourne or Sydney. Our real problem here is not a lack of development or things to do, it's our urban self esteem. When are we going to stop pining for big cities and start enjoying what we have here, which is unique?

And here's a thought: I'm raising the kids that will replace your generation and want to fix your mistakes, so I have a vested interest in what direction this city takes. Don't assume that anyone over the age of 30 or 40 is irrelevant. The cycle of life continues.

[Tyler_Durden]

I have nothing to add but I just wanted to thank Neuropolis for a wonderful comment.

[Shuz]

If you want to live in a big, lively, booming city...

I'd say you're in the right place already.

[Ho Really]

Neuropolis, well said, and adding to Shuz's comment, Adelaide is only going to get better.

Cheers

[Cruise]

It's even simpler than all of this.
People in their 20s are in a particular self development cycle that dictates they move about and see the world. Now, some people blame this on the lack of services or 'big city' living in Adelaide. But, having travelled myself, I can tell you that those famed 'big cities' have a night life and plenty of places to go..but realistically, they are often not great places to live. They are usually expensive, polluted, crowded and are not good places to raise a family.
One of the original posters argued that Adelaide is a good place to return to after travel to raise a family. Well, then that's great ! We should be justly proud of that !
I'm not interested in seeing Adelaide become one of those big cities. Where will we raise our families?
If you go to London in your 20s and return to Adelaide in your 30s to raise a family, is it really that bad?
Adelaide has a distinct character, not like other cities. If we continue to bulldoze heritage buildings and pine for tall towers, well, I fear that it will lose this character and become like other cities. Boring.
So, if you are really bored here, just go. Get out and find a place you are happy with.
People in Adelaide have always felt inferior to places like Melbourne or Sydney. Our real problem here is not a lack of development or things to do, it's our urban self esteem. When are we going to stop pining for big cities and start enjoying what we have here, which is unique?

And here's a thought: I'm raising the kids that will replace your generation and want to fix your mistakes, so I have a vested interest in what direction this city takes. Don't assume that anyone over the age of 30 or 40 is irrelevant. The cycle of life continues.

That's what i wanted to hear, excellent post

[raulduke]

heritage, heritage, heritage, everything is bloody heritage these days get real - we should be bulldozing these things, if the facade is particularly impressive, then retain it, otherwise, its got to go. we are only contributing to a sprawling cbd by living in the past and retaining these buildings, one might even argue that heritage policies are in a small part contributing to urban sprawl

no chew on that!

[raulduke]

heritage, heritage, heritage, everything is bloody heritage these days get real - we should be bulldozing these things, if the facade is particularly impressive, then retain it, otherwise, its got to go. we are only contributing to a sprawling cbd by living in the past and retaining these buildings, one might even argue that heritage policies are in a small part contributing to urban sprawl

no chew on that!

[Will]

heritage, heritage, heritage, everything is bloody heritage these days get real - we should be bulldozing these things, if the facade is particularly impressive, then retain it, otherwise, its got to go. we are only contributing to a sprawling cbd by living in the past and retaining these buildings, one might even argue that heritage policies are in a small part contributing to urban sprawl

no chew on that!

Actually back in the 1940's when the CBD had a low rise heritage skyline there were around 50 000 residents living there. So the argument that heritage somehow contributes to urban sprawl is erroneous.

Furthermore I for one cannot understand how turning Adelaide into a bland clone of an American city is good for anything.