Cars. Public transport. Who cares? It all comes back to suicidal levels of immigration.

It'd be good if all the travel was to work instead of bumper to bumper traffic to Centrelink offices.

Don't know about that. But population growth and an infrastructure backlog now about twenty years in arrears, not assisting ever increasing congestion/ghettoisation! neither is the rise and rise of urban Melbourne.

And just to suit the as ever-rapacious and avaricious developers, whose only motive in all of this, is maximised profits. Don't care if increased population density above 30,000, is always accompanied by exponentially increasing crime rates and similar expansion in mental health problems.

As always it's the developers and their handmaidens, planners and pollies who assist them in their endeavours to treat people as mere sardines needing to be crammed into the smallest places possible as rents and house prices skyrocket.

Time for decentralisation to be activated and the protest from the usual, it can't be done, protestors/suspects need to be seen for what it is, self-serving, rank self-service and to hell with the people and their quality of life!?
Alan B.

Long overdue decentralisation starts/begins with revised/reformed taxation. and lower tax zones a 100 klicks out from city boundaries.

A city being described as a self-regenerating area of sustainable organic growth with populations above 100,000.

And could ideally consist of several, completely self-sufficient satellite suburbs, replete with their own CBD and industrial estate, every suburb surrounded by a mandatory green belt.

And maxed out with a local population per suburb of jus 30,000 souls. And because that is the optimal size that maintains the lowest poss crime rate and mental health issues. Yet still big enough to support all services and not too large to make them ever increasingly expensive, and as an integral area in a larger conglomerate of connected sister suburbs

The industrial estates should be placed as close as possible to power generation. To minimise energy cost component. And individual suburbs should be planned as circles inside circles or wheels within wheels all connected by loops of one way very rapid, looped, rail projects.

All should be on drawing board and rolled out as an order of priority. Not as pork barrelling projects implemented like topsy just to BUY VOTES? For the corrupt pollies who think this is OK and normal self-serving self-interest practise.

Clearly and without question/shadow of a doubt, the reason why the nation is so f--ked up and divided against themselves. And anomalies like recent Vic election result!
Alan B.

This misses a major reason for many driving less. With the road conditions of today, driving is far less attractive than it was in days of yore.

As a kid in Ryde, [Sydney] in the late 40s early 50s, we could usually get dad or the neighbour to agree to take us kids to one of the northern beaches at least once most summer weekends. This in the 1920s & 30s cars available after the war was a bit od an adventure, but a pleasurable trip.

The last time I drove in any of that area it was a most unpleasant activity, despite air conditioning & all the creature comforts of modern cars. The Sunday drive, so loved by housewives in the 50s & 60s is a thing of the past. She has today probably driven to work each day, & a car trip is a chore, rather than a pleasure.

Despite ridiculously huge subsidies public transport is a misery to be avoided if at all possible, but private motoring is something to increasingly be avoided as well.

My couple of lovely classic old sports cars used to be exercised a few times a month, but today it is more like a few times a year. It is really only mid week winter that a drive near any city is likely to be enjoyable.

Bumper to bumper to Centrelink is still FASTER than trying to
`phone them......

ateday,
point taken 1

Agree with Hasbeen on this one, the sunday drive was quite an adventure, we had a very private picnic spot to oursevles near a flowing mountain stream, spent many a plesant summer day there mucking about as a young teenager living with a runited family. And the other drive to the beach meant crossing a small range with a very long straight on the western side. Where the older brother woud stick the old chevy into angel gear and see how fast she'd go. Lost control and ran into a ditch the last time we tried that one and broke an axle, getting out.

Because we were a reunited family, and had missed so much others take for granted or their due, a very special part of a much more enjoyable life, without all the hustle and bustle of today's americanised dog eat dog world.

Sometimes we only value the simple pleasures of life when we no longer have them! Don't it alwats go. Chop down the trees to put up a parking lot. And a big yellow taxi, took away my old man.
Alan B.

Ah yes Alan, the simple pleasures.

Living in Young in the mid 50s we still had a fuel stove. It did the cooking, ran the hot water service, & heated much of the house in winter.

We had friends 15 miles or so out of town with a sheep property. He had ringbarked 500 acres of country, & was slowly developing pasture on it. We used to go out there once a month or so, & gather fallen timber for the stove. The paddock had a lovely little creek, still timbered of course, which offered a cooling splash as it was hot work chopping up the timber to fit in the old 1930 Chev, with the seats out. It was heaven when we finally could afford a trailer.

What a great life we had, simple but hard work & pleasure together. Those fuel stoves were great value, they warmed you 4 times. Once when gathering the timber, again when chopping it to fit the stove, again by heating the house 24/7, & finally when you had a shower.

Most of us kids grew pretty broad shoulders. The wood pile & the fuel box at the stove were our responsibility, when only the newest homes had electric cookers.