The local community groups helping tree and sea-changers settle in

More Australians than ever are moving out of the city. Between July and September 2020, 11,200 Aussies relocated out of our capital cities, the biggest quarterly exodus recorded.

Uprooting your life can be daunting. Common concerns surround finding work and services, settling children into new schools and rebuilding social connections. For some, one way of easing the transition has been connecting to residents social groups. The solution? Joining an online neighbours group.

Ria Andriani found help settling into the Blue Mountains from Faulconbridge Neighbours, a community Facebook page.  Andriani, a chorister, proof-reader and writer in her early 30s, moved from south-west Sydney about six months ago to be closer to nature. 

Having a disability (Andriani is blind and doesn’t drive) meant moving was more fraught with issues than for most. She admits to mild terror in moving out of the city. “Where I was before, it wasn’t super metropolitan but you still have a lot of amenities and I could just walk to the shop,” she says. 

While she began ordering her groceries online, one thing that wasn’t working out was finding a support worker close by.

Posting on the online local residents group – Andriani first learnt about Faulconbridge Neighbours through one of her clients –  brought her into contact with two women she now has a satisfying semi-professional relationship with. Along with a mutual love of bushwalking and gardening, she receives their help for emergencies such as blown light bulbs. “The sense of community up here is a lot stronger than in Sydney,” she says. 

The residents group has been helpful for practicalities such as knowing who the local gardeners and tradies are, how to avoid snakes and where to walk, she says. “It’s a wonderful resource and more personalised.”

Sarah Arnold, a 27-year-old nurse and mother of two young girls, found the residents Facebook page Mildura Community Page helpful with relocating to a new area. Arnold, who moved from Melbourne to Mildura for work in December 2020, found the group through a Google search and used it to find insider opinion about the local schools. “We chose to move to a house near a school we heard good things about,” she says. She also inspected a rental property offered on the site. 

Other great finds from the group have been information on parks and places to take kids, the best takeaway food and a gym for her husband, she says.  

“It’s nice being able to just ask a question and get a lot of different perspectives,” she says. “People from all walks of life are on the page; people who’ve lived here all their life and people who’ve moved here like I have.”

A highly active community site, Mildura Community Page provides a forum for job, rental and event postings and requests for recommendations for everything from psychics and dog groomers to help to install flat-pack furniture. There are even warnings about local felons. 

Starting your own group 

Others like Karen Eastwood use such sites to foster face-to-face friendships. The stay-at-home mother recently moved to the grape-and-citrus growing area, and used the Mildura Community Page to launch Mildura mummies meet up for hook-ups between local mothers and their children. Since starting in March, the group has already attracted 284 members. “I’ve already met so many people from it,” Eastwood reveals.

Diane Reed also started her own residents group after moving to Tasmania in 2017 after one of her regular annual holidays. Along with hoping to make social connections with others moving over, the 48-year-old needed information on the logistics of transporting belongings across Bass Strait.

Aided by members of the page – That’s it! I’m moving to Tassie!! – by May 2018, Reed, husband Jeff, and their 11-year-old daughter had relocated from Victoria to Penguin, a small seaside town on Tasmania’s north-west coast. Reed also moved her mother from Queensland. 

The site currently has 18,000 members, who trade practical tips including things to do in the area, best towns to live in, removalist recommendations and queries about schools.

The connections online spill over into regular real life meet-ups. On Australia Day, for instance, more than 50 Penguin members shared a barbecue, Reed says. The groups include those who’ve just arrived to born-and-bred locals. “Some of those come to meet the new blood,” Reed says.

“I’ve made lots of friends through the group. You meet up with these people and think you’ll be all nervous cause you’ve never met them, but you already sort of know them from online.” 

“People moving over feel like they’ve already got friends and support before they come. It’s knowing you’re not going into something big and scary alone. Others have done it too,” she says.  

Proof of the need for such groups, Reeds Facebook page attracts an average of 300 new members a week. “Members help each other,” she says. “That’s what I really love about the group. It shows you what human kindness is about.”

Where to tap into neighbourhood groups

You can find social groups for newbies operating on Facebook, community platform Meetup, and through Neighbourhood Centres. Local councils, public libraries, community centres and community directories are another way to scout them down. 

Alternatively, tap into special-interest groups such as local gardening or parents groups.