Did ‘life imitate art’ or were we already talking about Australians making ‘sea-changes’ before that lawyer lady on our tv moved from the city to a small coastal town? (Who can forget Diver Dan?)

The Australian TV show SeaChange, aired from 1998 to 2000 and certainly around then began the trend of people moving from urban areas to coastal regions for a lifestyle change with a more relaxed or scenic environment.

What followed was the emergence of other terms in relation to real estate and lifestyle shifts, both in Australia and overseas, reflecting trends where people relocated to different areas for a change and generally a better quality of life.

A wave of pandemic-fuelled lifestyle changes rolled across Australia as homebuyers and renters traded in their city life for enticingly peaceful and spacious regional towns and working remotely from a scenic, remote destination became a dream come true for many.

It does now seem as though it’s not a dream so many of us want or can have, and people are now looking to settle back in cities, or at least close to.

In Elite Agent this month, editor Catherine Nikas-Boulas observed that there has been a pattern nationwide of increasing numbers of Australians gravitating towards the major cities. (Is the sea change dream over? There’s a shift of gravity back to the big cities. )

It makes sense to me that once people realise that they can’t work from home anymore, they will want to live closer to their place of employment. In the regional centres, public transport may not be so convenient, and infrastructure may be lacking. Schools, childcare centres, hospitals, roads… all these things take time to come about.

Sea change, tree change, urban flight and exurbanisation are among terms we’ve heard. In the US, they refer to ‘amenity migration’ and sunbelt migration’.

Even before the pandemic, I had watched families move from city to country and back to city as the children grew and their needs and interests changed. I’ve seen friends move to acreage for the space only to grow older and find the upkeep a bind.

I do think we are on a bit of a city migration roll, or at least the desire to settle in well-equipped and well-resourced regional centres. Humans are social animals, and we like to live in a community with convenience. I hope our big towns and cities are ready and can deliver.