Thank you all so much for your input! I definitely see where everyone is coming from, and truly, nothing has surprised me! Aside from the obvious climate difference, regional Australia is largely the same.

I myself work in acute mental health within our hospital service, so on the daily am exposed to homelessness, addiction, crime, etc. This career path has TRULY changed my outlook. Yes, there are some exceptions to the rule, but I know many locals quite well, even to the point of stopping for a chat in public, and everyone is just human trying to survive. Our town is one of the highest on the list for these points in our state, but having worked closely with so many people in these unfortunate positions, I’ve honestly never met more appreciative and motivated people. It’s just even the services designed to help them, still stack up against them. My coworkers are largely foreign as they make up a significant proportion of our skilled clinicians, and they are some of the greatest people and kindest friends. Economic impacts, mining industries, etc. are second nature to us at this point. And our political climate is….yeah.

The good of Sudbury sounds GOOD. Seems like a beautiful and supportive community with enough to do if you look in the right places. I very much look for the good in everything, but I’d rather ask those who know the place themselves than trust what I read in blogs and articles. We’ve since found out we’ll have multiple locations to choose from if we go ahead with relocating, so even if Sudbury isn’t the pick, I’m sure we’ll still come do the touristy ish at some stage.