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SOCIETY
Myth-buster takes to 'treechangers'
University sociologist Dr Angela Ragusa at Charles Sturt University (CSU), chuckles when you refer to her as a ‘myth-buster‘ but agrees there is often that element to her work. Dr Ragusa, a key researcher with the University's Institute for Land, Water and Society, is currently involved in research investigating why 'treechangers' have moved to rural NSW and North-East Victoria from metropolitan areas on Australia's southeastern coastline. Dispelling the myths “I wanted to dispel some of the myths about treechangers,” says Dr Ragusa. “I was sceptical that treechangers even existed. Until 2004, the term wasn’t in the Australian vocabulary.” Some myths she is dispelling include that treechangers are ‘cashed up baby boomers seeking an alternative to their coastal retirement‘ or ’young families that can’t afford inner-city properties’. Instead, she believes people are moving because they are stressed and they perceive a country life-style will be less stressful. “What everyone wants is a peaceful happy life-style,” says Dr Ragusa. “That is a universal value amongst Australians.” The CSU researcher has completed in-depth qualitative interviews with people living in and around such towns as Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Orange,Bathurst and Deniliquin in NSW, and Beechworth, Yackandandah and Mt Beauty in Victoria. Their ages ranged from 25 to 70 years with an average of ‘in their 40s’. Their occupations included student, educator, retired police officer, IT consultant, administrator of various public and corporate firms, health worker, a member of parliament and marketers. “They were all professionals with portable careers,” says Dr Ragusa, who has completed 25 interviews to date. “Blue-collar workers were noticeably absent, which speaks to who is making the 'treechange'.” She says even though tradespeople and people working in the service industry were needed in rural areas they weren’t the people making the change from the cities. “Most of those I interviewed own their own homes, and 60 per cent live in rural towns, with the rest on small properties,” says Dr Ragusa. Initially Dr Ragusa researched how treechangers were portrayed in the media, analysing some 1 900 articles in regional and national media. Media stereotype “The media published articles based on stereotypes. on what the media thought treechangers are,” says Dr Ragusa. “As a sociologist, I wanted to find out who the treechangers really are.” She sees the 'treechanger' stereotype in the media coming from real estate agents, who are trying to sell properties; and local councils, who are trying to attract ‘cashed up’ city-folk to settle in their districts and boost their economies. “They promote the attractiveness and affordability of rural living but only one of the people I interviewed moved because of cheaper housing,” Dr Ragusa says. “I have found people are leaving the cities because they perceive a country lifestyle will be less stressful; it will be slower placed; they won’t have to sit in traffic; there will be no pollution; they will have cleaner skies; privacy; there won’t be crowds and they will have some kind of work/family life balance.” She found those that moved had two pre-conceptions that didn’t really match up with reality: that people in the rural communities would be friendlier and more welcoming than those in the cities; and that, in terms of work, they would be able to continue their city contacts via telecommunications and commuting as well as taking on additional ad hoc jobs. Dr Ragusa says about half of the treechangers did their research and homework before they moved: others “just jumped in” without much deliberation. Positives and negatives “I found people had more 'negative' than 'positive' realities as a result of moving to rural areas,” she says. Positives included:
“Although half the respondents found that life in the country was slower, the stresses of life still followed them; life was stressful, although the stresses were different,” says Dr Ragusa. “While some people were very happy with the move, others were homesick but felt they had to ‘stick it out’, make it work.” The negatives included:
“This kind of research is valuable in making informed decisions about servicing local areas for tree-changers,” Dr Ragusa says. “If councils are serious about these people that have made such major changes in their lives as moving from the city, they need to look at what is important to these individuals so as to be able to keep them. “If we want to maintain our community organisations, we need to know what kind of people will be living in our communities in the future.”
ends Author: Margrit Beemster Publication Date: 17 Nov 2008
Editor's Note: Dr Ragusa will present her research into treechangers at “The changing nature of our rural neighbourhoods” forum in Albury, on the NSW-Victorian border, on Wednesday 26 November 2008. Dr Angela Ragusa is looking for more interviews for this research, which involves a 30 minute telephone interview. She would like to contact anyone who identifies themselves as a ‘treechanger’, who has spent a major proportion of their life living in a metropolitan city and who has moved to rural areas for lifestyle reasons. To take part in the research project, contact Dr Ragusa, who is based at CSU at Wagga Wagga, on (02) 6933 2248 or send an email. Media Note: For interviews with Dr Angela Ragusa, contact ILWS communications coordinator Margrit Beemster on (02) 6051 9653. Related Images:  |
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Treechangers are not the mythical cash cows perpetuated by vested interests, but city dwellers looking for a less stressful life, according to a leading social researcher from Charles Sturt University.
