People who have long loved the Ballarat lifestyle or perhaps more recently made the tree change may well have breathed sighs of relief on hearing about the latest report from the Grattan Institute into urban growth.
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In the report, Melbourne is highlighted as an increasingly divided city. One Melbourne within a 10-kilometre radius is among the most liveable cities in the world.
Statistically, there is roughly one job in the area for every person that lives there.
But the other half lives in the rapidly growing zone outside the 20km mark, where there is only one job in the vicinity of every three people that live there.
As a result, they must spend on average 10 hours per week commuting and the consequences are many and varied: erosion of personal time, increasing strain on families, rising cost of transport and ultimately isolation.
What is clear from a planning perspective – and almost certainly in its ability to equitably deliver infrastructure and services – is that Melbourne is too big for its own good.
The report outlines numerous solutions including better transport, infrastructure and notably a more concerted effort by all levels of government to provide a wider variety of housing choices.
What this focuses on is commonly known as in-fill development or medium density housing.
The institute report confidently predicts the conflicts of users can be resolved.
The Australian love affair with detached suburban houses does not seem to be going away.
The issue for big cities is at what point will the cost of owning such a property exceed its value, either in the huge outlay of it being in reasonable proximity to the place of employment or at a cost to lifestyle in a faraway location.
Many cities have reached a point where people will follow a European model, opting for a downsized lifestyle with better connectedness.
All this reflects well on a city like Ballarat, where a 10-minute commute is considered a long one.
But the warning is there even for regional cities: unbridled growth following similar patterns can in the space of a few decades create the same effect as a much larger city – two cities within one.
More kinds of housing choices in inner areas, along with more long-term thinking and investment for outer regions, are just some of the solutions for Ballarat.
The inevitable friction in a heritage city as proud as this one means the discussion should start now.
