Meet the leader trying to get alternative housing options to our CBD

A "rapid shift in demographics" to more people in their late 20s and early 30s and a "really healthy rate of population growth" is fueling his optimism.

It's also from the opportunity to retain and "attract back youth that have gone on to study or future work opportunities".

The Hygge Property director said housing developments in the regions have typically been very binary.

"Its broadacre land subdivision which offers a really phenomenal opportunity to a very narrow demographic,"

The demographic is changing and an opportunity has not been provided to people that were looking for something else ... pretty much anyone who's not a young family".

He said there are people looking for different housing options, like the Nightingale Apartments, and he is trying to give them options.

"We understand that people want to live near the city, they want sustainability, they want alternative forms of transport that don't need car parking and they want energy efficient homes."

As developments change the landscape of the city, Mr van Dyke sees Ballarat as a "series of interconnected villages", where you would be able to get milk, bread, coffee or run into your neighbours in those areas.

"But if you want something critically important, you can walk, ride or catch an e-scooter into into the CBD," he said.

After finishing high school in Horsham, Mr van Dyk went to study in Melbourne and lived there for five years.

He tried a few different areas of study at university but eventually landed on geomatics, which is how you implement land surveys or cartography into agricultural and mining uses.

His life was on track to take a different path, to do surveying work in remote mining locations, but after meeting the woman who later became his wife, things changed.

Mr Van Dyke was travelling when they decided they were going to make it work and he started looking for a job in Melbourne.

He was offered a job at Villawood properties.

The pair spent some time working in the UK because they "wanted some diversity in work experience," Mr van Dyk said.

"I would have rung 40 companies and I got an interview with a guy from Melbourne and I was lucky enough he hired me on the spot and it worked out really well."

After a year-long stint overseas, Mr van Dyke came to Ballarat.

"It felt like your classic European-sized city," he said.

"I liked the fact you can feel like you're in the country but you have some of the opportunities and amenities of the city."

"You can go out for a nice dinner, go shopping in Myer if you want but I am a big bike rider and you can ride for 10 minutes and you're out in the middle of the country."

Mr van Dyk is part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale board.

He said one of the reasons for coming back to Ballarat was to be able to give back to the community he worked and lived in.

"They operate a phenomenal tourism event for this city and a phenomenal project in the National Center for Photography on Lydiard Street," he said.

"Hopefully, I've got a skill set that can assist in getting out of the ground in a really difficult climate."