Damien1

I moved to Lithgow over two years ago and rented for the first nine months before buying my gorgeous little home. The town is small and friendly it has an Aldi and your regular Coles and Woolworths as well. The beauty of Lithgow in my eyes is its location, I travel to Sydney for the week for work then come home to my family for the weekend (this practice is common place in other parts of the world and actually improves relationships and the work/lifestyle balance in my case). On Fridays when I get home to Lithgow after a hard core week in Sydney it’s a breath of fresh air.
The place is located near to all sorts of attractions and your almost living in the National Parks located nearby. Every weekend is an adventure with heaps to do provided you put in the effort. Curling up in front of the fire in winter, swimming in the dam in summer, backing a picnic breakfast, lunch or dinner heading off into the bush or to a lookout and enjoying a meal with a view, watching the sun go down from one of the many lookouts with a glass of wine and nibbles with family and friends. Pop up to the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba for a drink in the lounge, have a Pub meal in Rydal, Capertee or Jenolan caves like I said it’s all there if you want to make the effort.
As for the negatives, most negatives in this town are easily applicable anywhere else. Don’t move to Lithgow if you want wild night life or beaches or you hate the cold. It’s not a nice thing to say but if I meet someone whinging about the place I feel like saying, “if your not happy, move! Some of the moans I hear from people say more about the moaner than the town and I doubt they would be happy anywhere.
If you’re fed up with being in town the train is right there to take you to Sydney for the day and remind you of how peaceful and beautiful the place is when you get home. (The electrification is supposed to be extended to Bathurst which will increase services). Affordability is a major thing in this town and I don’t think you will find such nice tasteful homes elsewhere for the money. My preference is for old homes they really do it for me, in this town there is an abundance of old homes ripe for the picking to turn into you own lovely dream home I drove through the town in 2000 and looked in the real estate window and saw two semi’s for 100k, if only I had grabbed something then. I’ve met people who cashed out in Sydney top up their super, brought a four wheel drive, purchased a beautiful affordable home and have never looked back. Living within your means without a crippling mortgage does have wonderful advantages and freedom attached to it.
As for the future of this lovely place, I don’t know, the Great Western Highway is always being upgraded, more jobs will be created with extension planned for the power plants near by, it may or may not ever change and some people I know hope it never does.