saynotocooma
Reviews
"Not a place to move to, if you are thinking that country people are friendly"
This is a town, where the locals will treat you like an alien for the entire length of your stay, you will never get are job because there just aren't any, and if there are you have to know someone who knows someone else....
These people have never been past the 100km zone out of town, if you have ever lived in another town, travelled overseas or done anything remotely interesting in life, you will be looked down upon and never fit in with these people.
Anyone who tries to have a go to make something for themselves or give a business idea a go will be run down, and have their dreams trodden into the ground.
This place the houses are too expensive although the prices are now starting to fall, but with the lack of jobs and no industry in the town, i am unsure how people think they are going to pay these places off. Advice,.... anywhere has to be better than Cooma
Truer words were never spoken, saynotocooma! We were there looking to buy the property, (thanks God that we didn't buy) only to find out that local real estate and stock agent has abandoned us prior to the settlement. No calls back, no follow-up, not a peep. We were left out of pocket for almost $2500, pulling out of the deal (excluding the trip expenses). There are also RE in Cooma Region that will never send you the Contract of sale on initial inquiry and try to sell you wothless, old, crappy houses (inclusive furniture) for a way overinflated price. We are not "venting out" our personal problems - we are just concerned for anyone interested in Cooma Region not to go through the same or similar experiences as we did.
With slight accent you may not even get a sandwich on time as a visitor. That is also a way to understand and accept local cultural heritage.
Dissapointment is imminent in Cooma and Snowy MountainsRegion unless you are born and bred there. If in doubt - check it out!
Cooma & Snowys ... never again!!! The episode we would like forget!!!
saynotocooma everything you said sounds like the nightmare my husband and I are living here. And also nothing to do with 'personal problems' We moved and purchased a house to turn into our 'forever home'. We moved here completely 'FULL OF LIFE' excited for our future, and becoming a 'cooma local' to now 2 1/2 years of having the life completely 'SUCKED OUT' of you. We are in agreement to every word you have written and what you have experienced, because that is just a small fragment of what we have been living through and what continues to weigh us down. If only for a lotto win, I'd be removing us immediately from this 'TOXIC' environment.
Is it really that bad? We are thinking of moving to Cooma, Adaminaby or Dry Plains. I'm not white (blonde haired, blue eyed) and neither are my kids. Will I be making a mistake?
Hi KateS1! My wife and me are both white, gray-haired, green eyed with non-Anglo Saxon accent. It's toxic community and for your hard earned dollar (because you've worked much harder and longer than Anglo Saxon) you deserve better bang-for-a-buck. Your move to Cooma Monaro shire would be text book mistake. We've signed the contract on very nice property nearby Cooma and in the middle of the process we've "bolted out" - never to return. If your insanity prevails (which we hope it wouldn't) make sure that everything is written down. Don't expect any service & respect in this community.
I agree with saynotocooma . Cooma is an approximately an hour from the capital city of this country yet it would seem folk from Cooma have never known anything but a very small town world. Locals do of course travel to Canberra to buy more than the basics and for other reasons but it seems the larger world of expanded concepts and alternative ideas doesn't get a look in. The towns nearby of Berridale and Adaminaby are even more cruel in the way new comers who think at all for themselves are treated.
Many in the towns grew up going to school in Cooma and then just live in the area for most of their life. Basically it feels like dualing banjo country without the banjo song. There is a suicide rate that seems unspoken of yet if you spend time here you will be aware of it quickly, in 2019 the house prices are 300 percent higher than they were less than ten years ago though job availability is low. The prices are propped up by greed and the real estates are fully on that banwagon. There is a massive housing and rental crisis. Physical and emotional abuse is high level and rumour about people gets completely out of hand.
Good points = well if you took away the general mentality, Cooma is not too far a drive to the South Coast and ocean and very close to the snow for skiing.
If saynotocooma was referring to Cooma NSW I'd like to let readers know that our experience before and since moving to Cooma has been the exact opposite to his/hers. We experienced Cooma as a place to shop, eat in and visit, rather than a place to drive through on the way to the snow, after family members moved to a nearby town. We found the people serving in shops and others we met in passing to be friendly and helpful. After deciding we wanted a sea/tree change in southern NSW we checked out towns from Cootamundra to Cooma and Nowra to Eden. Cooma was our choice after months of searching because of its central location to magnificent scenery, picturesque towns, the NSW south coast and eastern Victoria. Its good medical and other facilities are supplemented by Canberra only a little over an hour away. It took a while to find the property we wanted but we moved in in July 2011 and have had one of the warmest welcomes we've experienced in forty years of living in Canberra, southern NSW and (for thirteen years) in five overseas countries. We expect it to take a while to get used to a new town, understand its history and learn how to fit in to the local culture. So far its been fun, notwithstanding occasional adjustments to fit in with local practices.. We feel sorry for saynotocooma and hope they had better experiences in the next town. Based on our experience so far Cooma has exceed our expectations but we suggest prospective residents check the town out for themselves and don't be put off by negative generalisations from unhappy people venting because of their personal problems.