The downside of a 200km City (i.e. SEQ from Noosa to the Tweed) is that you can have a long commute to and from work. The upside is that, if there is a downturn in your local area, you can still find work elsewhere in the 200km City. The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that Gold Coast tradies are learning what it means to live in the 200km City:

From 4.30am, the sheer volume of tradies’ utes and trucks heading north along the M1 means they have now created their own early-morning rush hour.

“Mate, it’s just chockers. Every second car at this time of the morning is a tradie and they’re all heading one way,” says Shaun Schwarze, a licensed landscaper from Nerang who is happy to turn his hand as a builder’s labourer.

“I’ve been commuting for six years. You have to go where the work is. This week we’re working up at Goodna.”

While population projections suggest there will be further growth on the Gold Coast that will mean jobs for tradies in the future, some Gold Coast tradies will have to get used to travelling to Brisbane and to Ipswich, in particular, where a significant chunk of the additional growth in SEQ is projected to occur (see chart below).