"done a load of fishing in another life, caught plenty of fish"
Not the same now.
"I called Dahlsens today, they have not closed down, they just closed the retail and do trade only at the Albury store,"
...Store closed to public's requirements, Mainly timber building frames, etc. only, so no competition to Bunnings and no use to most of the public.
"Since Bunnings arrived, the problem is not just Albury, but the force of Bunnings has forced the other competitors out all over the country"
Partly true, but most other towns have Mitre 10 at least as competition, Mitre 10 not even in Wodonga now.
"of course we dont have all that is available in the cities, but we dont have the huge crowds, traffic jams or the population numbers either"
We're slowly but surely getting there. Don't you know Albury is referred to as the City of Lights" ? Now it takes double the time to get from one end of town to the other, with the Albury council still "traffic calming", stopping vehicles from accessing some streets, getting them off the "rat runs" as they and the RTA has referred to them as, where people could avoid a lot of traffic by using for instance MacCauley Street, for one instance. They want all traffic on main roads, through school zones, traffic lighted areas.
Obviously, Kincella, you don't come to Albury much so you don't really know what's going on, ie., the changes making AW similar to the big cities, and all started when the AWDC came to town in the '70's, and bought up the place, .... and then really only looked after themselves and their mates.
The authorities have had a long time so as not to reproduce the negatives of other cities but they seem to just want more of the same.
"or a quick trip to Melbourne it is not too hard "
When did you last use the train service from Albury to Melbourne ?
Sorry to say it Kincella, but you appear to be in your own dream land and I suppose that's good for you, but the reality is Albury Wodonga is a peacefully, (mainly) place to live, but IMO, most coastal areas or east of the Great Dividing range, as well as Wollongong, has more to offer weather wise, tourist wise, environmentally and any other way than here.
But also, I appreciate what my family and I have here in Albury and we can from time to time (not very often), go to the coast.
