Geography
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Suggested answers
- The Tall Buildings Area of Forster is situated in the
north east precinct of the town in an area bounded by
North, Macintosh, Middle, Little and Head Streets. It
occupies an area that represented the site of the original
settlement and hence the oldest and largest residential
blocks.
In addition to being the area of older residential dwellings in which many are becoming dilapidated or expensive to maintain, this area enjoys access to scenic views of the lake, ocean and inland hills. Also the blocks are large and therefore suitable for the erection of larger tall buildings.
- Environment officer to the local council; National
Parks and Wildlife; Cartography and Geographic Information
Systems; Tourism and Recreation; Landscape Architecture;
Forestry are some such occupations. Your careers adviser
can provide information and advice.
- The statistical data does show that urban consolidation
is taking place. Unfortunately the statistics on
Dwelling structures are not specific to Forster
and this limits their usefulness to some extent. The other
information provided by the text and the photographs
provides substantial evidence of the character and extent
of urban consolidation in Forster.
- 463 (1516-1053).
- 43.96% (1516-1053=463. 463/1053x100=43.96%). This
increase is due to better transport links from Sydney to
Newcastle.
- 19.3% (933-782=151. 151/782x100=19.3%)
- 1391 (10906-9515=1391)
- 47.9% (10906-7373=3533/7373x100=47.9%). Relaxed lifestyle, natural amenities, real estate affordability, cheaper cost of living.
- 10.00 am (At 10.00 am the sun is in the east which would be to the right of the photographer therefore he or she was facing north.)
- Urban consolidation is a process of revitalising
declining parts of the built up area together with
increasing residential density in key areas. eg. close to
transport nodes. Urban consolidation occurs in a number of
ways, including the important process of rezoning to allow
for new and higher density land uses. (Hutchinson, page
157.)
The Great Lakes Council has this policy of urban consolidation because it allows increased numbers of people to enjoy the desirable amenities of the area such as access to views and beaches, shops, restaurants and clubs all of which are within comfortable walking distance. It reduces urban sprawl and the need for further vegetation clearing for new suburbs and lessens the cost of providing urban infrastructure such as roads, sewerage, power, garbage collection, water supply and street lighting.
Some of the disadvantages of urban consolidation are that this increased residential density has increased traffic flows and has required the provision of many more parking spaces, particularly for visitors at peak holiday periods such as Christmas and Easter. The shadows cast by high rise buildings and the manner in which they obstruct views have reduced the urban amenity to other residents in adjacent buildings. - Empty nesters are couples whose children have grown up
and left home. They find that their large home requires
considerable time to maintain the house and garden, so they
choose to sell up and buy a smaller residence with little
or no maintenance and more suited to their age, needs and
interests. Such couples in Forster are usually retirees
from other places.
Empty nesters and other retired people are invariably older people with more need of medical care and therefore there is a high demand and high supply of medical practitioners in the town. (The 1999 Yellow Pages lists 23 medical practitioners in Forster and its twin town of Tuncurry). The town has a modern, well-equipped and ever expanding private hospital. Facilities to provide for the needs and interests of older, retired people are prominent in the town. For example there are sporting and recreation facilities such as two golf courses, two large tennis complexes, an aquatic centre, croquet court and bowling club. There is also an arts and crafts centre for locally produced material, a bridge club, art society and a number of travel clubs.
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