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This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales with numerous contributions by others.

10.1.3 Housing in Canberra [TN]

Housing is getting expensive in Canberra. A median house price
(probably 3-4 bedrooms, ensuite, 2 car garage, 0.2 acres) is about
$160,000, and rents for say $180-200 per week. That is second only to
Sydney. However, the medan house price is somewhat misleading as the
standard of the houses is not directly comparable city to city.
You probably get much more for your money in Canberra than most other
cities, and the housing is newer.

Canberra is organised as a group of towns, where each town has a town
centre, with shopping malls, offices, service districts (specialist
shops, car yards, mechanics etc). The city is very attractive, well
layed-out, nice parklands, lots of space. The surrounding mountains
and bush are peaceful and beautiful, and it is only a 10-15 minute
drive from the city to be in genuine bushland. Lots of virgin forest
and mountains for outdoor enthusiasts, rivers and lakes for canoeing
and fishing.

It's about 1-1.5 hours drive to the coast, and there is some nice
coastline. Bateman's Bay is the closest and is therefore a bit
overcrowded with Canberrans. A bit further north or south (say 50km)
gets you to some quiet beaches. Good camping there too. A lot of
Canberrans own beach houses. Sydney is 300 km away on mostly freeway,
close enough for an easy weekend trip.

Jobs tend to be with the government or universities/CSIRO, or
companies that supply these directly or indirectly. There is a
growing private sector, which has little to do with government.

Culture: some good restaurants if you ask around (as anywhere). At
least one twin art cinema, plus three or four other cinemas. More of
the touring cultural events visit Canberra than you would expect
because the population (approx 350,000?) is relatively well off and
educated. There is a lot of additional culture because it is the
national capital, such as the Australian National Gallery, National
Library, etc. However, Canberra is not like Sydney or Melbourne in
terms of choice or frequency of cultural events, or venues.

Canberra has two universities, Aust National Uni and Canberra Uni.

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