Comparing Oz cities to live in? experiences

davepatr07

Hi,


Just a general query, ignore if it has already been asked.

I'm curious to find out what cities in Oz people prefer, the pros and cons.
My own situation I lived in Melbourne for much of my WHV couple of years ago though spent a few months in Adelaide and Brisbane. Never lived in Sydney, Perth or Darwin.

I may come across as a boring aul fart but I liked South Australia and Adelaide, kind of laid back. 30 minutes from the city you have the Adelaide Hills and countryside. Thought of it as a place to hang your hat at the end of your years.

Melbourne is vibrant and cosmopolitan, Brisbane I wasn't too keen on, very boozy scene.

Curious to know how does WA and Perth compare to East Coast?


Cheers

irishmover

davepatr07 wrote: »

Hi,


Just a general query, ignore if it has already been asked.

I'm curious to find out what cities in Oz people prefer, the pros and cons.
My own situation I lived in Melbourne for much of my WHV couple of years ago though spent a few months in Adelaide and Brisbane. Never lived in Sydney, Perth or Darwin.

I may come across as a boring aul fart but I liked South Australia and Adelaide, kind of laid back. 30 minutes from the city you have the Adelaide Hills and countryside. Thought of it as a place to hang your hat at the end of your years.

Melbourne is vibrant and cosmopolitan, Brisbane I wasn't too keen on, very boozy scene.

Curious to know how does WA and Perth compare to East Coast?


Cheers

Brisbane a very boozy scene? As opposed to where else in Australia? Did you spend all your time in Fortitude Valley or something?!

Brisbane is a great little town and thats coming from someone who rarely go's out, only on social nights with work.

I have driven around Brisbane quite a bit as part of my job, Surveyor, and its one of the more easy cities to get around as it's quite small. Sunshine Coast, Great Dividing ranges, Gold Coast, Tangalooma island, Bribie Island, Noosa, Lamington National park and so on are within a few hours drive of Brisbane. I own a Kayak and regularly Kayak Bulimba Creek/used to go to Lake Wivenhoe and paddle the lake.

Really is plenty of fantastic things to do in and around Brisbane.

However, I'm sure each of the other cities provide just as much. All are jut as entertaining. Except the only one out of them all that doesn't interest me is Perth as it seems like a very Irish scene, which I didn't come here for.

Maybe someone else might help with the other cities.

catbear

Perth can be quiet, the distance from everywhere else is a real drawback.
Beaches are nice, weather is mostly dry and even the really hot months are bearable as it isn't humid.

Personally I'm bored here and am really looking forward to moving on but I will miss the climate, it is Perth's best asset. Have visited Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and to me all are preferable to Perth.

minzabud

Having spent time in Melbourne,Sydney and Perth I've always found Adelaide the most livable city.

woolymammoth

davepatr07 wrote: »

I may come across as a boring aul fart but I liked South Australia and Adelaide, kind of laid back. 30 minutes from the city you have the Adelaide Hills and countryside. Thought of it as a place to hang your hat at the end of your years.

Living in Adelaide myself, i definitely agree that it's fairly laid back. Like anywhere, it's got its pros and cons, but it's definitely not just a place to 'hang your hat at the end of your years' - there's more going for Adelaide than just retirement! Living in the CBD, I'm not that far from any of the beaches or Parks, but the place is still very car orientated, bicycle unfriendly, and public transport poor. Weekend shop trading hours are still in the dark ages. I was in Melbourne once for a few days. lovely city, and seems like it'd be pretty easy to get around if you figure out where the trams are and how to pay for them! But I've no idea what it or the other cities are live for livability or cost of living. What time of year were you in Adelaide? If you were only here for a few months, you may not have seen all seasons - it can get pretty baltic in the winter, and super hot in the summer. Still bearable, but the months in between are much nicer.

RustySpoon

Living in Adelaide too, really enjoyable and a great place to live, have been here 2 years and have no plans yet to move anywhere else. Maybe the glorious weekend helped spin my positive attitude after a long cold winter.

Has really upped it's game in the last while and isn't as sleepy as it is made out to be (except on Sun nights!) State laws have relaxed a bit and allowed for more pop up bars and pubs which has made it a more of a good scene with some great local music being made. Local food scene is great with locally produced foods and wines being very impressive, some of the markets (Central, Willunga & Gepps cross) are amazing. Not a place I would live for long if I was 21 however as it would be a bit tame for clubs and the like.

It's easy living and is making improvements in being cyclist friendly, did a 31km cycle along the torrens track over the weekend and it was beautiful and a good hike in Black hill conservation park on Sunday. As Woolymammoth said everything is handy and there is very little traffic, quiet beaches, hills and parks are easy to get to and enjoy.

Cost of living is low compared to other cities at least when it comes to rents or house prices.

Not as arty/trendy/liberal as Melbourne and not as bustling as Sydney but for me is a great city to consider.

woolymammoth

RustySpoon wrote: »

Maybe the glorious weekend helped spin my positive attitude after a long cold winter.

haha! it was a good weekend.. sitting outside the Whitmore with a few pints of the black stuff and a parmie yesterday, couldn't have been happier! The guinness is a hell of a lot better since they started brewing it in adelaide.

davepatr07

Brisbane a very boozy scene? As opposed to where else in Australia? Did you spend all your time in Fortitude Valley or something?!

Well not so much Fortitude Valley but The West End. I stayed in a hostel there when I first arrived and spent about 3 weeks putting up with a lot of noise each night and drunkenness. Of course it's to be expected. I then managed to get a room in Paddington which I admit is a nice suburb. I duno just never grew to like the place. Each to their own I guess when it comes to liking or not liking cities.

What time of year were you in Adelaide? If you were only here for a few months, you may not have seen all seasons - it can get pretty baltic in the winter, and super hot in the summer. Still bearable, but the months in between are much nicer.

I was there in between February and June. Used Adelaide as a base while doing WWOOFING in the Hills near Meadows, Strathalbyn and Keith/Bordertown (2hrs from Adelaide) past Murray Bridge direction. I found South Australians to be friendly folk even if you got 1 or 2 teases for being Irish, you know how Aussies are. Give as good as you get when it comes to joking and having a laugh. Feb and March were warm but not too hot. Robe reminded me of an Irish fishing village but with the better weather.

One thing I did love is the Farmers markets, even in Brisbane I found myself working at a stall part time. In the Adelaide Hills I worked again at the host farm's stall. Would I do it all again? Yes! WWOOFING is a great way to meet people and also a great way to save. I'd highly recommend it to anyone for the experience.

irishmover

davepatr07 wrote: »

Well not so much Fortitude Valley but The West End. I stayed in a hostel there when I first arrived and spent about 3 weeks putting up with a lot of noise each night and drunkenness. Of course it's to be expected. I then managed to get a room in Paddington which I admit is a nice suburb. I duno just never grew to like the place. Each to their own I guess when it comes to liking or not liking cities.

The West End is only ever so slightly more desirable than the Valley. Typically a bunch of drunken hippies walking round with no shoes on.

You seemed to have not experienced the proper suburbs at all as Paddington is very close to the city aswell.

No wonder you don't like Brisbane!

Hail 2 Da Thief

Melbourne is a cool & vibrant place with excellent transport.....I'd happily live there again.

Summer in Sydney is hard to beat which is why I'd place it above Melb.

Adelaide.....Meh.....Only spent 6 weeks there mind.

seachto7

I sometimes don't understand why people think Perth is quiet? It's as big as any other city. Certainly bigger than most Irish towns and cities? What would you do in Melbourne, Sydney etc, that you couldn't do in Perth?

You have Sth West WA below it, which from what I recall, had plenty of things to do.

The obvious difference is its smaller than Mel and Syd. I like big, but not too big. Fremantle was great.

I missed my chance to live in any of them though...

catbear

seachto7 wrote: »

I sometimes don't understand why people think Perth is quiet? It's as big as any other city. Certainly bigger than most Irish towns and cities? What would you do in Melbourne, Sydney etc, that you couldn't do in Perth?

You have Sth West WA below it, which from what I recall, had plenty of things to do.

The obvious difference is its smaller than Mel and Syd. I like big, but not too big. Fremantle was great.

I missed my chance to live in any of them though...

The OP asked for experiences and while I appreciate that Perth ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of people it just doesn't do it for me and I've given it three years.
It has a lot a great qualities, the beaches are plentiful and the weather for the most part pleasant apart from the few really hot weeks in Jan and Feb.

After three years though I'm bored and I'm an active person. I really miss hill walking and long walks in flat repetitive bush do nothing for me. The fact that the nearest hill range for a good hike is a six hour drive away is a real turnoff. The south can be beautiful but a basic motel costing more than a hotel room on the via veneto is taking the piss, while I enjoy camping I prefer not having to depend on it for an affordable holiday.

By the way I wasn't in an Irish scene so I've had a full emersion into the local scene and it bores the **** out of me. I was never one for going looking for Irish bars when abroad but Perth broke my aversion. It's so boring here that when I suggest drinks to my aussie colleagues they want to go the Irish pubs too! I went to a local wedding a few weeks ago and everyone was gone home by 9.30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and that's normal. There are economically depressed irish country towns that have more going on in them on a wet tuesday in November than Northbridge on a weeknight.

Then there's the quarterly rent inspections which in all my years I've never encountered before in Europe, the US or elsewhere in Aus. I was failed once for dust on the plug of an appliance I owned!!!!!! As perth was the last penal colony I reckon some of that warden/prisoner cell inspection relationship still lingers. People who come from the outlying wheatbelt towns told me that up until the late 70s/early 80s the warden/prisoner ancestry still had a baring on who got what job and who married who etc... flipping redneckistan!

Then there's the sprawl, car dependency is extremely high. Where in Melbourne and Sydney you can get by without a car it just isn't as easy in Perth. In the longterm it's another big turnoff.

I could go on but I've given it a fair shake, made some friends that I'll be in contact after I leave and had some good fun but I won't miss it. There are a lot of things about it that make me want to like it, it's easy, it's quiet but there are times when it just feels like a big nursery and retirement village for the mining industry.

Perth can be heaven.......but I'm not dead yet.

.....and I didn't even get to the racism!

kellydavis

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witzky

I’m living in Adelaide too, since June 2011. I came down from Brisbane and took a few months to settle in, especially after arriving in winter! But all in all I really love living here! I live and work in the CBD so this is a huge plus, the rent is pretty reasonable too. As mentioned before, it’s so close to the beach/parks and of course all the lovely wineries! It is a bit quieter than the other cities but in the last year or so a lot of little pop up bars have sprung up and is brightening up the drab/smelly Hinley street…

Working on a major project until mid 2016 and hoping to stay on after that. But employment opportunities in certain areas are difficult, in my opinion anyway!

Nice to know there are some Irish here! Don’t tend to see all that many..

irishmover

witzky wrote: »

Nice to know there are some Irish here! Don’t tend to see all that many..

That's not a bad thing

woolymammoth

witzky wrote: »

Nice to know there are some Irish here! Don’t tend to see all that many..

I noticed that too at first. I figured then that the only ones who hang around long enough to be seen are families, mostly out in the 'burbs.

You work with DPTI or private? No doubt there's be plenty of other projects beyond 2016 for people with the right skills.

seipeal1

woolymammoth wrote: »

I noticed that too at first. I figured then that the only ones who hang around long enough to be seen are families, mostly out in the 'burbs.

You work with DPTI or private? No doubt there's be plenty of other projects beyond 2016 for people with the right skills.

Plenty of Irish here! Adelaide is a great place to bring up a family. We have a 17 and 7 year old and they really like it. We live in the Eastern suburbs, a 10 minute drive away from town. The eldest goes to college in town and it's great to be central. We meet up with Some Irish families fairly regular so they are around although well spread out. Great food and wine, fantastic beaches, no urban sprawl, relaxed pace of life. If there were lots of jobs here, it would be great!!!