Sydney or Melbourne? Where shall I live?

[savoycabbage]

We are moving to Australia in the next year. Before we had our children we lived in Sydney for two years and I am ashamed to say......I never even went to melbourne!

Now we have two dcs aged 4 and nearly 2 and we are going to live in oz for a good while. (I can't make myself say forever.)

Now we have to decide where to live. We already have passports. We don't know if we should live in Sydney where at least we have a bit of a clue about and we know where IKEA is! Or Melbourne which sounds very cosmopolitan.

HELP!!!

[MrsBigD]

Hi savoycabbage, we've just moved to Sydney and have no idea re Melbourne but I think it depends which jobs you are after as well.

dh is in it and i'm a PA so we have no issues anywhere. But our friend who is a fashion designer is finding it very hard here in Sydney as all the action seems to be in Melbourne.

Other consideration: income potential vs living costs - Syd we're finding rather expensive, then again we do live in Chatswood where rent is rather high probably due to the major train link . Just swapped from car to bike to safe some money and also to get fit

Kids are loving it here (in Australia in general) as they can be outdoors so much due to much nicer weather

Good luck on deciding it's never easy is it

[savoycabbage]

Thankyou. My dh worked in Chatswood - great shops!

Do you think the houses are more expensive in either Sydney or Melbourne? We will have to sell ours here which is not going to be easy at the moment so that will be a consideration.

Also my dh is black and he was in a definite minority when we were there. In fact he was once in the paper as they were convinced Tiger Woods was there - in was in fact my dh! Anyway, it didn't ever bother him and we did not come across any negativity but people certainly looked at him - like a curiosity. Which was very strange for us as we moved there from London. I don't want this to happen to my dds though! Which is why we were considering Melbourne.

[MrsBigD]

LOL re tiger woods... yes there aren't many 'blacks' around, more asians and whities. If your dh isn't phased it shouldn't be an issue.

as for house prices... have a look at domain.com.au to get an idea

and yes good shopping in chatswood

[Chepstow1]

Hi, I live in Brighton, Melbourne (have been here for 18 months) and previously in Aus for a year,half in Sydney, half Melbourne. The Sydney/ Melbourne debate is contentious. My view Melbourne hands and feet and everything down!! Sydney is great to visit, the water the vibe, the sights, the wow factor from visitors, better beaches. Melbourne however is SO much more liveable,no traffic, cosmoplitan, easy to get around, stuff to do for kids which is accesible, cheaper, more culture, seasons, ability to get tickts for stuff, more family friendly and cheap places to eat out. Have pursauded 2 Sydney based families to move here, no regrets.

Lets face it, both places are fab and we are very very lucky to be here, please shout if I can help anymore x

[isaidno]

My home town is Chepstow - sorry to hijack - just had to comment on last poster's name!

[ghosty]

I Chepstow1 ... am wondering where you get the 'no traffic' from .... lol - I find the traffic in Melbourne horrific ... but then I did move here from New Zealand and although the Aucklanders complain about the traffic there, Melbourne is much much worse ... DH works about 5km from home and can take 40 minutes for him to get home ...
Anyhoo ... apart from the traffic I love Melbourne and wouldn't consider living in Sydney. Don't get lulled into thinking it is cheap to live in Australia though ... Melbourne AND Sydney are both expensive (but one of the reasons I wouldn't consider Sydney is that it is MORE expensive than Melb and I think Melb is bad enough)
Melbourne is very cosmopolitan though Savoy and that's my favourite bit ... people from all over the world here ... I have friends from loads of different ethnic backgrounds: Maltese, greek, italian, croatian, hungarian, somalian, sudanese, indian, cypriot, lebonese, syrian, and of course, your fair sprinkling of brits, kiwis and good old aussies .... it is bloody brilliant!!

[SueW]

ghosty so pleased to hear you are loving it. But still

No chance we will move back now

[Chepstow1]

Hey Isaidno, spooky, where abouts??? My family are in Mathern, I went to Cheppy comp etc??x

[isaidno]

parents actually live in Sedbury; I went to Wyedean - so we are probably supposed to be sworn enemies!

[Chepstow1]

Hey the birth place of jk, clearly the more literary said of the wye.Do you go back much?

[isaidno]

Going next week to see family; prob go back 4 - 6 times a year. I am assuming you haven't been for a while if you are in Oz!