Adelaide.

[lulalullabye]

Hello. We are planning on emigrating to Melbourne but there is a possibility that due to dh's work it may have to be Adelaide.
So hit me with the good and bad about Adelaide.
Thanks.

My family live there (Maplin Beach) and they love it. Thats all I know, sorry!

I lived there as a child so won't be able to offer an adult's perspective. Anyway, from what I can remember, it was brilliant. Clean, safe and friendly. The weather was a bit dodgy but you are on the coast which is great plus you have the national park (towards the hills - this is where we lived), so plenty to do if you are an outdoorsy family. You also have the wine country nearby which is stunningly beautiful. My parents would go back in a heartbeat.

We lived there for just over a year (returned to UK a few months ago). Loved it and would also return in a heartbeat. IMHO there isn't much wrong with it but minor gripes I had while there: houses get v. cold in the winter due to poor insulation (sure this would be the same in Melbourne). Crap shops. Adelaide can't compete with Melbourne for shopping. If you want fashion you have to go out of town. Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate so is lovely for most of the year but it can get ridiculously hot in the summer months and all you can do is sit it out at home with the air con on full blast. Positives: lovely friendly people, its clean, its safe, lots of family friendly activities, great festivals and events - Arts festival and fringe in March are fab. The literary festival is also fantastic if you are into that kind of thing (of course Melbourne has plenty as well if you are a culture vulture). Stunning beaches which are pretty much empty all year round, lovely parks, no traffic jams and always easy to get a parking space wherever you go, fabulous fresh produce. The central market is wonderful and IMHO beats Melbourne's also impressive Queen Victoria Market. Restaurants are generally great too. And last but not least - the world class wineries on your doorstep. Mclaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills wineries are all close by.

We lived there for a year too - just got back last summer. I gave birth to my son there actually. Really enjoyed it. Had a great time. Hard at first as obv very different to the UK (be ready for no-one to ever let you out from a junction), but the lifestyle is great.
Henley Beach and Grange are great areas to live / nice beaches / good coffee shops etc. The shops really are rubbish (Rundle Mall is basically the only place to go). There always seemed to be something going on - and everything is really easy to get to. No issues with traffic / parking etc. Lots of live concerts / festivals / sports fixtures / nice parks. Local flights are pretty cheap too - so we went away for lots of weekends (Melbourne, Sydney, Barrier Reef etc etc).
Cold and wet in the winter - and the houses do get really cold, but is often in the mid 40s in the summer.
People were really friendly, and there were lots of things going on for mums and kids. Thinking about going back....

Sounds like it could be a goer. Now we have considered the prospect of not going back to Melbourne we are looking at other places too like Brisbane, even after the floods. I like it being warm all year round and can survive the humidity. Fashion wise it must be bad if it's worse than Melbourne ;-)).
The weather does sound pretty much like Melbourne but doesn't have the traffic problems that Melbourne does.
Who knows what we will do, I suspect the next few weeks will be full of changing minds and sore jaws from grinding my teeth due to stress !!