Paul

Hi All, I'm 32 and live in Surry Hills near the city. I'd definitely be up for meeting you all for a drink or a meal...

Dear All, I have lived in Surry Hills for about 8 months now, ever since I was offered a job and arrived in Sydney. One of the things that strikes me about Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Paddington is the sheer number of British and American accents I hear - almost outnumbering the Australian accents! What amazed me was that the Brits and Americans I see in Surry Hills, Paddington and Darlinghurst don't look like the British, Irish and American teenage and early 20s backpackers seen in Bondi and Coogee but a different mix - very smart, older affluent types - the Brits often with crisp RP or posh London accents like you may find in London suburbs like Islington and Clapham. According to Wikipedia, 67% of the population of Paddington alone have roots in North-West Europe, mostly from the UK and Ireland. I didn't give it much thought until I visited the suburbs of Cabramatta, Liverpool and Blacktown recently - all places I enjoyed with their interesting Vietnamese, Lebanese, Indian and Filipino ethnic shops and restaurants. According to others I have spoken to, they are seen by Australians as enclaves of certain ethic groups - especially Cabramatta with its Viet population. This got me pondering that if people can call Cabramatta and Blacktown enclaves then can one label the Eastern Suburbs (including the inner eastern suburbs) as a predominently British/Irish/American enclave?

Hey All, pleasure meeting you last night. I really enjoyed it. Look forward to the next one.

Australia does have a great standard of life but also a rising cost of living. I think that this does put pressure on people, especially families, to succumb to their employers every whim and work later and more stressed.

A vibrant place during the weekends. Crown Street, where I live, always has a great vibe about it.

Your best options in terms of price are further away from the city and house or even room shares. The rents are more expensive here than in all other Aussie cities, but there are deals to be be found. http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/ is a good place to research.

Some great advice on here. Funnily enough, I came to Australia on a WHV fully expecting to do the typical backpacker jobs like bar work etc., and got my RSA not long after I arrived, but ended up working as a software test analyst (the same job I had in London for three years) on a three month contract, and was just recently made permanent with a 457 visa to go with it....