Melbourne - why live here

billnben · 01-04-2008, 11:54 PM

Hi we are in the very early days of applying for visa.
But we are looking for advice and feedback on areas.
Brisbane or Melbourne is probably the two areas we would pick from (if i won the lottery it would be Sydney).
Anyway I will be posting the same thread about Brisbane in its section, but if you have a minute could you tell me what it is you like about Melbourne.
Anything really from parks, things for kids to do and play, weather, education, bad/good areas, public transport, beaches etc
Hope you can help us decide a bit more easier.

Thanks
x

gparkes · 02-04-2008, 12:03 AM

hi billnben,

I live in melbourne and love it, i think to move from the UK to somewhere like australia is difficult enough and i feel melbourne is a lot like the UK.
The weather is great here, we have good hot summers and when you feel sick of the sun the winter comes along alot like the UK ( well we do have the summer which is touch ad go with the UK)
The city has been voted one of the most livable cities in the world just behind canada

lindsayloo · 02-04-2008, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billnben

Hi we are in the very early days of applying for visa.
But we are looking for advice and feedback on areas.
Brisbane or Melbourne is probably the two areas we would pick from (if i won the lottery it would be Sydney).
Anyway I will be posting the same thread about Brisbane in its section, but if you have a minute could you tell me what it is you like about Melbourne.
Anything really from parks, things for kids to do and play, weather, education, bad/good areas, public transport, beaches etc
Hope you can help us decide a bit more easier.

Thanks
x

Hi there

Me and my partner moved from the UK last May and we love Melbourne. I don’t have kids now (trying J ) so cant give you much info on things that kids can do but I can tell you a bit about the rest.

Parks are fab here, we live in a suburb called Malvern and the parks are amazing. And unlike the UK they are everywhere! And of course you have the Royal Botanic Gardens, lovely for a walk, picnic or even to visit the moonlight open air cinema in summer.

The weather is great too, when we arrived in May 2007 it was great as we could ease into the hot weather instead of being thrown into it. Id say by August/Sept it was starting to warm up and for the last 6 months weve had fantastic warm weather. Saying that the days can change quickly, one day it will be 40 degrees and the next 25! It never fails to amaze me. Not much rain here and as a result we have water rescritions. The water level has been at approx 35% for some time – and dwindling!

Im not aware of any bad areas as such. Some areas ive described as rough would be Frankston, Ballarat etc (this is only what ive heard) but they are a bit of a way out of the immediate city and surrounding suburbs. In Malvern the schools are meant to be the best around and it’s a very safe area. A typical sight in Malvern is families, people walking dogs, very relaxed and safe.

Public transport – if you are using the train to go to the CBD for work, then id say Melbournes trains are the worst in the world. They are so packed that people are left standing on the platforms as they cannot fit into the carriage as people are squeezed in like cattle. Its actually dangerous with quite a few people having fainted on the trains in summer as you literally can hardly breathe. So a BIG downside to Melbourne is the public transport.

The beaches from what ive seen are lovely. But then again any beach after living in Nottingham for 25 years is great J St Kilda beach is the closest to me, and whilst being very popular with teenagers and very busy, is very nice too. But you have to be careful of jellyfish as we seem to have had a lot lately (non deadly, just stingers) ive only really been to this beach so far.

Good luck with everything and take care J

Lindsay xxx