northernmanc

Thanks for these comments its most appreciated. As mentioned my knowledge of Sydney isn't great beyond the airport to the CBD and Market Street down to Circular Quay and the ferry trip to Manly so I just wonder whether there's a big difference in terms of living North vs South and whether there are nicer suburbs in the North or South or if they're about the same ? I love the beach but my wife isn't a huge fan hence why being close to the beach isn't a priority although we would like to be 30-35 mins drive so we can go for a walk when we want too. Coming from London where my commute is by train everyday, the thought of getting a bus isn't great, so are these express buses/coaches or just regular buses and at peak times do they tend to get overcrowded etc ? It's a fun time to plan, but the house prices do scare me but you only live once and with more flexible working, it does open up a wider selection of areas than otherwise might have been there if I had to commute everyday.

Hi, I’m seeking some guidance on commutable areas around Sydney. I currently have about an hours commute into London and whilst I would love to reduce that when I move to Sydney, I know it’s not going to be realistic with the prices of houses. I’m looking for an area that I would call leafy with about an hours commute into Sydney, ideally by train, and within about a 30 minute drive to the coast. I only really know Sydney itself and want to start looking on Realestate for houses but not knowing the areas I don’t know if they’ll be nice or not. I have a budget of around the $2 - $2.5 and am hoping that if I go slightly further out I could find a nice property with a garden. I probably won’t be asked to work from the office everyday, hence I won’t mind a longer commute but just want to find the nice areas to look at. All help would be more than appreciated at this stage in my planning.

I found with Adelaide that everything was very close wherever you were and if you lived towards the hills, you'd only be 25/30 mins from the beach and on the coast, only 30 mins to the hills. There seemed to be good access from most suburbs to the CBD, although I noted that some of the suburbs that were nice along the coast, for me were too far if I had to go into the CBD each day. While it did feel small, to me, it had everything I would need and if I wanted the big city for a weekend, it was only two hours by plane. As with Perth a lot of the suburbs sprawled into each other, but that's no different from driving into London or Manchester. I did find some lovely beaches towards the south which looked nicer than the ones in Perth, or certainly more picturesque. Brisbane I liked more for the access to The Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast and while the city was much like any other city, it just felt there was more of a buzz about the place than Adelaide and Perth. Yes, you're right, the beaches aren't on the doorstep but for me as long as they are within a 30/35 min drive that's all I want because I'm not a beach-bum and only want to go there for walks or a relaxing day in the sun. I often judge places by the amount of photos I've taken and in Perth I struggled to take that many, which to me shows it's missing something as I'm usually snap happy. I'm sure most people that live in Perth are very happy, but I don't want to live in a Benidorm where people just go there to be just like home and miss out on the bigger picture of embracing life in a new culture. This is just one persons view, and I maybe more particular about where I live, but I left feeling so disappointed as I thought it would be the place for me. But now I know it's SA or possibly Queensland where I will focus on my next trip.

Hi, I've just returned from my first reccie to Australia since being granted a 190 Visa and my last stop was Perth after spending time in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and I left Perth until last as I thought it would be the most likely place that I'd want to live, but I really struggled to find anything to like in Perth and I just wondered am I missing something that makes so many people want to live there ? I spent five days at The Ritz Carlton which was a great base and visited most of the main suburbs that I'd looked at from afar, from Mandurah in the South to Joondalup in the North and just couldn't find anything which came close to the other cities I visited. Whilst there were some nice areas, I didn't feel like I was in Australia, at times it felt like I could be in any town in England with Nando's, Fish and Chip Shops, empty shops and scruffy in places. I really wanted to like Perth, especially as I have a nice house budget and there are some beautiful houses where I could live, but there didn't seem to be anything to draw me there other than the lovely houses and I don't know whether it was that the other cities felt more Australian and had more wow factors, but I left Perth feeling disappointed and it would really help me to know why people move to Perth to help me understand if I did miss something. I'm fortunate that I can work anywhere in Australia as my company has a presence in each City and they've given me the choice on where to live. At the top of my list is Adelaide closely followed by Brisbane with Perth last and this is what I least expected. Any comments would be helpful. I'm due to visit again once more in January ahead of moving in June next year and it would be great to know that there is something about Perth that I should look at again, Thanks :)