Where's better - Melbourne or Adelaide ?

[fish.01]

Exactly right.

 

I laugh at the "Adelaide's small" thing. In terms of population it would be the 2nd biggest city in the British Isles and in terms of geographical size it would be the biggest by a huge order of magnitude. This is why it is so difficult to compare cities in the UK to cities in Australia.

 

Can you imagine someone saying "don't live in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Belfast, even Nottingham or Brighton or Aberdeen or Swansea or Cork; it's too small and there's nothing to do there" yet all are far smaller than Adelaide (except Brum which is only a bit smaller).

 

It must be a mind thing. Adelaide sees itself as the equivalent of a Ripon or Brecon or Sligo or one of those Scottish Border Reiver towns which for a place of that size is a bit bizarre to say the least. (Actually those are probably really bad examples but it shows how impossible it is to compare British and Irish cities to Australian ones, they really don't bear any comparison.)

 

I think that's why you have to see Australian cities for yourself and (/soapbox alert/) look outside the capital cities as well for places to live. You may not find what you want in the capitals - though you may well - but there are other places in Australia to live. (/soapbox over/)

 

Just out of interest are you comparing like for like? You seem to be comparing the Greater Adelaide metropolitan population with the official council populations of the UK cities (ie Birmingham City Council rather than Birmingham metropolitan area)?

 

 

Here's a snippet of the top 10:

 

[TABLE=class: wikitable]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]1[/TH]

[TD]London metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]13,709,000[/TD]

[TD]London (8,265,000), Southend (291,000), Chatham (231,000), Luton/Dunstable (216,000), Reading (216,000), Aldershot/Farnborough (174,000), Woking (124,000),Basildon (113,000), Slough (112,000), High Wycombe (100,000), Crawley (99,000), Bracknell/Ascot (96,000), Harlow (87,000), Chelmsford (76,000), Hemel Hempstead (68,000), Maidstone (65,000), Maidenhead (59,000), St. Albans (59,000), Basingstoke (55,000), Aylesbury (49,000), Stevenage (49,000),Sittingbourne (42,000), Wokingham (42,000), Tunbridge Wells (39,000), Sandhurst/Yateley (37,000), Guildford (34,000), Windsor (33,000), Bishop's Stortford (31,000),Letchworth (28,000), Horsham (27,000), East Grinstead (26,000), Burgess Hill (24,000), Sevenoaks (24,000), Haywards Heath (22,000), Hitchin (21,000),Tonbridge (20,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]2[/TH]

[TD]Birmingham metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]3,683,000[/TD]

[TD]Birmingham-Wolverhampton (2,363,000), Coventry (308,000), Nuneaton (87,000), Warwick/Leamington (71,000), Redditch (61,000), Bromsgrove (25,000),Tamworth (21,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]3[/TH]

[TD]Manchester metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]2,556,000[/TD]

[TD]Manchester (2,207,000), Macclesfield (59,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]4[/TH]

[TD]Leeds-Bradford metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]2,302,000[/TD]

[TD]Leeds (534,000), Bradford (341,000), Huddersfield (219,000), Halifax/Queensbury (155,000), Wakefield (111,000), Castleford/Pontefract (102,000), Harrogate (60,000),Dewsbury (36,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]5[/TH]

[TD]Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]2,241,000[/TD]

[TD]Liverpool/Birkenhead (1,170,000), Wigan/Ashton (220,000), Warrington (168,000), Widnes/Runcorn (121,000), Chester (58,000), Southport (44,000), Ellesmere Port (40,000), Ormskirk (24,000), Skelmersdale (20,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]6[/TH]

[TD]Newcastle-Sunderland metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,599,000[/TD]

[TD]Newcastle (814,000), Sunderland (270,000), Blyth/Cramlington (55,000), Peterlee (42,000), Ashington (27,000), Seaham (24,000), Chester-le-Street (23,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]7[/TH]

[TD]Sheffield metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,569,000[/TD]

[TD]Sheffield (693,000), Rotherham (150,000), Doncaster (80,000), Darfield (73,000), Chesterfield (73,000), Barnsley (56,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]8[/TH]

[TD]Portsmouth/Southampton metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,547,000[/TD]

[TD]Portsmouth (500,000), Southampton (376,000), Bognor Regis (66,000), Salisbury (29,000), Winchester (27,000), Andover (26,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]9[/TH]

[TD]Nottingham-Derby metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,543,000[/TD]

[TD]Nottingham (532,000), Derby (236,000), Mansfield (185,000), Ilkeston (53,000), Newark (25,000), Alfreton (23,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]10[/TH]

[TD]Glasgow metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,395,000[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom

[Guest Ptp113]

Two months here so far and more than happy with the pace of life. Could do with it slowing a bit if anything......

 

Jeepers!

[blobby1000]

We were all set to move to Adeliade from the UK and at the last minute swapped to Melbounre.

 

We visited Adelaide for 2 days and were immediatley taken by it, (possibly a bit of a regret there)

 

However, having lived in and near Melbourne for 2 years and having been to Adelaide for 2 days I think Im more than qualified to say I dont know

[Rugby Lad]

Just out of interest are you comparing like for like? You seem to be comparing the Greater Adelaide metropolitan population with the official council populations of the UK cities (ie Birmingham City Council rather than Birmingham metropolitan area)?

 

 

Here's a snippet of the top 10:

 

[TABLE=class: wikitable]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]1[/TH]

[TD]London metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]13,709,000[/TD]

[TD]London (8,265,000), Southend (291,000), Chatham (231,000), Luton/Dunstable (216,000), Reading (216,000), Aldershot/Farnborough (174,000), Woking (124,000),Basildon (113,000), Slough (112,000), High Wycombe (100,000), Crawley (99,000), Bracknell/Ascot (96,000), Harlow (87,000), Chelmsford (76,000), Hemel Hempstead (68,000), Maidstone (65,000), Maidenhead (59,000), St. Albans (59,000), Basingstoke (55,000), Aylesbury (49,000), Stevenage (49,000),Sittingbourne (42,000), Wokingham (42,000), Tunbridge Wells (39,000), Sandhurst/Yateley (37,000), Guildford (34,000), Windsor (33,000), Bishop's Stortford (31,000),Letchworth (28,000), Horsham (27,000), East Grinstead (26,000), Burgess Hill (24,000), Sevenoaks (24,000), Haywards Heath (22,000), Hitchin (21,000),Tonbridge (20,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]2[/TH]

[TD]Birmingham metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]3,683,000[/TD]

[TD]Birmingham-Wolverhampton (2,363,000), Coventry (308,000), Nuneaton (87,000), Warwick/Leamington (71,000), Redditch (61,000), Bromsgrove (25,000),Tamworth (21,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]3[/TH]

[TD]Manchester metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]2,556,000[/TD]

[TD]Manchester (2,207,000), Macclesfield (59,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]4[/TH]

[TD]Leeds-Bradford metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]2,302,000[/TD]

[TD]Leeds (534,000), Bradford (341,000), Huddersfield (219,000), Halifax/Queensbury (155,000), Wakefield (111,000), Castleford/Pontefract (102,000), Harrogate (60,000),Dewsbury (36,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]5[/TH]

[TD]Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]2,241,000[/TD]

[TD]Liverpool/Birkenhead (1,170,000), Wigan/Ashton (220,000), Warrington (168,000), Widnes/Runcorn (121,000), Chester (58,000), Southport (44,000), Ellesmere Port (40,000), Ormskirk (24,000), Skelmersdale (20,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]6[/TH]

[TD]Newcastle-Sunderland metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,599,000[/TD]

[TD]Newcastle (814,000), Sunderland (270,000), Blyth/Cramlington (55,000), Peterlee (42,000), Ashington (27,000), Seaham (24,000), Chester-le-Street (23,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]7[/TH]

[TD]Sheffield metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,569,000[/TD]

[TD]Sheffield (693,000), Rotherham (150,000), Doncaster (80,000), Darfield (73,000), Chesterfield (73,000), Barnsley (56,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]8[/TH]

[TD]Portsmouth/Southampton metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,547,000[/TD]

[TD]Portsmouth (500,000), Southampton (376,000), Bognor Regis (66,000), Salisbury (29,000), Winchester (27,000), Andover (26,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]9[/TH]

[TD]Nottingham-Derby metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,543,000[/TD]

[TD]Nottingham (532,000), Derby (236,000), Mansfield (185,000), Ilkeston (53,000), Newark (25,000), Alfreton (23,000)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]10[/TH]

[TD]Glasgow metropolitan area[/TD]

[TD]1,395,000[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom

 

Cheers Fish,

 

never seen those stats before but very interesting.

 

I think it is different. Someone who lived in Southend or Reading or Luton would NEVER say they lived in London - and if they did Brits would laugh in their face. But someone in Andrews Farm or Seaford Meadows would say they lived in Adelaide.

 

Must be because of the Green Belt, stops (to a certain extent) ribbon development and urban sprawl and gives each city / town a set boundary and it's own identity. As per above Reading, Southend and Luton are certainly towns with their own employment, infrastructure and shops / entertainment in a way that the outer suburbs of Adelaide are not.

 

I bet Mackems and Derby boys hate being put in the Newcastle and Nottingham "city" areas - enough to make me almost like these stats:biggrin:

 

Cheers for those, but I think they're a bit made up - again a difference in Aus & Brit ways of thinking. Saying that I was born in the South Wales valleys - we hate thinking of ourselves as attached to the other side of the village, let alone a town more than - ooh - 2 miles away!!

[fish.01]

Cheers Fish,

 

never seen those stats before but very interesting.

 

I think it is different. Someone who lived in Southend or Reading or Luton would NEVER say they lived in London - and if they did Brits would laugh in their face. But someone in Andrews Farm or Seaford Meadows would say they lived in Adelaide.

 

Must be because of the Green Belt, stops (to a certain extent) ribbon development and urban sprawl and gives each city / town a set boundary and it's own identity. As per above Reading, Southend and Luton are certainly towns with their own employment, infrastructure and shops / entertainment in a way that the outwer suburbs of Adelaide are not.

 

I bet Mackems and Derby boys hate being put in the Newcastle and Nottingham "city" areas - enough to make me almost like these stats:biggrin:

 

Cheers for those, but I think they're a bit made up - again a difference in Aus & Brit ways of thinking. Saying that I was born in the South Wales valleys - we hate thinking of ourselves as attached to the other side of the village, let alone a town more than - ooh - 2 miles away!!

 

While I agree with you that Brits hate thinking of themselves as belonging to the other place they certainly contribute significantly to it's vibrancy. Australian's may think they belong to a city an hour away but often don't spend much time there so as you say it just comes down to labelling. So while it certainly has it's own identity Sunderland is only 20-25 mins on the metro from Newcastle Central for example. Newcastle shops, pubs and nightclubs have lots of Makems out enjoying themselves (maybe a ratio should be applied to contiguous towns?). Sunderland wouldn't even be considered an outer suburb, probably middle ring, in many Australian cities.

 

I would say Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are bigger than Adelaide. Newcastle similar metro size imo.

[Rugby Lad]

While I agree with you that Brits hate thinking of themselves as belonging to the other place they certainly contribute significantly to it's vibrancy. Australian's may think they belong to a city an hour away but often don't spend much time there so as you say it just comes down to labelling. So while it certainly has it's own identity Sunderland is only 20-25 mins on the metro from Newcastle Central for example. Newcastle shops, pubs and nightclubs have lots of Makems out enjoying themselves (maybe a ratio should be applied to contiguous towns?). Sunderland wouldn't even be considered an outer suburb, probably middle ring, in many Australian cities.

 

I would say Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are bigger than Adelaide. Newcastle similar metro size imo.

 

Yeah, fair point mate.

 

I agree with you.

 

I was just trying to point out that none of the 5 major Australian cities is "small".

[Diane]

I think it is different. Someone who lived in Southend or Reading or Luton would NEVER say they lived in London - and if they did Brits would laugh in their face. But someone in Andrews Farm or Seaford Meadows would say they lived in Adelaide.

 

So, so sooooo true! I have little patience with people who move to Aldinga or Moana and then say they live in "Adelaide", even though they'd probably never find themselves "nipping into the City for an hour to grab something from Central Market" because it's a pretty damn long way - and if they went out to a show/concert/sporting match in the evening in the city, it would cost them a small fortune in cab fares to get home!! People with teenagers seem to be very surprised when they move somewhere miles away from the centre and then find their teens get bored outside of the summer, beach months - those are the ones that most often call Adelaide "boring" and "quiet" with nothing to do!

 

I have a single friend living about 15/20 minutes drive (or 10 mins on the O-Bahn) from the city and she's hardly ever home in the evenings, because she's always out listening to some live music somewhere, at a comedy show, out for something to eat, or doing some arts or sporting stuff somewhere. So Adelaide does have plenty to do, but it's pretty centralised around the CBD. People with kids should also bear in mind that school choices get more and more limited the further out you go too.

 

Anything more than 30 minutes drive from the CBD in my opinion is not "living in Adelaide"! It's living in South Australia!

[Petals]

Agree but being Brits we know where all the places in Britain are, we do not know all the places in Aus, so its easier to say we live in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, Hobart etc and other large centres.

e

If we all said the suburb we lived new peeps would not have a clue where we are here in Aus.

 

I describe Melbourne as being the size of Greater London and it is in area, of course there are less people living in the area but people. Its not like the suburbs most peeps end up living in are close to the CBD they are not like commuting from outer London areas or counties.

[northshorepom]

While I agree with you that Brits hate thinking of themselves as belonging to the other place they certainly contribute significantly to it's vibrancy. Australian's may think they belong to a city an hour away but often don't spend much time there so as you say it just comes down to labelling. So while it certainly has it's own identity Sunderland is only 20-25 mins on the metro from Newcastle Central for example. Newcastle shops, pubs and nightclubs have lots of Makems out enjoying themselves (maybe a ratio should be applied to contiguous towns?). Sunderland wouldn't even be considered an outer suburb, probably middle ring, in many Australian cities.

 

There are big differences in that list though. In general I agree with Rugby Lad on that, you can't go making out Reading is really part of the London Metropolitan Area, I don't think many people would include that at all. People would commute from Reading but that's different. Same as people commute from the Central Coast into Sydney, it doesn't make it part of Sydney

 

As an aisde, where TF is "Darfield"? I know South Yorkhshire *very* well and population 76,000? lol

I would say Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are bigger than Adelaide. Newcastle similar metro size imo.

I agree with you on this though. But Adelaide is still a "big city" in anyone's book, so I reckon RL's initial point still stands. Not that I know it well

[fish.01]

There are big differences in that list though. In general I agree with Rugby Lad on that, you can't go making out Reading is really part of the London Metropolitan Area, I don't think many people would include that at all. People would commute from Reading but that's different. Same as people commute from the Central Coast into Sydney, it doesn't make it part of Sydney

 

As an aisde, where TF is "Darfield"? I know South Yorkhshire *very* well and population 76,000? lol

 

I agree with you on this though. But Adelaide is still a "big city" in anyone's book, so I reckon RL's initial point still stands. Not that I know it well

 

On another forum I'm on I see British arguing these points (metro area, how big is their cities "real" population etc) and I don't think they ever really agree though most are trying to make it bigger not smaller ...maybe this list follows govt definitions? I think the same goes for cities like Adelaide though. Even though it may be all called Adelaide a lot would live far away and not contribute much to the vibrancy of the city at all. If it was an older place it would probably be more obviously split like British town are. In the end I guess it comes down to how many people can comfortably access your city centre on a very regular basis for work and non work activities. Density of British cities is one thing that helps here.

 

I agree with you on this though. But Adelaide is still a "big city" in anyone's book, so I reckon RL's initial point still stands. Not that I know it well

 

The Chinese might not agree