Why does everyone hate

[Bristol Chris]

Perth so much?

[Bound4Tassie]

My theory is that it used to be a wonderful place to live - sun ,beaches, cheap houses...then the mining boom came ....the city changed character with too many people, expensive housing/ living costs and a certain type of more money than sense vacuous inhabitant. ( not everyone in Perth is like that of course but there are far more of them than pre boomtime)

[Bristol Chris]

a certain type of more money than sense vacuous inhabitant. ( not everyone in Perth is like that of course but there are far more of them than pre boomtime)

 

cheers for your response. Perhaps these unsavory types will leave now the boom is over, lots of people not from Perth originally?

[Johnny]

My theory is that it used to be a wonderful place to live - sun ,beaches, cheap houses...then the mining boom came ....the city changed character with too many people, expensive housing/ living costs and a certain type of more money than sense vacuous inhabitant. ( not everyone in Perth is like that of course but there are far more of them than pre boomtime)

 

Very accurate summary there - we saw massive changes in Perth from when we arrived. As time went by we saw the writing on the wall and knew deep down that the bubble would burst one day. Not really a great place to be putting your money nowadays.

[newjez]

cheers for your response. Perhaps these unsavory types will leave now the boom is over, lots of people not from Perth originally?

 

 

I grew up there, and there is a very different feel to the place. Not all of it is bad. The country town effect has gone. Problem with Perth is it can get boring, unless you are into sport, have a boat, have a pool or live near the beach.

[Bristol Chris]

I grew up there, and there is a very different feel to the place. Not all of it is bad. The country town effect has gone. Problem with Perth is it can get boring, unless you are into sport, have a boat, have a pool or live near the beach.

 

Will you ever go back mate?

[Guest]

They don't some love it - I envied them!

[gregc]

Im looking at this website every other day at the minute and... yes your right, a lot of the doom mongers etc do seem to not like perth.

I have only been to oz as a tourist but I much preferred Perth to Melbourne hands down.

I would love to move to Bunbury but according to most here, because Im a Working class bricklayer, and want a better life for family (tut tut ) If I moved to W.A I would have no work/no chance of buying a house/ would be bored and would be wasting my time

[JockinTas]

Im looking at this website every other day at the minute and... yes your right, a lot of the doom mongers etc do seem to not like perth.

I have only been to oz as a tourist but I much preferred Perth to Melbourne hands down.

I would love to move to Bunbury but according to most here, because Im a Working class bricklayer, and want a better life for family (tut tut ) If I moved to W.A I would have no work/no chance of buying a house/ would be bored and would be wasting my time

 

I have no idea what work is like for bricklayers in Perth or Bunbury these days. We lived in Perth 28 years ago and loved it - very happy there. OH worked in the building trade but there was a recession in 1986/87 and he found it hard to get work. We moved to Sydney where there was loads of building going on and lived there for a lot of years and thrived but we always missed Perth.

 

Good luck.

[ali]

Agree with Lady R - a lot like it, some don't, on PIO, some of those who shout loudest have never set foot there.

[JockinTas]

Agree with Lady R - a lot like it, some don't, on PIO, some of those who shout loudest have never set foot there.

 

No idea why some people carry on the way they do about Perth. I loathed London when I worked there for a year but now I really enjoy visiting. Just couldn't live there again though. It's like anywhere, some people like it and some don't. Tassie would be the same. Some people would be bored out of their minds here. I absolutely love it.

[Skani]

lots of people not from Perth originally?

 

Well, at the last census (2011), 35% of Perth's population were born overseas. 30% of the population had moved from elsewhere in WA or from other states since the previous census (2006).

 

So....lots of people not from Perth originally.

[AJ]

 

Perth so much?

Everyone doesnt!! Perth is a lovely place, maybe its not doing quite as well as before but where is. It seems that the most bitter people who didnt like it post the most nasty things they can on here. I dont know why because if they didnt like it they dont have to come back!

[Paul1Perth]

Don't know where you get that idea. We have been here since 92, middle of a recession when we came, high interest rates, no jobs to come to. Seen nothing but improvement year after year. Never lived in a place that's growing like this, so many changes and money spent. No-one lives that far from a beach in Perth. If you like blue skies, brilliant summers, beaches, warm weather, sport, there's no better place on Earth.

I've been lucky enough to travel a lot on work trips and been to a lot of different places in Oz. I could easily settle in Queensland but Brisbane is a long way from decent beaches, Sydney is great but I would need twice as much salary to have the same lifestyle.

We still love it and always happy to return when we've been on holiday.

[Gbye grey sky]

Perth, more than any other place in Australia, seems to be like Marmite (or should that be Vegemite) to people who have lived there. They either love their life there or they wind up loathing the place.

 

Some of those that loathe it have the unhappy trait of equating Perth with Australia as a whole but perhaps that it is because when you live that far from everywhere else you do live a little in a bubble and forget that there are several other versions of Australia to be found.

[Guest]

I'm not sure it's Perth particularly, I think that there just seems to be more people going to Perth on this site so also more dissatisfied people with the place.

 

I've visited a couple of times though not for a few years, it was very pleasant around the beaches but the city was lacking compared to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. People who love sun and beaches and sport will most likely enjoy the place, but those who are more looking for the Costa Del sol to stay in the pub all day by the beach may be a bit disappointed, as would those coming for big city entertainment.

[newjez]

Will you ever go back mate?

 

 

Often to visit, but the kids are doing GCSE's ATM, so no immediate plans to migrate.

[Bristol Chris]

Cheers for the comments folks. I was just reading the back to the uk thread or whatever it's called and it seemed there were quite a few people hating Perth. I just wondered why. My better arf, children and I are looking to move out next year, just sorting visa's now. Bit of a head spin working through the paperwork. wanted to get a good picture of people's stories, good and bad I guess.

 

About others not liking Ozzie land - after reading as many posts on the 'back to the uk' section there seems to be quite a few who for their own reasons seem to really despite Oz and love UK. You know what, that's ok with me, every country in the world is not for everyone. It's the ones that try to be clever pretending they're level on both countries but it's easy to see through their comments, to me personally comes across quite passive aggressive. I wish these peeps would just say if they prefer one country over another - it's ok to do that, even if you're not from ther. Saw through a few comments that made me have a quiet chucke to myself, do the people writing realise it's pretty see through?

 

NEway. I digress. New to Australian forums and spending quite a lot of time reading up everything I can.

 

What I've gathered up so far is look, life won't wave a wand and make you happy if you're not happy yourself. Moving to another country won't do that for you. I've worked all my life here, poor childhood, no father, so I'm used to hard work from an early age. I guess if I go into this with really open eyes and be prepared to work hard it might be ok for me and the fam.

[thl4kel]

The construction boom of building mine sites and oil and gas facilities but production is not over and will never be... So there will always be cashed up people in Perth. Perth has a two speed economy, the rich working in mining/oil and gas and then the rest of Perth, who struggle like hell to live.

 

As far as British brickies are concerned a lot left to work in London as the rates are very high and theres a lot of work now..

[VERYSTORMY]

I don't think there are many haters of Perth. But it isn't a place that everyone enjoys. I had a good time there, but was also very glad to leave. I think that it has things that some people love, but which, those same things, others don't. For example, the CBD is very clean and modern. To some this is wonderful, to others it is sterile.

[Quokka2005]

I love Perth but I didn't like it as much after my last visit from the east coast. I think it was just bad timing though because I was only there this time for 2 days. The weather was a bit rubbish and the streets were rowdier at night than the other times. I love the beaches and that it's so compact compared to Sydney etc

[Bristol Chris]

I gueess you are right VeryStormy. Different strokes and all. If I can ask (s'cuze me) did you leave simply because you didn't enjoy it? I'm trying to decide between QueensLand and West.Aust for my family and I.

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum, I didn't realise you were new and contemplating a move so gave a somewhat flippant answer - an answer I do stand by, certainly not everyone hates Perth & as Ali said it tends to divide people.

 

Australia loves 'battlers' as they call them, people prepared to pull themselves up from the bootstraps and work hard - it sounds like you may fit in very well. Tradespeople historically have done well in Australia as it's urbanisation and industry is growing and there is lots of construction. It is also, on paper at least, not as class divided - there isn't the same wage gap between 'trades' and 'professionals'. As a professional I earned less in Perth than in Edinburgh (significantly less for the first 3 years) but a working brickie in Perth is likely to be doing very well.

 

Perth it seems is having a downturn so perhaps not the best time to head there but downturns have there upsides, finding a rental will be much easier & there will be bargains to be had in furnishing a new place, buying a car etc. if money isn't being spent as it was when we moved there in 2008.

 

What didn't I like about Perth?

 

The suburban sprawl & in particular the 'master-planned' estates that look like something out of the Stepford wives.

The early to bed, early to rise lifestyle - people think nothing of getting up at 5am and going surfing before work...they also don't think it strange that restaurants close at 9pm.

The heat in the summer - until you've experienced working in it (especially outdoors) don't assume anything.

The expense of travelling anywhere else (compared to flitting around Europe on Easyjet), our only holidays were camping/roadtrips in WA.

Up and coming UK/US musicians tend not to come to Perth - get lots of 'classic rock' bands.

Very family orientated - all our entertaining seemed to involve children i.e. BBQ's, dinner parties at home, picnics etc.

Longer working week and less annual leave

 

 

What did I like?

Spring and Autumn weather

Education system (state funded independent schools)

Bush Camping

Wildlife

 

Mostly though I found it pretty much the same as the UK - same benefits, same problems which meant for me on balance there was no point being there.

 

You will find someone who would argue with each of the points I've made or my negatives will be someone else's positives so please take my opinion with a pinch of salt, sharing just to give you my perspective on what I liked/disliked.

[Bristol Chris]

Thanks Lady R. Thank you for your welcome.

 

Your post is quite insightful, I'm not in the trades field however, but good to know your thoughts. Did you miss Scotland a lot? A friend on faceBook today said the sun is really hot there today! I'm presuming here (sorry if wrong) you will never return? You don't need to answer if personal, apologies.

 

Can I ask, why did you not like BBQ's with kids there, or did I read tha twrongly? Is it not good to be family orientated? Sorry again if I read that wrongly. Although I'm not fearful of heat, I read today that Perth has really hot long summers. I guess something you can only experience once you're there. I would love to learn to surf, n fact the family wants to!! Wonder if I can build shark safe wetsuits ;-)

[aussiederek]

I don't think there are many haters of Perth. But it isn't a place that everyone enjoys. I had a good time there, but was also very glad to leave. I think that it has things that some people love, but which, those same things, others don't. For example, the CBD is very clean and modern. To some this is wonderful, to others it is sterile.

 

Some interesting comments there. Before I retired I loved traveling into the CBD by train and working in those plush high rise offices during the resources technology development years. I worked for many organisations as a technical writer and enjoyed working with many great people. The CBD is actually quite dynamic from early morning, but by about 4pm people begin to leave like rats leaving a sinking ship, heading back to the 'burbs that are mind-numbing to live in! Our youngest son didn't like the place at all and said it was so new you could still smell the paint drying! Perth is certainly not for everyone and our son now lives in America and loves it after 20 yeqrs.

I think the main problem with Perth is it's isolation from the rest of the country and indeed the world (our world that is). However, it is on the doorstep of Asia where many people like to travel. But, it's a long way from all that is familiar to the British and Europeans. Some try to recreate the 'old country' but it doesn't work, simply because it is not Britain or Europe! I have learned to appreciate the place for what it is and no longer look for comparisons with where I came from. I've done the beaches to death, am not into surfing or footy and can't afford a boat or pool. The sun is too much as I get older. It's not that I don't like the place, but Perth must be one of the most boring places on the face of the earth and I find it hard work to overcome that. Also, relationships tend to be shallow and 'friends' often come and go from your life. (Might be my own fault of course, but I have heard many others say the same thing). It's always an individual thing of course, for me it's a good place to work (during the boom times) but not so good in retirement, even though medical facilities are second to none, which is important as one grows older. In one's twilight years, familiar places where one grew up and perhaps spent a good part of our lives, and old friends with whom one has history and relationships that go deep, all become the more important. Not everybody will see it my way and that's OK. We are all different and the things that drive us to go places and do things vary greatly.