Impressions of Adelaide

[MacGyver]

Im about to head to the airport after a short visit to Adelaide so thought I should give my impressions. The short version is I liked it and will definitely come back. The long versions is below.

The most noticeable thing about Adelaide compared to Perth is the architecture. Perth is a very new, clean, shiny glass and metal city (mostly). Adelaide has a lot more history observable in the beautiful older buildings dotted throughout the city centre. While Perth has a stunning, wide river and tall shiny buildings (probably more of a wow factor on first sight), Adelaide has lower buildings more densely packed together (although this seems to be slowly changing with taller glass buildings going up around the place). 

Walking around Perth CBD its very small, compact and a somewhat sparsely filled space, with most of the best bits added in the last 5 years. Walking around Adelaide CBD at times reminded me of Melbourne, and at other times of Glasgow, with a more vibrant CBD, more history and an abundance of coffee shops, bars and restaurants. Perth is a bigger city than Adelaide in terms of population, and where Perth sprawled outwards as it grew, I think the parklands around Adelaide led to the more tightly packed CBD layout and in turn higher foot traffic condensed in a smaller area. This makes it feel a lot busier than Perth CBD and a lot easier to stumble into good food and drink options without having to try too hard, with lots of outdoor dining in laneways a particular highlight.

Perth is a step ahead in terms of its river development (although could still do a lot more given the vast space and beauty of it), but Adelaide makes good use of the calm, narrow river with a lot of development continuing down in that area. While Perth is a beach city built on sand with rough and harsh foliage, Adelaide feels like a green city in the hills, built on gentle rolling hills of soft soil and grass. Perth is sunkissed and a summer city (that runs from spring to autumn with a  abundance of sunshine) while Adelaide (still dry and sunny) felt almost like a seasonal (as in 4 distinct seasons) town lifted from a gentle river in the uk somewhere, although this view might be impacted by the unusually cold weather in Adelaide this past week.

Another noticeable difference is that Perth is a city flowing with resources money, while Adelaide is less noticeably wealthy (although by no means poor). I’ve become accustomed to reading that Perth is more expensive than other Australian cities for this reason, so I was surprised when prices seemed pretty similar in Perth and Adelaide. Beer is about the same price, coffee is better and cheaper in Perth (surprisingly, although I might have been paying tourist prices), and food seemed about the same price. The biggest difference as noted was that Adelaide has far more food and alcohol choices than Perth, and noticeably better and more genuine service by workers in these sectors.

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to explore the beaches and hills - I must come back to check out the hills! I’ve been to the Barossa before and it’s stunning, Perth has Margaret river (also fantastic) and the Swan valley, each of which offers something similar but different. 

Overall I really liked Adelaide, but I also really like Perth for different reasons. If I was a new migrant I’d probably find it hard to choose between the two. As these two cities grow and mature I think they will increasingly give the bigger cities a run for their money, as people weigh up the urban sprawl of Sydney and Melbourne versus the laid back smaller city vibes of Adelaide and Perth. Arguably (depending on what you like), Perth and Adelaide have better climates than Melbourne (colder) and sydney (much more humid). While Sydney and Melbourne will always be top dogs, Perth and Adelaide offer a lot in terms of ‘lifestyle’ for young families.

Apologies for any typos or grammatical errors above, I’m typing quickly on my phone at the moment.

[MacGyver]

[Paul1Perth]

I've always liked Adelaide when I've been there on work trips. It was second on our list when we emigrated, due to housing costs, I felt when I visited we could have settled there too.

[Dusty Plains]

23 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

I've always liked Adelaide when I've been there on work trips. It was second on our list when we emigrated, due to housing costs, I felt when I visited we could have settled there too.

We also like Adelaide. Fortunately it seems that the classic old architecture Adelaide has survived the mindset of the 70's in other state capitals where classic architecture was flattened to make way for benign glass and steel boxes.

[Marisawright]

10 minutes ago, Dusty Plains said:

We also like Adelaide. Fortunately it seems that the classic old architecture Adelaide has survived the mindset of the 70's in other state capitals where classic architecture was flattened to make way for benign glass and steel boxes.

That's also one of the things I love about Melbourne. Not the CBD, of course, which is full of skyscrapers (often designed by trendy architects).  However, in the inner suburbs, there is street after street after street of marvellous old homes, shops and factory buildings dating from the 1850's to the 1930's.   An absolute pleasure to stroll around, especially as it's usually cool enough to do so, and nice and flat for old knees.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Marisawright

[Paul1Perth]

17 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

We also like Adelaide. Fortunately it seems that the classic old architecture Adelaide has survived the mindset of the 70's in other state capitals where classic architecture was flattened to make way for benign glass and steel boxes.

Perth has resurrected a few over the last few years. The Treasury Hotel is really well done. My Sis and her fella stayed there when they were here on holiday a couple of years back. 

Great pool and gym on the top floor, wouldn't know it was there from street level. Mind you we never saw anyone using either when we went up a couple of times, I don't think the clientele are the type for gyms and pools.

Couple more, same era have been resurrected too. Printworks, the old Brewery on the river. Subi has some nice old buildings and there are a few art deco cinemas around.

[MacGyver]

16 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

Perth has resurrected a few over the last few years. The Treasury Hotel is really well done. My Sis and her fella stayed there when they were here on holiday a couple of years back. 

Great pool and gym on the top floor, wouldn't know it was there from street level. Mind you we never saw anyone using either when we went up a couple of times, I don't think the clientele are the type for gyms and pools.

Couple more, same era have been resurrected too. Printworks, the old Brewery on the river. Subi has some nice old buildings and there are a few art deco cinemas around.

The Treasury/State Buildings are magnificent, inside and out. A perfect blend of old and new. A lot of Perth’s heritage buildings can be found outside the city due to the way the area was colonised/developed. Fremantle has an abundance of smaller heritage buildings as does Guildford. 

[JetBlast]

I find Adelaide has pubs where you can get a drink and good quality food. Brisbane was slim pickings. 
 

You can get to anywhere in Adelaide within around 20 mins (not literally but most places). Makes for a much better work life balance as commuting times are minimal. 

[llessur]

@MacGyver It looks like you had a nice trip! What time did you take those photos by the way? Everything looks a bit on the empty side

I think you're right in your observations above. I loved Perth when we were there and almost moved to Freo after a month-long stay nearly became permanent somewhat by accident but have also found Adelaide a great mid-sized city to be living in - especially now we've got kids. There's lots to do and yet nothing's too far away. I'd much rather be 5 minutes outside of Adelaide than 40 minutes outside of Melbourne.

We did lose a lot of great architecture back here in the 60s and 70s but a fairly prominent heritage protection movement grew in the 70s/80s so much has also been spared since then. I love wandering round the CBD looking at the buildings - there are some great hidden gems down laneways and side streets and I'm sure there are some guided history and architecture walks you can go on too. Saying that, we also seem to have had a mini boom of 100m+ buildings in the last 5 years or so, so things are also moving upwards.

I feel Port Adelaide could eventually end up something like Freo - it has massive of heritage buildings still intact, mainly because it suffered economically in the 60s/70s/80s and so nothing was ripped down for new development. Now it's starting to be revived and has got great potential to be something special. The forthcoming frigate and submarine building is supposed to be a catalyst for that - and there have already been some new hotels, pubs and breweries popping up - so fingers crossed on that front...

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, llessur said:

@MacGyver It looks like you had a nice trip! What time did you take those photos by the way? Everything looks a bit on the empty side

I think you're right in your observations above. I loved Perth when we were there and almost moved to Freo after a month-long stay nearly became permanent somewhat by accident but have also found Adelaide a great mid-sized city to be living in - especially now we've got kids. There's lots to do and yet nothing's too far away. I'd much rather be 5 minutes outside of Adelaide than 40 minutes outside of Melbourne.

We did lose a lot of great architecture back here in the 60s and 70s but a fairly prominent heritage protection movement grew in the 70s/80s so much has also been spared since then. I love wandering round the CBD looking at the buildings - there are some great hidden gems down laneways and side streets and I'm sure there are some guided history and architecture walks you can go on too. Saying that, we also seem to have had a mini boom of 100m+ buildings in the last 5 years or so, so things are also moving upwards.

I feel Port Adelaide could eventually end up something like Freo - it has massive of heritage buildings still intact, mainly because it suffered economically in the 60s/70s/80s and so nothing was ripped down for new development. Now it's starting to be revived and has got great potential to be something special. The forthcoming frigate and submarine building is supposed to be a catalyst for that - and there have already been some new hotels, pubs and breweries popping up - so fingers crossed on that front...

Ha I wasn't trying to make it look empty I promise! Most of the photos would have been in the morning or when cafe's were just setting up, when everyone was at work/didn't have time to aimlessly wander like I did. The weather was also a bit grey and cold which possibly reduced numbers, apparently the week prior had been sunny and in the 30's so we just timed it badly, but if you like a city when its cold (ish) and grey then you'll definitely like it when its sunny and warm. We'll definitely have another longer visit to Adelaide in the future, its a nice city with a lot going on and its proximity to other cities (relatively speaking) is one major advantage it has over Perth.