Australian now has the world's most liveable cities

[rammygirl]

Yes but you can get places that have 4 seasons that is the point. The climate and landscape varies. I like to wrap up warm for a walk on a chill day and I like the beach in summer. 
there is plenty of autumn colours where I live no need to go to a park to see them. Same I. Canberra 

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Wanderer Returns said:

You're implying there's really only two seasons then. I appreciate that Canberra has a more varied climate than other Australian cities, but the seasons are nowhere near as pronounced as in Europe. There's hardly any native deciduous trees here in Australia, so how can one identify when autumn starts? In the major southern cities you can visit botanical gardens and parks where you can experience the fall, and other areas where they've been cultivated, but once you're out in the bush the landscape pretty much all looks the same, regardless of the time of year.

Most of us don't live in the bush.  The cities and towns in the southern areas of Australia are bursting with deciduous trees - not just in botanical gardens and parks but lining the streets where we live, and in many gardens. In fact they can be a b***** nuisance because of all the falling leaves all over the pavement, just like back in the UK. 

Of course, they've been artificially introduced but that 's not the point.  They're part of the landscape we live in, as are the daffodils and freesias when spring comes.  Many of the oaks and elms in Melbourne have been there for well over 100 years.   

Edited June 19, 2021 by Marisawright

[ramot]

20 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Most of us don't live in the bush.  The cities and towns in the southern areas of Australia are bursting with deciduous trees - not just in botanical gardens and parks but lining the streets where we live, and in many gardens. In fact they can be a b***** nuisance because of all the falling leaves all over the pavement, just like back in the UK. 

Of course, they've been artificially introduced but that 's not the point.  They're part of the landscape we live in, as are the daffodils and freesias when spring comes.  Many of the oaks and elms in Melbourne have been there for well over 100 years.   

A couple of photos of the autumn trees in Jindabyne taken in April 

[ramot]

Two more photos, they wouldn’t load from my iPhone. I loved the colours of the trees there as we don’t get these colours on the Sunshine Coast in Autumn, but our spring trees, the Jacarandas, then the flame trees and poincianas are lovely. I know they aren’t native trees, but we can still enjoy them.

[Dusty Plains]

[Possible?]

That tree looks absolutely amazing! Where is the picture taken? 

[Wanderer Returns]

That's very pretty - I'm still not moving down though!  

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Wanderer Returns said:

That's very pretty - I'm still not moving down though!  

Nor should you.  I think for most Poms, Australia means sandy beaches and hot sun, and they never get over that, even if it means putting up with stinking heat some of the time - or maybe they discover it doesn't bother them.  But there are people who find they prefer a milder climate and for us, a few grey days are a small price to pay. Each to their own.

[Blue Flu]

On 14/06/2021 at 19:50, Wanderer Returns said:

8th is more realistic when you consider the price of property - and the weather.

But Melbourne 8th best in the world? A bit of a tall order I'd have thought . 

[Toots]

13 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Most of us don't live in the bush.  The cities and towns in the southern areas of Australia are bursting with deciduous trees - not just in botanical gardens and parks but lining the streets where we live, and in many gardens. In fact they can be a b***** nuisance because of all the falling leaves all over the pavement, just like back in the UK. 

Of course, they've been artificially introduced but that 's not the point.  They're part of the landscape we live in, as are the daffodils and freesias when spring comes.  Many of the oaks and elms in Melbourne have been there for well over 100 years.   

Lots of places in Australia have lovely autumn colours.  Yes the trees are introduced deciduous and as you say Marisa, they are now part of the landscape.

Tassie in autumn.

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by Toots

[Dusty Plains]

5 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

 

"All those flame trees will blind the weary driver, and there's nothing else will set fire to this town." - Jimmy Barnes

 

 

[Wanderer Returns]

18 minutes ago, Blue Flu said:

But Melbourne 8th best in the world? A bit of a tall order I'd have thought. 

Melbourne isn't everyone's cup of tea - most Poms either love it or hate - but it certainly has a lot going for it. I lived on the Mornington Peninsula for about 8 months, and was a regular visitor to the city for one reason or another. There always seems to be a lot going on culturally, and it's a more interesting city than Sydney IMHO, although many are disparaging about the lack of ocean beaches. Those who miss the cosmopolitan buzz of the UK and Europe are the ones who find Melbourne most appealing. 8th best in the world? I don't know. I think it would certainly make most people's top 20.

[Marisawright]

44 minutes ago, Blue Flu said:

But Melbourne 8th best in the world? A bit of a tall order I'd have thought . 

Melbourne is certainly not a beatiful city to look at, but I can fully understand why it scores so high for liveability, which is what the survey looks at.  If you live within the inner 10-15km radius, it's a very walkable city even for the elderly (being almost totally flat helps!) with excellent public transport - not all leading to a central hub like Sydney, but across the city as well.   Each suburb still has its own high street with local shops, cafés, dentists and doctors etc.  We havent had a car for the 5 years we've been here and haven't needed it.  A lot going on culturally, as Wanderer says.   

Australian and New Zealand cities would score much, much better for population density and clean air than many cities in Europe, Asia or America, which may skew the results.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Marisawright

[Bulya]

16 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

You're implying there's really only two seasons then. I appreciate that Canberra has a more varied climate than other Australian cities, but the seasons are nowhere near as pronounced as in Europe. There's hardly any native deciduous trees here in Australia, so how can one identify when autumn starts? In the major southern cities you can visit botanical gardens and parks where you can experience the fall, and other areas where they've been cultivated, but once you're out in the bush the landscape pretty much all looks the same, regardless of the time of year.

I’d say even more pronounced here (ACT and surrounds) than Europe.  Deciduous trees dominate and Autumn is pretty amazing.  

[Bulya]

14 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Most of us don't live in the bush.  The cities and towns in the southern areas of Australia are bursting with deciduous trees - not just in botanical gardens and parks but lining the streets where we live, and in many gardens. In fact they can be a b***** nuisance because of all the falling leaves all over the pavement, just like back in the UK. 

Of course, they've been artificially introduced but that 's not the point.  They're part of the landscape we live in, as are the daffodils and freesias when spring comes.  Many of the oaks and elms in Melbourne have been there for well over 100 years.   

Dead leaves cake the streets here in autumn, a real PIA!

[Blue Flu]

4 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Melbourne is certainly not a beatiful city to look at, but I can fully understand why it scores so high for liveability, which is what the survey looks at.  If you live within the inner 10-15km radius, it's a very walkable city even for the elderly (being almost totally flat helps!) with excellent public transport - not all leading to a central hub like Sydney, but across the city as well.   Each suburb still has its own high street with local shops, cafés, dentists and doctors etc.  We havent had a car for the 5 years we've been here and haven't needed it.  A lot going on culturally, as Wanderer says.   

Australian and New Zealand cities would score much, much better for population density and clean air than many cities in Europe, Asia or America, which may skew the results.

There has to be something that skews the result. It must be population density and/cleaner air. The other factors you write about, walkability, convenience , transport links to other places, public transport within are most likely done better in a host of Euro cities. I can name without thinking hard Hamburg, Lisbon, Toulouse, Rotterdam, Strasbourg (not even main cities) that have all named attributes (just imagine if they were in Australia the ranking they would likely get) that would easily give Melbourne a run for the money. I seriously don't get it. I get that Melbourne is a decent enough city, but the constant inflated ranking of close to top city in the world,  over the years to my mind is very odd indeed.

[Blue Flu]

4 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Melbourne isn't everyone's cup of tea - most Poms either love it or hate - but it certainly has a lot going for it. I lived on the Mornington Peninsula for about 8 months, and was a regular visitor to the city for one reason or another. There always seems to be a lot going on culturally, and it's a more interesting city than Sydney IMHO, although many are disparaging about the lack of ocean beaches. Those who miss the cosmopolitan buzz of the UK and Europe are the ones who find Melbourne most appealing. 8th best in the world? I don't know. I think it would certainly make most people's top 20.

I like Melbourne. It has improved enormously from all accounts from the eighties and before. I believe lost a lot of the roughness that seemed to prevail in days past, not to unlike a number of overseas working class cities. Full marks for its reinvention and developing cultural traits that it has become renown for. I would agree it would most likely be the best Australian city fit, for Europeans and certain Brit's. But still hard surely to compare with cities that cultural traits and street life together with a cosmopolitan ambiance has long been the mainstay. Not to unlike saying  Newquay in Cornwall must equate Bondi Beach because it has surf and something of a beach culture. 

[Marisawright]

30 minutes ago, Blue Flu said:

There has to be something that skews the result. It must be population density and/cleaner air. The other factors you write about, walkability, convenience , transport links to other places, public transport within are most likely done better in a host of Euro cities. I can name without thinking hard Hamburg, Lisbon, Toulouse, Rotterdam, Strasbourg (not even main cities) that have all named attributes (just imagine if they were in Australia the ranking they would likely get) that would easily give Melbourne a run for the money. I seriously don't get it. I get that Melbourne is a decent enough city, but the constant inflated ranking of close to top city in the world,  over the years to my mind is very odd indeed.

Like I said, check the population density and air quality for those cities and ask yourself how those would compare. It is an overall rating and those factors would skew the results 

[Skani]

14 hours ago, Possible? said:

That tree looks absolutely amazing! Where is the picture taken? 

I don't know  but, with the combination of the jacaranda tree and the style of the house, I'd guess Sydney.

[HappyHeart]

13 minutes ago, Skani said:

I don't know  but, with the combination of the jacaranda tree and the style of the house, I'd guess Sydney.

Could be Perth 

[Bulya]

https://visitcanberra.com.au/articles/448/classic-canberra-autumn-experiences

[HappyHeart]

On 19/06/2021 at 18:37, Wanderer Returns said:

You're implying there's really only two seasons then. I appreciate that Canberra has a more varied climate than other Australian cities, but the seasons are nowhere near as pronounced as in Europe. There's hardly any native deciduous trees here in Australia, so how can one identify when autumn starts? In the major southern cities you can visit botanical gardens and parks where you can experience the fall, and other areas where they've been cultivated, but once you're out in the bush the landscape pretty much all looks the same, regardless of the time of year.

So inaccurate 

[calNgary]

9 hours ago, Dusty Plains said:

"All those flame trees will blind the weary driver, and there's nothing else will set fire to this town." - Jimmy Barnes

 

 

One of my favorite songs, i like Barnsey and Cold Chisel.,,,,, but i don't like her version...lol

  Cal x

[HappyHeart]

Took this on Friday 

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by HappyHeart

[Blue Flu]

On 20/06/2021 at 15:35, Marisawright said:

Like I said, check the population density and air quality for those cities and ask yourself how those would compare. It is an overall rating and those factors would skew the results 

Although air quality rather good in cities like Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Stockholm, I'd suggest with cycling being a major mode of transport (hence far less auto centric) while experiencing greater density, better built apartments in the main with certainly better walkability with the need Not to own a car in at least two of those cities from personal experience. I suspect the other two wouldn't pose much of a problem either.