MELBOURNE OR PERTH

[Neil B]

I've no experience of living anywhere except Perth and Adelaide so can't add anything useful there. However there's a couple of websites you might find useful when researching suburbs. They're only a guide and I've no desire to kick start an arguement from anyone offended by statistics.

This one is excellent for comparing crime rates suburb-suburb. Just bear in mind the numbers aren't per capita, only totals no matter the size of suburb.

https://www.police.wa.gov.au/crime/crimestatistics#/

• Scroll to 1.Location, select 'Suburb', I suggest using Maylands as a baseline (5km from CBD, highly varied socioeconomic)
• Scroll to 3.Time Period, select 'Compare Suburbs', below the graph you can now add another 2 suburbs to see how they compare. Rockingham population is roughly triple that of Maylands for reference.

This one will give you an idea where there's clusters of public housing that some people may prefer to avoid. The zoomed out view is misleading. Zoom in to see locallised density.

https://www.microburbs.com.au/heat-map/embed/public-housing#115.86462443991431:-31.931317615385947:12

As a very general rule the 'golden triangle' (CBD-Mosman Park-Floreat-CBD) is highly desirable for those who can afford. 20+ suburbs including the 9 most expensive. Just north of Floreat is Wembley Downs which sits between the beach and lakes, has highly reputable schooling and good transport links to CBD. Very family friendly. The suburbs OP mentioned further north certainly sit at the more affordable end being a longer commute. The regional city close to those is Joondalup which commercially has pretty much everything you're likely to need.

[MarkLdownunder]

Thanks Mate! will look into it.... 

Its such a big decision, im hoping fate will assist on this one and show us the correct path when we come over in November, what ever that may be! 

 

[Neil B]

You're welcome.

Fresh from the UK I travelled around the country from Adelaide over a couple of years. Arrived in Perth the first time on Xmas morning redeye, drove directly from the airport to the beach and before even getting that far already decided it's where I wanted to live. Fate did indeed assist me and haven't regretted that choice for a minute.

Whatever you read about Perth bear in mind some of its biggest critics live here. For the life of me I don't know why unless it's simply trying in some misguided way to protect the laid back lifestyle. Or perhaps it's just not appreciating what's on their own doorstep. You'd be suprised how many locals haven't travelled beyond Bali, true story. I lost count how many people commented relocating from Adelaide was "a big move". Right 'oh!

From the northern suburbs you mentioned I'm guessing the big city life isn't your thing. If any city life isn't your thing either there's every chance you'll love it here. Although similar in scale to Adelaide the vast wealth in WA makes Perth feel much less country town than Adelaide but after Melbourne it might feel kinda sleepy until you figure out what works for you. Ignore the "there's nothing to do" chants. There's always something happening you just got to know where to look and put the legwork in keeping track.

Much of the attraction is based around localised events and outdoor & family oriented activities, but no rat race.

[MarkLdownunder]

I agree Neil or at least i think i do! Melbourne is a really cool place, poorly governed by thats enough story but its just not really what i pictured what i thought about moving over from the UK... The winter is just a bit to long for me and getting a pool would be pointless really... 

[Marisawright]

3 minutes ago, MarkLdownunder said:

I agree Neil or at least i think i do! Melbourne is a really cool place... its just not really what i pictured what i thought about moving over from the UK.

Very true.  Melbourne is the most un-Australian mainland city in Australia, I think!   The British perception of Australia as all sun and beaches isn't true (we all have to go to work after all), but it's much closer to being true in every other mainland state.   Whereas it's not at all true in Melbourne, (St Kilda and Bayside aren't beaches by most Australians' standards). 

Melbourne suits me because I'm very into theatre, dance and the arts, and I was never much of a beach-goer even when I lived near the beach in Sydney. I must admit I do miss my pool, and the glorious blue winter skies, though.

 

 

[Neil B]

I didn't finish the visitor oriented website I built for fun last year but it might offer some insight to Perth life, not least the weather and travel calendar pages.

https://pocketlocal.au/

Enjoy

 

[DrDougster]

On 10/09/2023 at 05:51, InnerVoice said:

I've never been to Subiaco but I like the sound of the place. It conjures up fond memories of that game with plastic footballers from the 70s.

As a matter of interest how does compare Perth to Brisbane? I lived in the latter for many years, but Perth is the only other city in Australia that I've ever fancied living in/near.

Subi is great - going through something of a rebirth. Older housing with a "heritage area" and named after a monastery near Rome where St Benedict lived in a cave I think... It also produces a particularly ostentatious free local magazine with wine recommendations none of which seem to be based at all on value!

Perth has a much more communal atmosphere than I found in Brisbane - the areas still have smaller grocers which we use over the enormous Coles/Woolies but I do miss the butcher at Wavell Heights. The weather is a bit better with the evening sea breeze and the beaches are lovely. The view out over Rottnest and the ferry out to it are beautiful. I used to ride up to Nudgee and on to Sandgate/Margate but Cottesloe is just a really lovely beach and the ride around the Swan River loop is great

Probably being so much happier in my job here puts rose tinted glasses on it. You can't get away from the lovely ocean though. Did I mention the beaches?

Edited September 12, 2023 by DrDougster

[InnerVoice]

On 11/09/2023 at 15:43, MarkLdownunder said:

I agree Neil or at least i think i do! Melbourne is a really cool place, poorly governed by thats enough story but its just not really what i pictured what i thought about moving over from the UK... The winter is just a bit to long for me and getting a pool would be pointless really... 

I got the impression that Mark McGowan is a bit of a fruit-loop, not that I'm any fan of Daniel Andrews!

10 hours ago, DrDougster said:

Subi is great - going through something of a rebirth. Older housing with a "heritage area" and named after a monastery near Rome where St Benedict lived in a cave I think... It also produces a particularly ostentatious free local magazine with wine recommendations none of which seem to be based at all on value!

Perth has a much more communal atmosphere than I found in Brisbane - the areas still have smaller grocers which we use over the enormous Coles/Woolies but I do miss the butcher at Wavell Heights. The weather is a bit better with the evening sea breeze and the beaches are lovely. The view out over Rottnest and the ferry out to it are beautiful. I used to ride up to Nudgee and on to Sandgate/Margate but Cottesloe is just a really lovely beach and the ride around the Swan River loop is great

Probably being so much happier in my job here puts rose tinted glasses on it. You can't get away from the lovely ocean though. Did I mention the beaches?

Thanks for that - you've made it sound appealing. I like to see a few hills here and there and we have that over here on the East Coast, but my recollection of Perth is that it's rather flat and a bit dry. I like the fact that it's much closer to Asia and going on holidays to the rest of the world is easier, and a bit cheaper. However, that doesn't seem to be a good enough reason in itself to move there, and is probably a bit like saying one likes the UK because it's close to Europe.

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, InnerVoice said:

... probably a bit like saying one likes the UK because it's close to Europe.

Haha yes, very true!   In hindsight that wasn't a good reason to move to the UK in retirement.  Europe was the drawcard, not the UK itself, and we forgot you can't be on holiday all the time.

[welljock]

1 hour ago, InnerVoice said:

I got the impression that Mark McGowan is a bit of a fruit-loop, not that I'm any fan of Daniel Andrews!

Thanks for that - you've made it sound appealing. I like to see a few hills here and there and we have that over here on the East Coast, but my recollection of Perth is that it's rather flat and a bit dry. I like the fact that it's much closer to Asia and going on holidays to the rest of the world is easier, and a bit cheaper. However, that doesn't seem to be a good enough reason in itself to move there, and is probably a bit like saying one likes the UK because it's close to Europe.

Mark McGowan is gone, the fruit loop comments are mainly by East coasters who didn't like him standing up for WA and not caving into NSW demands, he remained pretty (very) popular with the electorate in WA prior to his resignation. I've never been a fan of him but he did handle the covid situation in WA very well.  

[InnerVoice]

29 minutes ago, welljock said:

Mark McGowan is gone, the fruit loop comments are mainly by East coasters who didn't like him standing up for WA and not caving into NSW demands, he remained pretty (very) popular with the electorate in WA prior to his resignation. I've never been a fan of him but he did handle the covid situation in WA very well.  

I'd say he handled the situation well at the start but dropped the ball towards the end. Your borders stayed shut long for no apparent reason, months after the rest of us were enjoying life under the new normal. His record on climate change was abysmal, although I'm sure he was very popular with anyone and everyone who doesn't give a F about the environment, just as long as they are getting rich.

[InnerVoice]

52 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Haha yes, very true!   In hindsight that wasn't a good reason to move to the UK in retirement.  Europe was the drawcard, not the UK itself, and we forgot you can't be on holiday all the time.

I think that was pre-Brexit, wasn't it? Didn't you ever consider moving to Spain or Portugal like a lot of Brits do in retirement, rather than returning to Australia?

[Drumbeat]

3 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

I got the impression that Mark McGowan is a bit of a fruit-loop, not that I'm any fan of Daniel Andrews!

Thanks for that - you've made it sound appealing. I like to see a few hills here and there and we have that over here on the East Coast, but my recollection of Perth is that it's rather flat and a bit dry. I like the fact that it's much closer to Asia and going on holidays to the rest of the world is easier, and a bit cheaper. However, that doesn't seem to be a good enough reason in itself to move there, and is probably a bit like saying one likes the UK because it's close to Europe.

Perth has a lovely hills area, we loved living there - it’d definitely not all flat

[benj1980]

On 13/09/2023 at 06:29, InnerVoice said:

I got the impression that Mark McGowan is a bit of a fruit-loop, not that I'm any fan of Daniel Andrews!

Thanks for that - you've made it sound appealing. I like to see a few hills here and there and we have that over here on the East Coast, but my recollection of Perth is that it's rather flat and a bit dry. I like the fact that it's much closer to Asia and going on holidays to the rest of the world is easier, and a bit cheaper. However, that doesn't seem to be a good enough reason in itself to move there, and is probably a bit like saying one likes the UK because it's close to Europe.

CBD is flat, but the Perth Hills is full of erm hills... My uncle lives there, he has views of the CBD and the Indian ocean at a far distance.