Melbourne vs Sydney ???

[Paula and Jay]

Hi,

 

We are hopefully moving to Oz. I am a Merchandise Planner with jobs only available in Sydney or Melbourne - Sydney proprty prices are so expensive :mad:, so we have been looking at Melbourne - does anyone know any good suburbs and what Melbourne is like? An info would be greatly appreciated.

 

We've been looking at Sydney, even tho the property is expensive (would need to live close to CBD), it looks a really nice place with a beach close by which is what we want. Anywhere in Melbourne like this?

 

Thanks for any information, :rolleyes:

 

James & Paula x

[Guest JamesGong]

I'm little biased, as I live in NSW (there is a little bit of rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne btw) but I think the beaches are one of Sydney's strong points plus the weather is a little better up this way. For close to the CBD in Melbourne, areas like St Kilda and Port Melbourne come to mind, but I wouldn't take these as recommendations. Melbourne and Sydney definitely have a different feel, so I think it depends what you are after in the overall package really. BTW If you want something a little cheaper, you could always head down my way to Wollongong :-)

[Guest frank1]

hi, I stopped here because I plan to move to Melbourne, but where about is Wollongong?? Anything cheaper and still nice I would take!

[Paula and Jay]

Hi James,

Thanks for the info. To be honest I do think Sydney looks better for us - we are trying to move somewhere close to the beach but the rentals are so expensive! Just looked at Wollongong, looks very nice but is a 1hr 30 minute commute which would be horrendous every day ! You certaintly get a lot more for your money, the houses look amazing. Think we might try Sydney - that's where most of the jobs i'm after seem to be based.

So when did you move over? Are you loving it?

 

Paula & Jay x

[Guest JamesGong]

hi, I stopped here because I plan to move to Melbourne, but where about is Wollongong?? Anything cheaper and still nice I would take!

 

Wollongong is in NSW, just south of Sydney... so no where near Melbourne unfortunately. For starters see Wollongong, New South Wales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Obviously a lot of people work locally, but it has a sizeable commuter population who work in Sydney, but live here on the south coast of NSW. Its getting more expensive to live here, because of the over flow from Sydney but its a cheaper beach side alternative than moving to western Sydney.

[Guest JamesGong]

Hi James,

Thanks for the info. To be honest I do think Sydney looks better for us - we are trying to move somewhere close to the beach but the rentals are so expensive! Just looked at Wollongong, looks very nice but is a 1hr 30 minute commute which would be horrendous every day ! You certaintly get a lot more for your money, the houses look amazing. Think we might try Sydney - that's where most of the jobs i'm after seem to be based.

So when did you move over? Are you loving it?

 

Paula & Jay x

 

I've been here since 1995, but really ended up Australia by chance rather than design, however I'm very happy to have ended up here. Wollongong suits us better than Sydney for family reasons, but we also used to live in Sydney in the past and there no doubt there are more opportunities although it doesn't depend on what you do. Luckily at the moment I work mostly from home, but I've also commuted to Sydney in the past and go there at least once a week. Just remember that in Aussie travel times, 1hr 30 minutes is nothing. I occasionally do a round trip of a 5-6 hour drive to Canberra and back for work... but there is hardly any traffic :-)

 

With Sydney remember to think about how you are going to get to work and back. We spent many years on Sydney's lower north shore and was able to get a 15 min ferry ride to and from the CBD. However, getting to the CBD from some areas like the Northern Beaches by bus is (IMHO) far worse than the train commute from Wollongong.

[Guest rich2476]

I have lived in both Sydney ( 4 1/2 yrs) and Melbourne (8 months). Sydney is definitely the nicer looking city and has nicer beaches but... prices for renting + buying houses are a lot more expensive than Melbourne and general living eg Eating out is a little more.

Melbourne to me feels a lot more Eurpoean, buying a house is affordable and the city has a lot more relaxed feel... I must like Melb now as I have just bought a house here ;-)

[Petals]

I lived in Sydney at Neutral Bay and McMahons Point which are very accessible to the city but pricey.

 

Moved to Melbourne as we being my and some friends found it not that friendly and the club scene was pretty dire in those days.

 

Melbourne on the other hand offered all the bars and restaurants and despite the fact that Port Phillip Bay is huge therefore not so picturesque as Sydney Harbour there are lots of nice beaches on it. The suburbs of Melbourne are much nicer than the suburbs of Sydney in my opinion. In Sydney the very well off suburbs are ok but the ordinary suburbs are very ordinary whereas in Melbourne all the suburbs tend to ok.

 

I do not mind a visit to Sydney but Melbourne does it for us and has done for a long long time.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Hi James and Paula

I think you will find that Sydney is a lot more expensive than Melbourne in the property market.

Both Melbourne and Sydney have lots to offer, if you have no children then you may get by in Sydney and enjoy it there. If you have children I would probably choose Melbourne, we have some stunning beaches down here and lots of suburbs that are on the bay to choose from, these include expensive suburbs but also suburbs where you can pick up a bargain and be two streets away from the beach. Rentals on the beach front vary but if you were looking for a 1 bed you could probably get one from around $240 per week in Mentone.

Kate

[Guest woods99]

Sydney has much better beaches close to the CBD than Melbourne does - although it does depend what you mean when you say "beach". Most Aussies think of a surfing, or ocean beach, which Sydney has in abundance. Melbourne has bayside beaches, which are a very different animal - no waves.

[Guest frank1]

hi there, i visited the realestate website to see how much houses cost in melbourne and what i can afford. It doesn't seem to be very easy to get answers there, not like the rightmove from uk!

 

I am going to study in Elisabeth street in the heart of Melbourne, I have never been there so I need some guidance on where the best suburbs to live is in terms of access via public transport and family friendly ( close to primary schools, supermarket, doctors...) OR where you wouldn't live!

 

 

 

 

Any suggestion i am really greatful

 

thanks in advance

valerie

[Paula and Jay]

Hi everyone,

thanks for the posts - have sent CV off to recruitment agents so hopefully should hear something soon about it all.

Thanks again.