can you educate me on living in Melbourne?

Question

Any info would be great, as my intentions are to be living there with in 6 months . links to rental units , what the winters are like there keep in mind I currently live in Canada,night life, car insuarance rates, beaches, livable wage there,are people easy to meet there, male to female ratio,is it easy to commute by transit,anything to help me make my choice a more enjoyable expeirence. I'm 31 yrs. old single male would like to be close to the beach, 20 mins or closer (would love to be able to see the water if possible from where I would live) Close to the bar scene, and could you give me what you would rate living in Melbourne from 1 to 10 compaired to living elsewere in Australia and why?If you think It better to live elsewhere in Australia please state where and why... thanks so much

Answer 1

G'day

Melbourne.... wellll... where should I start?
1. First of all... some people do not like the weather in Melbourne (you can have 4 seasons in one day). However, if you read the first article from The Age newspaper, you will find out that the weather is still more preferable than the other cities. Sure you can have 42C day like yesterday, but almost immediately you'll get a much cooler weather pretty soon afterwards. It is very rarely that you got 2 or 3 consecutive days of hot weathers (unlike Sydney, Brisbane or Perth).
2. Melbourne is a city of diversity. If you are a newcomer, and you do not look 'Anglo-Saxon', you do not feel like an 'alien', since you can find almost every race in the world walking in the city. They are both immigrants and overseas students.
3. THE FOOD!! Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Thai, All-you-can-eat, African, Lebanese, Mexican, Sea Food... anything else? All available and lots of them in a very-very-very affordable price
4. Pretty good public transport system. With one ticket, you can switch from train, tram and bus. They do not always come on-time, but still reliable and improving (www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au).
5. SHOPPING!!! Branded clothing sold very cheap. There are even shopping tour, where the participants are taken to retails outlets just for shopping. Big temptations for ladies.
6. Crime rates... just read the second article on the bottom.
7. Cost of Living... I'll say it's second most expensive city after Sydney. Altho I have to say that some cities in Queensland can be more expensive to live.
8. Night Life... hmmmm... I'll say the centre of nite activities will be Crown Casino and Docklands. Altho there are still plenty of cafe's and clubs scattered around the suburbs as well.
9. Tourist attraction. This is the area that I think Sydney is better than Melbourne, since it has most of it's attraction within its suburbs. Most Melbourne attraction are pretty much out of Melbourne, such as the gold mines in the cities of Bendigo and Ballarat, The Great Ocean Road, Lakes Entrance, Grampians, skiing in Mt. Buller etc.

Living closer to the beach will be the suburbs of Altona, Port Melbourne, Williamstown, St. Kilda, Elwood and Brighton to mention some that are pretty close to CBD. You can cross reference with some real-estate websites to know the rental costs (www.realestate.com.au or www.domain.com.au).

Car insurance websites (with online quote facility):
www.racv.com.au
www.aami.com.au
www.gio.com.au
www.allianz.com.au

Meeting people will be as easy as in any other western countries in the world. I guess the pub/bar still the option.

Job/salary websites:
www.seek.com.au
www.mycareer.com.au
www.careerone.com.au

Running out of ideas, but I hope that I can at least give you some more informations that have been provided by the answerers before me.

Good luck and welcome to Melbourne. I've been living in Melbourne for 16 years and still giving Melbourne 10/10 for the best city in Oz.

Answer 2

I'm also from Canada and just spent a year travelling around Australia. 2 of those months was spent living in Melbourne. I reccommend finding a place in an area called St. Kilda. Its a very cool/hip area to live. The ratio of girls to guys is amazing, as is the nightlife. Your best bet for finding a place is staying at a hostel for a week or so and looking through the classifieds in one of the many papers. Another great thing about that area is its only a 15 minute tram (think streetcar) ride outside of the downtown core. If you're there in the summer, the beach will be less than 3 blocks from pretty much anywhere you live. If i had to rate Melbourne overall i'd give it an 8, only because it does get a bit colder in winter than the more northern cities in Australia. However, it definitly is the most liveable city in Australia.

Answer 3

Rental units
http://www.realestate.com.au/

Winter is when the weather is most stable
Rare for minimums below 5C
Rare for maximums above 16C

If you live and work in the inner city you can walk/cycle/use public transport and taxis and don't need to own a car (you can hire one for the occasional country trip). I have a cheap old car which I only insure against third party property damage; A$200pa year if you're a new insurer. Registration (includes third party injury insurance) is over A$500pa.

Melbourne's on a large bay which means no surf nearby, but lots of suburbs close to water. The inner suburbs of St Kilda, Elwood, South Melbourne, Docklands, South Yarra, Northcote, Fitzroy, and Brunswick sound like the sorts of places you'd want to be living. The first four are bay- or riverside.

I believe the cost of living is similar to Canada.

People are very easy to meet here, and are generally more open than in other capital cities in Australia. Male:female ratio is a non-issue. Other cities have warmer and sunnier weather, but socially and culturally you won't do better than Melbourne. Of the capitals I've lived in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne and give Melbourne a 10.

Answer 4

Living in Melbourne Australia
It is not surprising that Melbourne is such a vibrant, hip and friendly city with a passionate spirit and a youthful outlook. After all, it is the top city Australia for fashion, nightlife, music, comedy, eating-out, sports and events. And everyone knows what a great country Australia is!

Each year more than 150,000 students (50,000 international students live in Melbourne alone) choose to study in Australia, which is a country that's renowned for:

Friendly and open-minded people
A cultural bridge between East and West
An academic tradition of intellectual enquiry
A healthy outdoor lifestyle
Pleasant climate
State-of-the-art communication systems
Safe and efficient transport
A fair and stable democracy
Melbourne - the place to be


Melbourne has a life of its own and its appeal is universal. It is a sophisticated epicentre of culture, nightlife and diverse activities. As a modern city that has something for everyone, Melbourne has been rated as the world's most livable city - healthier, cleaner, and safer than any other big city in the world (Population Crisis Centre, Washington DC).

“I like the rhythm of Melbourne- it offers lots of opportunities and caters for all tastes"
Anabel Thomasse
Monash student from Mauritius

The City of Melbourne is the home, workplace and leisure centre of one of the world's most harmonious and culturally diverse communities. Residents from more than 140 nations live side by side in Melbourne, making Melbourne today a welcoming, outgoing and confident city, a reflection on the generous and inclusive spirit of its people.

As one of the most multicultural cities in the world, Melbourne offers locals and visitors alike the opportunity to eat at a restaurant with a different cuisine every night of the month - some of the most popular restaurants are Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian and Greek.

When you visit Melbourne you will discover:

Vibrant youth culture
Thriving artistic community
Open spaces
Fresh clean environment
Temperate climate
Casual lifestyle
Sporting and recreational events
Blend of Asian and European lifestyles
Theatres
Galleries
Musical performances
Exhibitions
Melbourne has a truly multicultural population of 3.5 million people of many nationalities. This friendly multicultural city is home to people from over 140 nations. It offers a diverse range of languages and culture. In fact, 45% of Victoria's community is either born overseas or has at least one parent born overseas. More than 20% of Victoria's residents and almost 30% of Melbourne's residents speak a language other than English at home. Melbourne leads the field in the number of languages spoken at home, reflecting its multicultural society and diversity.

A total of 151 languages are spoken in the State of Victoria, making it one of the region's most linguistically diverse areas. 17% of Victorians were born in countries where English is not their first language. This is the highest proportion of any Australian State or territory. The cultural diversity of Melbourne is shown in the extensive variety of restaurants - over 3,000 -delicatessens and markets where food from almost every part of the world is available.

Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria, which is a large regional area offering a diverse range of activities.

Within two hours of Melbourne you can:

Ski on snow-capped mountains
Hike through natural wilderness or desert plains
Watch the fairy penguins come home each night to Phillip Island
Swim or surf at one of the many beautiful beaches
Enjoy the taste of premium wines at some of Australia's most famous vineyards
Swim with the dolphins in Port Phillip Bay or touch a kangaroo at Healesville Sanctuary

Answer 5

it quite is going to be rather tight (devoid of your area time jobs) yet you would be advantageous australia's jobless numbers are rather low so looking a job shouldnt be too complicated you will probs hire a room contained in the suburbs