Which city in Australia should I move to?

Question

My 2 roomates and I are leaving Texas in the summer to head to Australia either for a few months or longer. We are not sure what city is best for us. Want to live close to the beach, close to nightlife, good weather, friendly - down to earth - outgoing people, not too expensive (we will have to find jobs when we get there). Please give feedback on what city you recommend and please give reasons. Thanks

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 in summer, 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!!! Original 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).

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 Australia. I've been living in Melbourne for 16 years, visited some other capital cities in Australia and still giving Melbourne 10/10 for the best city.

Answer 2

I would suggest probably Brisbane. It's close enough to the tropics that you'll get the great weather all year round and (like all Australian state capitals) it's on the coast. Perth is another option, although it's starting to get a little expensive, so you might want to steer clear, unless you value the remoteness of a capital city that's half the country away from any of the others, in which case it might be a reasonable tradeoff.

You might like to check www.domain.com.au, which can give you a good idea of what's available in terms of housing.

Answer 3

Brisbane. Reasons

- close to beach. 1 hour drive to Gold Coast and 1.5 hour drive to Sunshine Coast. Has it's own beach but they are not worth going to
- More laid back than other larger cities. At risk of being called backward at times, but that isn't really the truth.
- Great night life and all combined into a few major hubs
- Weather - hot hot hot, but at least it is consistent. Most office building, shopping centres, restuarants and new homes have airconditioning to combat that.
- Less expensive than Sydney and Melbourne in terms of rent
- No problem getting jobs, unemployment is less than 4%

Answer 4

If you are coming in the northern summer, then that will be the Australian winter. If you want good beach weather, the Brisbane will be your best bet among the state capitals. I would even suggest heading further north in Queensland, but I don't know how easy it is to find work in those smaller cities along the coast. Not saying there aren't jobs up there, just that I don't know.

Naturally, you will be sorting out visas that let you work while you are here, right?

Answer 5

Brisbane or Sydney. I have lived in every capital city and I cant believe people are recommending Perth. Perth is very very small and there is nothing there.

brisabane (also near surfers paradise/goldcoast) is probably best for what you want. Warm all year round, fantastic beaches, plenty of night life and outgoing people.
sydney is the biggest city, and the one to visit for all the typical tourist stuff - nightlife is good, but probably not as good as brisbane/surfers paradise because brissy is a huge tourist spot.

Answer 6

Maybe Brisbane or Perth. Both are close to the beach and would be less expensive to live in, compared to Melbourne or Sydney. Brisbane would prob have better weather. And both have pretty good night life and friendly, down to earth people.

Answer 7

I love Melbourne - grew up in Melbourne and still live here - but reading your question - there is no doubt that you want to love on the GOLD COAST!!!
Yes - you want fun, great weather, a college feeling community - Gold Coast would be perfect for you and your friends, you will love the people, it's not to badly priced and it's heaps of fun.
While you are over visit Melbourne and Sydney - but i think that you will have a ball on the Gold Coast.

Answer 8

Look at Rainbow Beach in Queensland. It has a great beach, lots of work opportunities in the tourist industry, nice people, reasonalble costs. Close to Frazer Island, where there is a resort, as well, with jobs available, and a huge beach!

Answer 9

Perth is quite eay to get work, they always have work going.
If you wanted somewhere in sydney id say maybe just outside of the Sutherland Shire. Nice, good nightlife, can easily get to sydney if need be, good weather, i grew up there so i think its a great place to live

Answer 10

Sydney or the Gold Coast