# Melbourne or Sydney



## Pav Klair (Mar 16, 2011)

Hi All

My first post on this site. My wife and 2 young children plan to move to Oz in Q1 of 2012 .

However, we face a dilemma of where to actually move. We both love Sydney and whilst the wife has not been to Melbourne I think it is brilliant as well.

I guess most of the expats on this site have moved over to Oz for very similar reasons; quality of life; weather; more opportunities and ultimately a good life for the next generation.

So can anyone advise which city they prefer:confused2:; Melbourne or Sydney. Please state your reasons and good areas to bring up two young children (aged 3 & 2 by the time we move), i.e. schools; parks; local amenities; nice homes; transport links etc etc.

Look forward to your posts and recommendations.

Thanks in advance......:clap2:
-P


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum.

Firstly, what job do you do and which visa are you coming over on? (depending on what your job is could define which you chose as your prospects might be better in say Melbourne than Sydney).

Dolly


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

we booked our tickets to sydney but changed it to melbourne (Dolly are you reading )
anyway, reason fr us to change was 
1. better public transport in Melb
2. More cosmpolitan
3. Heard people are friendlier in Melbourne
4. Better support system (Have a few friends who will help during initial days)
5. Rules are more relaxed for example, i can use my indian license for 6 months against 3 months in Syd, i will then have to change to an AU license.
6. cheaper than Syd
7. Less traffic
I can go on..


All those i spoke to said just one thing about SYd, very humid but awesome beaches.

I am open to criticism.. i know i will get a lot of counter replies after i post this


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

Sydney and MElbourne are both equally expensive.


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

anj1976 said:


> we booked our tickets to sydney but changed it to melbourne (Dolly are you reading this )


HURRAH!!!!!! :lol:

Dolly


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

be ready to baby sit a 9 month old Dolly


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## aussieland (Oct 14, 2008)

That's nice decision...

Sent from my iPhone using ExpatForum


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## Pav Klair (Mar 16, 2011)

Thanks Dolly and Anj.

My wife is a qualified Accountant and I am a management consultant, mainly working in Financial Services. Not the most exciting of careers or ones that light up a dinner conversation....but hey.

Looking forward to your further tips......

Sent from my HTC Desire using Expat Forum


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## Fatenhappy (Jun 23, 2009)

anj1976 said:


> we booked our tickets to sydney but changed it to melbourne (Dolly are you reading )
> anyway, reason fr us to change was
> 1. better public transport in Melb
> 2. More cosmpolitan*
> ...


Mate your dreaming ... I particular like the part that says ... *"Heard"* people are friendlier

Having said that some of what you say is most certainly true ... far better for the arts, dining etc mostly worse for whether .. not that uncommon to have all 4 seasons in a day ....

As far as capital cities go, there are IMO far better in Oz ... really depends what your are after vs what you have to do to make a living vs lifestyle your after I guess ...and then .... do you have to live in a capital city to achieve all that vs quality of life for the family?


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

hi fatenhappy.. 

ur post made me smile.. i remember, when i started reading about australia, i thought melbourne it is for us, and then canberra came in betweem sponsored us. when we got a 175 instead of a 176 i started reading again and we thought it is better we go to melbourne. and when i say heard, yes i spoke to many many many people, the ones in sydney said they hate melbourne, the one sin melbourne said we hate sydney. it wasn't easy choosing between two cities. finally decided for melbourne as we might just save a penny moving to melbourn. i think that is the difference between two cities cost wise.


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Fatenhappy said:


> really depends what your are after vs what you have to do to make a living vs lifestyle your after I guess ...and then .... do you have to live in a capital city to achieve all that vs quality of life for the family?


Definitely not. I like to visit state capitals but I wouldn't want to live there. However most expats go to the state capitals since that's where the work is.... It's either that or they enjoy being stuck in traffic


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

YES YES it's for the horrible traffic, I love wasting petrol 

No, it's for the work ... and the beaches ... and the weather



kaz101 said:


> Definitely not. I like to visit state capitals but I wouldn't want to live there. However most expats go to the state capitals since that's where the work is.... It's either that or they enjoy being stuck in traffic


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

> YES YES it's for the horrible traffic, I love wasting petrol


 hehehe


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## Zoom (Jul 7, 2008)

SYDNEY is the PARIS of Australia

MELBOURNE is the LYON of Australia

where do you wanna be?


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## loadrunner (Feb 18, 2011)

Though Melbourne is lagging to sydney in the world's expensive city rating, its getting pretty close year over year... things certainly have changed especially real estate...Just to give a better edge to MEL, i would say SYD has the worst traffic...

BTW, I have chosen to move to MEL by Mid-MAY :dance:


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## Artemisa (Aug 31, 2010)

kaz101 said:


> It's either that or they enjoy being stuck in traffic


ROTF hahahahahahahaha

Yeah, I love traffic jam too. All those cars, lovely!


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## Assassin8 (Mar 17, 2011)

Seriously, Sydney is no match for Melbourne. I moved to Melbourne 5 years ago and have been in every capital city in Australia, and yes it is true, Melbourne people are definitely friendlier and more open minded. Also Melbourne is a lot easier city to negotiate since all the roads either go N/S and E/W. In Sydney the roads just go everywhere, and very easy to get lost. Melbourne is also more cosmo than Sydney, with a very diverse range of restaurants and foods. It is true that Melbourne's weather is unpredictable and winters can be cold and long, but it is definitely more interesting. Property prices in Melbourne are probably slightly cheaper, you can still buy property for between 200 & 300k for a new house, and if you decide to live in a small town near Melbourne , even cheaper. If you live in Sydney you will also probably have to start wearing a turban at sometime in the future....
If I had a family, Melbourne is definitely the place to be... Just my opinion...


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## WanderBug (Sep 20, 2015)

Hi, even am in the same dilemma. I am a software engineer and I am planning to do an mba too part time. I heard that melbourne has got the best colleges. But am not sure about the job opportunities for me there. Since I need to work and study do give me some pointers


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