Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Hey everyone,

I'm new here :p
Living in Melbourne atm but thinking of moving to Sydney. Everyone I know from Melbourne hates Sydney and thinks I'm crazy for wanting to move! So I wanted to see what you guys thought?

Has anyone lived in both Melbourne and Sydney?

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I like Melbourne ..... I could live there if I had to. But what I don't like about Melbourne.

- The beaches are rubbish
- That Aussie Rules sport thing
- The MCG
- The scenery.

What I do like about Melbourne

- Its closer to skiing.

The rest is a much of a muchness between the 2.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I quite like the beaches, I've certainly grown to love St Kilda ...
but I have heard Sydney's beaches are amazing ...
not really into skiing. But thanks for your opinion :-)

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I don't do much skiing in Australia, but I thought it was a plus point if there was one :)

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

oh lol, I get you. So you're alll in favour of Sydney?

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I like Melbourne. I could live there if I had to. The pretty beaches and pretty scenery I would miss, and I would have to put up with that Aussie Rules thing, but it could be done :) .

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Main difference is the real estate prices - Sydney is insane.

Other than that, Sydney has more touristy stuff, whereas Melbourne has more culture and hip stuff. That leads to the general observation that Sydney is great to visit, whilst Melbourne is better to live.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

We initially had our sights on Melbourne, not based on any experience as neither of us had been, but I think it has an appealing image. Anyway it wasn't going to be a option for us because of Mr BS occupation so Sydney it was.

So it was with some trepidation that we settled on Sydney, but we quickly learned to love it. It is such a great blend of city and beach, a nice compact city centre and some icons that never got old despite passing them twice a day every day. We went to Melbourne a few times, never ventured to the suburbs but we really did not like the city centre, ugly, grey and sprawling and hated the graffiti everywhere. A real grungy city, not my cup of tea at all.

It does have nice coffee though and the other appeal of Melbourne is that housing is much more affordable than Sydney.

Why are you thinking of moving? Just for a change?

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I love Sydney personally....and i know heaps of Melburnians that have good things to say about it. The biggest difference are the people....slightly less freindly to strangers up there....
More later

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Yes but you do pay for what you get :)

Tell that to the Bondi hispter.

I have to admit, Melbourne does boast about the cultural thing, but on my many frequent trips to Melbourne, I go looking for it but I can't find it.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

What are you looking for in the city you live in?

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Overpay...

From the point of view of somewhere to live, given how much of your budget housing will take, it's not a small consideration.

If the Melbourne government were smart they would take actions to push down house prices further.

If

It's hidden.

Honestly, I've not met a city that so hides away down laneways as Melbourne. It's not as great as it thinks it is, but it has a lot more going on than you see from the front.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Sydney is muggier and wetter, with nicer winters but (in my view) on the whole less pleasant summers. It even smells muggy, if that makes sense. Melbourne has a few very hot days (40C +) a year but these are usually replaced by a cool change after a day or two which more-or-less halves the temperature. The traffic is generally worse in Sydney. Both places are much quieter than true 'world' cities (esp. at night).

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I believe Sydney gets more rain when it comes to pure volume... but less rainy hours. So in this regard I'd give the thumbs-up to Sydney.

I would not choose to live in Melbourne simply due to the climate. Sydney is of course an upgrade in this regard, but I much prefer the climate in the Gold Coast.

P.S. Is there a job-factor to contend with for this move?

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Its actually what the market demands. Property is not artificially priced that way for no reason. People want to live there and you have to pay. If you don't like the price of Sydney property you go to Melbourne, if you don't like the price of Melbourne property you go to Brisbane. Kind of the ranking of the popularity of the city IMHO. You pay for what you get.

Yeah I've been in the laneways. Had a half decent meal at some Argentinian restaurant last time in some back alley. Kind of novel laneway idea I guess. I particularly like AC/DC laneway - respect :). We are getting those all over Sydney CBD but because of those lockout laws, the suburbs are really starting to be the place to be. Newtown, Double Bay, Neutral Bay are heaving on a Friday and Saturday night.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I think you'll find those Sydney Inner burbs are playing catch up on that one Beoz... It's been like that for decades down here.

Melbourne doesn't really properly begin until you get to the Inner Burbs, that's one major pointer. The sporting capital boast is lost on me unfortunately.... More from my point of view than Melbourne's as it means I don't enjoy the varied sporting endeavours as much as millions of other people seem to. I've seen a lot of Sydney's CBD and I personally prefer Melbournes.... but I do like Grunge, Street Art, Parks, Open spaces, Coffee Culture and roof top bars. The low end seems to me to be lower in Sydney than Melbourne but I could be wrong.... Maybe the High end is Higher in Sydney, probably I'd say...... I wouldn't know about that to be honest.

From what I've seen there is definitely a more "Islington/Camden" feel to Melbournes inner burbs than what I've seen in Sydney.

I'd happily live in both.... But Weather wise as I despise humid with a passion and don't mind colder weather... Melbourne wins it on that one.... With my least favourite' weather being those days above body temp... which I think Melbourne gets more of ?

My feeling on the few visits I've had to Sydney is Melbourne does Bars and Cafe's a lot better....but I could be wrong. Could be much of a muchness on that one. I'm told that Melbourne is on the world stage as one of those Warehouse/Trance/Electronic party places...Sydney simply isn't apparently.... again not sure on that one. I do know those Ibiza and London DJ's always visit Melbourne for shows with 10,000's of people attending every year.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Continual evolution I'd say. I remember years ago some inner suburbs being the biz. Darlinghurst, Paddington, etc. Double Bay was not considered a place to be. Darlinghurst and Paddington are now taking a back seat and there's some new places popping up.

Change is good.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Some unpleasant changes occurring in Sydney right now with regard to the powers that be trying to kill the Sydney night life off.

There's a good article on it here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/would...-title-comment


S

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I quite like these changes. I really like getting into the Inner Suburbs for a night out now. Much more funky if you ask me.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I don't mind that either, but you should have the choice. Stuff like forcing kebab shops to shut at middnight seems over-egged to me.

The CBD will be a night time ghost town at this rate.


S

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Biggest difference overall is probably the climate in my opinion, the rest is much of a muchness.

Sydney is more beachy overall, and Melbourne a bit more city/grungy, but you can still get both in both places depending on what you're after. They're both decent world cities, I can't really think of anything you can get in one that you can't in the other. Plenty of choice and variety in both.

Although Beoz's point about the AFL fanaticism is a good one, that is quite omnipresent and would drive me a bit nuts.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Oh it will be. Personally I never really cared much for Kings Cross - too many out of towners coming in from the west.

CBD will still be going for the after work drink then after 11 drink will just occur in the inner suburbs. Already is

This is not too different to what has been occuring in London City for years.

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Yehp agree as a Melburnian it drives me nuts.... especially when they have a concerted go at what they fear most. Proper football.



Cocktail happy hour beckons in a fairly nice venue just up the road from me.... I'm loving that side of Melbourne.


On a side note... Isn't Theater supposedly more prevalent in Melbourne ?

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I've lived in both and I think Sydney is great for the very top end of dining etc, if you're a buff, and living on the Harbour or beaches.

Melbourne is simply very liveable, greyer winters but nicer summers. The hottest days have little humidity, last less than in other capitals, and are followed by changes.

If it's true that Sydney is starting to close down and lose it's vibe then only the beach style life and inner burbs Renaissance can save it.

Melbourne's CBD is just that, a service industry : there are pockets to know and visit and laneways are part of it. Nothing special for the tourist, in fact guaranteed to disappoint. And it's not particularly European.

Where Melbourne does well and I think it makes it imminently liveable is the inner North and East : square k's of cafes, quality homes and tram transport. I can only summarise it as up there with the finest places on the planet to eake out an existence..I am still discovering little pockets 12 years on.

For me it's all the options of work, arts, sports and skiing: the proximity to vineyards, agriculture, music..

The arts : I've said this before. Sydney has the high end Opera house which you can fill any day of the year.

Melbourne has a multitude of venues all competing for patronage : on any given Saturday there could be carnage as one big symphonic chorus goes head to head with another, or a String ensemble...you do need to dig around a bit to find your own bit..

Anyone can over egg Melbourne. But when I compare it with any UK city outside London, B'Ham, San Fran, Boston, Vienna, Vancouver it is truly a liveable city. Remember too it has a entire coastline several tens of kilometers of perfectly acceptable beaches with aquamarine water...that gives joy to thousands every day...

It does all the sporting and docklands thing to: London struggles to get people to Wembley!

Sydney is still probably the only 'world' city : what this means is that everyone has heard of it. I didn't even know Melbourne existed until about 15 years ago.

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Melbourne is generally quite a lot more left-wing. Home of the union movement and basically the Labor party. When I say union movement I mean basically like the UK was in the 1970s, except that here they have had a resource boom to disguise the inefficiency, so it persists. Virtually all of inner-Melbourne is like Newtown, one particularly grungy-greeny suburb in Sydney (for those who don't know). All of northern and western Melbourne, along with the outer east, is heavily Labor. Whilst Western Sydney was home of the 'Howard Battlers' (bit like "Essex man" for Thatcher in England - working class conservative voters) there was no such thing in Melbourne. They are hooked on their unions and Labor.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Hmmm...not entirely convinced. You've completely missed out the established inner burbs and middle burbs that are not at all grungy: the grungier are probably in the North, in the name of Hipsterdom...

You're right that Melbourne has a working class establishment like any big city in Australia: I've heard it commented that Brisbane and Perth are middle class cities with less traditional labour movements. Blue collar workers are well off and aspirational, there is less of a battler base..

You've also missed out the entire professional class in Melbourne which comprises a sort of central, moderate, liberal Green tradition, not trade union or 'Labour' left at all. You'd only be in a union if you were a construction worker etc and you might be out in Dandenong..

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Is that why Ozzie doesn't know any different :)

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Obviously this is all personal opinion but I'm honestly surprised to see that description of the city centre. The CBD is very compact, to me. I wouldn't have said even the inner suburbs were grey and sprawling, although I can just about see some Western ones possibly being described as such, but not en mass. The city as a whole I can understand being described as sprawling but by that I mean Metropolitan Melbourne rather than what I would think of as the city.

_________

OP I never warmed to Sydney on the few times I visited but I can't really put my finger on why. I love Melbourne and am struggling a lot with nostalgia for it at the moment. Melbourne has a fab food scene which I really, really miss. I like that much of the best of the city is hidden down laneways or streets you might first dismiss, it feels like a local's city rather than a tourist's city. I know you already live there, so kind of pointless continuing but I'd say the problems I had with Melbourne were pretty much all problems which I think would have existed in Sydney too - I think they were problems with Australia, rather than Melbs.

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The only way to know Melbourne is to live here. As it just keeps on throwing up surprises at you. Lets just say there's a real reason why something that looks like this... Costs over 1 Mill. It's all about what you get around you and the way you will live. I can just imagine a brand new migrant looking at this and going WTF !

37 Studley Street Abbotsford Vic 3067 - House for Sale #121218214 - realestate.com.au


There's a lot of University bods around the inner north as well, which gives it a touch of the hallowed cloisters in certain parts.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I've only became acquainted with the uni at the N end of town this last few years. I am gobsmacked at the accomodation, the access, the ease of living minutes from the hub of Melbourne. I had no idea how big it was and just how much of the uni population spills to the N..if Nottingham, Durham are Uni towns then Melbourne is a Uni city!! But the campus is on the edge of the CBD...

Parts of central Melbourne are a crap hole: the fast food outlets metres from Flinders..it's a service centre. Have to admit Sydney's CBD has to be one of the equally least inspiring centres I've seen when compared to the Harbour.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

I have real problems when I leave Melbourne re missing it now.... Which is a bit of a worry.


I'd much much rather be excited about going somewhere rather than be so pleased and relieved about coming home. Maybe it's an age related thing to do with comfort and ease, I've heard older blokes can get like this.....It's got me quite worried though.

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Yep and it will probably go a couple hundred thousand over the erm 'guide' price. Have yet to go to an auction in melb that did not go at between 135 and 342 over the asking price.

Stupid money to live in a polluted inner suburb with neighbours inches from you.

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

As for melb or sydney.

Sydney, the inner city landmarks bit is surprisingly small, you could see the lot in a morning. Looks good, quality not quantity. Yes it has lots of beautiful beach suburbs, but to me beach is boring, ( having lived in QLD) where you can get beautiful beach suburb at about one 6th of the price, and its simply too expensive. The other suburbs could be any aussie suburbs anywhere in OZ. Be they old post war homes or new and horrendous box estates.

My kids picked melb for UNI for the grungy, hipster, cooler factor, all of which greatly appealed to me also. The style of dress in winter, I love it, wear as eccentric as you like and not one person bats and eyelid.

Winter is cooler, very cold at times, the temps rarely read that low, but OMG the winds they chill your bones at times. Same in summer the winds can take a summers day into the mid 30's and mid 40's and its not that rare to have over 30 and stinking hot, city hot, happens quite a bit in my experience. The odd cool days are a welcome relief.

Housing is insanely expensive. Too many bidders and much like Sydney. Ridiculous rates of stamp duty you can add nearly 100k in stamp duty and fees easily. Plus the under quoting of prices.

Drivers are aggressive, what is the anger thing? The cafe coffee thing is so overdone its now tiresome, we get it, you serve food and coffee, but so does everywhere else really.
Lots going on but a lot of it is sport, can bang on and on and on.... about sport and coffee....

Fabulous old buildings, many of them not well known. Lots of interesting events on but Sydney has a similar amount and Brisbane now has far more than some would have it.
Lovely coastline if your prepared to go an hour or more. Character and personality is melbourne, you rarely go out without seeing some incident or thing to make you smile.

Biggest factor to be in melb not sydney, cooler, even the kids wanted that.

Interestingly we kept all our business interests in Brisbane. Far greater opportunities due to its still having such growth. Much cheaper to operate in, cheaper taxes and levies for us. Bigger profit margins. So i spent a lot of time in airports.

Very fond of Melbourne, Sydney has no particular draw for me. Brisbane is the pot of gold.

A couple more years in Melbourne does not worry me, I enjoy my time there.

But I really still could not live in any of the above for life. We have already partly moved overseas and will continue to do so.

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Dont worry. You just feel at home where your family are. If they all moved to New York, Peru or Birmingham you would happily settle there.

Old blokes :lol: do get to like their home comforts too. Armchair, newspaper, slippers, have you got a favorite sweater yet?

Just be happy that you are happy where you are!!

Being restless is a curse.

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Coffee...smashed avocado...toast...grunge ...

Keep going Jad...keep going.. I'm almost there....

Have to admit Jad,I wouldn't say Melbourne overdoes coffee or cafes, everywhere does it, you are right. I just can't see a Cardiff or B'Ham, Leeds or provincial UK city doing it all on the same scale as well. I'm not even into grunge so I prefer the East and the Uni N to the grungier N. I don't mind Carlton, Fitzroy, suspect I'd find Thornbury and Brunswick a bit on the nose..

There's also Port Melbourne and South Melbourne too of course for young professionals and families.

Now Lygon St is overrated but you have to give the Italians something to crow about!

I don't get the sport complaint, you can live in Melbourne and totally ignore if you want to.

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Te he he.

Where are these box estates?

I hope you aren't referring to the beautiful beaches of Brisbane? Of course, if you live in a city in Australia, you need beautiful beaches don't you? And variety. You need surf, no surf, long beaches, short beaches, rocky outcrops, bush settings, might as well live in Europe if beaches aren't your thing :)

Airports? Well if you fly cheap you get the rubbish terminal. I believe that's the first one on the left.

Its actually quite funny reading what the Melbournians talk up. As much as I could live it Melbourne if I had to, it just appears from what I'm reading here that Sydney just has all that Melbourne has and more.

Oh BTW on the CBD thing. Do what locals to - don't hang out there. The reason why the CBD isn't what Melbournians expect a CBD to be is because Sydney exists away from where you work. It has so many waterways and other areas of interest that you don't want to be hanging out in the CBD. We just don't do it.

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Same : Plenty of Melbournians don't use the CBD and leave it to tourists.
As a matter of fact, there is a choice of course.

Are their cafes and restaurants in these waterways : I was under the impression half the harbour was practically residential with only glimpses of it, and private access(!)

Re: Difference between Melbourne and Sydney
 

Absolutely

Double Bay, Rose Bay, Watsons Bay, Manly, Balmoral, The Spit, Chowder Bay, Woolloomooloo (apologies if I got the "o" count wrong), Parsley Bay, Neilson Park. That's just a few on the harbour. Too be honest I'm not really sure what goes on up the Harbour. I don't venture up there much. I should check it out sometime.

Cafe's are cafe's - restaurants are restaurants - they are everywhere, dime a dozen, but not really one of the highlights to boast about. You just do them and crack on with the other stuff.

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I know of Rose bay.
Indeed, it's the same anywhere. Is there any place in the world that doesn't serve posh food now. I wonder what it is like in Leeds, Bradford,Nuneaton, Brummie, Coventry, do they have all that smashed avo on toast.. my brother sent me photos of a farm produce shop from the UK : these places are all the rage now everywhere, I don't get it : you don't necessarily have to go to a farm shop with blackboards outside, with a baby in a Mountain Buggy to eat sensibly and healthily..

To be fair on Melbourne, they just get on with it, the selling point for a migrant is the combination of all the experiences in an easily consumed package against a bay and a good climate. Most places have a tourist board. For Sydney it's the Harbour Bridge climb,house and Manly Ferry..for Airlie beach it's a parachute lob...nothing exciting in Melbourne, in fact I am thankful for those bloody penguins on Philip Island: keeps the tourists away: we now hand our car over to visitors: I've seen enough of them...

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Well I did go for a body surf at Bondi this morning followed by a coffee overlooking the rising sun. Bondi wouldn't make my top 30 beaches in the world but its handy location means that this can be done and be at work by 9. Not sure there are many cities around that will allow that. Perth maybe.