ozzieeagle

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.

Beoz

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.

Swerv-o

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

Beoz

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.

Swerv-o

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

JoeBloggs80

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.

Beoz

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.

ozzieeagle

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 ?

BadgeIsBack

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.

DC10

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.

BadgeIsBack

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..

Beoz

Is that why Ozzie doesn't know any different

Almo

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.

ozzieeagle

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.

BadgeIsBack

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.