DhakaBoy

Is it common in Australia? Does the suburb you live in affect your social interaction, job prospects, credibility etc.? Would someone living in Mount Druitt be treated differently than someone living in Mosman?

brendarover

If you ain't up to your eyeballs in debt, then you will not fit in. I remember a couple of months ago talking to the teller girl, well woman in a Westpac branch. I said lovely nails girl friend, bet your fella loves them running all over his ****. She said thanks, its the only thing i have done eash week which i class as a pleasure, everything else we earn goes on the house/debt/bills, just existing. This is very common in Australia amongst the very well off!

quoll

Definitely there is suburban snobbishness. However, as always, some suburbs do gradually change their profile so as they become more gentrified people pat you on the back for having made a real estate killing whereas in the past they may have declined dinner invitations because they didnt want their Lexus to be gracing your suburban nature strip.

eddie007

ARRRRRRRGH

Is liking the page on facebook....

"that awkward silence when you tell people you live in Rockingham"

Hebe

Yes people can/do form an opinion of your perceived wealth based on where you live but that is no different from the UK or most countries.

To say that people who live in the 'better' suburbs are all in debt to live there is not true. I would say most people live where they live, because they can and can afford to. You will always get the snobs no matter where you live. My sister is a terrible snob and she doesn't have two pennies to rub together!

Someone who doesn't want to befriend you based on your income or where you live is not worth knowing anyway!

Pollyana

I always find these threads really amusing- i live in what is supposedly a posh area of an affluent Brisbane suburb...... but I have a small, tatty if cosy unit and no way would I say I'm well off. I don't reckon any suburb is 100% one type of housing or person, thats just not realistic!

Dorothy

Who really gives a shit? Anyone who would judge someone based on where they live isn't worth my time or energy anyway. And if you're truly worried about what other people think of where you live it makes you no better than those who would judge you.

Grayling

Yes

Australians tend to be very class conscious when it comes to suburbs, schools, cars etc.

jad n rich

Agree, when living in Noosa (qld) and Brighton ( melbourne ) found both far snobbier than anywhere else I have ever lived

paddyo

WTF??? LMFAO!!!!

Amazulu

Maybe. How does it work in Bangladesh?

DeadVim

I could not have put it worse myself.

KJCherokee

Yes, there is a definite perception that some suburbs are better than others which tends to be self-perpetuating. This shows up in the price of property, and since the house you can afford depends on your income the higher priced suburbs will attract the higher income earners. Obviously there are exceptions in any suburb but in general people do tend to be classified socially by the area they live in.

For example, in the northern Brisbane suburbs there are five adjoining suburbs, Chermside, Kedron, Wavell Heights, Virginia and Northgate. Median house prices in these suburbs in the 12 months to May this year were $423k, $540k, $530k, $440k and $437k respectively. All are of a similar age with similar housing types (Northgate and Virginia are possibly the oldest as they adjoin the railway line) so the price difference is more due to perception than anything else. However it is probable that, on average, the more your house is worth the more effort you will put into keeping it looking good so the higher priced suburbs tend to look neater than the lower priced ones which again attracts the more affluent purchaser.

So again yes, your address will tend to determine your place in the social order. I remember when we first came to Australia in 1983 and stayed with friends who had a house in Kings Park in Adelaide: when we said that a house at Gepps Cross looked interesting we were told "If you move up there no-one will ever visit you" - meaning of course, no-one who she considered to be anyone.

killerhales

Yes, this is definitely the case, I live in Killara, the suburb is seen as wealthy, established, old school, and there is a certain reaction, but if I explain exactly where I live, which is on the West Lindfield side, those in the know see this (and me personally) as much less swanky (which is is).

I find the whole thing quite amusing, I thought it was us Poms who are supposed to be class concious.

One of my brothers sees himself as working class because our grandad used to dig holes in the road, whereas I see myself as middle class because he and I got in to the local grammar school and then uni and good jobs.

I suppose it depends if you look forwards or backwards, or even think in these terms. As long as I'm not in the under-class (or bogan in Australian) then I'm happy!

DeadVim

I am clearly mixing with a different population.

Or maybe I just don't notice or give a monkey's about anyone else's opinion of my 'lifestyle'.

"People buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, to impress people they don't like" - Clive Hamilton on Consumerism.

Live your own life because you only have the one ...