gunn1

Hey there

OK, honest opinions: what's Perth like to live as an expat, compared to Brissie?

We moved here from NZ (after 8 years) - to follow a job offer, and some more sun. After a very easy settle into NZ life, the move to QLD came as a bit of a shock and 2 years on, we're realising that Brissie's not a longterm fit. I'd like to be somewhere more open to outsiders - our friends are almost all expats here, where in NZ they were all locals - and with less emphasis on $ and image... Somewhere warm, friendly, with a good outdoor lifestyle and (here goes) a more tolerant / sophisticated / educated outlook.

Is this Perth? We want to give Oz a good crack before we think of heading back across the Tasman... so anywhere else that sounds good, fire away.

Thanks for the advice

Buzzy--Bee

Mate, I reckon, just from what I've read on this forum, that you'll find Perth much the same as Brisbane with regard to "somewhere more open to outsiders" and "a more tolerant / sophisticated / educated outlook".

Would you consider Sydney or Melbourne? We have found no issues in Melbourne with either of those two matters.

BB

pomtastic

Perth is not 'sophisticated' at all, very backwards in the great scheme of things but plenty of people love this fact and therefore choose to live here.

It's a small town that thinks it's a City.

Plenty of expats live here, they are all over, especially in the Northern suburbs and Mandurah way.

Kim67

I would choose Brisbane over Perth and I was brought up in Perth. When we move back to Australia in the next month or two, we'll be going back to Brisbane rather than Perth. I found when I went back to Perth that I didn't stray too far outside the suburb I lived in and the couple of places the kids had activities and I was happy. If I had to go into the burbs I was depressed for the next few days (only joking, it's not that bad, but Brisbane is better).

fish.01

Where you live in a city, and the company you keep, makes far more difference than which city. Melbourne and Sydney have suburbs full of unsophisticated people similar to your description and you could write exactly the same if you lived with them. Sure, percentage wise they will be a little more sophisticated, but when you are talking millions of people in all the cities it is a pointless exercise moving when the people you fit with will exist in big numbers in all cities.

HelenTD

When I first visited Perth as a backpacker, I found it amazingly friendly, relaxed and unspoilt. When I eventually migrated, I decided to give Brisbane a go and spent 6 months there. It wasn't a fit for me either, so much so that I decided to returnn to the UK. A couple of years later, I finally returned to Perth.

As others will tell you, Perth is very laid back, with a very different climate from Brisbane and other capitals except Adelaide. It's also a very outdoors lifestyle if that's what you want. I live closer in to the CBD, about 13 km away, and there aren't many expats around here. I have to go to the shopping centres further north to get my fix of British accents. After a long time here, I do find Perth beautiful but dull, frustrating in its lack of progress and services, claustrophobic in its lack of choice and its cosy little cliques. Many love it here, though. Suburban life predominates, but there are several inner, older suburbs with more sophisticated and educated types, if that's what you want. Great choice of river, beach or hills lifestyles.

There is something for everyone in each capital city. There's certainly lots of work and opportunities in Perth, but it is a very expensive place to live. There are lots of great places in the South West and Great Southern, as well as up north - but you've got to be prepared for long distances. WA does have to put up with a lot in terms of its distance from the east and getting money from Canberra.

Reading the odd post here and there from expats who've tried NZ, I would have thought it worth a try in Perth.

the troubadour

Fully agree with the above comments.Melbourne seems to be the city of choice in Australia.

gunn1

Thanks to everyone for their comments - we'll be doing some reccies to have a look, but that gives us a pretty good feel for things

asprilla

I completely agree with the above. Without typing a short essay, if you are a person that is looking for a degree of sophistication then you are more likely to find what you are looking for, in melbourne or sydney, than brisbane or perth. The other major Australian cities, in descending order of sophistication, are as follows:

hobart
cairns
the gold coast
adelaide
darwin

canberra (exists on an entirely different plane of being)

Ultimately though, as fish.01 indicates in his post, you will be living in Australia, whichever city you live in. Don't expect to step across the Melbourne threshold and enter into a different country where people have different attitudes and values.

The original poster also hopes that some places might be more open to outsiders than others... I'm sure that this is true, but I suspect that the OP has just been a bit unlucky.