surfbum99

Hi,

My family and I have now got our skilled permi visas in our passports ready to go. But were still debating on where to live, at the moment we like Brisbane,

but which is better, Sydney? Brisbane or Perth? I'm an I.T consultant in London currently.

Sydney, still be commuting a bit, high house prices etc, but beaches near by.
Perth, always sunny, lower wages than Sydney, but lower house prices.
Brisbane, bit in the middle, better hotter weather, topical heat rather than dry heat of Perth, but no beaches quite so near, although you have the southbank.

Still debating at the moment, nice to have a choice, but its hard to choose!


Alistair.

quoll

Canberra - 4 distinct seasons, smaller city but good job opportunities, lakes not beaches but excellent beaches and snowfields within very easy driving. Housing not as expensive as most major cities and within very easy commuting distance no matter where you are. (Why is it that people never consider the national capital in their list of locations?)

joho

Apply for jobs everywhere and move where you get offered one. I you are gonna move 1st then its a choice only you can make. Dont necessary agree with all your points, I heard that perth prices had over taken Sydney's a while back, but dont know now. Obviously it depends on where you live. Brisbane is hotter, but to me its to hot. Weather wise in both Syd and Bris is affected by patterns, the 1st year we were here we had sunny days day in day out, a massive bush fire on new years day and temps in the high 30s to 40s (48 oned day) just North of Syd, they predicted a change in weather pattern 18 months ago and we have had cooler, wetter weather but what a blessing that is. Dont think that hot sunny days are all they're cracked up to be its nice to see some rain sometimes. Brisbane seems to have hit a soggy time at the moment with lots of storms and rain, but hot and humid which isnt so nice as hot and dry.

Cant comment on perth as havent been there.

Jo

joho

Cause us predictable brits love the thought of living by the sea and sufing evey day. But I have to say I like Canberra.

Jo

pumpkin blossom

The only time I have been to Perth it rained the whole time!
Now if you want dry, come to Adelaide.

quoll

Yeah but when they get here they rarely hit the beach once the novelty wears off! And who wants to be thinking of the beach when they are stuck in the office all day. If you want to surf in Melbourne for example, you have to drive just as far as you do to surf in Canberra!

Rosscarbery

If you're working in IT in Sydney, especially in consultancy, chances are you'll be CBD based so if you fancy living near the beach with a family you'll probably face a fairly long commute. We're looking to buy in Sydney at the moment and the practicality of the everyday journey to work for OH (also in IT consulting) is drawing us away from the beaches, however idyllic they are. Also remember, salaries here don't match London IT rates, house prices do! Still love it here though and would never go back

The_Wookie

There are for more IT job opportunities on the east coast as opposed to Perth (the west).

worzel

If you are moving to Australia for a change in lifestyle and really like the outdoors fishing / boating / camping etc then I don't think you will find anywhere on earth better than Perth. But if you "thing" is pubs and clubs, theatres, career etc then it probably isn't the place for you.

Okay, this is very much tongue in cheek but I once wrote something along the lines of: "If you want to sit at home wishing you were still at work - go to Sydney, if you want to watch sports - go to Melbourne, if you want to sweat a lot - go to Brisbane, if you think gold lame' is the height of fashion - go to the Gold Coast, If you want to drink on a boat rather than in a pub come to Perth and if you want to end up dead in a barrel go to Adelaide.

joho

I dont agree with all of this. Hubby is in IT, Team Manager for Fujitsu and commutes to Sydney by car, ok the journey is 1 hour each way (but he is out of peak) and we live on the Central Coast where a good sized 4 bedroom house with pool is around the $500k mark, even less probably now. The train line from Woy Woy to Sydney Central is around 1 hours 10 mins, a weekly ticket will cost around $60 (£25-£30) and they are quite regular. Hubby works way off the train line thus drives. The wage he gets would not be as good as London but he actually earns third more than he did in Coventry. The commute to us is better than living in Sydney and having a HUGE mortgage.

We are happy here and would hate to live in Sydney. 5-10 min walk to beach and can hear the waves from Garden. Pool in garden (but barely used now) visit the beach perhaps 12 times a year. So the above points are valid. On the doorstep never use.

surfbum99

Many thanks for your replies, its very interesting.

We're going over in Feb for a long holiday to visit all the cities of interest. I've already been everywhere when I went backpacking in 2000, but my wife and daughter have never been to Australia.
Its also to validate our permi visa as they have to be validated before Oct 2009 and where planning to move a few months after that.

Interesting points, I'll just apply for Brisbane, Sydney and Perth and see what happens and get the best job.
Its interesting as well, even in Australia you still can't win. i.e if you want the larger salaries in the city, you have to commute, but then you can have a large place outside of the city. Just I was trying to move to Australia and get rid of the commute!
Yep were going to look at all three when were over there next year and see which we like the most. Actually go into the subs are see the kinda living you can get in each.

Alistair.

Kooky.

For Sydney you should consider that there are 2 main CBDs - either end of the Harbour Bridge - and also a fair bit of IT at North Ryde and Macquarie Park.

joho

Thats a bit odd, are you sure you have til Oct 09 to validate as that seems a long time. Usually its 12 months from the date of your medical or police checks whichever is sooner. Of course I could be talking out my arse I usually do.

Jo

seanpears99

Your job title is very ambiguous, IT Consultant, I am sure your CV with that as a headline would not warrant a mass of hysteria.

Certain IT traits are more welcome (or paid well) in different areas and the flavour of the month differs on a regular basis.

I am an ex programmer (AS400), Prince 2 Qualified, 6 Sigma Black Belt qualified, etc, and I know that the coding market is quite staid, although the specialist skills (niche possibly) are still sought.

If I were you I would examine the market and tailor your CV to your strengths and then see where you are most wanted.

Even bolder, email your CV to a number of agencys (as they dont all respond) and ask where you are best placed.

Hope that helps.

Sean

carolinephillips

Oh is in IT(finance) and we moved to Sydney, Northern Beaches. He has cut his commute in half and earns what he did in London. It is 30 mins to the beach from here, but we have not been a lot yet as the weather has not been kind at the weekends since we arrived. Houses in our area are expensive, but so are rentals. We are renting a house we couldn't afford to buy, and it is a bit neglected, on a busy road but close to trainline and DD's school. If you want a longer commute you can get cheaper housing. It just depends on how much the commute means to you. OH has 30 mins roughly rather than over an hour and a quarter so he is happy. If you are prepared to commute for over 45 mins you can get nice places near the beach. (I did the drive from Manly up to Gordon for a month- not to be recommended!)
I liked Perth, but it is thousands of miles away from anywhere!
Don't know if any of that helps- make a list and sort out your priorities, cos you may have to compromise.