Pollyana

Except when you, me and Sparkles are on the loose!!

Moses2013

First of all we don't know what he OP wants and for some people even Adelaide is not laid back. It can work for some people and that's fine, but it sure isn't going to be a huge difference to a smaller London suburb. I still find that property is very expensive, especially if you look at salaries and jobs available. Rent rises have also hit people hard in recent years and I don't want to talk about all the environmental issues. It's nothing against Adelaide and like any city you have pros and cons.

rasen78

Don't know what you mean. I'm the good one

jsm1421

Hi All, thank you for your invaluable advice

Although I have never visited Adelaide, i really cannot see it being as busy as London. We currently live in North London but both work in Central London therefore need to make the commute by tube every morning. If any of you have had the opportunity to travel into London at peak time, you'd know it is a nightmare and can be extremely draining! Not to mention the miserable faces you encounter

Rasen78 mentioned most places close at 5pm. This is exactly what me and my husband are seeking, a laid back city where life isn't all about working but having a good life/work balance. As mentioned before, i work as an optometrist and my store closes at 6.30pm. By the time i get home, it's 7.30pm and i barely have time to spend with my husband. I'm also expected to work on Saturday so i only get to spend Sunday with him.

Life is London is just too hectic for us, we want to move somewhere a bit more relaxed, slower pace to life.

rasen78

SA Trading laws are quite strict. Most stores are open 9-5ish and Thursday is typically the late opening day. Sunday hrs are 11-5pm Many places close for public holidays. This link shows the laws Trading hours

Some places do open later in the CBD, but these would tend to be around the Rundle Mall area. Saturday afternoons in the city (Rundle Mall excepted) are dead. I was gobsmacked at how quiet the city was on a Saturday afternoon. North Adelaide tends to have a bit more of a vibe about it on a Saturday and it has lots of nice bars and cafes etc and the odd boutique shop.

Buzzy--Bee

Even Melbourne is nowhere near as busy as London. Feels more like a large town sometimes, especially when you are out in the city and bump into people you know!

So Adelaide definitely must be a lot quieter than London.

BB

old.sparkles

Moses2013

Fair enough and it really depends where you are in Adelaide, just don't expect it to be paradise. If you want places to close at 5pm, then why bother living in the city at all, because you're still paying city prices? Mediterranean climate sounds great too, but ever heard of the urban heat island effect and not getting better (see water charges etc.). Don't want to put you off, but if you have the chance to start from scratch and want a slow paced life, smaller towns would offer far more.

Pollyana

Moses, how long have you lived in Australia and which places do you have personal experience of? Most of us on the Aus forum are quite open about how long/where/when and it helps newer posters to do comparisons if they know what your experience is

Pollyana

sounds like Adelaide could do the trick

Pollyana

I love Melbourne because it is more European, but its still miles from being London -a city i also love.
And Adelaide is a favourite too, for different reasons again, its quiet, its slower, its more relaxed. they all suit me at different times. But I would really struggle to say Adelaide life is like London life!

Moses2013

Pollyana, it's pointless writing my whole life story here and I just wanted to give advice. I've been to Australia for a while, still have friends in Oz and there's nothing wrong with Adelaide. London is London and Adelaide is Adelaide (certainly not Bath:-). Depending where you work in Adelaide, you still have to commute and life can be just as stressful. I just wouldn't move there personally for work life balance and looking at property prices in Adelaide (all cities), it's not work to live and the UK isn't just London.

astera

Pack your suitcases. London Waterloo. Train to Bournemouth/Poole/Weymouth (take your pick).

I must say I don't enjoy London - though in all fairness I only travel there in January where it comes across as over-populated, murky and downright depressive. I cannot wait to get out of there and usually do a "virtual bypass" by getting on the Flightlink bus service heading to the south coast straight from Heathrow.

In comparison to the likes of Adelaide or Melbourne, what is Perth like? Seems like the forgotten option at times, but whenever someone I know mentions it they are full of praise and often wonder why I didn't head there in the first place...

The subway system in itself is a major downer. Sure it's extensive, but it's old and calling it claustrophobic would be the understatement of the year. The width of the train cars is ridiculously tiny - arriving from Singapore it seems like a mini or rather mock version of public transport. Plus it's old and looks & feels like it. No wonder there are few happy faces around. Imagine flying an old, rattling DC-10 with more seats across than today's A380 and expecting people to be all smiling from ear to ear... ain't gonna happen!

msmyrtle

Except that you pop up all over BE giving advice to people in the Canada, US, UK, Spain, New Zealand and Australia forums.

From what I gather you're now living in Ireland, which fair play we all have our reasons for living where we are living, but when speaking with 'authority' about pros and cons of particular Australian cities, I don't think it's unreasonable to actually 'prove' you have spent meaningful time living in that city.

Moses2013

So if someone has travelled a lot means they can't have an opinion. If that's the case, BE doesn't make sense.