Ashleymcxx

Hi All

My partner and I are hoping to move to Australia next year and are trying to decide on a location. We are stuck between Melbourne and Perth. We like the idea of Melbourne as from what we have read it has a cooler climate compared with other areas of Australia, however Perth appears to be a cheaper place to live? We also like the idea of Perth as people have described it as a more laid back culture, although it is very isolated from other cities which isn't ideal.

Ultimately we want to go where we will find work is more readily available for us. I am a mental health nurse and my partner is a joiner to trade and also has site supervisor experience. Does anyone know what the job opportunities are like in Melbourne and Perth in relation to our professions?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks
Ashley

Beoz

Cheap doesn't matter if your salary is crap.

And remember, you pay for what you get.

Dorothy

I have never heard that Perth is cheaper than Melbourne.

Lunch yesterday for the 2 of us -
2× salad and 2x coffees = $43. That's not city prices either.

quoll

Go where you can get a job and given the way things are tumbling down in WA, Vic might be your best bet but if you want cheap you should look at the smaller country towns, neither Perth nor Melbourne are cheap!

Amazulu

Perth is awesome

In a world of skype, facetime and budget airlines, isolation is a state of mind

Demand in both of your occupations is rising and falling all the time. The economy here is struggling - and will continue to do so for a while yet, but that will change one day

Good luck

verystormy

Given the economy in WA at the moment, I would suggest Vic.

As for isolation, Oz is pretty isolated, so, wouldn't factor that too much, though we did find Perth particularly isolated. There is no escaping that is is a long way to anywhere from Perth.

GarryP

It used to be, thanks to it being thousands of miles from anywhere. However then we got the mining boom and the cashed up bogans made the housing prices, and all prices, explode.



It will take many years of realism before the prices collapse back to sane prices, if ever. Mind the same could be said of all cities. They are all well in bubbleland.

To the OP, look at the jobs first. I doubt anyone is building in Perth at the moment, which makes joiner jobs hard to come by.

jad n rich

If you do decide on Victoria, I cannot stress enough look at the SOLD prices not the asking prices for property. Mostly sold by auction here and usually a massive ( $200,000+ is not uncommon ) between the guide price and the price it goes for after 30 odd bidders get at it! Seriously its that competitive.

2. Often read loads of jobs in Victoria, I am not sure where this comes from, So many new arrivals competing for any job.

3. I think overall it might be cooler than Perth, but summer can be very hot and winter can be very cold. The winds are strong and really affect the temperature, can shave 10C off the official temp in winter. Summer can be nice, say 26C, but many days are 30 plus, and the winds are like a furnace, after 10 years in QLD I nearly died here last summer, bloody awful, but heat spells can be followed by cooler days, eg, a spell of mid 40's was followed by some 18C and rain, I can tell you the 18 grey and rainy is preferable.

Lots to do, and lots nearby, so I think on that score would beat perth hands down.

Not sure you could call Perth or Melb cheap, dining out is serioulsy over priced, as is housing, public transport in Melbourne is cheapish.

Amazulu

What about all the cashed up non-bogans? The geologists, engineers, environmental specialists, metallurgists etc

What effect did they have, or was it just cashed-up bogans?

Buzzy--Bee

Go where the money is for you. If you can't earn an income, everything else is just a dream.

Melbourne has a cooler climate in winter (which means you can ski as a day trip!), spring and autumn are pretty awesome much of the time and summer can often be too hot to go outside.

spouse of scouse

Both Perth and Melbourne are great places to live and I don't think either is more 'laid back' than the other. I agree with the others, go where the work is. Look on SEEK to get an idea of current positions offered.

BadgeIsBack

In summer in Australia if the sun is out it can be too hot to go outside or run around but there are strategies : don't buy a home without a sheltered deck or eaves. What do these people think of when building! Even in Melbourne the sun will come out in force on the first real warm day and you'll feel hot after some gardening etc...Exercise in the morning or afternoon. In Melbourne the heat is a dry heat : I would take Melbourne's handful of 40 degree days over Brisbane's humidity..some years in Melbourne there simply aren't any 40 degree days. In fact other southern cities get longer heatwaves whereas it's rare for Melbourne to string together more than 3 days at a time.

the troubadour

Bogans in suites. Does there job status matter?

the troubadour

Nothing much ' laid back' in present day Perth, beyond some potential tourist conceptions of what they have heard about Perth, which held some validity in the distant past.


The cost of living here puts pay to 'laid back ' lifestyle, although of course the weather can to an extent distort the reality.


Besides that factor hardly a 'bad' place to live, if in a decent locality.

BadgeIsBack

I've met many geos, with degrees, who having adorned a beard and donned a vest and drunk premixed drinks looked the part...

Something about the goatee that makes any man look half a bogan before he leaves the home..or a hipster! one of the two...