Lisalan

Hi,
We are looking to move to Auz next year and have narrowed it down to Perth or Brisbane.
I was just looking for some honest thoughts about both areas. We have decided instead of spending thousands on a trip over we would use this to pay for the transportation of our dog and 2 cats, so all your comments will be a huge help in reaching a decision on location. (My partner spent 3 months in Australia when he was 20 and loved it)
The main reason for the move is to live somewhere with a warmer climate, so comments on this would be great.
Other things to consider are job prospects (I am an accountant) and what the daily commute is potentially like.
We also have a dog and love the outdoors, so thoughts on what is around for that too.
We are in our early thirties and don't (nor plan to) have any children, so this is not a factor that needs to be considered.
Comments on anything and everything will also be taken on board, social activities etc, I appreciate your time to reply.
Thanks

Kelli28

How'd you narrow it down to between Perth or Brisbane? There very different and at the same time very similar.

Climate in the two are the opposite perth has hot dry summers and cold wet winters, Brisbane has hot wet summers and cool dry winters. I'd imagine job prospects for accountants would be similar in both. I don't understand your question about commuting surely it just depends on how close you live to your workplace?

Lisalan

Hi, the weather was the biggest factor in making our decision. From what we could gather these two places have the mildest winters with day time temperatures being in the high teens (like an average summers day here!) Feel free to say otherwise.
The question about commute was to get a feeling for the transport system and roads, if it was people's feeling that if you live 'x' miles out of the city you spend your life in a car then perhaps we'd look closer, but if people say you can get in in say 40 mins then perhaps further out. Only local people really know transport / traffic in my experience.

Kim67

Perth is damn cold in winter and boiling in summer - Brisbane has a much milder all round temperature. The daytime temps hardly get above low 30's in summer and below low 20's in winter. I'm a Perth girl, but Brisbane has been our home for the last 17 years (we've had a couple of short stints back in Perth and a couple of years in the Middle East during that time but always come back here to Brisvegas). Perth has much nicer beaches (you have to travel up or down the coast for beaches in Brisbane - Brisbane is on Morton Bay and is mangroves and black mud on the waterways around Brisbane itself). The Swan River is probably a much prettier river too, but Brisbane utilises its River much better in the city, the public transport system on the river is great in Brisbane.

I find that when I go back to Perth, I feel isolated and I really notice the divide between the wealthy and not so wealthy suburbs. We have three kids (11, 13 and 15) they're really into dance, music, etc and the opportunities on the East Coast are much better for them than back in WA.

A return flight to Sydney is less than a couple of hundred dollars and takes less time than to drive from an outer Perth suburb to the City. You drive for an hour and you're in another state. Renting a decent property (from my experience) seems to be easier in Brisbane too.

EvannTel

I'm a Perthite but spend a week every month in Brisbane.
Weather wise you gave to weigh up 3 months of cold weather in Perth vs several months of very high humidity in Brissie. Initially I found the humidity awful but now somewhat used to it.
As a traveller I find everyone more friendly in a Brisbane.
But beaches non existent however gave east coast to explore....
It's a really tough call. I'd love to try living east.
If I had to pick on your behalf.....Brisbane by a nose.

verystormy

I would research where the most jobs are. That should be your guiding factor.

Perth has a good climate and it is one of the factors that attracts so many migrants to it. But, it can get cold. Last week we had night time temps in the very low single figures and as I write it is 8am and it is 13c and raining, grey and cold. But, we probably get only about 40 days a year like this. The rest will be warm. Summer can be very hot for a few days each year - 40+. but it is a dry heat so not as uncomfortable as lower humid temps.

Perth does have the advantage of the beaches

Kim67

The humid, milder climate is much better on your skin than the dry weather.

KJCherokee

Have you ever experienced humidity in the high 90% range? For those not used to it, 30degC with 95% humidity can be much worse than 40degC with 30% humidity - and in Brisbane you get many days of high humidity in the Dec-Feb period.

Having said that I'd pick Brisbane over Perth any day.

Kim67

Yeah, love humidity. Skin shines and plumps up, hiding fine lines. I was the one person in Dubai on the really hot, humid summer night, sitting on my back verandah, with a drink and book, listening to the call to prayer and enjoying the heat and layer of moisture on my skin. I'd much rather go walking in the tropics than in the desert.

Amazulu

Perth

Brisbane is a shithole IMO

Isolation is a state of mind

Buzzy--Bee

Everywhere in Australia has a warmer climate than the UK. Even the coolest mainland city, Melbourne, has a year-round climate several degrees warmer than the southern UK.

I would suggest for an accountant you will benefit from somewhere with plenty of corporate jobs, otherwise it doesn't matter how warm the weather is somewhere, you won't be able to live there.

So I would recommend Sydney or Melbourne.

BB

bcworld

Yours is the first in ages, but we used to get threads titled 'Perth or Brisbane' about 3 times a day* - you'll find loads of em if you search although probably not very current. I always assumed it was based on a glance at a climate chart.

I have lived in Brisbane and far prefer Melbourne. Not only is there a lot more going on but in my opinion there is a split of months across the year where one has preferable weather to the other - weather being a completely subjective thing of course. For me the climate in Melbourne say Nov - Apr, coupled with longer daylight evenings trumps Brisbane. It feels like summer...and it lasts a long time.

In the depths of winter, Brisbane wins but winter can also be a complete non event here. Last year it averaged out with max around 16C...not so bad.




*slight exaggeration

KJCherokee

Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart have cold winters by Australian standards (but as Buzzy-Bee says, not by UK ones) and Melbourne and Adelaide can have excessively hot days in summer - although a week of 40+ days is exceptional.

Sydney doesn't get quite as cold (although Canberra does!) nor does it get quite as hot, and the humidity isn't as bad as further north.

It's fairly pointless putting a post on here asking about a choice between two or more cities since the chances of getting a completely objective response (or even a partially objective one) are somewhere between Buckleys and none.

bcworld

This is a classic BE Brisbane humidity exaggeration...although often people make it 40C+ with 90% humidity!

Like most places, Brisbane does get 95% humidity sometimes...because it's raining! Rain tends to do that! It also generally is making conditions cool off and bearable at the same time.

The BoM produces stats on humidity as well as everything else...and Brisbane tops out in February with a mean afternoon at 60%.

Climate statistics for Australian locations

Lisalan

Hi, thanks for all the responses.
For me asking for opions of two cities isn't a complete waste of time, I have to start somewhere and you never know what information you might find.
I believe my chances of finding work in either city shouldn't be too bad, though of course that remains to be seen!
Which is why the weather is really important to me personally and is the driving factor for our move. In the UK we get 4 months summer at best, this year so far may has been a write off and half of June has been poor too.
I'm not some crazy person who expects every day to be sunny by by the way! Lol. Would just like good weather more often than cold. And yes, from glancing at climate charts these two cities have apparently the warmer winters. Judging people's view of cold I must admit to be tricky, waking up and its frozen outside is cold, 18 degrees is not
As for beaches, I like the sea but its not a major factor, having places to go with the dog is more important.