Perth: don't go!
 

I've lived in AUS my entire life and have travelled to Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane.

As a change, I thought I'd travel to Perth and take in some of the scenary. I hadn't done much research, so I didn't know what to expect. Very stupid of me.

In terms of Pros and Cons

Pros

- People are friendly
- Cheap housing

Cons

- Boredom

I was EXTREMELY bored in Perth, and this isn't the... the usual boredom. This is the "I'm going to die" boredom.

If you want early retirement, GO TO PERTH.

There's nothing to do in Perth. I browsed the entire city in under 2 hours. For the rest of the day, I went back to my hotel and slept.

Later at night, I thought I'd investigate Perth's night life. Succinctly, there is no night life or life at night.

It seems that a Perthites idea of "fun" is to get drunk at a local bar. Understandably, if I lived in Perth, I'd prefer to be drunk too.

- Lack of variety, selection, services

I found 1 supermarket in the city. Woolworths. It was extremely small and had very little to offer.

There's a dozen convenience stores scattered around the city with hardly any of the luxuries that Melbourne or Sydney has.

In general, Perth offers only the basics in terms of shopping. You have your Myers, your jeans stores, your food court and that's... well, it.

The public transport is disgraceful. The buses are extremely small and always running late.

- Homelessness

I thought Melbourne's and Sydney's homeless population was appalling. I was wrong. Perth takes the cake.

I'm 5'11 and I honestly was afraid walking around the city. And did I mention that I've walked King's cross at night?

After the first day exploring what little there was in Perth, I basically stayed in my hotel room for the rest of my holiday. I've never been so bored or depressed in my entire life.

Ultimately, if you intend on living in Perth, PLEASE PLEASE explore some of the other cities beforehand so that you understand that not all Australian cities are 50 years behind the rest of the world.

If you intend on going to Perth for a holiday (and have no family there), DON'T BOTHER. Stick to Sydney or Melbourne. Even better, just head out of Australia. That's what I intend on doing next time I get itchy feet.

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

Blimey...........moron alert. You certainly gave it your best shot didnt you......two hours. How did you take in Kings Park, and the wonderful City centre in that time, not to mention Subiaco Northbribridge, Freemantle Cotts Etc etc. I have visited Perth more times than I can remember, and havent seen any homeless people there, add to that, it is by far the cleanest City I have EVER seen. I would challenge any visitor to actually find one piece of litter..........there simply isnt any. I suggest you book out of your hotel and head home, if you are so disgruntled. I can only presume you didnt visit Perth at all and are from a tourist board for one of the other splendid Australian cities.

Hi Andiii,
you wouldnt happen to be PB in disguise would you ?

I live in Perth (for the last 2 1/2 months) and still have loads of things on my to do list.

Although I have to congratulate you. To do the ENTIRE (?) city in under 2 hours is a major achivement.

I know you said the shops were crap but what did you think of Parliment House, the various museums, art galleries, parks, river trips, Theatres, Casino, Discovery Centre, Asumement Parks, etc....

I think a little bit of exageration is in your post my dear



PS. If you want us to believe you that Perth is crap, try to make you story a bit more credible :D




******** TROLL ALERT ********

Nothing to do in Perth? How about Neil Hawkins park? Yanchep? Burswood? King's park? I could go on and on but why bother? Every city has good and bad and I want to know about both, but not from someone who has been there two hours. Seriously!

BTW, I have a daughter around your age. It's also difficult for her to comprehend that something doesn't have to beep, have buttons, ring, sparkle or cost a fortune to be pleasurable or worth doing.

Paula

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

That's Australian's idea of fun, not just folk from Perth.

The rest of your post shows a shocking lack of initiative and imagination.

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

That's exactly what I intend to do; spend my days kiting, surfing, diving and moutain biking.

None of this working 40+ hours a week in a big over-populated city! :cool:

Hey, Big City dweller.

Well, u obviously got a very narrow minded attitude coming from Melbourne...

Perth is a lot smaller to your Melb, and Sydney. So obviously less shops, clubs, bars in the city centre...Obvioulsy went to wrong place....possibly with your imaginary friends LOL.

Did u not try Northbridge, Subi, and Leederville...


As for things to do....As much to do here as Sydney and from my experience more to do than Melbourne.

I have been living in Perth for a while as well (5 mos) and I still have HEAPS on my to do list.
There is just SO much to see and do that entire days get spent on something or place that you had only anticipated as a "quick stop"

Who would come to Perth on holiday and NOT take the opportunity to go to Rockingham & Margaret River?
I can't wait to do a dolphin swim, whale cruise and more cave tours in MR.

Looks like yours is the perspective of a late-teen or 20-something. "Where's the nearest nightclub so I can go and get smashed and then laid?"

Obviously you failed.

Siren & better half

Retarded Aussie.

Um... I'm really not a troll. I've been lurking these boards for ages now (look at my post count). Who is PB?

I stayed in North Bridge (North lodge accomodation on Beaufort St).

Did the casino. Not into Museums. Over Amusement parks.

Walked Kings Park. Liked it but after 15 or so minutes, I got bored.

I saw a movie at Greater Union on Hay St (opposite Town Hall). I liked how it was cheaper than cinemas in Sydney/Melbourne. I saved around $3.

I don't care if you believe me or not, because I know I'm telling MY truth of Perth.

I'm merely telling people my experience of Perth and hoping that other people, who have similar interests to me, don't make the same mistake that I did and just travel to W.A because others have said it was great. To me, it clearly wasn't.

I didn't say Perth was dirty, the streets were clean but there was A LOT of homeless people, especially in and around Murray/Hay Street, near the station and along Beaufort Street (not far from the Court hotel (?), there's a park and I saw 10 or so homeless people gathered around a tree).

When did this forum become a dictatorship? Hate to have a different opinion from the majority. :rolleyes:

Nothing to do, you must be kidding!!

Take a ferry to Rotto, tour Freo, go to Mandurah, Kings Park. There are zoos, parks, shopping galore, beaches, wind surf on the Swan etc etc.

You obviously are not an adventurous person if you stayed in your hotel room. You won't find anything if you don't look.

The public transport system there is great. Although it does not run all night - closes at 1 am to 5am, you can get anywhere from North to South to East to West using it.

You all keep telling me to go to Kings Park, Shopping, Northbridge, the city...

I was THERE and I was bored after 20 or so minutes.

Admittedly, I didn't go swimming or wind surfing... it being winter might have something to do with that!

I suppose I'm just used to the greater variety Melbourne/Sydney have to offer.

If you read my post, you'd know that I'm not that type of person. Your generalisation of those younger than 25 is appalling. :zzz:

I just wanted a nice place to sit down with some of my friends and speak to new people. By 11pm, everything was dead.

-------


Ignoring all the negative responses... I hope my post was of some use to those interested in a different perspective of Perth.

:eek:

Woohoo..... One less twit in Perth

Siren's b/h

what's wrong with getting laid???? ;)

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

l agree, life in the eastern states is much better, If Perth was so great why are'nt hundreds of thousand of people in the eastern states moving over there. If you are thinking about immigrating to Perth and could not be bothered checking out other places in the eastern states then you are making a big mistake.

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

What makes you think there aren't hundreds of thousands of people moving over to Perth from the Eastern States? I've no idea of the exact figures, but I wouldn't be surprised each year if there were just that many who do move here. I have lost count of the number of people I've spoken to who have moved interstate. Their main reason for coming here? To get away from the busy and expensive city life over there, whether it be Sydney, Melbourne or any others. Many folk miss their rellies back over east and suffer from homesickness and other feelings of missing things just like us Brits do.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Off to live in Perth tommorrow, that was a good idea to read this thread !!!

Actually - this guy shouldn't be slagged off for his opinion - it's his experience, what he made of it - not others. I'm just glad he wasn't my travel guide:D
It's a bit extreme to say don't go, we all have to experience these things for ourselves. Hubs and I had a holiday to Turkey two years ago. We had a great time, the family in the next room hated it. If we were all the same , then the world would be boring.

If he hated it so much then that's HIS opinion and that's perfectly OK for him. He's right to say go and see the rest Oz has to offer and that's what we fully intend to do.

God when did I become so reasonable??

Good luck to all and remember, experience these things for yourself and don't be affraid to say you don't like it.

Good luck

Jill

Hi Andiii

Well your right. this forum isn't a dictatorship so stop putting threads in like you are a dictator.

We are all adults on here, those of us who have chosen to live in Perth, have in the main, been out to do a recci (3 weeks in our case). We know what the pros and cons are, do you thing we haven't agonised over where to settle these past 2 years?

Comments like "don't go to Perth" smack of a dictator, maybe if you hadn't worded your thread in a such a way you wouldn't have received some of the comments you have.

I'm not sticking up for Perth, of course it has it's drawbacks, just like anywhere in the world. It's a matter of choice, something we all still have, unless you live under a dictator................!!!

Walla

Perth is clean. But, then so is Singapore - which is nowhere near as interesting as its 'dirtier' cousin, HK.

In my 12 years of living in Oz, I went to Perth twice. That was enough for me. It's all relative : if you prefer the buzz of larger cities - eg Melbourne, Sydney - Perth will be as exciting as watching grass grow.

It wasn't the city I had the biggest issue with, it is its isolated position in Oz. With more than 4-5 hours expensive flying time from Oz's other major cities, Perth is firmly stuck in the middle of nowhere.

My point is if you plan to immigrate to Australia you should not
just consider Perth and rule out every other place in Australia. You
should first check out most of the eastern states as well as Perth and if you then think Perth is the best place to live then move there.

Hi Mike

I know it's stuck in the middle of nowhere and that suits us just fine, again, it's all about choice. It's been a topic of discussion in our house on numerous occasions. We have friends and family there so hopefully we will settle quicker.

On a personal note I live in a city with all the hustle and bustle and at the mo watching grass grow in Perth suits me just fine and am sure will find it very exciting!!

Hey, but it's not the end of the world, if we can't settle we can look elsewhere

Walla

Point taken

Main reason for Perth is we family and friends there and as I've just said to Mike, if we don't settle we can look at alternatives, although can't see any reason why we shouldn't settle. Suck it and see

Walla

Of course.

As always, there is a reason house prices are relatively low in places like Perth. And some people will like the isolation.

Nowhere - where is that? Not around me.


Nowhere Man
The Beatles.

He’s a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

Doesn’t kave a point of view,
Knows not where he’s going to,
Isn’t he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man, please listen,
You don’t know what you’re missing,
Nowhere man, the world is at your command.

He’s as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere man can you see me at all?
Doesn’t kave a point of view,
Knows not where he’s going to,
Isn’t he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man, don’t worry,
Take your time, don’t hurry,
Leave it all till somebody else
Lend you a hand.

He’s a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

andii,

did you say you preferred wandering around kings cross? There are a few places in vic park you may have found more interesting.

What about the weather in perth?

tetley

Yep, Perth is indeed isolated, One of the remotest cities in the world, for those who dont know that.....so be careful where you choose to live !!!!!

The nearest major city is Adelaide, some 2000km East of here.

Now who needs to go to these places in a hurry!!. Perth has everything you need.

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

Hear Hear!! I went to Perth about 4 years ago and it was very very dull indeed! What I found most distressing was the seemingly endless acres of dreary suberbian housing - totally souless.

Anyne know what the suicide rate is in Perth compared to other Oz Cities? I've heard Canberra isnt much better.

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

Live where you want to live, eh mate ?

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

Sorry, dont know that .......

........ but I do know Australia's suicide rate overall is higher than the UK as well as being higher than Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain & Italy, but lower than Finland, Belgium Austria, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany.

oh and another "interesting" suicide statistic ....

The suicide rate is always higher for males than females in every country in the world apart from China !

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

The Perth bloke who was keeping the stats topped himself....

On a more serious note, here are some sad facts about suicide in Oz:

- more people commit suicide than are killed on the roads

- the suicide rate of 14 per 100,000 people has remained pretty constant since 1921

- for both males and females, there has been a shift in suicide death rates from older to younger age groups


- more Australian men killed themselves in the 1990s than died in the Second World War.

I have visited Perth a few times as my brother lives there. it is a beaut of a place and is so clean. I would love to live there but Mr booboo has the opposite opinion to me. Perth suits some people but not all people.

booboo;)

One of the reasons for this is that being in a relationship is very important to men - men are most likely to commit suicide if they have never married or are divorced (excluding gay men, I presume)...

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

What's the suicide rate of readers of your posts Mike ?

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

I originally asked that question with my tongue firmly in cheek (Perth being dull etc) - but that is scary stuff

Re: Perth: don't go!
 

Hi Andiii,
I have been to Oz 3 times and have visited Queensland, South Oz and WA. I have to agree with you about the housing and the people. WA is definitely my favourite place I can understand that a younger person who likes a lively nightlife might find it a bit boring but for me I love it. I lived about half an hour from London for most of my life and enjoyed a wild youth. I also travelled all over the world with my work and had some great times. I later moved to a lively part of Essex, hated it, I now live in a very quite area of Essex and haven’t been out in London for about 4 years. I have been to London for interviews and absolutely hated the noise, congestion, having to queue for ages for everything, the dirt etc. I love the peace and isolation of parts of WA, we plan to live about an hour south of Perth for work reasons and because we love that part of the country. We feel that for us as a family (2 boys aged 1 and 8) at the moment this suits us.

There are some great restaurants and bars in and around Perth and there’s loads to do ie parks, beaches, water parks, cinemas, sporting clubs, fitness centres, theatres, museums, vinyards, wildlife parks all sorts of classes in fact loads more to do than we have near us now.

We found the bus service really good when my son (then 5) and I travelled from Scarborough to the city centre. We spent the whole day there alone (as hubby had to visit the Perth branch of his firm). We went shopping, saw a movie, went to Kings Park and had a meal in China Town. We got the bus from the bus station at about 10.30 pm, it arrived on time and we had no hassle at all. Far better and cleaner than our locl bus and train services, also the free cat buses around the centre are very convenient.

I love the fact that it is quiet by 11pm, where I used to live near Southend my eldest son was often woken by nosey people passing by in the early hours of the morning.

I have seen far more drunks and homeless not in but certainly around where I now live although I must admit to seeing a few in Perth I certainly saw more in other parts of Oz.

There is lots of choice for shopping outside the city, there are a few shopping centres that are pretty good again more than I have now unless I go to Lakeside or Bluewater and face the traffic. Having said all that I hate shopping (especially for clothes) with a passion-my hubby is very pleased about that.

I have never been to Sydney or Melbourne so I can’t make a comparison but as I don’t like London or city life in general they probably wouldn’t be for me.

I love WA and we will be going back this year for our forth visit and second Christmas in a row. Our relies from SA will be joining us again and we are really looking forward to it.

I disagree with you when you say there is nothing to do but I must admit that with each visit we discover more so our opinion of things to do has change since our first visit in 2000. Possibly a short visit in winter wasn’t enough time or the right time to see everything that Perth has to offer.

As for itchy feet we will take holidays when we feel the need as we do now and we are looking forward to lots of holidays within Australia, NZ and Asia.

Anyway thanks for an honest post.

For those that have not been before visit if you can and draw your own conclusions. Andii and I are describing the same place but seen through different eyes and as many people have said before me you really can’t take someone else’s word for it you have to experience it yourself.

Good luck to you all

WHO GIVES A *****!!

This is one guys opinion! What's the point of all the arguing?

This site has really gone done the toilet lately, it's just a load of bickering, back-stabbing nonesense.

It's about time a few people grew up!

Now, children, off to bed. It's grown up's time! :lecture:

Really interesting
 

Probably you will not to read this but..

Didn´t realise you were in Perth. How wonderful! Suicide facts are really interesting I suppose:o !!!!!!!

The fact that Perth is one of the most isolated cities in the world of course doesn´t mean that it is a bad place to live and I am sure it is more than OK. Another good fact it that it keeps some of lifes dreariest people at least in their own backyard as it were. I can imagine the social evenings talking about suicide rates in China and so on...great stuff. Really must meet up and discuss suicides and divorce for starters ( I am becoming expert on the later maybe)...unfortunately or fortunately ..you are really to far away.

ps. I love marmite..sorry Vegemite.

Any other interesting topics you are into? :zzz:

Re: Really interesting
 

I didn't see that many beach towels drapped over sun loungers at 5:30 in the morning, so it looks like Perth might be Kraut free at least
;)

Re: Really interesting
 

*** GENERALISATION ALERT!! ***

Whereas German's and Germany are know to be the life and sole of the party!!!

*** GENERALISATION ALERT ENDED ***