ozzymaz

Lots of people LOVE Glasgow (me included) they have the friendliest people in the UK,great sense of humour, generous, and was the city of culture not so long ago-by the way have you been to
glasgow????

samnrob2

yes I have....

please note the after my comment!

Siren & Brian

Thats why Perth is Perth, keep all those east coasters away.

If your life is one of work, material things, city living, need to be entertained by others then the east coast will be for you. If you want to relax, enjoy what Western Australia has to offer in its scenery's, landscapes, natural attractions without having to put your hand in your wallet ( except for fuel) then Perth will do wonders for you.

Margaret2

Would send karma or blue boxes if I knew how to for this post, how many people in their day to day life think thank god i'm in Glasgow, London etc and not so isolated from the next city, it's so reassuring!!!

samnrob2

I agree, although everything you mention that Perth has to offer, scenery, landscapes and natural attractions you can find on the east coast too. It's just that the East Coast also offer the choice of a number of cities and larger attractions (sporting events), Sydney sites (opera house, etc), Great Barrier Reef, etc.

We could argue until we're blue in the face. I reckon if you're planning to move to Perth then it's probably worth a reccie trip first. It would be more of an upheaval to move there and realise it's not for you than moving to say Brisbane and then taking a weekend reccie down to Melbourne or Sydney if you weren't impressed by Brisbane.

Horses for courses.

R

samnrob2

I would have thought everyone is always concerned with 'location, location, location'.

Surely most people want to go and out and do things in their free time. I'd want to live somewhere where I knew I had a choice of things to do.

R

p.s. before anyone starts having a go at me...I'm not knocking Perth as I've never been...just offing my thoughts to the guy that started this thread who now appears to be in two minds. Playing Devil's Advocate if you will

ozzymaz

Have been to Perth-loved it -that's why we're going there
Amazing city and has everything you could want right there but as has already been said everyone has different expectations and if you could possibly afford to, a rekkie trip would be the answer, but it is a lot of money when you think that you could be adding that to the money you are taking to Oz with you

PJ & B

Hi Dave

We are headed for Perth, love it there.

I have travelled oz and been to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Northern Territory. Perth is not for everyone but I get peed off when people slag it off on this site, most have probably never been there, and good luck to them if they are happy where they are living, we like Perth and dont want to live anywhere else, it is certainly not isolated. Its a long way from the east coast yeah, its a big country, its not the UK!!!! I agree with Cadburys Fingers on that one. I have never been to Scotland or other major cities in the UK, and so why would I want to take regular trips to the east coast!!!

My sister has some friends who moved to Melbourne 2 years and couldn't settle they didnt like it and now live in Perth and love it there, it feels right for them, whereas Melbourne didnt, but thats not to say others dont like Melbourne. Everyone is looking for the right place to settle for them and if you can afford it, go and have a look on the east coast as well as Perth.

Take care

B

Margaret2

Keep trying to reply to this and not getting anywhere.........oh please come to Glasgow ............ would love to meet you..........you actually sound like an English person with a sense of humour...........

kimi

Hi

I live in Perth,(northern sub) and have so for years, never ever felt isolated.

Kim

Tiawamutu

Which suburb Kim, as we are wanting to live up there?

kimi

Hi

I am in Mindarie

Kim

cranni

South west is lovely,a lot of people dont know about it, i dont feel isolated one bit. I felt claustaphobic in Uk . W e can go to Perth if we want, its also very nice. We have some beautiful places further south of us, MARGARET RIVER, BUSSELTON, DUNSBOROUGH, etc. Denise

Vegemite Kids

If you can afford it, a reccie trip is always a good idea, but 2-3 weeks will not give you a true picture of what its like to live in a place. For that you need 6+ months, but I guess its better than nothing.

Many people come here without a reccie and get on fine.

In terms of the isolation your friend mentioned, yes Perth holds the title of "The world most geographically isolated city with a population of more than 1 million" and the distance between Perth and Sydney or even Broome or Albany is greater than the distance between Oldham and London or even Paris, but do you really go to London & Paris every other weekend or is it special occasions and Holidays only ?

Do you and your family go out and about exploring the countryside and Alton Towers every weekend or are you like most families in that you do those kind of things when you have visitors but otherwise stay pretty much at home, socialising with friends and family, doing the weekly shop at Asda and Sunday trawl round B&Q ?

When you live your day to day lives I dont think it matters where you live to a degree - well yes you do have days out etc and holidays but not every day and it does come down to money as well I feel. If you are the type of family that needs to be entertained by theme parks etc then maybe Perth is too 'isolated' and the gold coast or sydney might be better.

One thing to consider is job opportunities ? What line of work are you both in ? Are there good prospects in Perth or is East Coast better ? Also remember Perth wages are about 10-15 % lower than East Coast wages on average (unless you are in mining) but also remember house prices are about 30-40% lower so if you have a mortgage, Perth is more affordable (If you’re bringing wads of cash over and living mortgage free then wages are less an factor in the equation).

Kids adapt and are bored wherever you live, but there are clubs etc out here and I should imagine if they have a good group of friends it doesnt matter if they live in Perth or Brisbane, things would be exactly the same for them.

Isolation can mean many things but for me I felt terribly isolated when I lived in France, cos initially I didn’t speak French. Also initially in Milan although by the end of it I missed Milan terribly but I could speak the lingo and had made a few good friends (still one of my fav places in the world).

Isolation to me is about not having a good network of friends (also family), having no-one to talk with, laugh with, moan with, cry with and there are many people who feel isolated on east coast or west coast, north or south and would also feel isolated if they stayed in the UK and moved up to Scotland for example ?

On the geographical point, How many people in the UK complaining about the isolation of Perth have driven the few hundred miles from London up to the lake district for a long weekend ? a few percentage points at most I would guess, most are more likely to get a cheap Ryan Air flight to Amsterdam or somewhere.

How many have driven or flown up to the far northern highlands ? even fewer I would guess !!!

A lot (most?) people in the UK are not used to looking on their own doorstep or driving a few hundred miles let alone a few thousand, so the Australian distances seem vast to them. But what they haven’t seemed to realise is that most Australians aren't whizzing about the country from side to side either.

Most Australians are living the same standard boring lives of jobs, housework, shopping, washing the car etc. that people the world over live.

If you dont go out and about exploring on a regular basis in the UK, what makes you think you are going to be any more inclined to do it in Perth ? or Brisbane ? or wherever ?

It amazes me the number of people who think that by moving to Australia they are suddenly going to change and be more active and take more day trips etc. Is it a weather thing ? Cos if it is stop right now the weather wont change you from a stay-at-home person to an 'active' person. And if you dont take trips and get out and about in the UK when you have so to speak "more" on your doorstep (europe etc) and are earning more money than you will earn in Australia, what makes you think you will be doing it in Australia on either coast ?

Anyway just in case you will be whizzing about, flights from Perth to Sydney and Brisbane can be got for under A$400, which is cheaper than the GBP200 it would cost you to go to Greece, Turkey, Spain, Norway or most places not on the RyanAir / EasyJet travel schedules. And for about the same price as a flight to Sydney you can get a flight to Bali or Thailand or Singapore.

Perth may be the worlds most isolated city geographically, but there are many other cities that are actually more isolated than Perth in terms of activities and ability to travel outside the area (weather, politics, infrastructure et al. )

Anyway shutting up now. Good luck whatever you do !!

OriginalSunshine

We've visited Perth three times now, and have fallen in love with the city/surroundings so much that we are looking to emigrate out there as soon as we can (just got to do that Independent Skills Overseas visa thingy ).

But... having been there I can see why "bright lights big city" people may not like it. Me personally, I think it is a great size - big enough that you dont feel claustrophobic, small enough that even the "traffic jams" are nothing compared to Europe!

I didnt experience any Pom-bashing in the city, but quite a bit down south in Margaret River area.

We met up with a few friends who have already emigrated out there, and the one negative I would say is the housing - it's not as big as I imagined it would be, it's really expensive now compared to a couple of years ago (when we started looking), the build quality isnt fabulous, and very few houses have heating for the winter (which can get almost to zero - which is still cold in my book) or air-con for the summer.

We've now just got to sort out the visas, find out about childcare, and try not to panic too much about the rising house prices!

My two cents.