BadgeIsBack

People do seem to flock together though - people who are unhappy seem to meet those of a like mind. Must breed discontent or disease!

NKSK version 2

I still think that there exists a blinkered mentality whereby those that have been successful in Perth seem to think that everybody else must be some kind of idiot not to see the apparent utopia.

I can perfectly well see why people who are very successfully financially might see Perth as some kind of wonderland. They have a nice house (houses), they can, whenever the opportunity presents itself, jet off to Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney or the UK for a refresher. They can send their kids to the best schools.

Contrast with those who earn the average wage who are trying to buy a house, who are stuck in Perth forever due to the inability to afford even a temporary escape, who are at the mercy at the state education system who can't afford private medical...I still haven't read (m)any posts from those earning $60 - 70K stating how much they love Perth. Come on - where are you all?!

Nu-Shooz

SO then!! wonder if the OP is going to Queensland

Exile

Absolutely agree with this.

It seems a failure to love Perth is seen as a weakness of character by some posters. We must be whingers or negative thinkers. Other explanations are unpalatable. This mentality often makes me want to hate the place, even when I don't, as I wonder what I have to become to really like it here.

Someone was asking why Perth seems to produce such extremely polarized views. In some ways, my comments above could be about Australia as a whole. I think it's because Perth is a microcosm of Australia, taken to extremes. The good and the bad points of Australia are found here in exaggerated form.

northernbird

I agree with NKSK too but the lack of understanding can work both ways. I can't tell you the number of times both on the forum and through karma messages and PMs that I have been told that I must be some kind of brain dead half wit to like it here.

Exile

You like it but you don't seem to push it like some do.

I always wondered how you got so much karma NB

northernbird

I get cross occasionally but not as often as I used to. I think I have mellowed in my old age

melaniee

So where are you moving to Leah ?!

steve99

I totally agree, but at the end of the day its a calculated risk that your taking to access that money, to utilise it to achieve the things you want.
Some people will take huge risks, some will take medium risks, some wont take any risk, all of them have to live with the consequences of the risk they take.
But if you dont take any risk you cant expect anything in return....

steve99

The difference is you have a solution to your problem (and to be honest having the option to live in such diverse locations is'nt a particularily bad problem to have!)
Not an easy decision though, although it does sound as though you have the benefit of choosing between places that you've already lived in (rather than a lot on here who are heading somewhere for the first time)
At least you can pretty much see how your life is going to be in each location and can fairly accurately compare specific things in each location and put some sort of value to them in the hope of coming up with some sort of winner.
By the sound of things cost is a prime motivator for you, but it still must have a value relative to all the other things you'll be considering.

Given it sounds like you've moved around a bit already maybe having one location isnt the way forward, if your not tied to location with your work why not cash in on your property, and rent in a different location for 6months at a time.

Exile

Thanks Steve. Yeah, it really isn't a bad problem to have. I have a foot in three countries, and it's like playing the paper, scissors, rock game. Each is better than the others in at least one major way.

Perth appeals to my lazy side, but unfortunately it's lost all its points for cheapness.

I will continue to ponder. It may drive me insane eventually!

Amazulu

In reality is Perth really more expensive than the rest of Australia? Sure houses are a bit more expensive but I think your average Legoland 4x2 in an outer suburb is similar throughout Australia. A price difference of up to $30-50k on a $400-500k house is not that great. Groceries cost no more here than elsewhere. Petrol costs a bit more and drinking in pubs is very expensive in Perth (more than London) but most things cost the same wherever you go with the possible exception of Tasmania.

worzel

I am not sure whether you put me in that bracket but I am certainly one of the pro-Perth people. I have admitted on here that with Perth prices what they are I would probably have gone to Brisbane if I was coming out now, but I do think Perth is better than Brisbane for us so we were lucky we came out when we did.

I also think it depends on your lifestyle / time of life. If I was 25 I would have gone to Melbourne. But I am late 30's now and giving my daughter the chance to develop as best as possible and at her own pace was key to our decision. We also love the outdoors life. For us Perth is ideal for those criteria but I can see that those without kids or whose social life revolves around pubs and clubs won't find Perth as good as most of the other major cities.

I wonder whether this is a factor for others. We chose Perth and take it for what it is. We are not saying Perth is utopia and there may be places even better. But we will make the best of what we have rather than chasing something marginally better still.

Exile

Not looking for marginally better, but trying to figure out whether beaches, sunshine, sunsets and beautiful warm evenings are more important to me than allowing my kids to have a relationship with extended family, than giving them a sense of appreciation of and access to a wider variety of cultural and historical things.

Sunshine, beaches, and cheap was always the deal with Perth, but now it's just sunshine and beaches.

I struggle with the isolation. Some people say Perth isn't isolated, which is a bit like arguing that black is white. Of course Perth is isolated (check the dictionary if you don't believe me!). It's just a matter of how that isolation hits you personally.

I like the things you like about Perth too, but for me I don't think they outweigh the downsides of living here.

worzel

It is impossible to find somewhere with all those things, of course. We all have to balance the pros and cons of each place and decide what is the best compromise. One thing I have quite consciously done (with a little fate etc thrown in) is re-assess those criteria on a regular basis and change with them. For the first 18 years of my life I lived with my parents; they helped shape me but after uni I chose to live 2 hours away - close enough to visit, far enough to be independent. Those criteria still worked when we had our daughter - we didn't have my mum trying to take over but had babysitters when we wanted a weekend away. Because of a responsibility to them we endured the UK a couple of years longer than ideal to let them see her in her "cute" years. But it was apparent that kids do not play out in the UK and she would probably end up unhealthy / overweight. We have also suffered more than most with "winter blues" so somewhere sunny and outdoorsy was a must. I love Perth but am not tied to it. In a couple of years time when our daughter is due to go to high school we may go east for a few years just to try something else. Then once she is goes to uni we may well move again - possibly somewhere quieter / cheaper with a view to retirement but who knows what our mood will be then. We sometimes talk of trading the house in for a Winnebago and circle Australia every year! For now Perth ticks more boxes than I think anywhere else could and there is enough to do in Perth to keep us busy, never mind the rest of WA at the moment. But who knows what the future holds.