suzimc

Kind of continuing on from the last thread I started about salaries, but maybe more people will have stuff to say on this one as it is more general:

Myself and my fiancé have always said that we will go to Sydney, and never thought twice about anywhere else, but with cost of houses in Sydney we have both started to let our minds wander to other places now.

We are late 20's/early 30's, no kids, although may well in the next few years. We have quite a cosmopolitan lifestyle at the moment, both work hard, well travelled, and enjoy socialising and the whole cafe culture etc. In Sydney we're keen on Manly, and as a more resonable priced alternative Balmain areas.

My fiancé's brother and family live in the Brisbane burbs, at the end of a train line about half an hour train ride into the city. I think because when we're onhols and we go to Brissie we do family stuff with them, but when we are in Sydney it is just us or visiting friends Sydney has seemed more like the destination of our lifestlye, but I wonder whether it is just because of the way we have experienced it.

I'd really appreciate anyones feedback on this - is there a place for us in Brisbane?

Sandra

Only you can make the choice, but in my personal opinion if you thought you were settling for Brisbane rather than your preferred choice of Sydney you are just building up possible resentments if things in Brisbane aren't what you want.

Expensive, hard work and you give up things to live in a certain area, but the pluses for us outweigh the minuses and of course Sydney is the Capitol! and out shines all the rest.

CPW

Sydney is three or four times the size of Brisbane and of course is more of a national and international centre than Brisbane is - probably out of proportion to the size difference, in fact. I always feel that I'm somewhere (if you know what I mean) when I'm in Sydney - the same sort of feeling (though to a lesser extent, of course) that I get when I'm in London or Paris: I'm in a place of significance where significant things happen.

For a cosmopolitan lifestyle, therefore, Sydney is more obviously appealing, although having said, to be fair, Brisbane is not without its attractions.

I'd put the weather in Sydney ahead of that in Brisbane - for myself. Late summer in Sydney can be humid, but when I've been to Brisbane in the summer (any part of the summer) I've felt as if I was going to melt. But that's just me. Winters in Brisbane are less cool than winters in Sydney, but a Sydney winter is not too bad after an English winter! Sydney is more likely to be wet in winter than Brisbane is, too: Brisbane is very much a summer-rainfall place, whereas in Sydney the rainfall is more or less evenly spread through the year (in fact, the lowest rainfall is in the spring in Sydney - a minus for gardeners, I think).

There is no doubt that you will get more for your money housing-wise in Brisbane. Only you can decide how important that is.

It sounds as if you know both cities fairly well as visitors. My advice, if you are able to imagine things clearly: imagine that you have made the decision to try Brisbane - see how it feels. Then do the opposite and see how that feels.

suzimc

Thank you both for your feedback, much appreciated. We are hoping to take a couple of months to visit various places in Aus befgore we settle, so we can hopefully make up our minds then. Deffinitely torn about the decision at the moment, so many good things about each place!

samnrob2

Brisbane is quite small so if you're used to city living it may not be quite for you. Sam and I were in the same boat as you - expecting to settle in Sydney but I got a job offer too good to pass up here in Brissie.

On the whole we like Brissie but I can see us ending up in Sydney. Been to Sydney and liked it a lot. Don't let the house prices put you off, just rent for a while and wait for the right time to buy.

If you do come to Brisbane, I'd personally recommend living in or close to the city. We live at Kangaroo Point and it's great. 2 minute ferry into the city and great for walks into The Valley and we have the Story Bridge Hotel a minute away!

PM us if you have any specific questions on Brissie.

R

MrsDagboy

I agree with both SamnRob & CPW, if you are used to the hustle & bustle of city life, then Sydney might suit you better than Brisbane. However if you have only visited Brisbane & experienced the outer suburbs lifestyle, then I can see, as a young couple, how that might put you off. As Rob said, if you do choose Brisbane & like a busy lifestyle, Id be looking at inner city to live in rather than the burbs.

suzimc

Thanks for your comments, karma on it's way to you all.

Think we would go for the inner city areas rather than the outer burbs. We're not exactly in a huge city now, and wouldn't have any desire to live in London, so maybe Brissie might end up being better for us. We're planning to hire a kombi and visit a few cities when we finally make the move, so might leave the decision til then unless a job comes up before we leave.

Mentioned to the in-laws today that we are having thoughts of Brisbane (they will be in the outer burbs) and of course they are really excited about that now!

Stu.E

We are starting to look to buy a place within the next few months. From what Iive seen , in good areas such as Glebe/Erskineville/Newtown/Annandale you can still get a nice two-bed house for under $500K.

DianneH68

I'm in Oz on a working holiday visa and always expected to end up spending most of my time in Sydney.
But after travelling round the country for three months, Brissie was probably the one place i felt an instant attraction to, even though we only spent four days there.
I still expected to end up in Sydney, as that was where we were spending the last month of our travels, but I got offered a job in Brissie so back I came!
Been here about six weeks now and absolutely adore it.
I'm 32 and sharing a flat in West End, which is a really funky, cool inner city suburb (if full of slightly odd, boho characters ).
The fact it's smaller than Sydney really is one of its advantages. It's so compact you can get everywhere easily and it doesn't have that slightly 'cold' feeling that Sydney, like all big cities, seem to have.
It's such a laid back place to live, there's great bars and restaurants, the people are exceptionally friendly and it already feels like home to me.
In fact, after a six-week return to the UK over Xmas, I will be coming back to Oz for five months and am so torn about where to go.
I think I should try living in Sydney or Melbourne, given that my WHV is the ideal chance to experience all the major cities ahead of our application for a PR visa, but I really have no desire to leave Brissie.
If someone told me this was it for me for the next few years I'd be perfectly happy.
If I were you I'd come up to Brissie and spend a couple of weeks living in an apartment/hotel in the city or an inner city suburb, have a few nights out and see how you feel then.
I reckon you'll love it

samnrob2

Sound advice.

We too like West End - a bit Bohemian but for night life, it's second to none in/around Brisbane. Our first day in Oz, we went to the commonwealth bank by Coles to find two aboriginals pissed out of their heads kicking ten shades of crap out of each other - it was only 10am!!!

R

MrsDagboy

Its funny reading stuff about West End - when I as younger you woudnt be caught there after nightfall for fear of turning up dead the next day . It was rough as guts & one of the most dangerous suburbs (along with the Valley & New Farm) after dark. :scared:

Definitely cleaned up alot since those days, although Im not sure I would classify it as a pleasant family oriented type place quite yet .

suzimc

Thanks for the advice - I'm not too familiar with those areas, but I expect boyf is, and we will take a look into them as that is within our budget

alexc

Depends on what you consider to be most important in quality of life? Big, lively city, multi-cultural, vibrancy etc OR open spaces, lack of traffic, easy to get around, beaches and islands only a short trip away.

And on what you consider to be great weather: Hot all year round or having seasons.

And whether you want to live somewhere that is up and coming or somwhere that has already upped and comed.

It was a no brainer for us: Brissie all the way. But thats coz we are mid thirties with a baby; we'd have definately gone for Sydney 5 years ago.

Having lived in central London all my life, I know how rarely you actually take advantage of all those big city things (museums, concerts, theatre, etc). And anyway, anytime we fancy living it up, its just 2 hours away.

suzimc

Hmmm, I think getting towards that baby age might be partly playing the role of making Brisbane more appealing by the minute :scared:

din

my 2 cents worth...
I lived in Sydney for a year, and in Brisbane for a year - while I loved Sydney for the culture, and the beaches (I used to live in North Curl Curl, and on Collaroy Plateau...), I found it simply too big for me - Brisbane is a lot smaller, you have the Goldcoast and the Sunshine Coast, the city is nice (enough entertainment for me, anyway - I lived in the Valley for a while, until the entertainment got too much for me (so I moved to Paddington)..;-)), and you can't beat the weather (if you like it hot and steamy all year round)!

If I ever move back, it would be Brisbane for me - everything is a little slower up there, people are not as hectic as in Sydney, and if you really want to, you can fly to Sydney in a couple of hours...;-))